Business in Brief: Burgers at Exxon, hot carryout at Shemali’s, and 9 years of Van Ness Main Street

The Exxon Mini Mart at 5030 Connecticut Avenue is now also home to Nash & Smash chicken sandwiches and burgers.
(photo by Andrew Shapiro for Van Ness Main Street)

The neighborhood has two new places to grab hot food to go. And they’re both located in businesses that have been here a while.

Like the Exxon, above. A new eatery called Nash & Smash is serving Nashville-style chicken sandwiches and smash burgers, and you can also order for delivery.

The new kitchen at Shemali’s.

The other new takeout spot is Shemali’s Van Ness, which has opened its long-awaited kitchen so it can now prepare hot food on site. Here’s the menu. Shemali’s is also open for breakfast at 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday. 

Relocated: Van Ness Nails & Spa has moved from its spot above Pill Plus Pharmacy at 4215 Connecticut Avenue to Takoma Park. The Van Ness location closed on November 30th.

Temporarily closed: Flagship Carwash at 4432 Connecticut, for a renovation.

Coming soon: To 4302 Connecticut Avenue.

Looking festive: Classic and classy at Viet Chopsticks, inflatable kitsch at Infinity Martial Arts and Italian Pizza Kitchen, and artistic windows at Politics and Prose.

Have you seen our new window paintings? 🖌️ ❄️ HUGE shoutout to our in-house artist Amber for bringing holiday magic to P&P! Did you spot her working on the windows this week? Tell us which painting is your favorite!
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p.s. The windows also make an excellent photo background 😉 pic.twitter.com/74MNi6pTKh

— Politics and Prose (@PoliticsProse) December 7, 2024

Supporting the 100+ small and local businesses between Van Ness and Nebraska Ave.: Van Ness Main Street. Here’s the organization’s year-end message:

It’s hard to believe we are closing our ninth year here at Van Ness Main Street (VNMS). Since our founding in 2016, our organization and community have been a part of so many changes. From the opening of Bread Furst, now a James Beard award-winning landmark, to the opening of signature restaurants, Sfoglina and Rosedale, to the expansion of our Main Street to include the Wakefield and Forest Hills communities that include Politics and Prose, Call Your Mother, Comet Ping Pong, Bucks Fishing and Camping, and Rosemary Bistro Cafe, we have endeavored to enhance the vibrancy and appeal of our community by supporting the businesses that are its beating heart.

Every year, VNMS supports more than 100 businesses along the Connecticut Avenue corridor with technical support, signage, advocacy, and streetscape enhancement through the Pollinator Planting Initiative. This support ensures our hard-working entrepreneurs have a successful home for their business in our community, making our neighborhood a destination for residents and visitors alike.

In addition to supporting the businesses based here in Van Ness, Forest Hills, and Wakefield, VNMS also works to build the sense of community along our entire corridor. Our Pollinator Planting Initiative has been going strong for five years and is renowned across the entire DMV. With more than 15 sponsored events up and down Connecticut Avenue, we have welcomed thousands of people to explore the community so many of us call home. Through our pop-up markets and artisan fairs, we enable local artisans and vendors to showcase and sell their wares; we bring the community together on summer evenings to watch movies at the UDC amphitheater; and this year we unveiled Celebrate VNMS, which included entertainment and vendors all along the corridor.

We are immensely proud of the community we have built in partnership with our local businesses and neighbors and we are immensely grateful for your support of VNMS. We simply can’t do it without you and your generosity. As we approach the end of the year, we greatly appreciate being included in your donation plans and commit to continuing the good work that was started almost a decade ago.

Thank you for your continued support of our business partners and of VNMS.

Gratefully,

Gloria Garcia
Executive Director
Van Ness Main Street

Forest Hills Connection is an editorially independent program of Van Ness Main Street.