The District is losing another restaurant institution with this weekend’s closing of Cafe Mozart.
Cafe Mozart has been serving authentic German fare from its location on H Street in Northwest, two blocks from the White House, for 41 years, and calls itself D.C.’s oldest woman-owned restaurant.
Its last day will be Jan. 15.
“We would like to thank each and every person who stepped foot into our establishment,” the restaurant posted on its Facebook page. “Serving you and your families was our greatest honor. When we opened our doors in 1981, we were hoping to make a difference in downtown DC only to realize our customers were the ones who made the difference with us.”
Owners Hildegard and Max Fehr originally operated the German Deli inside the Annapolis Hotel on 11th Street in Northwest, a business Hildegard purchased on a whim in 1964. She’d gone to the deli for sausages and its owner, anxious to retire, agreed to the sale on the spot.
In June 1981, they bought what was a UDC school cafeteria at 1331 H St. NW, and, being Vienna natives, named their new restaurant after the Austrian city’s famous composer.
Shortly after, it expanded the H Street space and brought its deli to the front of the house. In 2000, they expanded to vacated space next door, for a bakery selling pastries, strudels and cakes.
In its Facebook farewell, Cafe Mozart gave no specific reason for its closing. It ended the Facebook post with “Auf Widersehen.”
