Room 808, the tiny BYOB comedy club tucked into Upshur Street NW, is growing. The club is expanding into the adjacent storefront at 806 Upshur Street NW, a space most recently occupied by the secondhand boutique Fia's Fabulous Finds before it moved across the street closer to Georgia Avenue.
Word of the expansion came via a notice posted next door to Room 808, according to PoPville, whose Prince of Petworth received a tip from a reader identified only as Z. The notice signals a fresh round of investment on a block that has spent much of 2026 recovering from disaster. According to the same PoPville report, 806 Upshur Street NW was itself damaged by a fire in January 2026, and neighboring restaurant Cinder BBQ has remained closed ever since.
A Former Flower Shop Turned Comedy Hotspot
Room 808 opened in September 2021 at 808 Upshur Street NW, founded by Silver Spring native and stand-up comedian Martin Amini in what had previously been a flower shop, according to DCist. The venue runs on an unusual model for D.C. nightlife: rather than operating a full bar or kitchen, Room 808 lets guests 21 and older bring their own beverages, with patrons often picking up drinks and food from neighboring storefronts along Upshur Street. Inside its roughly 800-square-foot footprint, the club has managed to host live comedy showcases up to six nights a week, mixing local District talent with touring stand-up performers who have appeared on Netflix, HBO, and Comedy Central.
That programming volume helped Room 808 earn recognition in 2024, when The Washington Post named it one of the best comedy clubs in Washington, D.C., cementing its reputation as an incubator for stand-up talent in the region. The club's expansion into the 806 Upshur Street space would roughly double its physical presence on the block, though no details on the renovation timeline or planned seating capacity have been made public.
A Block Still Recovering From January's Fire
The storefront Room 808 is moving into carries its own recent history of hardship. A morning apartment fire in the 800 block of Upshur Street NW on January 9, 2026 displaced six residents and caused widespread smoke and roof damage across adjacent properties, according to FOX 5 DC. Fire crews knocked down a second-floor blaze that spread to adjacent roofs and injured one woman. Metropolitan Police detained a suspect for evaluation shortly afterward, after resident videos showed a man pouring liquid in an apartment hallway prior to the blaze; officers said at the time the individual was taken for a medical evaluation during a possible mental health crisis, per the same report.
The damage has proven difficult to shake. As of June 2026, neighboring restaurant Cinder BBQ reported that ongoing rain and water leaks through the damaged building roof continued to stall structural repairs and delay any potential reopening, according to PoPville. Community members launched GoFundMe campaigns following the fire to support displaced local workers. PoPville's latest report notes Cinder BBQ has remained closed since January.
Before Room 808, a Thrift Shop Institution
The 806 Upshur Street space has its own retail history predating the fire. Fia's Fabulous Finds, founded by Safisha “Fia” Thomas, operated as a secondhand clothing boutique at that address for several years, known for curated upscale resale and community fashion events, according to Petworth News. The building itself received a $50,000 Great Streets grant from the D.C. Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development in 2018 for commercial property improvements, part of the city's push to help small businesses renovate their storefronts.
The block sits within the Petworth Main Street corridor, a designation established in late 2021 to support small, locally owned, and immigrant-owned businesses along Upshur Street NW between 8th and 13th streets. Room 808's move into the larger space arrives as an encouraging sign of investment for a stretch of Petworth that has otherwise spent much of the year defined by fire damage and delayed repairs. Whether the club will keep its BYOB format or pursue a full liquor license for the expanded footprint remains an open question, as does the timeline for when the new room might open its doors.
