Aug. 27, 2010. 5:39 a.m. Short-order cook Charles Caldwell, 46, waits outside the Capital City Diner, three blocks from the Northeast street where he's lived most of his life.
Dan Zak-The Washington Post
5:46 a.m. Owner Matt Ashburn, 28, bought the diner on eBay for $20,000, rented a plot of land on Bladensburg Road NE that once hosted a used car lot, and opened the business in February.
Dan Zak-The Washington Post
6:09 a.m. "I treat my customers right," says Gloria Rucker, 48, who works the morning shift at the diner and moved from Maryland to nearby 16th Street NE for the job.
Dan Zak-The Washington Post
7:15 a.m. Mount Pleasant residents Charles Sweeney, a communications officer for the government, and his daughter Nora, 17, head to the first day of school at Elizabeth Seton High after stopping for breakfast.
Dan Zak-The Washington Post
9:11 a.m. Virginia resident Celestin stops in for coffee while visiting her sister in the Trinidad neighborhood. The diner serves a mix of neighbors and visitors who drive, cab and Metro in for blue-plate specials.
Dan Zak-The Washington Post
9:20 a.m. Government subcontractor Andalynn Burgess, 30, and dog walker Dan McCarthy, 32, drove up from their neighborhood near RFK Stadium for breakfast.
Dan Zak-The Washington Post
1:55 p.m. Anacostia resident, lifelong Washingtonian and cook Sandi Reaves, 44, arrives for the second shift.
Dan Zak-The Washington Post
5:42 p.m. Reaves, waiter Wade Miller, 25, and Ashburn take a break outside the diner before the dinner rush.
Dan Zak-The Washington Post
7: 59 p.m. Eleanor Hill, 77, a lifelong resident of 16th Street NE, waits for her order at Capital City Diner, which opened earlier this year on the 1000 block of Bladensburg Road NE. Ward 5 is "gettin' it together," she says, and the diner is evidence.
Astrid Riecken-For The Washington Post
8:10 p.m. Seven-year-old Xander Howell, right, has dinner at the diner with his family, who's visiting the District for Glenn Beck's Aug. 28 rally on the National Mall.
Astrid Riecken-For The Washington Post
8:19 p.m. Bladensburg Road, a major artery for Maryland commuters, skirts the Northeast neighborhood of Trinidad, which made national news two years ago for a rash of homicides that prompted controversial police checkpoints.
Astrid Riecken-For The Washington Post
8:42 p.m. A flyer for a homicide victim is posted at Sullivan's Southern Style Seafood, which Baltimore resident Aaron Sullivan (pictured) opened in September of last year on the 1100 block of Bladensburg.
Astrid Riecken-For The Washington Post
8:58 p.m. Bartender Tom Meagher, 23, works at Jimmy Valentine's Lonely Hearts Club, which opened in 2007 on the 1000 block of Bladensburg Road, paving the way for other neighborhood businesses like the Capital City Diner.
Astrid Riecken-For The Washington Post
9:16 p.m. The popularity of the H Street NE corridor, located half a mile south of the Capital City Diner, has increased foot traffic and visitors along Bladensburg.
Astrid Riecken-For The Washington Post
10:26 p.m. A woman lies on the sidewalk in front of Yum's, a takeout joint across from the diner, before being asked to leave by police.
Astrid Riecken-For The Washington Post
11:14 p.m. Patrons arrive for Wasteland, a goth-industrial-darkwave-glam DJ night at Jimmy Valentine's Lonely Hearts Club.
Astrid Riecken-For The Washington Post
Aug. 28, 2010: 2:19 a.m. Hill staffer Dominique McCoy, 40, and environmental developer Sapna McCoy, 39, pop up from their 9th Street NE home for a late-night snack.
Dan Zak-The Washington Post
2:37 a.m. Event planner Christie Zimmerman, 27, grad student Karissa Marcum, 26, and nurse Gina Fasciani, 26, jump in Everly Nixon's car after stopping at the diner following a house party in Northeast.
Dan Zak-The Washington Post
3:18 a.m. Pharmaceutical company employee Shauna Brown and human rights worker Dianna James discover that they both moved within the past week -- Brown from the Ivy City neighborhood to 14th and H streets NE and James from San Francisco to Eastern Market.
Dan Zak-The Washington Post
4:40 a.m. Trinidad resident Raina Butler, 23, and Alexandria resident Keisha Pierce, 25 -- both of whom work in charter school management in Alexandria -- end their Friday night out with breakfast on Saturday morning.
Dan Zak-The Washington Post
Gallery Credits:
Photo Editor, Producer Troy Witcher
Text Editor Dan Zak
Producer Christian Pelusi
