Since its grand opening this past October, the new location of Philly Pizza & Grill at 1211 Potomac Street has provoked the ire of neighboring businesses and residents, who are complaining about the smells, noises, and traffic problems the take-out restaurant has created.
With a move to a new location come new complaints.
Like its predecessor, at 1201 34th Street, which is expected to shut its doors sometime this year, the new Philly Pizza has established a reputation of attracting swarms of hungry Georgetown students during late-night hours. These crowds and the noise they create have not been received well by residents and other businesses on the block. Additional complaints have been lodged about the smells emitted from the kitchen, noise produced by exhaust fans, and a delivery car that blocks access to nearby driveways.
Marti Hines, the manager of Fresh, a clothing boutique two doors down from Philly Pizza, mentioned that the proximity and congestion of other restaurants on the block have exacerbated peoples’ problems with Philly Pizza.
“There is a lot of noise, and on weekends, literally the whole place smells like food,” she said. “Quick Pita is right across the street, and I think residents might be angry because those two combined just sent people over the edge.”
Alex Meeraus, whose business, GAM Development, is next to Philly Pizza, claims to have been adversely effected by the new restaurant.
“The owner of the place just doesn’t care what he does,” he said. “The smell is really bad, and on weekends there’s always a traffic jam. All the grease goes into our backyards. The restaurant has a machine that spits out burned chicken or something right into our yards, so we’re wondering what will happen in the summer.”
According to Meeraus, some neighbors are considering taking legal action.
“Some of us went down to the department to see what permits he has,” he said. “The company that does the permits and the inspection is the same company, so we don’t know if he has passed a health inspection.”
Not all nearby residents have been disturbed by the restaurant’s presence, however. Laura Stewart (COL ‘09) lives a block away from Potomac Street and said she hasn’t had any problems.
“It hasn’t really bothered me at all. West Georgetown can be a loud neighborhood, especially when you live closer to M St. I know a lot of college kids that live closer to the new one actually find it more convenient,” she said.
At last week’s Georgetown Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting, members of the community came forward to complain. Georgetown’s neighborhood representative to the ANC, Aaron Golds (COL ‘11) explained that prior to opening its new location Philly Pizza had come before the committee to get approval for remodeling the exterior of the building. However, the ANC had reservations about the business’s mechanical equipment, the restaurant’s potential effect on the neighborhood, and zoning issues.
Golds noted that none of these issues were resolved at the last meeting, but that the ANC, Georgetown residents, and the owner of the restaurant planned to have meetings in the future to help foster resolutions to the situation.
Neither the owner nor the manager of the new Philly Pizza & Grill restaurant could be reached for comment.
