A fire tore through La Bonne Vache, the French bistro on Prospect Street NW that Georgetown diners have embraced since it opened in January 2024, while staff were winding down dinner service and preparing to close on Sunday. The blaze gutted the first floor and left two people who lived in the apartment above without a home, though no injuries were reported.
According to Georgetowner, fire officials traced the blaze to an electrical panel on the first floor. The fire damage was contained to that level, while the outlet reports that the upper-level apartments sustained minor smoke and utility-related disruptions.
Accounts of exactly when crews responded differ. Georgetowner reported that DC Fire and EMS responded to 3265 Prospect St. NW at approximately 9:33 p.m. on Sunday, while Washingtonian says the department received the call at 9:34 p.m. and had firefighters on scene within two minutes. Yahoo, meanwhile, reported that officials were called to the 3200 block of Prospect Street NW around 11 p.m. The discrepancy between those accounts has not been resolved.
Residents Displaced as Restaurant Plans to Rebuild
Georgetowner reports that the two adults living in the apartment above La Bonne Vache were displaced not because of injury, but due to the utility shutoff and structural damage that followed the fire. No one was hurt in the blaze, the same report notes, even as the restaurant below them was left in ruins.
Washingtonian's report describes the bistro as destroyed, noting that the fire broke out while staff were winding down dinner service and preparing to close. The restaurant, a fixture on the Georgetown dining scene since it opened in January 2024, has said on social media that it plans to rebuild and reopen. Its website asks people to check back for updates, according to DC News Now. A GoFundMe campaign has also been set up to support the restaurant's staff who are out of work while it works toward reopening.
Second DC Restaurant Fire in a Month
La Bonne Vache's fire is not the only one to hit a DC restaurant recently. Washingtonian notes that The Royal in Shaw suffered damage earlier in October after a fire broke out on the roof of a vacant apartment above the restaurant. That restaurant has since reopened, offering a possible, though unconfirmed, timeline for what recovery might eventually look like for La Bonne Vache.
