Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Mayorga Lounge closing

Prince of Petworth reports that the owner of Mayorga Lounge, the coffee shop in the Gala theater on 14th and Park, is turning it into into a sushi restaurant. According to PoP, the franchise owner faced high rents, pressure from Mayorga to expand, and stiff competition from the Starbucks down the street. I'm profoundly bummed about this. I'm all for sushi but Mayorga Lounge was a great space to hang out in, had tasty teacakes (has anyone ever seen those outside D.C.?), and was generally a nice locally owned alternative if, like me, you need the occasional break from Starbucks. Let's hope the sushi plan works out better for the owner. I don't want to hate on chains but it'd be a shame if such a lovely location turns into a Subway.