Philly Pizza & Grill will appear in D.C. Superior Court Friday for a hearing that will likely result in the establishment’s closure the same day, marking the final straw in the owner’s struggle to stay open despite a Feb. 19 order enforcing the removal of its certificate of occupancy, according to Vice Chairman of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission-2E Bill Starrels.
Owner Mehmet Kocak has been subjected to fines while his business has remained open illegally, Starrels said. The local late-night favorite among college students has been open daily for limited business hours, until midnight, according to a Philly Pizza employee.
The D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs had issued Philly Pizza a notice to end illegal use of the location on Feb. 19.
“Philly’s is in violation of the orders of the DCRA. There’s not much we can do but follow the rules here of the District and let the law take its course,” Starrels said.
While Philly Pizza continued to operate as of press time, some students said they were unaware its doors were still open.
“I originally thought Philly’s was closed this weekend and then found out later it was open,” Lindsay McDonnell (NHS ’11) said.
The confusion regarding the Potomac Street business’s operating status led to a shift in student traffic in the area this weekend, according to local business owners.
Sam Wazzeh, the manager of Quick Pita, located across the street from Philly Pizza, said, “The student traffic [on the street] was less than before.”
At Tuscany Café, a late-night eatery located on Prospect Street between Potomac Street and Wisconsin Avenue, the daytime manager has noticed an upswing in business.
“I think this weekend’s [number of customers] was significantly better than the weekend before,” he said.
Some Georgetown students capitalized on the perceived absence of Philly Pizza by selling pizza and baked goods at Healy Gates late at night this weekend. Nick Joosten (COL ’13), the treasurer of the pledge class for Alpha Kappa Psi, a business fraternity with a Georgetown chapter, organized the event, which garnered an overall profit of over $240 by selling baked goods and Domino’s Pizza on Friday and Saturday nights from 11 p.m. until 2:30 a.m. Joosten said he intends to sell pizza again in the coming weekends, yet plans to begin selling at midnight and stop selling at 2:30 a.m.
“People didn’t know if Philly’s was closed or not,” Joosten said. “They are supposed to be closed, so I used that to advertise – `Philly’s is closed, get your pizza here.'”
Kocak, and his lawyer Patrick Brown Jr. declined to comment on the situation.
