24 Hour Walgreens Replacing Chinatown CVS

This isn't quite new news, but we can now see the first clear signage for the 24-hour Walgreens at the corner of 7th and H NW in Penn Quarter/Chinatown. A CVS/pharmacy and convenience store inhabited the first floor space there until 2007. There is still a  CVS at the corner of 4th and Massachusetts NW.

The Walgreens is scheduled to open at 801-809 7th Street NW in early 2013 and will reportedly have an actual clinic on site in addition to the usual pharmacy. The Take Care Clinic seems similar to CVS'  Minute Clinic: more service than a pharmacy, less service than an emergency room or doctor's office. Take Care's website states that the clinics are staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Here are some of the services a customer could expect.

The Walgreens was originally intended for the first floor space --with Panera and YO! Sushi-- and I haven't heard any different. But, I have to wonder if the addition of the clinic may spill over to the basement or second level.

Burritos Fast, CVS, Maoz

Burritos Fast
If you haven't seen, Tikal Burritos Fast is back from the dead! With some fresh new table clothes and a missing counter in the front window, a restaurant nearly 100% identical to the one which closed. I have not set foot inside the new place. Have you? Anyone have anything to report? I will try to get over there for a burrito at some point soon. As you may or may not know, I was a fan of the old place if only for the fact that it was close and you got a lot of food for the money.

CVS
The new CVS in Adams Morgan is open. The pharmacy-food-convenience store moved across the street this month, abandoning the cramped and awkward store at 1700 Columbia Rd NW. The new store is adjacent to the newly renovated Safeway at 1747 Columbia Rd NW. It is much, much larger but looks a lot less quirky than the older location with new precast brick and concrete panel sections on the face.

Maoz Vegetarian
I was really excited about the opening on Maoz Veg in Dupont. It finally opened and I've been there several times since. A few lunch visits and lots of after work and a late night or two. In my opinion, the product has gotten better over the weeks. I've always been happy with my meal, but they haven't always been consistently good. The fries have been, but the falafel was sometimes great, and sometimes OK. Have you had similar experiences? Still glad its here and I'll probably go again soon. Maybe today!

DIY Checkout

I swear, this self checkout station must be the only one in DC. I found it way downtown at the CVS Pharmacy at 13th and Pennsylvania Ave NW. I used it, happily, while wishing that our CVS locations (1700 Columbia Rd NW and 6 Dupont Circle) had such options. Maybe its a "test run." Or maybe we just aren't worthy. I'm hoping its the former.

My hometown grocer, Kroger, wowed us in the mid-1990s when they introduced the self checkout lines. What? We can scan our own items? You trust us not to steal? What if I key French Vanilla in as Breakfast Blend? This is perfect. This is the future! It actually worked. You could scan and bag your own items and pay any way you liked (no checks though) as long as you had fewer than 10 items. Pretty neat concept. There were 4 self checkout "stations" and one employee that observed all four and who would help out whenever you had any issues; credit card doesn't work, you can't find the code for asparagus. Otherwise, you were free to ring yourself up, bag your items, pay the machine and be on your way. I guess it never really caught on as a mainstream idea, not in DC anyway. Too bad, I kind of liked it.