Washington, D.C. has lost several notable dining spots in recent weeks, from a polished Georgetown cafe to a casual Adams Morgan hangout. The closures add to the restaurant shutdowns reshaping local dining scenes across America.
These three closings stand out because each served a different part of the city’s restaurant identity: longtime neighborhood dining, international street food and casual late-night flavor.
Kafe Leopold in Georgetown
Kafe Leopold closed June 21 after 21 years in Cady’s Alley, with its final service falling on Father’s Day.
The all-day Austrian cafe had been tucked into Georgetown since 2005 and was known for its bright-white dining room, modern art, courtyard patio and European dishes. Restaurateur Paul Guzzardo, who built the concept from scratch with EastBanc founder Anthony Lanier when the firm developed Cady’s Alley, decided it was time to step away.
In a farewell posted to the restaurant’s website, the team described turning 21 as a magical benchmark, said it had accomplished what it had imagined, and was ready to “hang up our aprons” and begin the next stage of life.
For Georgetown regulars, Kafe Leopold was not just another cafe. It was a tucked-away, European-feeling dining room that turned a quiet corner of Cady’s Alley into a small escape.
Mola in Adams Morgan
Mola closed its slim Adams Morgan location in July.
The casual neighborhood restaurant served empanadas and Panamanian Caribbean flavors at 2438 18th Street NW. The brand began as a small delivery and food-stand operation before moving into brick-and-mortar, opening in the former Donburi/Mokinbird space with a soft opening in late July 2022. Its liquor license described it as a Panamanian-Caribbean quick-service restaurant and cafe with just 10 seats.
Adams Morgan has long been one of D.C.’s most restaurant-heavy neighborhoods, but that also means competition can be brutal. For a 10-seat restaurant, losing even a modest number of regulars can make the math hard.
Mola’s closure removes a distinctive Latin option from a corridor known for global food and late-night energy.
Taïm in Dupont Circle
Taïm suddenly closed its only D.C. location in July.
The Dupont Circle restaurant at 1514 Connecticut Avenue NW opened in September 2020 in a former BGR space and served Israeli street food, including falafel packed with parsley or harissa, fried eggplant pitas and fries with saffron aioli. Washington Post critic Tom Sietsema had once praised the place for achieving falafel nirvana.
The Dupont location followed an earlier Georgetown Taïm, which had already closed. With the Dupont shutdown, the brand no longer has a D.C. store, though locations remain in New York and Chicago.
Eater reported that one speculative cause was construction-related lane closures along Connecticut Avenue NW. That construction is real: DDOT began nighttime and weekend lane closures under Dupont Circle on July 9 as part of the Connecticut Avenue Deckover project, with work expected to run for months. Whatever the reason, the effect for Dupont diners is simple: another quick, flavorful lunch option is gone.
Kafe Leopold, Mola and Taïm were not interchangeable restaurants. One offered refined European cafe dining, one brought Panamanian Caribbean flavors to Adams Morgan and one built its reputation around falafel and fast-casual Israeli street food.
Their closures make D.C.’s dining map a little less varied than it was just a few weeks ago.
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