Food trucks and museum cafeterias are your main food options if you want to eat on the National Mall. But now, the team behind Sonny’s Pizza in Park View is transforming an old tourist kiosk into Bar Americano, a pizza and natural wine bar steps from the National Air and Space Museum. It will open Friday through Sunday this fall beginning Friday, October 18.
The kiosk is one of several on the Mall owned by the National Park Service but operated by a food management company called Guest Services. The Sonny’s team previously contracted with them to open Catboat Pizza Bar on Alexandria’s Daingerfield Island (also National Park Service land) this summer.
“The thing that attracted us to this space in the first place is really that it’s just surrounded by these tree-lined grassy lawns. There’s kind of a little bit of a Parisian feel,” owner Max Zuckerman says.
Bar Americano will offer a big upgrade from the hot dogs and chicken tenders previously sold at the kiosk, which has been closed in recent years. It will open at 9 AM with coffee, hot chocolate, pastries, and focaccia breakfast sandwiches. The menu will be similar to the team’s Park View coffee shop Doubles, including a full espresso bar and drip coffee using local roaster Small Planes. From lunch through 6 PM, the kiosk will serve Sonny’s grandma-style pan pizza slices (cheese, mushroom, pepperoni) and Italian-style focaccia sandwiches (including a veggie option).
Notably, it will also serve canned craft beers, natural wines by the glass or bottle, and spritzes—all of which patrons can enjoy from 10 to 15 patio tables. (Look out for frosé and a draft beer system next spring.)
Zuckerman says they’ve brought in all their own equipment to the kiosk, which has a hidden basement kitchen. While most of their prep will take place at Sonny’s for now, everything will be finished and cooked on-site. Bar Americano will likely close for at least part of the winter and reopen in the spring, probably with an expanded menu and hours.
While Bar Americano will no doubt serve plenty of tourists, Zuckerman hopes to make it a destination for locals and government worker happy hours too.
“Part of what is exciting about this is getting people who live in DC to be, like, ‘Oh we have this incredible resource on the Mall with all these museums and monuments, and it’s all free,'” Zuckerman says. “With some good food and beverage options, we hope we can facilitate people rediscovering that.”
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
