Thanks for all the thoughts and posts and definitely keep them coming! I will consider them all as I make decisions for the future and keep y'all updated!
Couple more thoughts/responses:
I agree that there should be plenty of tourist/business traveller traffic given the hotels in the area. Perhaps P St just doesn't do a good job or marketing because they tend to trek to Georgetown for dinner instead of stay in the neighborhood. Also, maybe it's the lack of family friendly restaurants. It seems that outside of Pizzeria Paradiso, there really aren't any.
Parking - I noticed as well that there was a great Valet service from 5pm - 10pm every evening for only $5. Best deal in the city. Once again, marketing.
Rent and Taxes - I definitely agree here and along with the liquor license moratorium find these to be the biggest barriers of entry. Restaurants are a tough business and though I would love to sell the best food in the best location at the cheapest price, it's tough to cover the high rent and high taxes that go along with that location when you have a limited amount of seats and hours to do it in since no matter what, there are only so many prime hours of the day that people eat. Hence this posting and all the requests for opinions...I would rather do my due diligence and make sure if I'm fortunate enough to open a place, it can sustain itself with moderate pricing. For instance, I've heard good things as well about Mark and Orlando's and I suspect that the only way they could sustain the low prices upstairs was with the higher prices downstairs but that resulted in Orlando's taking more of a beating for the higher prices and subsequent higher expectations. Unfortunately, with the rent demands and cost of a liquor license, it just might not be possible to sustain a moderately priced place in that area, in which case those locations will just stay vacant until someone with bigger cohones than I comes around. Call me unsophisticated but I am not in the high priced restaurant business and have never understood the value of three digit meals for anything but the most special of occasions.
Jewish Deli - Sorry Elyssa. That actually does sound great but the best Jewish delis I've been to are the most authentic and disappointingly, I do not have the skills or resources to even attempt to replicate them. I promise to have a mean sandwich or two on the lunch menu in honor of your suggestion though.
Thanks! Look forward to hearing more....