All About Burger at 2414 Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park has closed. The owners, Ebrahim (Abraham) and Mohammad Esfahani, made no official announcement though the Google listing, ToastTab ordering and All About Burger website location all have been disconnected. A sign in the window reads “Closed Today”, which has been up for weeks. Options grow thin for getting a good cheeseburger close by under $10 these days.
The Esfahani's have three other All About Burger locations, with a fourth coming in Chinatown. The joint down the street at 1424 Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown previously named Mono Burger was re-branded (co-branded) as Mono by All About Burger. The location appears to get better sit-down traffic compared to Glover Park. The Esfahani's owned and operated a number of Z-Burger restaurants years ago with their business partner Peter (Payam) Tabibian. They had a falling-out starting around 2014 which resulted in a legal battle and a settlement which allowed Peter to run with the Z-Burger brand while the disagreement spawned All About Burger, which the Esfahani’s used for their restaurants.
Glover Park has a history of challenges in keeping restaurants in the neighborhood, in part due to a liquor license moratorium intended to restrict the proliferation of alcohol-fueled entertainment venues, which some say have disturbed the peace. In recent years, Covid lockdowns and the economic fallout have impacted the probability of success of restaurants not only in Glover Park but throughout the city. Glover Park has 27 eating establishment properties, with eight of them currently vacant, some for many years. This is a 30% vacancy rate, which is quite high compared to past years and decades. The restaurants that vacated, which has left the properties vacant currently, are: Sweetgreen, Café Romeo’s, Laliguras, Bourbon, Heritage India, Social Beast, Mason Inn and All About Burger. Each of these has a story behind it which you can browse in past blog posts. Sweetgreen will be occupied by a rug store soon, Café Romeo will become a gyro/kabob fast food shop if they can navigate zoning issues and ANC backlash, and Bourbon will be converted to a single family home after seven years of vacancy, strangely enough.
Chris Jones
Thanks Chris, for the insight on All About Burger. Yes, I sit here at work dreaming about Le Caprice restaurant in Glover Park! I remember vividly walking in there on a Monday night, their couscous night, and being told this would be their last Monday night. Owner raising rent, and we're pulling the plug. Their cassoulet was also exquisite. Fast forward to Max's Best, raising the rent, can't cope with that, see you later. Let's not forget Enzio's, Italian, where whole food is now located. Congratulations to John Snedden, Rocklands, seems like his business model and customer rapport is right on point.