Duke’s Grocery, whose “Proper Burger” consistently ranks as among the best burgers in D.C., has reopened its original location in Dupont Circle after a 16-month-long renovation of the row house it occupies at 1513 17th Street, NW.
Most of the top-to-bottom renovations were to the back of the house, but renovations also upgraded the look for the restaurant.
“We were able to salvage a lot of the wood in the building and use it in the design process to repurpose and upcycle a lot of the materials. The building has great bones,” said Daniel Kramer, managing partner at Duke’s Grocery. “On the guest experience side, everything here now works, and we have all of the things a normal restaurant or pub should’ve had all along.”
Duke’s has expanded to four locations, including in Foggy Bottom and Navy Yard, as well as Woodley Park, where it is named Duke’s Counter. Another location will open in Potomac, Maryland, later this year. The original 17th Street location opened in 2013.
While Duke’s is known for its burgers, Kramer’s menu is actually focused on what he calls “East London Gastropub.” It is largely his team’s interpretation of the flavors from all over the world and the immigrants and creative community in East London now and long before it became hip and avant-garde. He calls it a mix of haute cuisine and blue collar grub.
Fish and chips is popular. Sandwiches are called “sarnies,” and cocktails are called “bevies.” Brunch is a particularly good time to eat like an East Londoner.
“That is probably our most traditionally British service. It has items from staples of British cuisine. Rashers, black pudding, white pudding, tin beans and things like that, and a full English breakfast, and obviously banger sausages,” Kramer said.
The name Duke’s Grocery confuses people. It is not a grocery store, and no one associated with the restaurant is named Duke. “Duke” pays tribute to four dukes that mean something to Kramer.
“D.C. native son, the legendary musician Duke Ellington. Second is the legendary D.C. restaurateur Duke Zeibert. Then, you have my golden retriever, may he rest in doggy heaven, who was also named Duke. And then a nod to our British connections, the Duke of Wellington,” Kramer said.
“Grocery” was added to send a message and set it apart.
“Yes, we could have called it grill, or kitchen, or bar or pub,” Kramer explained. “But with our focus on fresh, local and seasonal, and a little bit eccentric perhaps, grocery was the second word to tie it together and have that reminder that we’re a little bit more unique and interesting than just ‘Duke’s Grill’ or ‘Duke’s Restaurant.'”
Duke’s Potomac restaurant, which opens this fall, is its first outside of the District. Kramer does not rule out further expansion, saying if there is a good deal in a great neighborhood he and his partners would take a look.
There is one other Duke’s location which very few Washingtonians can go to, and which is a ringing endorsement of its East London fare. It is inside the British Embassy, on Massachusetts Avenue in Northwest.
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