Georgetown's Holiday Errand Run Has Moved Up Wisconsin Avenue

At 10 a.m., the door opens at 1003 Wisconsin Avenue NW and the first trays of the day's stroopwafels go out. Hans and Maaike Ravesteijn, the father-daughter team behind Dutch Darlings, bake each one by hand every day, and the Georgetown BID's opening notice told people to arrive at opening because the shop expects to sell out early. The flavors rotate with the season. October's lineup included maple pecan, s'mores and cinnamon streusel, along with a Stroopwafel Latte and a shelf of Dutch and European goods.

Dutch Darlings sits at the bottom of a pattern that runs six blocks up the hill. This fall, Georgetown's new arrivals split by street. On Wisconsin Avenue between K Street and Q Street, the openings are small shops that sell food, pantry goods and giftable things. On M Street, they are national apparel and retail brands in large footprints. For stocking stuffers, host gifts and something warm to carry, the new addresses line up along Wisconsin.

Six blocks, read from the bottom of the hill

Taken in address order, the stretch works as a single list of errands. Here is how it stands this week.

Bombas is the one apparel name on the list, and it fits the gift-run pattern too. The comfort-focused sock brand opened its first Washington store at 1400 Wisconsin on Aug. 14. Co-founder Randy Goldberg is a Georgetown University alum, and the company's One Purchased = One Donated model comes with every pair. Purée keeps hours suited to a morning start: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. At the top, Olli's noon-to-10 p.m. schedule makes it the latest stop on the walk.

The 1300 block turns into a gift counter

The densest part of the stretch is a single block. Spicewalla, the small-batch spice brand from chef Meherwan Irani and the Chai Pani team, chose 1317 Wisconsin for its second brick-and-mortar store, with Friday, Nov. 6 named as opening day. The store sits right next door to East Fork, the Asheville pottery maker that is also from North Carolina, The Georgetowner reported. East Fork's own locations page lists its Georgetown shop at 1313 Wisconsin as coming fall/winter 2026.

Spicewalla told The Georgetowner the store will be "a full-blown sensory experience." It will stock the brand's individual spices, exclusive blends, gift-ready collections and collaboration products, including one with T-Pain. It will also carry snacks, condiments and other pantry goods from Washington-area makers. On its own blog, Spicewalla says it timed the opening for gift season. It names its 18-Pack Kitchen Essentials Collection as its best-selling gift year after year and lists hot chocolate tins in Classic, Mexican, Chai Spiced, Cinnamon Roll and Peppermint as stocking stuffers and teacher gifts.

The Georgetown store also follows a recent opening farther up the same avenue. Irani's team opened Botiwalla in Tenleytown on Wisconsin Avenue just weeks before the Georgetown date.

Across the street at 1300 Wisconsin, in the former Pressed Juicery space, Dolcezza Gelato is slated to open in late fall or early winter. That corner shop will be the company's seventh location. Taken together, a spice shop, a pottery shop and a gelato counter at one intersection make the 1300 block the natural midpoint of the walk.

A gelato shop coming home to the block where it started

Dolcezza's return shows why this stretch of Wisconsin keeps drawing food businesses. Robb Duncan and Violeta Edelman founded the company in Georgetown in 2004. In a Sept. 3 social media post, quoted by The Georgetowner, they described where it began:

"over 22 years ago when we set out on this beautiful titanic journey, it was in a 300 sq ft kitchen on wisconsin avenue & q street nw. we left our georgetown kitchen in 2013 to open our factory in the union market neighborhood .. & now we return .. down the street from where it started & it feels so sweet."

That first kitchen at Wisconsin and Q is 1560 Wisconsin, three blocks above the new shop, and it now holds Delhi Belly. Owners Vikas Kakkar and Raj Manroy opened the restaurant in August with a casual menu inspired by urban food culture in India. According to The Georgetowner, the corner has hosted a run of operators over the years, including La Jolie Bleue, Bharati and Oakberry. Small storefronts like these let a food business test a concept, grow out of it, and come back at a different address on the same avenue. Dolcezza did exactly that over 22 years, moving from Q Street down to the 1300 block.

Yellow at 1524 Wisconsin follows the same model. Michael Rafidi, the chef who owns Albi and La' Shukran, runs the café on Wisconsin Avenue, and his next Georgetown project, Bizzeria, is headed to an alley entrance off Potomac Street behind 3246 Prospect St. NW.

Where M Street's new arrivals point instead

M Street's fall arrivals look different. Uniqlo opened a 22,618-square-foot store at 3262 M St. NW on Aug. 28, with Japanese taiko drum performances on opening day. The names announced for the corridor are mostly national retail brands: Pop Mart, the Beijing-based designer toy company, at 3221 M; Kith, the sneaker-and-streetwear label, at 3040 M next to Barnes & Noble, according to Old Georgetown Board filings reported by UrbanTurf; and Edikted, a women's clothing retailer, in a 3,890-square-foot space at 3135 M that Allbirds used to occupy.

Those are destination stores, built for a dedicated shopping trip. The Wisconsin Avenue openings are a few hundred square feet of stroopwafels, spice tins and frozen yogurt, and you can work through several of them in an hour on foot. The 3300 block of M and Cady's Alley still hold the design showrooms, where Adriana Hoyos recently opened at 3328 M St. NW. For a short list of edible and practical gifts, though, Wisconsin is the shorter walk.

One block east of Wisconsin, the alley section of Hamilton Collective at 1228½ 31st St. NW adds dinner to the route. Chefs Alex McCoy and Justin Ahn opened Alfie's there on Sept. 2, a northern Thai restaurant and natural wine bar. McCoy told Washingtonian, as The Georgetowner reported, that the team "worked really hard to make this place feel like it had been here for 40 or 50 years." Flora Pizzeria opened next door on Sept. 14 and makes its dough with a natural leaven, organic flour and Sicilian sea salt.

Two Friday afternoons in December

The BID's holiday programming is also built around Georgetown's smaller spaces. Its calendar lists Deck the Alleys Georgetown for Friday, Dec. 5 and Friday, Dec. 12, from 3 to 6 p.m. Three alleys and courtyards will have festive lights, live music, food and drinks, and free seasonal activities. According to the event page, dozens of retailers and restaurants will take part with offers and events of their own. Check the Georgetown BID's event page for timing before you head out.

Because the event starts at 3 p.m., a Dec. 5 or Dec. 12 afternoon on Wisconsin works best in this order:

1. Start at Dutch Darlings at 1003 Wisconsin. Early in the day is best, since the shop expects to sell out.
2. Walk up to the 1300 block for spice tins and pantry gifts at Spicewalla, and check whether East Fork and Dolcezza have opened their doors.
3. Stop at Bombas at 1400 Wisconsin for socks to fill stockings.
4. Head to the alleys between 3 and 6 p.m.
5. Have dinner at Alfie's or Flora on 31st Street, one block east, or at Delhi Belly at Wisconsin and Q, then finish at Olli at 1624 Wisconsin, which serves until 10 p.m.

The whole route, from K Street up to Q Street, covers six blocks of Wisconsin Avenue.

Small shops like these, in older storefronts with real character, are a big part of what makes a Georgetown block feel like home, and they come up again and again when we prepare a listing nearby. If you're curious how this new stretch of Wisconsin Avenue fits into your own home's story, Rebecca Weiner Group would be glad to talk it through. Let's Connect: schedule a free home consultation and custom valuation.