DC Corazon

DC Corazon opened its doors in January 2021 on 14th street NW, at the intersection of Petworth and Columbia Heights neighborhoods. The owner, Josefina Darui, used to own a travel agency in the same block of 14th street NW, but in 2019 she decided to open a restaurant to expose people to a variety of Mexican dishes and honor her Mexican origins. Although Washington DC like many other cities in the Southeastern region of the US has recently experienced a boom in Mexican cuisine, Josie felt that the “original taste of home” was not well represented in the District.

"I wanted to expose people to the variety of Mexican dishes. I wanted to open a restaurant with the food I eat in my house."

Opening DC Corazon, Josie wanted to offer a unique experience to her clients serving “local homemade Mexican dishes presented beautifully”. She feels that many typical Mexican dishes - e.g. tongue or pork head - are not offered at Mexican restaurants unless they cater to the Hispanic community. When these items appear on restaurant menus, they are often too far from their original version to the extent that they become something else. DC Corazon was opened to recreate typical homemade Mexican dishes at affordable prices in a colorful and welcoming environment.

While working to open the restaurant, Josie used to tell people "something delicious is coming!"

In envisioning DC Corazon, Josie wanted to recreate the whole experience of dining in a restaurant in Mexico. Everything, from the paint of the walls to the silverware, was chosen to recreate the experience of home. The flavors of Mexican dishes are complemented by the carefully designed decors and murals covering the interior walls of the restaurant, representing a typical view of Mexican streets.

Josie's dream was to open a “neighborhood restaurant” like the ones you find in small Mexican towns, where “clients know each other and the owner, and come to dine and relax”. She wanted to recreate this type of experience in DC. In August 2021, she witnessed the first sign of her dream coming true: she had four tables of people from the neighborhood who knew each other and chatted during dinner. DC Corazon was created to be a welcoming place for everyone, including members of the LGBTIQA+ community.

After a difficult start of about one year caused by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, a long and sometimes confusing bureaucratic process for opening the business, and some financial struggles, Corazon DC was officially inaugurated on February 14th, 2021. Josie, with the help of her daughter and the support of “wonderful and super supporting neighbors”. When the restaurant opened, a neighbor wrote a  review  on PoPville, an online local blog reporting on DC’s neighborhoods, that attracted customers. Shortly after the review, a couple who came to dine at the restaurant shared a  TikTok  that attracted a lot of people, including customers from other parts of the country. 

"The neighborhood is very caring and community-oriented. The neighbors moving in the area care about the environment and the neighborhood. They are here to help!"

The Petworth and Columbia Heights neighborhoods have changed significantly in the past 10 years. In particular, in the past 3-5 years, new apartment buildings were built in the area surrounding the restaurant. Josie expects that the area will continue to change and most likely be gentrified in the near future. As a business owner, she thinks that neighborhood improvement is good for business survival and that, at the same time, “businesses propel an economy”. Since the area started changing, it became the target for government support and services - i.e. street cleaning and trash collection. However, Josie is concerned about the social impact of this type of change. The area, previously populated by Hispanics and African-Americans, today hosts a more diverse and younger community and is becoming unaffordable for many.

For more information on the restaurant:

 https://www.dccorazon.com/ 

 https://www.facebook.com/DCcorazonfondaytequileria/