Popular Riverdale Park-based restaurant 2Fifty BBQ will open a much-anticipated new location in D.C.’s Mount Vernon Triangle on Saturday, Jan. 13.

Located at 414 K St. NW, near Founding Farmers, the new location will serve a meat-market style of barbecue in which customers can specify the exact weight of the serving they want, a popular way of serving barbecue in Texas.

“This will allow our customers to have more control over their budget whenever they visit us, allowing them to order any quantity they want instead of a fixed pound/half pound,” co-owner Fernando and Debby Gonzalez told the Hyattsville Wire.

The new space will allow 2Fifty to branch out. The restaurant has doubled the capacity of its Riverdale Park smokehouse, which will handle all proteins for both locations while the Mount Vernon location cooks all sides, sauces and bread.

The kitchen space at the Mount Vernon location will also allow 2Fifty to permanently add pulled lamb and whole hog to its menu, which had previously been rotating specials.

The restaurant, which has been named one of the most-anticipated openings in D.C. by Axios and Eater D.C., will be open from 11 a.m. until it runs out of meat, Wednesdays through Mondays.

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A Riverdale Park locksmith has gone mobile-only and shut his brick-and-mortar store after 64 years, due to lingering effects of the pandemic.

Ernie’s Lock Co. was started in 1960 by Ernie and Elsa Boswell and changed hands several times before current owner Eric Paretino took over.

Throughout that time, it maintained a storefront at 4500 Queensbury Rd., a block from the historic Riverdale Park town center.

Walk-in customers, including contractors, large commercial accounts and landlords, would buy new locks and have keys duplicated by hand.

But Paretino told the Hyattsville Wire that walk-in business dropped dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic and has never recovered.

“2019 was one of the best I’ve had in years, so no one saw that coming,” he said.

He said that the pandemic caused many landlords to shift to buying cheap new doorknobs on Amazon and then throwing them away rather than hiring a locksmith to re-key the doors once or twice a year.

Paretino shut the storefront just before new year’s and now runs the business out of a van kitted out with his equipment and his home workspace in Bowie.

He’s still offering the same services at the same website, email and phone number, but he’ll have to come to customers. He recommended that landlords and others who regularly have locksmith needs set up an account.

Paretino is in the process of selling the building where the locksmith was located, but it’s unclear yet what the new owners will do with the space.

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Hyattsville native Kendra McIntyre is featured as a dancer in the new film remake of “The Color Purple.”

A 2010 graduate of Northwestern High, McIntyre used to hold classes and workshops at Joe’s Movement Emporium in Mount Rainier as a dance educator, performed at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park and worked with Prince George’s County students before moving to Los Angeles

McIntyre, who studied dance at Temple University, also worked as a middle school dance teacher in Montgomery County prior to heading out West.

While supporting herself by offering private dance lessons and classes for adults and children, McIntyre — who goes by Kendra Marie professionally — has had roles in the film version of the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical “In the Heights,” the Netflix musical “The Prom” and a commercial for Remy Martin.

In an interview, McIntyre said she and others were not told what the audition was for when they were invited to try out, and she was excited to learn it was for “The Color Purple” remake.

“The original film is such a staple in the Black community and also in my life,” she said, noting that she and her sister often imitated the iconic handshake in the movie.

Courtesy of Kendra McIntyre

She was cast as part of the “skeleton crew,” a group of dancers and choreographers that workshop how the dances will go and appears in the movie as well.

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The town of Riverdale Park has drawn up plans to repurpose an Army Reserve building located near Whole Foods.

Built in 1950, the 30,000-square-foot building at 6601 Baltimore Ave. next to the Station at Riverdale Park is no longer needed by the U.S. Army.

The town has put together a proposal to turn the building into municipal offices and a community center for things like continuing education, ESL classes and meeting spaces for local groups.

The plan would also remove parking lots on more than a third of the six-acre site and plant trees, grass and flowers to create a stormwater retention area. A paved biking and hiking path would wind through the area, as shown in the illustration below.

Under the plan, the federal government would give the land and building — worth an estimated $7 million — to the town for free, although it would have to spend money to develop the site.

In a recent letter to residents, Mayor Alan Thompson said the plan envisions taking a piece of land that is contributing to flooding problems in the area and turning it into a solution.

The town council will get an update on the status of the project next week.

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Shoppers along the Route 1 corridor will no longer get disposable plastic bags at most stores, as a new county ordinance went into effect this week.

As of Jan. 1, Prince George’s County has banned retailers from offering single-use plastic bags and is promoting paper and reusable bags instead.

The change is designed in part to reduce litter which typically ends up in storm drains and, eventually, the Anacostia River. While plastic bags used to be the most common trash found in the river, a recent study found that they have dropped dramatically due to recent changes in the law.

“Plastic bags do not biodegrade and contaminate our local waterways, causing harm to marine life, clogging our storm drains, and littering our streets and communities,” county environmental director Andrea Crooms said in a recent press release.

There are some exceptions. The ban does not apply to bulk produce, bakeries, fish and meat, flowers or dry cleaning.

The ordinance also requires retailers to charge at least 10 cents for every paper or reusable bag they provide, although exceptions are provided for prescription drugs, take-out meals and drive-thru fast food.

Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties have similar bans that went into effect this week.

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Readers of the Hyattsville Wire continued to be interested in changes to the thriving local restaurant scene.

Among the top stories from the last year were a celebrity sighting at a local food hall, a new ghost kitchen, the return of a chain eatery and the relocation of a popular Mexican restaurant.

Here’s a look at the top stories of 2023, starting with the most-read story of the year.

Karma Is Travis Kelce Stopping by College Park’s The Hall CP for Pizza
Not since Jared and Ivanka were spotted at the Burger King has a dinner in College Park attracted this much attention. Not only our top story of the year but our fourth most-read of all time.

Chick-fil-A to Open ‘Little Blue Menu’ Ghost Kitchen in College Park
Not everyone was happy that the restaurant chain had come to town to test its new ghost-kitchen concept, but judging from the long lines outside on the weekends, it’s attracted some enthusiastic customers.

Wawa Set to Return to College Park After 16 Years
When the Pennsylvania-based chain closed its last location in College Park, students threatened to hold a sit-in and tore souvenirs off the walls, so it’s not surprising that its return proved to be of interest.

Taqueria Habanero and Others in College Park Must Relocate
A number of tenants of a conveniently located shopping center in College Park were given short notice to vacate as the new owners plan to tear it down for more student housing.

Lidl Discount Grocery Store Coming to Hyattsville
Call it the Queen’s Lidl. The former Giant/Price Rite supermarket location famous for being visited by the late Queen Elizabeth will soon be another beachhead for the German discount chain.

Route 1’s Sangfroid Distilling Plans Major Expansion in Takoma Park
The Hyattsville distillery, which makes craft brandy, whiskey and Dutch-style gin, will open a larger space at a former Bank of America branch.

Readers were also interested in the legend of the Goatman of Prince George’s County, the closure of Dumm’s Pizza in Riverdale Park, Jamie Lee Curtis’ Route 1 Oscar moment, a rundown of the 4,000 apartments coming to the area, a planned recreation center, a new late-night chicken and waffles joint, the closing of Mom’s Organic Market’s pinball arcade and the completion of the latest segment of the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail,

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A Hyattsville artist designed a new “Made in Maryland”-themed logo that is being used on totes, mugs, wine glasses and other items sold locally at the new Shop Made in MD store in College Park.

Betsy Martin, who is currently the artist in residence at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, told the Hyattsville Wire she came up with the design after doing a similar one based on the D.C. flag for the Shop Made in DC store.

“The Maryland design uses a tweak on the Maryland flag colors and design which I knew would resonate with the Maryland audience,” she said. “The flag is everywhere so I thought it’d be fun to put our twist on it.”

Martin, who moved to Hyattsville 10 years ago and runs the NotJane Studio, also painted a mural outside the Hyattsville Elementary School, on the Little Free Art Shop outside Art Works Now in Hyattsville and inside and outside of Red Onion Records.

She said she loves the small business scene along the Route 1 corridor, including favorites like Three Little Birds Sewing Co., Artist & Craftsman Supply and Vigilante Coffee.

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