Wisconsin Avenue Above M Street Is Turning Into Georgetown's Coffee, Juice and Gelato Strip

In 2004, Robb Duncan and Violeta Edelman started making gelato in a 300-square-foot kitchen near Wisconsin Avenue and Q Street. They sold it at D.C. farmers markets and soon outgrew the room. In the founders' words, as relayed in a PoPville announcement, they "quickly outgrew their 300 sq ft Georgetown kitchen" and moved production to a 4,000-square-foot gelato factory in the Union Market neighborhood.

This winter Dolcezza returns to Georgetown at 1300 Wisconsin Ave. NW, about three blocks downhill from where it started. The announcement gives the opening as "Winter 2026/27." It will be the company's seventh location in the D.C. area.

The homecoming matters beyond the gelato. Between the 1300 block and Book Hill, most of what has opened or signed a lease in 2026 is something you drink or eat with a spoon. Dolcezza will be the shop with the longest history in that category on this street. Many of its new neighbors still aren't pouring.

The corner where it began has seen several tenants

The original Dolcezza site, at Wisconsin and Q, is now Delhi Belly at 1560 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Owners Vikas Kakkar and Raj Manroy opened it in August 2026 with a casual menu inspired by India's urban street food: samosas, chatpata classics and chaats. The Georgetowner notes that the space "has seen a lot of operators," naming La Jolie Bleue Bakery & Cafe, Bharati and Oakberry.

That record of turnover is the background for the return. Upper Wisconsin storefronts change hands often, and one founding tenant coming back to the same stretch, rather than the same address, is unusual. The founders announced it on social media on Sept. 3, in a post The Georgetowner quoted: "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." The company's press email dates the factory move to 2012. Either way, the founders have been gone from Georgetown a little more than a decade.

Why 1300 Wisconsin opened up

The corner at 1300 Wisconsin became available suddenly. Pressed, the juice chain, had opened there in July 2022 in the former Papyrus space. According to The Georgetowner's July 6 column, it "closed abruptly last week," which puts the closing in late June. The store had been the company's 116th.

So one drinks business replaces another at the corner, and the incoming tenant is homegrown. Dolcezza makes its gelato in small batches every morning at its Gelato Factory & Coffee Lab near Union Market, and it describes its ingredients as local fruit, herbs and nuts plus grass-fed Pennsylvania milk and cream. Its other shops are in City Center, Dupont Circle, the Hirshhorn Museum and H Street NE in the District, Virginia's Mosaic District and Maryland's Bethesda Row.

Six blocks, mostly cups and spoons

Here is the corridor block by block as of mid-October 2026, from the M Street end up toward Book Hill:

Count the cups and spoons. Gelato at 1300, juice at 1420 and 1511, coffee at 1510, an all-day counter at 1524 and frozen yogurt at 1624. Six of the twelve addresses sell something meant to be carried down the sidewalk. Together they cover the hours from an 8 a.m. smoothie to a 10 p.m. frozen yogurt.

The neighbors already know each other

Dolcezza is joining a street where it already has a working relationship. When it opened its sixth shop on H Street NE in 2025, it launched its soft-serve program with a sundae collaboration with Alicia Wang and Michael Rafidi, according to the PoPville announcement. That is the team behind Yellow and Albi.

Yellow sits at 1524 Wisconsin, a few doors from Purée and Dayglow. In April it switched to all-day counter service starting Tuesday, April 14, and its "(not) Pizza" pop-up ended after service on April 11, PoPville reported. Rafidi's pizza concept is moving rather than disappearing. Bizzeria is slated for the back of 3246 Prospect St. NW, with an alley entrance off Potomac Street, The Georgetowner reported.

The newest juice tenant has local roots too. Purée has more than a decade of following across the DMV. It came to 1511 Wisconsin under Dyala Madani and Kaveh Shirazi, longtime customers who bought the brand in 2025. "We were customers before we were owners, so we know firsthand what makes Purée different," Madani said in the press release PoPville published. The fall menu includes a Gold Rush juice of apple, lemon, ginger and turmeric, and a Roast Broccoli & Tahini Salad.

What's still behind the paper

The corridor's daily rhythm depends on several storefronts that are leased but not yet open.

• Dayglow, 1510 Wisconsin. Cousins Philippe and Tohm Ifergan founded the Los Angeles coffee chain in 2018. They signed for about 2,000 square feet in the former Alkova Yoga & Coworking space, planning to open "this summer," the Washington Business Journal reported via The Georgetowner. It will be Dayglow's first D.C.-area location and its seventh overall.
• Joe & the Juice, 1420 Wisconsin. The Danish chain has 382 locations and is known for its tunacado sandwich. In June, WhatNow described the storefront as wrapped in pink and said "an opening timeline is not presently available."
• East Fork, 1313 Wisconsin. The Asheville pottery company is taking over the former Random Harvest space across from the Dolcezza corner. Its own locations page still reads "Coming Fall/Winter 2026."

When Dolcezza and East Fork open facing each other at the 1300 block, the stretch north of M Street will have a finished front door. Until then, the bottom of the hill is two papered storefronts and a promise.

An afternoon loop, top of the hill down

The posted hours so far suit an afternoon walk downhill. That way the treats come in the right order and the walk ends near the river.

1. Start on Book Hill at 1655 Wisconsin. Suit Shop opened here this summer, selling size- and gender-inclusive suiting meant to be bought rather than rented.
2. Stop at Olli, 1624 Wisconsin, after noon. Choose a base of classic tart yogurt, coconut yogurt with a hint of vanilla, or tart yogurt blended with strawberries and blueberries. Top it with granola, fruit or dark chocolate shavings. The yogurt is swirled daily, and the shop is open from noon to 10 p.m., per the Georgetown BID.
3. Pass the original corner at Q Street. Delhi Belly's samosas and chaats now come out of the 1560 Wisconsin space where Dolcezza began.
4. Cross between 1524 and 1511. Yellow's counter is on one side. Purée's announced hours run 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
5. Reach O Street. Bombas opened its first D.C. store at 1400 Wisconsin on Aug. 14, in the former Dolce Vita space. Co-founder Randy Goldberg is a Georgetown University alum. 7th Street Burger is back at 1424 after its renovation.
6. Keep going past M Street to 1003 Wisconsin. Dutch Darlings Stroopwafels & Sweets held its grand opening on Oct. 2, close to Georgetown Waterfront Park. Until the 1300 corner reopens, this is the sweet stop at the bottom of the hill.

By the time Dolcezza opens, the loop will have a gelato stop at the 1300 block, a few doors from M Street, a little more than two decades after the company's first scoop a few blocks up the hill.

If you'd like to talk about the Wisconsin Avenue blocks near your own front door, Hugh McDermott keeps close track of Georgetown's streets. Let's connect.