The address is 1228½ 31st Street NW, half and all. Alfie's opened behind it on September 2, a 25-seat northern Thai restaurant and natural-wine bar. Eater DC describes it as "hidden in an alley next to omakase room Two Nine." Twelve days later, Flora Pizzeria opened in the same courtyard at the same half-address.
Over the same few weeks, the biggest M Street storefronts went to national brands. Most of the new restaurants with a named chef went into courtyards, alleys and back doors a block or less from the main streets. If you've been walking M Street looking for somewhere new to eat, you've mostly been passing the entrances.
What Opened on the Big Streets
Late summer was busy on the commercial spines. UNIQLO opened a 22,618-square-foot store at 3262 M Street NW on August 28. It offers clothing repair, customization and T-shirt and tote printing. Bombas opened its first D.C. store at 1400 Wisconsin Avenue NW on August 14, in the space Dolce Vita used to hold. Adriana Hoyos, a Miami-based interior design and furniture company, opened a showroom at 3328 M Street NW, joining the design cluster around Cady's Alley.
More national names are coming. As of The Georgetowner's September 17 roundup, three more were listed as coming, with no opening dates:
- Kith, the sneaker and streetwear label, at 3040 M Street NW next to Barnes & Noble
- Edikted, a 3,890-square-foot women's clothing store, in the old Allbirds space at 3135 M Street NW
- Pop Mart, the Beijing-based designer toy company, at 3221 M Street NW
The food side of M Street has been quieter. Pizzeria Paradiso closed at 3282 M Street NW on July 26, though its other locations are still open. Bibibop at 2805 M Street NW has closed permanently. Flavor Hive is the clearest new food opening on M itself. The popular Northern Virginia food truck opened its first D.C. location on August 27. It's a brick-and-mortar shop in the former Harmony Café space, and the address is 3287½ M Street NW, another half.
Where the Kitchens Went Instead
Here's the fall restaurant map. Four of the five sit in a courtyard or behind an alley door, and only Dolcezza takes a storefront on a main street.
| Spot | Address | How you get in | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alfie's | 1228½ 31st St NW | Alley courtyard at Hamilton Collective, beside Two Nine | Open since Sept. 2 |
| Flora Pizzeria | 1228½ 31st St NW | Same courtyard as Alfie's | Open since Sept. 14 |
| Café Tulúm | 3210 Grace St NW | Grace Street Collective | Opened late summer |
| Bizzeria | 3246 Prospect St NW, rear | Alley entrance off Potomac Street | Coming, planned for fall |
| Dolcezza Gelato | 1300 Wisconsin Ave NW | Corner storefront | Coming, late fall or early winter |
Alfie's took the long way to Georgetown. Eater DC reports the roving Thai pop-up first appeared in Park View about a decade ago and later ran stints in London and Bangkok before landing here. The menu has curries made with local seafood, meats and vegetables, khao soi, an octopus-and-green-tomato gazpacho with fig leaf, and cockles with chile jam, 'nduja and holy basil. Sticky rice comes in Ziploc bags. Before opening, chef Alex McCoy told Washingtonian, as The Georgetowner reported, that the room has "a bit of that feel of a hole-in-the-wall wine bar in Europe, but it also has the feel of a shophouse in Thailand." He added, "This wasn't a restaurant before."
Flora sells New York-style slices and 18-inch pies made with naturally leavened dough. The Georgetown Dish lists a porchetta pie with wild fennel and lemon, a Market Pie with green tomato and green garlic pesto, and meatball, mortadella and fried chicken Caesar sandwiches. It's open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Over at Grace Street Collective, Café Tulúm comes from restaurateur Juan Dracoulis. Eater DC calls it a plant-filled "alleyway respite" serving Mexican small plates with Japanese influences and cocktails made with fresh fruit, such as a spicy watermelon mezcal. Sources disagree on whether it opened in late August or early September, so "late summer" is the safe answer.
Bizzeria is the one to watch. Michael Rafidi, who owns Albi and La' Shukran and runs Yellow on Wisconsin Avenue, is opening it in the back of 3246 Prospect Street NW, with its entrance in the alley off Potomac Street. The Georgetown Dish explains the name: Arabic has no "p." It describes wood-fired pizza on a 48-hour fermented sourdough crust with housemade cheese, plus mezze, raw dishes and charcuterie, and a wine list by William Simons. Skillette, a cooking school from Kelly Singer, is planned for the same building. Neither had an announced opening date as of mid-September.
Why the Courtyards Fill With Locals' Businesses
Two of the main courtyards are run by the same people. Jessica and Ezra Glass, through Thyme Holdings, are behind Grace Street Collective. They also teamed up with David and Marc Duber to remake the old Hamilton Court on 31st Street as Hamilton Collective, a 55,000-square-foot complex with shops, restaurants, services and a few apartments. The Georgetowner reports that all of them live in Georgetown and call the 31st Street project "by locals for locals."
The tenant list shows what that looks like. Besides Alfie's and Flora, Hamilton Collective holds Ultraviolet florist, Two Nine sushi, Flor Coffee + Books, Beso Besu, RM Wellness, Georgetown Pilates, Georgetown Preschool, Georgetown Auto Spa and Hamilton Health Club. Jessica Glass described it to The Georgetowner this way:
"The best part of our retail here is it's necessary retail. No one here is selling tchotchkes, right? You come here to do things you have to do. Your kids have to go to school. You have to work out. You have to get a cup of coffee in the morning."
Seen this way, the split makes sense. A 22,618-square-foot flagship needs M Street frontage. A 25-seat Thai wine bar needs a landlord who wants a courtyard full of businesses that support each other. Flor Coffee + Books, at 1220 31st Street NW, just turned one year old, so the courtyard already had a morning crowd before Alfie's added an evening one.
The Canal Stays Dry Through Winter
The other walk off M Street is still on hold. The National Park Service's water-level report, last updated September 28, lists the canal between Locks 3 and 4 and between Locks 4 and 5 as de-watered. The repair project for Georgetown's locks and canal walls slipped from spring 2026 to fall 2026 after part of the Level 1 north wall collapsed in late February. The NPS project page, last updated April 8, says work continues through fall 2026, weather permitting, and lists a towpath detour between mile 1 and mile 0.4.
Even once the repairs are done, the calendar works against an early return. NPS drains the canal every fall to protect the stonework from freezing, and water usually comes back in early spring. Georgetown Heritage has had its canal boat in dry dock since after the 2023 season and expects to relaunch it in spring 2027. The Georgetown Visitor Center near mile 0.4 is open in the meantime.
Two Saturdays to Plan Around
The fall calendar sends you back up the hill to the same kind of small local businesses. The Georgetown Main Street Fall Market runs Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It covers Book Hill and Wisconsin Avenue from N Street to Reservoir Road. It grew out of the Georgetown French Market, and organizers built it around small and local businesses. RSVP is free.
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and the Georgetown BID's Halloween guide fills the whole day:
- 10 a.m. to noon: Trick-or-treating at Tudor Place, with face painting, cider and crafts in the gardens.
- 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: The Wisconsin Avenue Woof Walk, with treats at participating businesses and a dog costume contest at 1 p.m.
- 7 to 11 p.m.: A free haunted light show on the Exorcist steps at 36th and Prospect streets. The steps were designated a historic landmark in 2019.
Ghosts of Georgetown walking tours also run nightly through October at 7 and 8 p.m., starting at the Old Stone House. From the Exorcist steps, it's a short walk east along Prospect to the Potomac Street alley where Bizzeria plans to open. Check whether it's open before you go.
Keeping track of which Georgetown courtyards are filling up is part of how Emily follows the neighborhood block by block. If you'd like that same street-level view of what's changing near your home, Emily Sower would love to hear from you. Call or text to start a conversation, or ask for a complimentary home valuation.
