Silver Diner announced today that it has signed a lease for its first Silver Diner restaurant in D.C. While the company operates a restaurant in Northwest, Washington—Silver, American Brasserie, it has never had a Silver Diner in D.C. The new 8,000 square foot Silver Diner will be located at Half and N Streets, Southeast, next to Nationals Park.
Featuring two-stories, the Nationals Park Silver Diner will feature an updated Silver Diner restaurant on the first floor and a bar, Bar Silver, on the second floor. The 300-seat layout includes an outdoor terrace overlooking Nationals Park. Bar Silver will provide drinks and small plates while downstairs will offer dining with a menu featuring the most popular items served at Silver Diner restaurants.
“This location will be a new updated concept for us,” said Silver Diner Founder and CEO Robert Giaimo. “We’re excited to be part of this neighborhood and to be able to bring our first Silver Diner in D.C. to this community.”
For more than 32 years, Silver Diner has been a much-loved, locally-owned business. Several years ago, the owners developed an expansion plan and have opened three new restaurants over the past year-and-a-half with more planned (an Ashburn, Va. location is opening this summer.) The Half Street Silver Diner is scheduled to open in Spring, 2022.
As with all other Silver Diner locations, the Nationals Park restaurant will include a three-pronged hospital-grade air system with HVAC/UV light that increases air flow and forces air over UV light coils. At night, when the restaurant is closed, the interior is bathed in UV light to help kill bacteria and germs on surfaces. The systems were initially installed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last August and have become a routine health protocol for the restaurants.
The design of the Nationals Park location will be in keeping with the new architectural design elements that have been created by Silver Diner’s architectural partner, CORE architecture + design. Finishes are more upscale than the original diners but still provide a diner feel with specially selected tiles, wood highlights and chrome. These same finishes have been used at Silver Diners in Columbia, Alexandria, Woodmore, and Rio.
“We’ve adapted our restaurants to meet various architectural retail opportunities and we’ve adapted to best meet our customer demands and needs,” explained Giaimo. “The key to our success has been adaptability and evolution. While we have a portfolio of restaurants, many feature special architectural details designed just for that location. This will be our first restaurant with a terrace.”
The company has taken chances during its 32 years in keeping ahead of industry trends and listening to customer input with its forward-thinking innovations. Included in those innovations is the menu. Executive Chef and Co-Founder Ype Von Hengst prides himself on menus that use local ingredients and provide variety including vegan, plant-based, vegetarian, gluten-free and low-calorie options, in addition to traditional diner classics. “We want to make sure that no matter your preferences, we have something you’ll love at Silver Diner,” Von Hengst stated.
