A Cafe With Office Amenities And Live Music Nights Opens In Dc

Three Whistles. 5832 Georgia Ave., NW.

As a mobile worker, Ramzy Azar has spent plenty of time in cafes while operating his real estate business and defense contracting firm focused on health affairs. He always liked the energy of being around other people, but it was often too loud for a phone call or difficult to find an outlet and decent wi-fi. His solution: Three Whistles, a “third place” where people can gather to eat and drink, work, and participate in cultural activities like music and art.  The first location opened in Clarendon in 2020 and a new flagship outpost debuted this week in the Brightwood neighborhood of Northwest DC, bordering 16th Street Heights.

At its heart, Three Whistles is a cafe. You can pop in during the morning for an egg sandwich and espresso drinks, or meet someone for lunch over salads, sandwiches, and flatbread pizzas. In the evenings, the menu—created by chef John Mohl, formerly of Virginia’s Darling and Stracci Pizza in Alexandria—features shareable plates such as coffee-infused-bourbon-glazed duck wings, deviled eggs with bacon jam, and roasted cauliflower mousse with freshly baked focaccia. There are also a handful of pasta dishes, including a shoyu butter cavatappi with wild mushrooms. For drinks, find global wines and local beers, plus cocktails ranging from an espresso martini to “Paloma’s Funky Cousin” combining tequila, grapefruit soda, and sparkling rose with a tajin rim.

But Three Whistles also has a lot of office-like amenities that you won’t find at your average coffee shop or restaurant. While anyone can drop in for an espresso tonic and use the high-speed wi-fi, mobile workers can purchase a $30 day pass to get access to a reserved area, private phone booths, printing, and other office supplies. Three Whistles also offers a membership for $175-a-month that includes all of that plus access to a conference room, 20-percent discounts on food and drinks, other amenities, and networking events. The name Three Whistles aims to tie it all together: “whet your whistle” for drinking, “lunch whistle” for eating, and “whistle while you work.”

Azar says he was drawn to Brightwood specifically because of its “strong neighborhood identity” and community engagement, and he hopes to make Three Whistles a social gathering place as much as a work one. The 3,000-square-foot space will showcase local artists and also host live music on Friday and Saturday evenings. The building used to be a nightclub called the Ibex, a destination for go-go music in the ’80s and ’90s, and Azar hopes to pay homage to that history with go-go performances and vintage posters.

Azar says the goal is ultimately to expand Three Whistles throughout the DC area and beyond.

“People want to get out of their office, out of their home offices, and have a place to really feel comfortable and work,” he says. “And I think that this is really going to hit a real need for the way that we currently live and work.”

The post A Cafe With Office Amenities and Live Music Nights Opens in DC first appeared on Washingtonian.