That sign seems to have been making periodic appearances - I recall seeing it up during the fall. This may ultimately be a better location. Think of the possible traffic nightmares on Route 1 in North Old Town if the access was anything at all like that of the local Whole Foods. (granted at WF it really depends on what time you go - too bad we don't have one of those fancy wine bars the new WF store is going to have!)
Still, the thought of a decent grocery store 3 blocks away was a nice one (while it lasted ).

I've also heard about the Harris Teeter on Route 1. A Harris Teeter on Route 1 and S. Glebe would be pretty close to the one at Pentagon Row. Plus there's a Harris Teeter coming to Shirlington.

Across from the Porsche dealer? And just north of the line between Alexandria and Arlington? True, close to the Pentagon Row HT, but the other location would have been fairly close to the new HT on Duke St.

It doesn't surprise me that the Alexandria city fathers and mothers nixed the idea. They now have experience (read congestion) with the WF on Duke and decided that they didn't like it.

In fact, word at a City Council meeting the other night was that Harris Teeter corporate pulled out of the deal after nearly 2 year (or perhaps more) screwing around with the quagmire of Alexandria Planning and Zoning, FARs, Small Area Plans, et cetera, et cetera..."Memo bis punitor delicatum!". Yet another example of our little burg [not] creating a hospitable environment in which to [try and] do business. I guess the upside is that they don't seem to discriminate between large and small businesses...
[stepping off soapbox]

Yes, the new building right across Rt. 1 from the Porsche dealer.

I keep meaning to walk over that way and have a look, but does anyone know if there's work going on at the new Harris Teeter location in Adams Morgan? Is the store still coming?

i walk/drive by every few days. seems like work is progressing....... slooooowwwwlyyyyyy
but a few more signs up here and there, a couple fences - there's definitely work being done, but it doesn't seem like it will be finished any time in the near future

can't wait til it is - only 2 blocks from my apt!

So how's that Harris Teeter in Adams Morgan progressing, anyone know? I've heard that they're actually working on it these days, but I haven't been over there to check it out in a long time.

Originally they were aiming for late Summer to open; however, that's been moved to October. The traffic pattern and other issues haven't been determined yet.

And there's a group of a-hole neighbors that are trying to hold up their beer/wine license. Every day that I live in that neighborhood makes me thing my general neighbors are more and more ludicrous

Ah, yes. Neighborhood politics in Adams Morgan hasn't changed one little bit in the thirty+ years I've lived here.

I have never been to a Harris Teeter but it sounds interesting. The one in Germantown/Darnestown is close to my work so I'm tempted to check it out. How would people rate their meat dept? Are the staff knowledgeable and willing to do custom cuts? Do they dry age their beef? How do the prices compare to WF?

Thx in advance for any and all advice.

I come at this from a much narrower viewpoint. I've only been to the one in Pentagon City. Since I wasn't going to do a bunch of shopping, which I would then have to carry on the Metro, I didn't pay minute attention to the details. I was just impressed with how large and how clean it was. For those of us in AM, the HT is going to give the Safeway a real run for its money. And that is a good thing. At one time, there was a Giant right next door to the Safeway. The SF had a parking lot, though. Then, the SF decided to drive Giant out by expanding the store (using the parking lot) and having a much smaller parking lot underground. The Giant had no way to expand. The resulting price war was beneficial to all of us customers for awhile, but not for long. A couple of "discount" grocery stores tried to make a go of it in that space, but could never out-price the SF. For many, many years the SF has been able to operate with impunity. UNTIL NOW! I'll be interested to see how this all plays out. Since I live on top of hill, walking (or even taking the bus) to Trader Joe's is a piece of cake. Getting back carrying bags is another thing. The same will be true for the HT. It's going to be all uphill on the trip home. Still . . . it will be a much shorter walk than to the WF on P Street, which is also uphill all the way.

I've been there several times in the past two months, and I find their meat department to be excellent. They carry 'natural' beef at very fair prices, and I've gotten custom cuts without a problem from the butchers. I do not recall that they carry dry-aged beef, but you can ask when you go. Overall, I find their personnel to be the most customer-friendly of any chain in the area. It's a refreshing change from the studied indifference found elsewhere, and I believe that they will thrive in this market.

From your mouth to God's ear . . .

Do you think that might help with the Passover selection? (It couldn't hurt.)

Finally went to a Harris Teeter for the first time today (the one up in Darnestown, as I returned from Homestead Farms). I'm not sure what I expected (I think something swanky). It struck me as simply being another grocery store, albeit a nice one, but nothing I would run back to (unless, of course, I wanted a local source of white lily flour--which they do carry!).

Anyone know if the one that is supposed to go in to Columbia, MD is open yet? Or at least under construction?

TIA

I don't know about that one PoolBoy, but the one in the Manassas/Bristow at Linton Hall Rd./Nokesville Rd. opens next Wednesday (June 27th) ...

I was in Columbia recently and took a drive by of Kings Contrivance village center, where the new Harris Teeter is supposed to be built. Here's a status report.

The old Safeway and Friendly's have been completely torn down and the rest of the center looks tiny and like in a war zone, but that is not keeping the folks away from places like Trattoria e Pizzeria, thank goodness. The area where the store is supposed to be erected is all torn up and it looks like pipes, conduits and electrical junctions are all being sorted out. If I were to estimate things, I would not expect this store to be open until right before Thanksgiving AT THE EARLIEST.

Thanks for the update Pool Boy! I live across the street from the Giant in Owen Brown, so I might need to go over and check it out. But truthfully, I don't care what happens to that village center as long as I can still access Trattoria e Pizzeria.

Well that goes without saying!

Actually, I could probably live if Trattoria e Pizzeria closed down. If Vennari's Pizza closed down again, that would be a different story!

The CEO of Harris Teeter recently sent Councilmember Jim Graham an email stating that they were looking at February 2008 (!) to open the Adams Morgan HT. Sigh.

According to this website <http://www.lcor.com/play.html> a new Harris Teeter will be built at White Flint North. Hmm. A new WFM across from White Flint Mall and a new Harris Teeter at the next intersection...

The Washington Biz Journal says, "A 312-unit apartment complex and a 60,000-square-foot Harris Teeter supermarket will be the first buildings completed, sometime in the second quarter of 2008."

I have been past that intersection several times in the past few days and haven't noticed much in the way of construction, though I seem to remember commenting that the driving range must be incredibly valuable real estate, and the noticing that the driving range was gone. And the gardening center has been gone for a while now.

Ellen

The store at S. Glebe Rd. and rte. 1 in Alexandria or Arlington has signs saying that it is now open.

Opening date for the Adams Morgan Harris Teeter is now March 2008

I was just inquiring about the opening of the Capitol Hill store and someone gave me the same date for that store's opening...though I have no idea if this person actually knows anything about this.

That's what we're hearing from Wilson Reynolds as well, so we think it's gotta be true. For the love of god I need this place to open ASAP. My condo is sitting on the market right across the street from there. Part of the holdup has been these "friendly neighbors" at the dorchester who have thought they could hold up the HT beer/wine selling license to derail the entire project. These folks have protested at every step of the way even though the majority of the neighbors want HT to be there. In January the traffic pattern around that HT will change to all one ways flowing in from Kalorama at 16th I believe, north on 17th street and out at whatever that cross street is that I'm forgetting.


If anyone wants a 2 BR/2 BA condo with it's own parking space right across the street from the new Harris Teeter (and my windows don't look on to the harris teeter, they look on to my private patio) you just let me know.

J

The Harris Teeter at Shirlington is now open. It's 24 hours and has 2 floors. Wine and drugstore type products are on the second floor. I still think there are a lot of Harris Teeters in that immediate area - we have one in Shirlington, at Pentagon Row, and on Route 1 near Target. Not to mention there's one in Ballston.

I have found that in the Harris Teeter stores where the wine is upstairs on a second floor (like Ballston), it gets ridiculously hot in the wine area. The Pentagon row store, where the wine is on the same level with the rest of the groceries and refrigerator cases is okay. But I would never buy wine from a hot upstairs space like the Ballston store. It's guaranteed to be heat-damaged if it spends any time up there.

April 23rd for the opening of the Harris Teeter in Adams Morgan. Finally (hopefully).

Confirmed! April 23.

Does anyone know anything about the expected date for the Capitol Hill East opening? It seems like it's been years...

Living only a few blocks away, I can't tell you how excited I am about this. I feel like attending the ribbon cutting ceremony!

OhMiGod it's open, it's actually open!

The funny thing was, I wasn't really all that excited about this. Possibly because I've been driving past the "coming soon" sign for three years. But now that it is actually open? Bliss! Fruit that I can carry home and not have it be half-spoilt. Shelves that are actually stocked with normal, useful things like toilet paper and paper towels. Wine and beer.

Best of all? there are now people walking up and down my street at all hours that *aren't* drunk or selling drugs.

There's something akin to a "soft opening" in mid May. I believe they called it a Taste Teeter or something and are doing a ribbon cutting then.

I was at the pentagon city store yesterday and got really excited--they had mangosteen and loquats!
sadly the 2 mangosteens I ate ( melissa's brand, a pack of 4 for $10) were past their prime, beginning to brown inside and just tasted sweet and slightly spoiled.
the loquats were ok though. not fully ripe, so didn't have full flavor, but ok nonetheless.

Dropped in Saturday afternoon -- a step up from the Safeway and conveniently on my walk home, but I wasn't blown away.

Well, it's a large step up from the Safeway stores I'm used to. A lot of it lies in the expectations and what you are used to personally. We stopped by on the way home tonight. A quick left off 16th and we were there. Free parking. Tons of spaces, not very crowded at 6:30pm. I actually thought the selection was nice for the sq footage they have. We were able to pick up the few things we were out of and were on our way. But then again, I grew up with only Giant and Safeway as options. Local Magruders and SFW were exciting when they came into my neck of the woods. Now there is variety and competition, which is a good thing. Depending on which route we take home, we now can directly swing by WF (DC), Harris Teeter, Safeway (Takoma), WF (SS), Giant (SS) or Magruders (SS.) And with a small deviation, we can stop by Trader Jose's. I"m loving it.

Linky to Article

According to the article, the Harris Teeter in Columbia will open on May 20th. I was in that shopping center grabbing pizza last Friday and it looked almost open then with lots of folks wandering up to the door to peer inside. The store looks like it'll be quite large and I think it'll be open 24/7, too.

FINALLY!!

I hate to say it, but I wasn't blown away either. Didn't seem like the products they were carrying were all that different from Safeway. Would have been better if it was a Whole Foods. That said, I am very glad there is an alternative to Safeway (the HT is much, much nicer inside) and I'm hoping that it spurs some competition to get Safeway to improve. HT did have a few interesting things, though, especially at the meat and seafood counters. A variety of fresh sausages, rock shrimp in the shell (never seen those anywhere before-- strange looking suckers... kinda like shrimp armadillos), fresh wahoo (the 'catch of the day' at $3.99). I walked away with some great fresh flounder for only $4.99/lb.

That's my experience as well with HT in general, however, for someone who is unable to function in the kitchen without a few southern staples (e.g., White Lily flour), HT makes me very happy. It is also the best alternative I've found for produce when I can't get to a Grand Mart. It's been ages since I bought produce in a Safeway or Giant around here. It always looks old and tired. We're about to move and my store will now be at Glebe and US 1 instead of Shirlington.

The plastic bag our (soaked) newspaper arrived in this morning advertised the Potomac Avenue (Capitol Hill) Harris Teeter opening on May 14th.

It's open! And it is a thing of beauty to behold. I believe the sq. footage rivals the store in Pentagon Row, and has many of the ongoing specials ($1.99/lb for beef ribs, for example) and all of the ready-made food stations (sushi, fancy desserts, etc.). It even has a wine and beer section, omg.

My days at the Way of Safe are over!

AM Teeter. Fava beans $1.99 (I think)/lb with VIC card. Also get coupon in lobby for $5.00 off any purchase of $25.00 or more.
Oh and they have a blood pressure machine near the pharmacy. I'm not ready for statins yet . Hanging boston ferns for 9.99 are also pretty nice but I think they might be a bit root bound.

We've now stopped in to the HT in AM twice on the way home from work. So convenient, parking a breeze. And the staff at the store is incredibly nice and helpful. Now that may wear off, but to have a store that is pleasant to do one's shopping is reason enough to bring me back. How often does one leave a store with a smile on their face?

I had called to inquire about their custom cakes, since on my first visit I noticed the large assortment in the case. I've ordered cakes at Bread & Chocolate, Washington Deli, Heidelberg, Giant, Costco, WF and probably every other bakery in the District. Again, the customer service here was incredible. I will definitely order from them again, even before anyone has tasted the cake! It's a Strawberry Shortcake--when I asked if they had one, the baker suggested a filled cake with fresh strawberries on top, covered with whipped cream icing. It looks gorgeous and delicious, and my husband had a sample of a strawberry from the tasting bins, and said they were incredibly sweet. The cake will be cut before the end of the day, so I'll report back with the feedback from the office. Unfortunately, I can't eat strawberries myself but my husband was impressed enough by the flavor to buy a large container of strawberries for himself.

(Oh and I definitely used the $5 coupon! The checker forgot to scan it however, but she caught it, and immediately a manager was there saying "follow me, I'll take care of it". Lickety split and I was given a $5 bill. These people seem genuinely happy in their working environment.)

I stopped in yesterday to pick up more bags for the handi-vac I got from the giveaway at Eastern Market Saturday. I got hopelessly lost in the store and couldn't find my way back to the front . The design of it is very unusual--lots of curves and angles. It's definitely not a square box store. The only comparable experience I've had in terms of getting lost in a grocery store was Central Market in Austin.

Customer service was good, and I liked the express checkout right by the front door. It was perfect for what I had.

I hit the store again today to get the last-minute things I need to prepare for the picnic, as well as a few other odds and ends. I found everything on my list (which rarely, if ever, happens when I go to the neighborhood Safeway), plus something I'd been looking for at various stores for some time. (Sherry vinegar--sometimes it's fairly easy to find, and other times I can't find it anywhere. Odd. I don't care for the bottle I have and I don't know if it's that bottle or what, but I haven't been able to find any more.) While I did get lost again, I didn't get as lost as I did last time .