DonRocks Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 A Higgs boson walks into a church. When the priest tries to shoo him out, he protests: .... "Without me, there will be no mass!" I'm hearing further confirmation Radius has closed, and not in a pretty way. It's a shame, because we had two lovely dr.com dinners there (and, as always, I very much appreciate when a restaurant gives a link to donrockwell.com on their website). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catharine Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 I'm hearing further confirmation Radius has closed, and not in a pretty way. It's a shame, because we had two lovely dr.com dinners there (and, as always, I very much appreciate when a restaurant gives a link to donrockwell.com on their website). I'm so very sad to hear this. Todd & Nicole, like most restauranteurs, really invested themselves in this endeavor. I always enjoyed the food and their warm hospitality. I didn't get there nearly as often as I would have liked, but it was always a nice treat to discover the specials that Chef Todd whipped up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferhat Yalcin Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Opening a restaurant is very hard. Whether you use your own capital or with an investor. It is harder for owner chefs because this is a dream of their lifetime. There is a ton of emotions involved. Many nights without sleep, many days of planning how to make things work. After all the restaurant becomes your baby. You have to take care of it consistently, make changes, update the menu, make new drinks, back of the house stuff, dealing with employees, payroll...etc. There is a lot of things need to be done on a daily basis. Amount of work can not be compared to an office or a construction job. Hardest part of all these is to see your doors shut. Somehow you are dictated to stop. Whatever the reasons are. Very very depressing. Humiliating or a big embarrassment for some. Nobody wants to be known as a loser. Nobody would want to hear `that guy did not make it!!`. However, not everything is controlled by the chefs, owners or the employees. Todd and Nicole, You brought a great, lively restaurant to life. With a lot of attention to details and everything from scratch. I truly enjoyed my many meals at Radius. You made a restaurant very successful. I wish I could support you more often. I wish many people did support you more often. I do not believe the bad rumors that are online. I am very sure that you guys had a very very solid reason to close. There is no shame in here. I only believe you both should be proud. After all you put a lot of work and time for your restaurant and did not cheat anybody. Shame is for chefs/owners who consistently cheats on employees and government and comes back out like nothing happened. You both are my friends and will remain friends both in real life and on my webpage http://eatfishnet.com/index.php/about-us/friends . I wish you the best!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillvalley Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Yesterday after work I was half way there before I realized I had no place to go. For many of us it was our Cheers. JC had your drink ready when you walked in the door. I've talked with a couple of people who were also regulars and it seems to be the lack of warning of closure that is the hardest part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deangold Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 There is something stupid about trying to own an independent restaurant and it requires a suspension of common sense on the owners part. Knowing that it isn't going to work is not an easy admission for anyone to make. If you loved the place, think about how much they loved it and how painful it is for them to have "loved and lost." Running a small business these days can make even the most wonderful of people have to do things they would not do in other situations. I don't know them, but my heart goes out to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sphere777 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Thank you for all the wonderful pizza and goodies that you made for us. The Radius meals for DR were wonderful and I hope to see your cuisine in other contexts soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rieux Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Maybe not closed? http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2012/07/11/radius-pizza-closed-not-so-fast/ Although if the new owners take it in the direction it looks like they will, it will be a sad replacement for the real Radius. Mt. Pleasant needs the real Radius, it is the only decent option in the neighborhood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Maybe not closed? http://www.washingto...ed-not-so-fast/ Although if the new owners take it in the direction it looks like they will, it will be a sad replacement for the real Radius. Mt. Pleasant needs the real Radius, it is the only decent option in the neighborhood. I wouldn't write off Matt Culbertson so quickly. Mt. Pleasant would be very fortunate to have a Cowboy Cafe, circa 2010. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rieux Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 That's good news! I will withold judgement until after it opens (which I should have done anyway!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giant shrimp Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 We were out of town when the closing happened, but I am surprised that nobody seemed to notice that most of the specials evaporated from the menu for the last month or so. Ther website, which was always on its toes, was not updated since the spring. Business moved steadily downward. I don't know why, though if you went for the best things on the menu, the prices were not bargain basement, if that's what the neighborhood was looking for. The place could be half empty on a Saturday night. The last time we were there, Nicole was gone and Todd was spraying down tables. He said there was no pasta because of a family emergency, which sounded better than our freshly hired server's explanation that they had run out. Yes, two or three weeks ago, I told him. I don't know what was going on in the kitchen, but fried onion rings were an embarrassment, disintegrating in grease, three for $6. The meal was saved by a pork belly sandwich. We used to go here instead of Palena Cafe to save money, that's how good the food could be, and they served a mean martini, one of the best in town. A five or 10 minute walk over to 14th Street will get you to the Pinch, where they have stiff drinks and overly generous hamburgers. Up on their wall is a photographic print of a mother nursing, which I suppose is their stand on the issue of mothers breast feeding at restaurants, or bars. This is obviously not the same kind of place as Radius, just a somewhat sketchy alternative for anyone interested. We will miss Radius, but I can't believe that Todd's cooking won't eventually be popping up somewhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rieux Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Reopening next week! http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2012/10/11/radius-pizza-in-mount-pleasant-will-reopen-next-week/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielK Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Opened last week; new website. Stopped in last night late (around 10p). Looks nearly the same on the inside - a few new wall decorations, but same furniture and arrangement. The "Irving" (sausage/red onion/basil/mozzarella) was as good as the pizzas previously were. High quality ingredients, good balance, and NY style pies. Matt (new owner) was a friendly and talkative host, I'm sure at least in part that shortly after we arrived we were the only patrons. He hopes to have the liquor license in place around mid-November, and plans a short but high quality list of beers, wines, and a full bar featuring classic cocktails. Immediately again the best (only?) place for a good meal in Mt. Pleasant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadarene Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Immediately again the best (only?) place for a good meal in Mt. Pleasant. If we extend this past sitdown restaurants, the kimchee stew at Adam Express is one of my favorite dishes in the city. The textures, the wonderful sour spiciness...yum. Anyway, my girlfriend and I stopped by Radius on Tuesday and were one of three parties there. The food is very good, and I look forward to exploring the menu further. We started with some garlic bread and the fried cauliflower, both of which were very tasty. She then ordered the mixed mussels and clams in the red broth, and I had the spaghetti bolognese with brocolli; I'd recommend both (and both come with garlic bread, so our initial order was probably redundant). The portions are also quite reasonable for the price, and when my girlfriend tried to order a salad with her mussels and clams, the owner warned her that it would probably be too much food. Can't wait for the liquor license too; Last Exit just doesn't do it for me in terms of cocktails, and I'd love to have a neighborhood spot to get a good drink. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rieux Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Finally tried the new radius last night. The owner was super friendly and they had just gotten their liquor license that day, so we were able to enjoy a nice salice salentino with our dinner. The pizzas are huge! Even the small was a good deal for the price, easily the size of a "normal" large. Loved the Irving, liked the other pizza we got, and friend liked the bolognese. My only minor quibbles were that the sauce for the pizza was a touch too sweet for my taste and the service from the server (not the owner) was a little distracted. Still, nice to have a place like this back in the neighborhood, and I am sure we will be there a lot. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giant shrimp Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 A steady flow of customers could be the one thing holding this reincarnated restaurant back. I'm not so sure opening without a liquor license was the smart thing to do for this former watering hole, and even a few days after the license was received it's still too early to tell if the availability of liquor will provide a shot in the arm. Tonight, only wine and a few beers were available, with the bar shrouded in eerie darkness. The serving of lasagna here is large enough to just about serve as an entree for two, but it is as bland as it is generous, with a disproportionate amount of lean ground beef. If more people were ordering it -- which would have been impossible at the time of our visit early on a Saturday evening because we were the only ones there -- maybe it would not have been refrigerated ahead of time and warmed in the oven to a tepid exterior and cool center. If my mother had served this old standby at the family table, we might have thought she was having an uninspired night, but nobody would have cited it as evidence that she couldn't cook. Pasta was one of the strengths of the former owners, showing off some of the razzle dazzle of the kitchen, and this unpretentious dish did not impress me as coming even close as a worthy contender. The Mount Pleasant pizza also suffers from a slight case of the blahs, asembling four different meats -- pepperoni, prosciutto, pepperoncini and sopressetta -- that don't seem to be doing that much to help each other stand out along with OK sauce and mozzarella. The crust is sturdy without building up much excitement in flavor or texture. Pizzas under the previous owners -- especially the specials -- were significantly more ambitious than this, although they also became inconsistent and almost inedible at times. The decor has not changed markedly in the transition, although there are now some amusing, perhaps inadvertent allusions to Firefly, where the previous cook can now be found. These include pendant mason jars over the tables, which appear dangeroulsy heavier than the previous lighting fixtures. Hopefully no one will find out by knocking into them with their heads. That happened all the time with the old fixtures, which were forgivingly light when you made contact with them. The check is presented in a mason jar, without the airhole-punched lids and lighting devices that come with the original Firefly version. We left wondering about the restaurant's electrical circuitry after the lights flickered persistently and annoyingly throughout our hour-long meal -- though not as often as fireflies. As it now stands, this seems like a neighborhood restaurant in the making -- offering decent food that's not worth going too far out of your way for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Culbertson Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 It's funny don these people not only licked their plates clean but also took home what was left of a huge pizza (one slice) and then comparing it to firefly did not make any sense it seems to me some people are just never satisfied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 It's funny don these people not only licked their plates clean but also took home what was left of a huge pizza (one slice) and then comparing it to firefly did not make any sense it seems to me some people are just never satisfied. (Is this Matt?) I don't think this was a trashing at all; merely an early report, complete with kinks - I think the comparison with Firefly was merely observational, not judgmental. giant shrimp is very good at reporting detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Culbertson Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Hey everyone radius now has a news letter that keeps everyone in the loop for the week. We have also got new weekly specials that are quite a deal. Our menu specials have been quite good with a lot of new ideas some coming from our roots in new Orleans. On the weekends we have a homemade punch bowl that is always appreciated. We look forward to seeing some new faces as well as the regulars. You can also find our specials every day on are Facebook page. Look forward to seeing you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Culbertson Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Now with the start of spring radius pizza starts bbq. Every week we do a different house made bbq and throw it on one of our pizzas. This week it's bbq brisket with red onion and house made pickles with a bbq sauce drizzle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I want to welcome Matt back - his return means a lot to me personally, as he had a terrible scare a little over a year ago (I include this link with his blessings - the gravity of his injury is very much understated there). There were times when, from my limited perspective, I was honestly wondering if he was going to survive, and what type of shape he'd be in if he did. Although I don't know this, I suspect Matt and Lenka have considerable medical bills that have piled up, and as a community, we've always rallied for people - my guess is that a dollar spent at Radius is a dollar well-spent. Very glad to have you back, Matt! [Note that he changed his member name from "baldy66" to "Matt Culbertson" - I do encourage, but don't require, others to do the same ... just send me a PM, and I can have this done for you in 2 minutes.] 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Culbertson Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Surf & Turf Saturdays Radius pizza is starting surf and turf Saturday's with grilled marinated steak and fried fish. Also with summer coming, look for some good bbq! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Surf & Turf Saturdays Radius pizza is starting surf and turf Saturday's with grilled marinated steak and fried fish. Also with summer coming, look for some good bbq! Much appreciated, Matt! (I asked Matt to post here occasionally to keep readers abreast of what's going on at Radius - this is exactly the type of information that I (as a member of the dining public) want to know about). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielK Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Spotted on their Facebook page just moments ago: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhone1998 Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 Sadly, Radius has been a shadow of its former self for a quite a while now. Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rieux Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 1 hour ago, Rhone1998 said: Sadly, Radius has been a shadow of its former self for a quite a while now. Â This is unfortunately true. Â I used to be in Radius weekly some time ago but the menu/quality just seemed to slip and I can't even remember the last time I have been in there (18 months ago, at least). Â Every time I walked past it was empty. Â I hope something good goes in the location, given I live 2 blocks away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rieux Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 New concept coming in:Â http://www.popville.com/2017/02/mola-spanish-restaurants-from-owners-of-nido-coming-to-mount-pleasant/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now