701 Kennedy Street, boarded up instead of serving pizza.

by Cesse Ip

Several years ago I was out on a walk with my new baby. It was a bright sunny day, and I saw it. Something large and shiny. I knew what it was.

A pizza oven.

I saw them load the pizza oven into the ground floor of the apartment building at the northwest corner of 7th and Kennedy St NW. The corner store had recently departed, and I remember wondering if another liquor store would take its place in an already saturated market along the Kennedy Street corridor. The pizza oven had the letters “ROTONDA” inscribed in the side, and we found out that the new place, Rotonda, would take the spot on the corner.

A peek at the pizza oven installed at 701 Kennedy Street. Poor thing hasn’t been used.

Pizza is my favorite food. It’s so versatile – breakfast pizza, vegetarian pizza, meat lover pizza, switch out for vegan cheese and boom! vegan pizza. Even if this new place was just mediocre, it was so close to my house that I knew that I would go there frequently.

That baby who saw the pizza oven get delivered with me is now five and started kindergarten a few weeks ago. The pizza place at 701 Kennedy Street is still not open and the likelihood of that happening has decreased to near zero.

Violent crime has also come in waves in the neighborhood, hurting the business’s chance of opening. Nearby former neighbor Cheesemonster at 713 Kennedy St NW departed in March of 2021 after citing sexual assault at the corner.

In July 2020, a shootout happened right in front of 701 Kennedy St NW, breaking glass in one of the building’s street facing windows.

Close up of the bullet hole in one of the windows at 701 Kennedy Street NW

However, it seems that while the crime at the corner certainly didn’t help speed up the opening of Rotonda, it was not the root cause of the delayed opening after the pizza oven was delivered in 2017.

Initially, Uptown Main Street (UMS) members had reached out to the owner to see if they could help with whatever roadblocks he might be facing. According to UMS, he eventually ceased communication and stopped returning their calls. Petworth News reached out to the owner of Rotonda and received no comment.

Recently a bright green vacant sign was posted at the imaginary pizza place on 701 Kennedy Street. The landlord of 701 Kennedy Street has issued an ultimatum to the Rotonda owners that they have until 30 September to open up, or they must vacate the property.

Signs like this don’t point to pizza… they point to abandoned properties.

While the future certainly looks dim for Rotonda, residents of Brightwood Park can find real, hot, delicious pizza at nearby ANXO. Following the closure of its Truxton Circle location earlier this year, ANXO pivoted its efforts to expanding its Kennedy Street location, and started slinging pizzas. According to Sam Fitz, ANXO’s owner, pizza will be staying after they build out a full kitchen and larger menu at their 711 Kennedy St location.

ANXO’s hours are Tuesday-Thursday 4-9pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm, and Sunday 11am-9pm. And they deliver!