‘Best burger’ winner Duke’s Grocery opens outside Nats Park

<p>Inside the new Duke&#8217;s Grocery in D.C.&#8217;s Navy Yard. (Courtesy Duke’s Grocery/Daniel Starts)</p>
Inside the new Duke’s Grocery in D.C.’s Navy Yard. (Courtesy Duke’s Grocery/Daniel Starts)
(Courtesy Duke’s)
(1/2)
<p>Inside the new Duke&#8217;s Grocery in D.C.&#8217;s Navy Yard. (Courtesy Duke’s Grocery/Daniel Starts)</p>

Duke’s Grocery, whose “Proper Burger” is consistently ranked as one of D.C.’s best burgers, opened its Navy Yard restaurant at 1201 Half St. SE on Saturday, Feb. 25.

It is the fifth Duke’s location in the District, and by far the largest.

The Navy Yard location, on the street level of JBG Smith’s Half West residential building, has garage doors that connect the inside with outside patio seating along Half Street, and the most video screens of any Duke’s location. It was originally planned to open last fall.

“This is going to be a drinks-heavy operation, and the Duke’s staples we are known for,” Daniel Kramer, managing partner of Duke’s owner Duo Group, said at the time the Navy Yard location was announced.



The bar has a dozen draft beers and one of the longest happy hours in town — running from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. — as well as bottomless brunch.

Like its other locations, the menu, some of which changes daily, is what Kramer calls East London pub-inspired food.

The original Duke’s, which opened on 17th Street in Dupont Circle in 2013, closed Feb. 13 for several months of renovations. Another Duke’s is located in Foggy Bottom. There’s also  a sister restaurant, Duke’s Counter, in Woodley Park and a “residency restaurant” inside the British Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue.

Duo Group’s other restaurants include Gogi Yogi Korean BBQ in Shaw and Chesapeake Crab Shack and Bar on U Street NW.

Jeff Clabaugh

Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.

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