Penn Social Almost Didn’t Make It. Now It’s Reopening With a New Feel.
Penn Social almost didn’t make it through the pandemic. Google still thinks it’s closed permanently. Co-owner Geoff Dawson even penned a letter to investors in June to deliver the bad news, but something told him not to hit send. Then he got an email announcing that the Small Business Administration approved his enormous, two-floor bar and entertainment venue for a $2.8 million Restaurant Relief Fund grant.
Now not only is Penn Social reopening on Aug. 26, just in time for football season, but the restaurant group behind the project, Tin Shop, has rethought the street-level space. Come October, it will reopen as Little Penn, a daytime coffeehouse and nighttime bar complete with a podcast studio that you can see from the street. Starting at 7 a.m. you’ll be able to order Astro Doughnuts, Compass Coffee, and bagels. Little Penn will also serve lunch and dinner. The bar will be open all day.
Dawson thinks the 80-seat Little Penn patio will draw people in. “We’re making it the place that if you’re a resident, if workers ever return downtown, or if you’re visiting D.C. and are coming from Portrait Gallery, the patio will be a beacon,” he says.