The dark storefront across from Tenleytown's Wegmans is finally showing signs of life again, and this time the word on site is pizza and oysters. Workers were spotted hauling out fixtures and construction debris on October 6 from the 4,800-square-foot space at 7 Ridge Square NW, the longtime home of King Street Oyster Bar, which has sat empty since late last year.
The cleanout was first reported by PoPville, which said readers David and Jenny sent in tips about the renewed activity at the former restaurant site, located directly across from D.C.'s first Wegmans. Per people on site, pizza and oysters are said to be coming to the space, though no formal announcement or opening timeline has been confirmed. The storefront itself was custom-built in 2023 with a neutral beige palette, an all-weather covered patio, and a dual indoor-outdoor bar designed to face both Tatte Bakery and the Wegmans, according to architecture firm //3877 as detailed by Eater DC.
A Rocky Run Since 2023
King Street Oyster Bar opened at City Ridge in November 2023 as the seafood group's fifth regional outpost before abruptly halting operations and temporarily closing in late December 2025, after roughly two years in business. At the time, an unverified tip from someone on site floated the possibility that the space would be re-concepted as an American Grill-style restaurant within a month — a timeline that came and went without visible progress.
Months of apparent dormancy followed. It wasn't until early September that brown paper appeared over the windows, signaling renewed interest in the space, before workers began clearing out interior fixtures and debris earlier this month. The gap between that rumored American Grill plan and the current pizza-and-oysters buzz has not been publicly explained, and it remains unclear whether the project is still being run by the original King Street Oyster Bar ownership group or by a new tenant leasing from the property's developer.
King Street Oyster Bar was founded in 2014 by Rick Allison and Jorge Esguerra in Leesburg, Virginia, and the brand has since expanded with locations in Middleburg, Potomac, and D.C.'s NoMa neighborhood. Hoodline previously tracked the chain's regional momentum back in 2020, when it noted a 29.5 percent jump in new customer review activity for the brand in Washington.
City Ridge's Churning Restaurant Scene
The storefront sits inside City Ridge, the 1.8-million-square-foot mixed-use village that Roadside Development built on the 10-acre former Fannie Mae headquarters campus, bringing 690 residential units and 360,000 square feet of commercial space to the Wisconsin Avenue corridor. The project preserved the historic Colonial Revival Fannie Mae building and its central Great Lawn as anchors for the surrounding retail and dining mix.
That mix has proven volatile. Since City Ridge's 2022 launch, the complex has seen quick turnover among its food and beverage tenants, including the closure of celebrity chef Michael Mina's Italian steakhouse Acqua Bistecca, as the Washingtonian has reported.
More Change Along Wisconsin Avenue
The King Street Oyster Bar overhaul adds to a wave of dining turnover along the broader Wisconsin Avenue corridor in Upper Northwest. Just down the strip in Cathedral Heights, Common Plate Hospitality put up signage this past summer for Augie's Mussel House and Beer Garden at 3228 Wisconsin Ave NW, a Belgian-inspired concept that filed for a Class C restaurant license covering 140 indoor seats, as Hoodline reported.
Nearby in Tenleytown proper, a vacant PNC Bank building at 4249 Wisconsin Ave NW is proposed for conversion into a ten-space micro-retail center with a rooftop penthouse; construction is expected to begin in 2027, with opening anticipated in spring 2028, a project Hoodline covered in September. For now, the fate of the old King Street Oyster Bar space remains a work in progress, with the pizza-and-oysters concept still unconfirmed and no opening date announced.
