At Long Last, the Original Duke’s Grocery Returns to Dupont

Duke’s Grocery, the East London-styled pub for fancy sandwiches and snack plates, finally resurfaces in its original Dupont digs on Thursday, July 11 at 4 p.m.

The decade-old Duke’s that started it all went offline for the past 16 months in order to perform critical surgery inside its 120-year-old brick row house (1513 17th Street NW). “The floors were literally wobbling. We knew that the building needed serious structural love,” restaurateur Daniel Kramer tells Eater.

Duke’s calling cards include an epic happy hour spanning seven hours, free-flowing Pimm’s cups and English breakfasts during brunch, shiny copper bar tops, cheeky decor, and an essential burger that carries a registered trademark. That double-patty sensation born in Dupont helped put the British brand on the map in D.C., and Kramer went on to open three more in Woodley Park, Foggy Bottom and Navy Yard. A Potomac, Maryland edition is coming soon.

Rey Lopez/Eater DC

Limited reservations for the Dupont reboot go live on Wednesday, July 10, and walk-ins are welcome. Lunch is back on Thursday, July 18, as are those noon-to-7 p.m. weekday discounts on beers, wines, and cocktails ($5-$9).

While Dupont’s brick exterior and two-story layout may look the same, “everything you don’t see is new,” he says. The big behind-the-scenes overhaul entailed digging 12 feet down into dirt to install the building’s first-ever foundation. Despite the legwork required to restore its Dupont address, moving was never an option: “17th Street is our spiritual home — our first and forever neighborhood,” he says.

Duke’s reopens with a bigger kitchen and long-awaited fryer, which means Dupont can finally bring on its popular fish and chips. And a new draft system pours six local and U.K. brews at its two bars.

Rey Lopez/Eater DC

Menu revisions under chef Greg Heitzig’s watch include the Dupont debut of chicken liver mousse with Yorkshire pudding and piccalilli vegetables. “Dupont guests are probably the most culinarily adventurous, so here we’re going to be a little more creative and experimental,” says Kramer.

Other locales maintain neighborhood-specific dishes, too. “The hot dog is a massive success at the ballpark, but it’s not going on the menu here,” he says. Nor will a kids menu, which is a hit at the pint-sized Duke’s Counter across from Smithsonian Zoo.

Rey Lopez/Eater DC

Kramer largely handled the first Dupont buildout on his own, which formerly functioned as an internet cafe and telephone wire-filled text hotline. “We didn’t have the money or know any better,” he says. “We said, ‘let’s build a bar and figure it out.’” This time around, he turned to a team of architects and engineers to add wood-and-steel support beams, HVAC systems, and all-new hardwood floors that no longer shake.

“Peeling back the onion three to four more layers were the thickest pieces of lumber I’ve ever seen,” he says. The formerly failing floor joints just got a new life, upcycled as beautiful yellow pine trim on full display.

A framed Ted Lasso print leads the way up to the second level, where a window up top ironically peers into a popular D.C. soccer field. A lengthy new mural from Duke’s longtime artist Alia Akhtar depicts a trio of London legends (Amy Winehouse, David Bowie, and Elton John riding a horse) with Big Ben in the distance.

Kramer also contributed to the revised look, turning British tabloid clippings — think the Sun’s infamous “[Prince] Harry’s Pants Sell for $250,000” cover — into bathroom collages.

He just got back from a birthday trip to Scotland, where he played golf and did some light menu R&D. “There are so many good mild beers there as opposed to these high-hop, high-ABV bombs that had a moment in 2014,” he says. Belhaven ales are on his import wish list, and he’s considering adding a take on the same haggis breakfast burrito he ate at the St. Andrews cafe where Will once took Kate on a date.

As for its best-selling burger, which continues to rely on patties from Creekstone Farms, Kramer estimates selling close to 750,000 of them over the brand’s nearly 11-year lifespan.

“This place is about continuing our relationships with the purveyors, neighbors, artists, and guests that started us,” he says.

Rey Lopez/Eater DC