Ilya Alter and Dmitri Chekaldin first opened Dacha Beer Garden at the corner of 7th and Q Street NW in September 2013 realizing their own American Dream. What was once an unattractive vacant parking lot surrounded by a chain-link fence and frequented by drug dealers has been transformed into a vibrant community gathering place and a beautiful outdoor garden.

These new business owners are humbled and excited about Dacha’s growing patronage. Dacha has become not only a retreat for neighbors but also a destination for people from other parts of the metro area who come to Dacha to discover Shaw and local small businesses that have since joined the neighborhood – Ivy & Coney, Compass Coffee and Beau Thai.

Today, Dacha is a thriving small business and a good neighbor. It has contributed to making the neighborhood safer by bringing feet to the street. It made the neighborhood cleaner by addressing a persistent pest infestation of the former Chinese takeout. And it employs over thirty DC residents.

Dacha continues to make improvements and work with its neighbors. In April, the owners built a new soundproofing fence to address neighbors’ noise concerns, planted sidewalk tree boxes and installed bike racks. They hired a Culinary Institute of America-trained and award-winning chef to expand its menu making Dacha a truly world-class beer garden.

In an effort to comply with all DC regulations, Dacha owners are going through the process of updating the liquor license capacity to match occupancy load on their Certificate of Occupancy, which is 461. This includes staff and building space. This will allow them to serve customers without changing the nature of its operations or operating hours. Dacha needs your help to get this done!

We ask you to please sign the letter of support for Dacha’s application with ABRA. You can also contact Commissioner Padro by phone at: 202-518-3794. Thank you for supporting Dacha!