Local business owner opens second Tackle Box restaurant with a music-filled bash
By Candice Norwood
Seafood restaurant Tackle Box is now open in Cleveland Park. (Photo by Moshe Zusman Photography)
Tuesday night Cleveland Park boomed with the sounds of reggae as Tackle Box owner Jonathan Umbel officially unveiled his second location for the restaurant. Attendees of the event including NBC 4‘s John Schriffen and WUSA 9‘s Andrea Roane danced, sampled oysters and sipped on the restaurant’s signature cocktails. Umbel, a Washington D.C. native, grew up working in his mother’s bed and breakfast where he hosted and seated customers. At age 19 Umbel opened his first restaurant, a pizza place on the corner of Connecticut and Nebraska.
“I wanted to have a paycheck that I could control,” Umbel said. “Afterwards, I opened about 200 Boston Market restaurants but I decided that I didn’t want to do quick service restaurants anymore. After spending some time in New York I came back to the nation’s capitol and opened Tackle Box.”
The restaurant’s first establishment, located in Georgetown, garnered a lot of success with its laid-back atmosphere and nautical themed décor. Dangling nets and buoys line the walls as customers munch on a variety of seafood options. The Cleveland Park location menu includes new items such as a Connecticut Lobster Roll, Grilled Sea Scallops and non-seafood items such as a Grilled Three Cheese Sandwich.
Umbel and his team pride themselves on sustainability and the use of credible, local fisherman to produce fresh food without overfishing. Executive chef Roger Lemus brought 11 years of restaurant experience and his knowledge of the Georgetown restaurant to the new location. Lemus, who Umbel said Tackle Box would be “nothing” without, gathers fish from suppliers on a daily basis to consistently keep the freshness of the restaurant’s cuisine.
“I can tell if a piece of fish has been frozen because it is usually very watery or soft,” Lemus said. “If something is not the freshness I want it to be, I will send it away.”
These straight-from-the-water dishes and fruity drinks from Tackle Box will have you ready for a day at the beach.
Tackle Box in Cleveland Park is located at 3407 Connecticut Ave. NW. For more information, visit www.tackleboxrestaurant.com or call (202) 450-6875.
Bethany and Jonathan Umbel. (Photo by Moshe Zusman Photography)
What's on the menu? (Photo by Moshe Zusman Photography)
Andre Roane eats with friends. (Photo by Moshe Zusman Photography)
Radio hosts Tommy McFly. (Photo by Moshe Zusman Photography)
