The Upper King Street Neighborhood Association launched its Fresh Farmers' Market (not to be confused with the FreshFarm markets) yesterday in King Street Garden Park (across from the King Street Metro).  The market primarily features produce grown by local farmers (sworn to be homegrown (PDF)), as well as fresh flowers and canned dips/spreads (pumpkin pie spread, black bean/hot pepper dips).  Despite a small number of vendors, the market provides residents, visitors, and commuters an opportunity to......

WMATA has announced that the Huntington and Eisenhower Avenue Metrorail stations will closed this weekend due to major track work, so there will be no Metrorail service between those two stations and the King Street station. Beginning Friday at 9 p.m. and going through the Veteran's Day holiday to midnight on Monday, Yellow line trains will be running to Franconia-Springfield via King Street. Shuttle bus service will operate between Huntington and King Street, with a......

We'd like to waste about $800 sitting in traffic this year, please. That, at least, is the average annual cost for Marylanders who choose to drive during peak periods, (yet another) new Texas Transportation Institute tells us via Capitol News Service and WTOP. The total congestion cost, the study says, is $3.1 billion annually. We can think of some pretty good things to do with an extra $800. And they have nothing to do with......

>> We would have liked to have read about "The Best Bars in DC For Ensuring That You Will Not Run Into a Single Person Even Vaguely Connected With Politics or Media (crossposted to Gridskipper)." Good luck to you, Pareene. [Wonkette] >> A fire will be set Saturday morning on Metrorail's bridge over the Potomac River as part of an emergency-response drill involving 100 firefighters from seven area jurisdictions. The Yellow line will be shut......

If you don't want to pay a toll, just don't leave the city. Information is sketchy at best, but the federal government may soon propose a toll on cars entering the city via the 14th Street bridge, reports The Examiner. According to the story, the proposal seems to be nothing more than another one of those fabulous pipe dreams feds float from time to time for improving our city. Like Sen. Sam Brownback's "flat tax"......

If you're heading to any Yellow line destinations this weekend, including National Airport, you should make alternate plans. Metro is shutting down the Yellow line rail bridge over the Potomac River this weekend to do track maintenance and conduct an annual bridge inspection. The closure begins tonight at 10 p.m. and lasts through Sunday at midnight. Directions from WMATA: When a Yellow Line train arrives at the King Street Metrorail station, passengers must transfer to......

Now that's a pretty Metro stop. Our DCist photogs always impress us with their eye for the underground architecture, but this one of the otherwise bland King Street marker by Flickr user guenno is particularly impressive. EXIF.......

The day has finally arrived -- the official release of J.K. Rowling's final installment in her Harry Potter book series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is scheduled for midnight tonight (unless of course you received one of those magical early copies that have been floating around). For all you D.C. area Potter nerds out there (and as we already know, there are a whole lot of you) looking to celebrate tonight, here's some area......

This week in Transit on Thursday, we pose a stunningly dramatic series of questions... Could Metro be Smartening up? Will you get hit by Virginia's new transportation fees and taxes? Is a road better than a rail? Will your Metro trip be delayed this weekend? Find out after the jump! Photo by Terecico......

Happy Thursday, and welcome back to another post full of the best in transit news. This week, we consider whether Virginians would rather obey traffic laws or pay more taxes. It's a real Sophie's Choice, we know. Also, a few words on the latest Metro fare hike proposal from Metro. We also have Metro's schedule of weekend track work and maintenance, which will cause delays on some lines. Photo by christaki......

We're back with another edition of Transit on Thursday, bringing you transit news from around the city to satisfy the inner-geek in all of you. This week, we've got developments with the transit situation at the National Harbor development, currently under construction south of the city, as well as yet another round of national commuting stats that are, yet again, a mixed bag for the D.C.-metro area. Also, Metro has a long list of......

Post by DCist staff writer Gayle Putrich It’s great to see the paper removed from the huge plate glass window of Old Town’s landmark Majestic Café, and even better to walk through the door and still get that welcoming, neighborhood diner vibe. And while I had a great time at my visit back to the un-fussy institution, I fear I may have jumped the gun a little in showing up so soon after opening. Cathal......

No Paper Crowns for the Guests The Majestic—the latest addition to Cathal and Meshelle Armstrong's Alexandria empire—held its preview party last night, and DCist was in the house. The King Street restaurant was packed with all your various foodie types mauling the chef and owners, mugging for the roving photographers, and swilling both wine and gossip. With such a high density of gastronauts, I'm sure Majestic's owners would have rather been serving up their food......

An accident involving two Metro employees shut down the south end of the Yellow Line around 9:30 this morning. According to Metro, a four-car train heading into the Alexandria railyard hit two track workers between Huntington and Eisenhower Ave. There were no passengers aboard the train, and the two workers have been taken to area hospitals. The King Street, Huntington, and Eisenhower Ave stations will be closed while the accident is investigated. Yellow Line......

Washington, if you need to get the election out of your system, why not get in touch with your inner science geek? As reported on NPR yesterday, the planet Mercury will make a relatively rare transit of the sun today. If you can find a (miraculously rain-and-cloud-free) place to watch safely today, from 2:12 p.m. until sunset, you will be able to see the little black dot of Mercury, among a lot of fainter black......

We’re not always up for a brunch buffet, as the mere idea reminds us of those towers of bacon and sheets of monolithic egg substance that usually dominate them. But in a rare instance, there emerges a buffet that cannot be resisted. Taverna Cretekou, an Alexandria Old Town mainstay, has one of the most comprehensive buffets we’ve ever seen (and that includes all those hotel buffets that include offerings as bizarrely diverse as chocolate mousse......

"Thanks Be to Cod" trumpets the front door of Eamonn's, a "Dublin chipper" on King Street in Old Town Alexandria. It's both a play on words and recognition of one of the most important foods in history, but I'm betting Cod would thank chef Cathal Armstrong and his team for serving what's probably the freshest and best tasting iteration of fish 'n' chips this side of Mizen Head. Eamonn's, named after Cathal and wife Michelle's......

And a happy Friday morning to you, Washington. Heads up: Metro's Yellow Line from King Street to Mt. Vernon Square will not be running this weekend due to track maintenance starting tonight at 10 p.m. Folks will be forced off at King Street, and those going between Mt. Vernon Square and L'Enfant Plaza will be forced to ride the Green Line. Things are expected to be running back on schedule by Monday morning. Large Part......

A few weeks ago we were tipped off to what one reader declared was the greatest gyro of all time. Apparently, a pizzeria near the King Street metro station was turning out a monumental version of what was already one of our favorite sandwiches. Upon arriving at Quattro Formaggi in Old Town Alexandria, we proceeded to dine on what was a fine example indeed. But it got us to thinking – is this really the......

We love brunch—even those bare bones menus with just a French toast or waffle option and the requisite two eggs and choice of meat. As long as a hearty portion of TLC was applied to the preparation, the combination of carbs, butterfat, something sweet and something salty pretty much makes this meal the most satisfying of them all. This is why it pains us to see great restaurants haphazardly throw together a Sunday brunch that......

By DCist contributor Amanda Kazdoy Bistro Europa, a German and Italian restaurant smack dab in the heart of Old Town, suffers from an unfortunate situation. It occupies prime real estate (on King Street between Columbus and Washington streets), but never seems to have the full house that its more pedestrian neighbors, Bertucci’s and Austin Grill, enjoy every night. Perhaps it’s the absence of Zagat clippings in the window or the loud bar upstairs (which the......

Eamonn, Brother There is no stopping the Armstrongs, proprietors of Restaurant Eve in Old Town. Not only are they whizzes in the kitchen, their fecundity (both physical and entrepreneurial) has begot another place to eat. According to Tom, Cathal and Meshelle plan to open Eamonn's/A Dublin Chipper sometime this summer. The place will be a casual joint, unlike the formal (and so worth it) affair that is Eve. It looks like fish and chips will......

Written by DCist Contributor Alexa Steinberg. Past the girls with their Longchamp bags and sunglasses in January, down the entire traverse of King Street in Old Town Alexandria, is the Torpedo Factory, where the Multiple Exposures Gallery, on the third floor, is showcasing their 20th anniversary photography exhibition. While having 83 gallery spaces in one building, as the Torpedo Factory does, is incredible, one cannot help but wish there was more space to showcase good......

By new DCist Food and Drink Contributor Erin Zimmer As legend has it, when a Waldorf-Astoria guest back in the 1940s forcefully requested the hotel's secret red velvet cake recipe, the hotel gave it to her—along with a hefty bill for the prized information. The miffed guest, whose lawyer supposedly advised her that she had to pay, apparently took revenge by spreading the recipe everywhere she could. Whether the Waldorf-Astoria tale is real or no......

Dine Out for Hurricane Relief In what has unfortunately become a familiar event, area restaurants, OpenTable, Share Our Strength and Windows of Hope team up to present Restaurants for Relief, a night when restaurants will donate a portion of their dinner sales to provide hunger relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Mark your calendar for Sept.27 and make a reservation. At the moment, 55 local restaurants have joined the effort. Don't worry if you......

Photo of a member of the NatPack taken by Matthew Bradley posted in DCist photos Man Gets Life in Col. Brooks Murders: The Baltimore man found guilty in the triple homicide at Brookland's Colonel Brooks Tavern has been given a life sentence by a jury, the Post reports. Any Old Town Bloggers? The Post reports that the city of Alexandria has now started to offer free WiFi in a zone that centers on King Street......

Good morning Washington, WAMU reports that the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has declared it a Code Orange air alert day, but we can't seem to find any information on MWCOG's website about the air alert besides some general information. It's going to be hot again with highs around 90. Storm Report: We hope you survived the storm yesterday. (As for us, we got soaked trying to seek cover in a metrorail station, and......

WMATA: Stay Tuned! Skip-Stop Service May Be on Horizon.Say whaa? Could some sort of express service be coming to metrorail? According to WMATA's "Straight Scoop" -- where the transit agency seeks to correct or clarify media accounts related to WMATA -- we learn that D.C. may be looking to New York's J and Z trains for inspiration to possibly introduce some sort of express service. From WMATA:While it may be a challenge to operate express......

(Editor's Note: This is the second part of a multi-part series looking at our metrobus system. For last week's introduction, click here.) While it is easy, and appropriate, to blame metrobus’ ills on a lack of stable transportation funding and sometimes-feeble higher political support, part of the blame must be placed squarely on the shoulders of WMATA. Despite the fact that SmarTrip has made it easy to use metrobus, the transit agency does not make......

Don't forget to check out DCist's Arts Agenda and Weekly Music Picks for additional entertainment events, including gallery crawls and gypsy punk band Gogol Bardello Saturday at the Black Cat. FRIDAY: >> Everyone is buzzing about The Music/Kasabian show at the 9:30 Club tonight, but if you miss it, you can head to DC9 afterwards for the official Kasabian afterparty -- just show your handstamp from the 9:30 Club and you can get in free......