Okay, we believe it now.
Like a cat with nine lives, the Burger King at 4422 Connecticut Avenue has endured through threat after threat of closure, two of those from franchisee Potomac Foods Group. So we were reluctant to believe this was truly the end. At least, not until the fast food restaurant’s rock ‘n roll and movie memorabilia was carted away.
There’s no denying these signs, however. Or rather, the missing signs.
The lighted roadside and street-facing signs have been removed, and the Burger King name on the awning has been painted over.
Potomac Foods has not responded to our questions about the reasons for the closure and what kind of support has been provided to the staff. Burger King corporate did tell DCist and WUSA9 reporter John Henry that affected workers have been offered roles at other restaurants.
Checked in w/ Burger King about this yesterday. No answer to the “why” behind the closure. Also, the fate of Jaws, E.T., and the rest of the 80s memorabilia seems unclear too. (@wusa9) https://t.co/oajMCUl2nr pic.twitter.com/2vqJPCkVcn
— John Henry (@JohnHenryWUSA) January 3, 2023
We did not ask about the fate of the memorabilia, but DCist and WUSA9 did. The BK PR team had no answer.
Our first tweet about the closure on New Year’s Day launched a flood of remembrances. Many people in this area have fond memories of eating there as kids, or taking their own kids there. UDC students and neighbors alike appreciated its fast, relatively cheap eats. But mostly, it was the memorabilia that made it so… memorable.
Popville’s headline might have said it best: “The Rock and Roll/Movie Magic Blast from the Past Drive-Thru Burger King is Dead, RIP You Irreplaceable Weirdo.”
Goodbye, Little Red Fox. Hello, Call Your Mother.
In the days leading up to and following their December 23rd closure, the goodbyes from Little Red Fox and Sugar Fox customers were truly heartfelt.
Some very cute kiddos made us a farewell sign! 😭❤️ pic.twitter.com/M0IX0xai7b
— Little Red Fox (@littleredfoxdc) December 13, 2022
We’ll miss @littleredfoxdc so much. Even the Wi-Fi password. pic.twitter.com/yzNXgC6OjB
— Stephen V Liu, MD (@StephenVLiu) December 23, 2022
When owners Jena and Matt Carr announced the closures (“a personal decision by us” not business-related), they also said that tenants had been lined up already for both storefronts. And now we know who is moving into the Little Red Fox spot at 5035 Connecticut Avenue.
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On January 3rd, the owners of Call Your Mother confirmed they’re opening their eighth DC-area location here. They also announced they have a baby on the way. Washingtonian followed up with Andrew Dana, who said wife and business partner Daniela Moreira’s due date is “on a collision course” with the new location’s planned opening date: the end of this month.
When the new Call Your Mother location opens, Little Red Fox regulars might see some familiar faces. Dana tells Washingtonian that former Little Red Fox workers who want a job, will have one.
And in the video announcement, Dana joined the tributes to Little Red Fox, saying “no one was more gutted about [its] closing than we were.” He also paid his respects to Little Red Fox predecessor Marvelous Market, a bakery and cafe founded by Bread Furst’s own Mark Furstenberg. And, he said, “when Matt [Carr] came to us and asked us if we wanted to take over the lease, it was a no brainer.”
Carr also posted on Instagram about the transition, and about Little Red Fox’s relationship with Call Your Mother and its sister restaurant, Timber Pizza.
CYM owner Andrew and his parents are longtime LRF customers—since the very early days! In fact, before @timberpizzaco opened in 2016, I remember catching Andrew heading to the register with an armful of our little hot sauce bottles. He told me chef/owner, Dani, loved the hot sauce so much, they were using it to make a hot honey and putting it on their Bentley pizza. I think I laughed and was like, “you know, we can sell you larger containers!?” And so began our beautiful friendship.
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Carr knows a little something about taking over a location with a loyal following. “For the first 4 years of LRF’s run, customers would ask us ‘what happened to Marvelous Market?’ on a daily basis,” he wrote. “Please do not torture the folks on register by asking them what happened to LRF!”
Michael Chorost says
I’m glad to see it go. Chain restaurants like Burger King serve cheap, unhealthy food. I hope it’s replaced with an establishment that serves good food at a relatively low price point, to provide a counterpoint to BreadFurst and Sfoglina’s. I’d love to see a beer-garden kind of place where it’s easy to sit down outdoors on a nice day with a beer and a sandwich.