April 24, 2026 | Washington Business Journal
Restaurateur Hakan Ilhan plans to breathe new life into the long-shuttered Daily Grill space near Dupont Circle.
The restaurateur behind Brasserie Liberté, Ottoman Taverna and Il Piatto, among others, has leased the nearly 7,500-square-foot, two-level space at 1200 18th St.NW for a new French restaurant. Bistro Français, slated to open in August 2027, will be an homage to the former Georgetown restaurant of the same name, which closed in 2016 after more than four decades.
Ilhan told me he was among that former restaurant’s loyal customers. With the new one, he’s hoping to honor its legacy while freshening the concept. Its menu will be inspired by the original bistro’s classic dishes, while its interior will conjure a classic Parisian dining room.
“People have a lot of nostalgic memories of that space, so when this space cameabout, I’m thinking, alright, what can we do here? What’s a good fit for this location?” he told me. “And I think a bistro concept for a location like that, close to Dupont Circle, where they have a lot of residential, and there’s also a lot of offices, and some night life as well, so it kind of fit the bill.”
By many accounts, it’s a challenging time to be operating a restaurant in theDistrict. Customers are dining out less often, and spending less, while costs continue to rise and uncertainty looms over the region’s economic outlook. A record 102 restaurants closed last year, per the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, including well-loved spots like Georgia Brown’s, Kinship and Petite Cerise.
At the same time, 2025 saw an equally robust number of openings, 122 of them, including emerging new favorites, including Fish Shop, Elmina and a rebooted Occidental. And Ilhan has shown a willingness to commit to new spaces in the District when others are shedding theirs. He claimed the space occupied by one of last year’s casualties, the Capitol City Brewing Co. at 1100 New York Ave. NW, for Le Midi, a brasserie and bar slated to open this fall.
The restaurateur has retained Ritter Norton Architects and interior designer Maggie O’Neill to design the new bistro, with interior seating for 225 and another 60 outside. He has not yet selected a general contractor. He estimated it will cost north of $4 million, but how far north is to be determined.
As for the menu, Illhan is going with French classics. “Like, French onion soup, for example; escargot; duck confit; steak frites. Things like that, that people are very, very familiar with, and it represents a very classical French bistro,” he said.
If you’re thinking there’s another recent Bistro Français sounds familiar, you’re right. In 2015, Ilhan opened L’Hommage Bistro Francais at 450 K St. NW in Mount Vernon Triangle, which closed three years later. While he believes it was a good concept, he said it was ill-timed in Mount Vernon Triangle’s evolution. Several new restaurants and bars have since opened in the area, and more still incoming. But his subsequent restaurants, including Brasserie Liberté, have resonated more strongly with diners.
The building is also undergoing a conversion from office to residential, following its 2024 acquisition by The Davis Cos. Ilhan had sought to lease the space from the building’s prior owners, Ring Associates LLC, but failed to cement a deal. With the aid of Bill Miller of Miller Walker Retail Real Estate, Ilhan reengaged after the property changed hands. KLNB’s Kim Stein represented the landlord.
“I think these office-to-residential conversions are great opportunities,” he said.”The way I feel about that is that I think D.C. could potentially become like New York, Manhattan, where you have a lot of offices, and a lot of residential around as well, which will increase the evening traffic.”
Miller previously represented the Daily Grill in its lease in the same building. That national chain, which once had several local spots, closed in 2023 after more than 25 years. While downtown’s office market remains challenged, parts of the city are doing better than others when measured by factors like foot traffic and restaurant sales, he said. The vicinity around 1200 18th, including the busy Connecticut Avenue NW corridor, is among those bright spots.
“It’s really is one of the hearts of downtown, and if you stand on the corner today, because it’s at one of the intersections of office and residential, it feels very pre-pandemic,” Miller said.