A new pizza restaurant, Red Rocks, will be coming to 11th St NW and Park Rd NW.  This new restaurant will be brought to you by James O'Brien, the former owner of Staccato in Adams Morgan.  Red Rocks will feature brick oven pizza and other cafe fare as well as a full bar.  It is scheduled to open in February.

Owner James O'Brien introduced himself and his new restaurant venture a few months ago on our forum:

Thanks for the interest everyone. I just heard about this site so i wanted to check in and give everyone an update. We had a bit of a delay with permits (its a DC thing), but we're all good now. And the protest / voluntary agreement with the ANC and next-door neighbor issue has been resolved. If all goes well, I'm looking to open in late January or February. I'll have a website up soon: redrocksdc.com with menu and opening news. I hope the restaurant can meet everyone's expectations. If anyone has any specific questions, for now, you can reach me at .

Hope to see everyone there in a couple of months!

- james obrien
RedRocks, Owner

You can read the rest of the forum discussion here:  Red Rocks.

We also just received an email update:

James O'Brien, the former owner of Staccato in Adams Morgan has changed venue and flavor. O'Brien's new venture will focus on brick oven pizza and other cafe fare at the corner of Park Road and 11th St. NW in Columbia Heights (near the Tivoli and the new Giant).

The new place is called Red Rocks and is scheduled to open in February. It will also feature a full bar with tasty beer (look for some good Belgians) a brunch menu and outdoor patio seating.

An official press release should be announced soon.

Comments

Written by on 2007-06-08 07:07:45 Their sign went up out front yesterday! Almost there!

can't wait Written by on 2007-06-13 13:11:22 I just drove by this morning and saw that the Brick Oven Pizza place is coming in. Great for the 11th Street corridor. With this place, The Heights, Rumberos, Mayorga, AND Wonderland, Columbia Heights has arrived. Can't wait to come visit.

Coming Soon--RedRocks set to open 1st we Written by on 2007-06-26 10:01:36 Beleive it or not--the opening approaches! I heard from James that he is looking at opening in the next 1-2 weeks. The place looks AMAZING and I know there will be some serious pizza talent in the kitchen (think brick oven pizza more like 2 Amys than like, say, Radius)

Written by New2CH on 2007-06-26 17:16:31 Great to hear, if anything like Two Amys, I, and many others, will be practically living there. The inside looks nice from what I can see, but I hope James fixes up the outside a little more. Specifically, the rusty old pole holding up the sign is pretty hideous, I guess he is keeping that, but at least cut the sign to fit properly and paint / pretty up the pole. He should definitely get rid of that hideous old crooked awning -- that is not terribly inviting, better off with nothing at all there, but that looks especially awful and it seems like it will be staying for some reason. And the roof tiles could really use some repairing, the building would look a heck of a lot nicer if those were fixed. Otherwise, it is a big improvement over what used to be there, and ultimately, if the food is good, nothing else will matter.

As Of July 7, 2007 - Is This Place Open Written by on 2007-07-06 16:29:12   Hi Everyone,    Just re-reading all the posts about Red Rocks. My boyfriend loves pizza and I would love to take him to Red Rocks - we went by there in the late spring/early summer and they were not open. I was very embarrassed as I was trying to surprise him - now - as of July 7, 2007 is this damn place open? I'm getting tired or when, if, and how long - is it open or not. Someone please let me know for certain.    Thanks,    R. Peterson

Written by on 2007-07-08 17:44:55 Not open yet. It's been pushed off since December of last year. The last anyone heard was early July, but considering it should have been open for 6 months now, a delay isnt surprising at all.

Written by New2CH on 2007-07-09 05:49:04 It seems like they were putting some of the finishing touches on this weekend (putting planters out on the porch, etc.), so that is a good sign. Hopefully sometime in July ... odd that they haven't done any publicity whatsoever, but if it's good the demand is such that they won't need it.

Written by ben on 2007-07-10 17:44:05 for people who don't visit the forum -- grand opening scheduled for this Thursday (July 12). sweet!

Rd Rocks Opens Thursday! Written by Matt on 2007-07-11 09:20:45 It's mentioned in today's Express, and on Zagat online.   http://www.zagat.com/buzz/Detail.aspx?SCID=41&BLGID=4172    Express blurb:  http://www.readexpress.com/read_freeride/2007/07/eating_around_pizza_slices.php    40 microbrews! Can't beat it.

STILL NEEDS SERIOUS WORK Written by MG on 2007-07-16 11:15:17 So we went on Friday, 2nd day of business. We expected plenty of growing pains in the beginning. The wait for a table was reasonable and the bar was as crowded as a typical night at Wonderland. However, after keener observation, the wait times for both a table and for drinks was attributable to factors well beyond mere opening night snafus. First, none of the kegs were tapped correctly, so they spewed out nothing but foam. Took an average of 6 minutes to pour one glass of beer. If you’re going to pride yourself on an impressive beer selection, learn to tap a keg. Plenty of people around here who can show you how. Second, after getting a table, we were completely ignored by the wait staff. I mean ignored. Not one soul approached our table in 35 minutes of sitting. We did everything we could to get the waitresses attention. No avail. Even complaining to the hostess led to nothing. I mean we did not even get menus. So after 35 minutes of sitting, we left. We have patience for a new place trying to make it, but only so much. There was no excuse for that kind of service. We’re going to pass on this restaurant for at least a few months until they get their act together.