"Hey, you've reached the Tune Inn! We're back open! Come on in," announced the outgoing voicemail message at the Capitol Hill landmark Friday. The message was recorded over the din of what's clearly quite a crowd already.
The Tune Inn had been scheduled to reopen 8 a.m. Friday, although that was pushed back a few hours as it underwent final DC inspections mid-day, according to a tweet from @HstreetDC. But by the afternoon, the place had officially reopened.
It had been shuttered since June 22 due to a large kitchen fire that caused significant smoke and water damage to the neighborhood staple that -- along with neighbor Hawk 'N' Dove -- made Esquire's 2011 list of the Best Bars in America.
Although the restaurant and bar area was mostly spared from the flames, the entire kitchen had to be rebuilt.
In July, the Friends of the Tune Inn raised almost $40,000 at an event to support employees of the Tune Inn who were out of work while the restaurant was closed.
A special event is scheduled Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon to thank the firefighters who responded to the blaze and helped saved the Tune Inn from being completely destroyed.
