Upshur Street Has Two Ends. 2026 Changed Both of Them.

Where does Upshur Street actually start? Pickup orders at Timber Pizza, Saturday mornings at the farmers market, and evenings at District Larder all point to 9th Street. A walk up from the Georgia Avenue side gives a different answer than it did a year ago, because the two storefronts at 203 and 205 Upshur, dark for most of 2025, are open now.

The new storefronts came to the Georgia Avenue end this year. The 800 block replaced one restaurant and lost another to a fire. The street's calendar barely moved. Every market Saturday, the September arts festival and the holiday events still center on 9th and Upshur. These two halves of Upshur used to feel like one strip with a quiet end. In 2026 they became two connected places, each with its own job.

The 200 block stopped waiting

The Greeks Den opened at 203 Upshur on January 12, according to PoPville. Councilmember Janeese Lewis George's Ward 4 bulletin, dated January 16, said the shop had celebrated its grand opening "over the weekend." The shop sells apparel and accessories for Divine 9 sororities and fraternities. It calls itself the first Black woman-owned Divine 9 apparel shop in Petworth and says the business was founded in 2021, before it had a storefront.

Next door at 205 Upshur, Wake Me, Shake Me took longer. In December 2024, PoPville spotted a sign in the window that read "OPENING 2025." By late March 2026, the owners told PoPville they had one inspection left and hoped to open in about a month. The grand opening was announced for Friday, May 15.

The concept is coffee, records and a bar in one room. The partners are experienced DC bar operators. Petworth News reported that Christine Lilyea, owner of Slash Run and The Runaway, is a partner along with Paul Vivari, co-owner of Showtime Lounge and Neptune Room. Lilyea's Slash Run used to sit at 201 Upshur, so Wake Me, Shake Me returns her to the same short stretch of storefronts. Two weeks after opening, the bar hosted a DJ set during Petworth PorchFest on May 30. Before a first visit, check the bar's own channels for current hours.

The Greeks Den is "more than a store it's a family legacy!" The shop said this when it announced it was officially open.

These two businesses bring the Georgia Avenue end something it lacked through 2025: lit storefronts with regular hours, a block from the Metro side of the neighborhood.

The 800 block traded one restaurant for another

At the other end, 2026 was about turnover. District Larder Co. opened at 821 Upshur on May 4. The space has turned over often. Petworth News lists its most recent tenants as Fedwell and Petworth Social, and before them Taqueria del Barrio and Domku.

Owner Matt Sperber is a butcher, chef and sausage maker who lives in Petworth. He has worked at Any Day Now, Momofuku and The Salt Line. His general manager is Jason Horswill. The plan he described to Petworth News is a daily deli and market with a sandwich counter, house-made salami, pâté and charcuterie, and a small grocery shelf with takeaway lasagna and pot pie. Chris Levitt, another Momofuku alum, runs dinner and brunch built around whole-animal butchery and seasonal vegetables. "Charcuterie has always been my strong suit," Sperber told Petworth News. The Infatuation reviewed it on August 10 as a working deli, market and bar with dinner and weekend brunch. Published sources disagree on which nights dinner runs, so check the restaurant's own site before planning a dinner around it.

Across the street, Cinder BBQ at 800 Upshur has been closed since a fire in January. In its most recent public update, posted in late June, Cinder said reopening work hadn't started because "every time it rains, it pours into the kitchen and a bit into the dining room," and added that it is "hard to start any work while the building is broken." No later announcement turned up in this research, either about reopening or about closing for good.

So the 800 block gained a business and lost one in the same year. Its longtime anchors held steady around both changes.

What each end holds right now

Sources for the anchors: Timber's location page lists hours and pickup and delivery ordering. Loyalty Bookstores says its Petworth shop is open six days a week at Upshur and 9th, and Petworth Main Street gives its address as 4203 9th St NW. Lulabelle's posts weekly hours, including weekend service. Room 808 is a BYOB comedy room.

The right column is longer because the 9th Street end holds the institutions that pull people in on a schedule. The 200 block now gives those same people a reason to walk the full length of the street.

The calendar still starts at 9th and Upshur

Petworth Main Street held Art All Night on September 11. It ran from 4:30 p.m. to midnight across the 800 block of Upshur and Georgia Avenue NW, with painting, music, theater and comedy in outdoor spaces and local businesses. The rest of the year's events follow the same pattern.

1. Petworth Community Market, Saturdays. The market runs 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 9th and Upshur, rain or shine. Its 2026 season opened May 2, and its site says the season lasts through mid-November, so only a handful of Saturdays remain.
2. Room 808 comedy, this week. Winston Hodges plays October 5, free showcases run October 6 and 7, Martin Amini plays October 8, and Aida Rodriguez plays October 9.
3. Small Business Saturday, November. Petworth Main Street lists the event for November 2026, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with gift-basket winners announced at 8 p.m. Shoppers pick up a passport at Alexes Flowers, Fias, Lulabelle's, Loyalty Books or Cookie Wear and need stamps from at least five participating businesses to enter the drawing for five Upshur-themed baskets. Check the Main Street site for the confirmed date.
4. Upshur Street Craft Fair, December. Run with Lulabelle's, the fair offers free photos with Santa, live entertainment and 25 local artisan vendors.
5. Luminary Walk, December, at sunset. Upshur is lined with luminaries and decorated storefronts.
6. Holiday Cookie Crawl, December, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is the third year. Participants check in at Lulabelle's for a cookie passport and collection box, then visit participating businesses.

Three of these events route people through Lulabelle's at 847 Upshur, and passport pickup includes Loyalty Books at the 9th Street corner. Exact December dates aren't posted yet. A passport crawl that needs five stamps is also the kind of event that sends walkers the full length of the street, now that the 200 block has storefronts to stamp.

Georgia Avenue is shifting around the 200 block

The Georgia Avenue end connects to a corridor that changed a lot this year. CVS replaced its full-size store at Georgia and New Hampshire Avenues with what PoPville described as its first pharmacy-focused location in DC, at 3701 New Hampshire Ave NW, which launched April 21. Wendy's soft-opened at 3900 Georgia Ave NW on June 27, 2026. That location had been closed since August 27, 2024. Across the avenue, PoPville reported Petworth Cleaners at 3903 Georgia closed by June 3. The Neighborgoods announced in April that it was leaving its studio at 4300 Georgia for a warehouse.

A little south, in Park View, Kuro opened at 3632 Georgia Ave NW. Washingtonian described it as a Japanese-inspired record bar owned by Loyd Griggs. Farther north, near Emerson, a liquor-license placard for KVIC Restaurant Bar at 4900 Georgia describes a proposed 100-seat tavern seeking approval for live entertainment and dancing. No opening date has been announced. With Wake Me, Shake Me at 205 Upshur and Kuro on Georgia, a Petworth evening that once ended at Timber or District Larder can now include two record-driven bars within a short walk of the Metro.

The year's openings filled in the Georgia Avenue end of Upshur. The 9th Street end still holds the market, the bookstore, the sweet shop and the holiday crawl. The first stamp on this year's Small Business Saturday passport can come from either end.

If the new storefronts at 203 and 205 Upshur, or the open question at 800 Upshur, have you wondering how this year's changes on the street affect a home on your block, Carmen Fontecilla Group can walk you through it with a personalized market consultation.