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Even after midnight, families can be found at George鈥檚 King of Falafel and Cheesecake on 28th St NW sharing a meal. Women wearing hijabs feed smiling children Nutella crepes and shawarma while plenty of eager guests line-up outside hoping to get a seat. The often crowded family-owned restaurant offers a sense of community to its regular guests. However, the residents who live nearby are tired of the noisy nightly gatherings outside the restaurant and are now looking to close the place down early.

Georgetown resident Paris Keena said she鈥檚 terrified by the noise outside her home that sits kitty-corner from George鈥檚.聽

George鈥檚 is the only late-night restaurant in Georgetown and is open until 4 a.m. on the weekends and 3 a.m. during the week. Keena said the noisy guests, endless traffic and litter should not be allowed to disrupt her life.聽

鈥淚鈥檓 afraid to leave my home at night, and I don鈥檛 get much sleep,鈥� Keena said. 鈥淚 started calling the police non-emergency number on a regular basis.鈥澛犅�

Keena is one of several residents who claim that George鈥檚 late-night customers are often drunk, relentlessly raucous and have littered their block with trash. However, George鈥檚 does not have a liquor license, so any customers who come to the restaurant inebriated have done so on their own accord.聽

鈥淚 have a right to a peaceful environment on my block, but because it鈥檚 mixed-use, and George鈥檚 is open all night, I do not,鈥� Keena said.聽

In October, a occurred outside George鈥檚 between two armed robbers and an undercover police officer. The incident rattled residents and did not help George鈥檚 already wavering reputation, even though the criminals held no association with the restaurant.

John Wiebenson, the operations manager for the Georgetown Business Improvement District (BID), which works as a liaison between businesses and local communities, said the BID is considering hiring an overtime police officer to patrol the area in light of the recent shooting, despite George鈥檚 having hired private security.

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a lot of benefit to hiring an overtime police officer versus private security because the rules and the roles a police officer can play versus private security are very different,鈥� Wiebenson said.

Executive Assistant Chief Ashan Benedict provides an update to an off-duty MPD officer involved shooting that occurred 10/20/21 in the 1200 block of 28th St NW.

鈥� DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept)

Earlier this month, a group of locally elected representatives in Georgetown, otherwise known as the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC), held a meeting to address the resident鈥檚 concerns. The ANC proposed a resolution to the District Department of Consumer Affairs asking that they enforce reduced hours of operation at George鈥檚 until 鈥渜uality of life鈥� was restored to the residents of 28th Street NW.

The resolution came as a surprise to leadership at George鈥檚, who felt that they had done everything to placate their neighbor鈥檚 concerns: They hired private security, placed no-littering signs outside the restaurant and asked their staff to circle the block at the end of their shifts to ensure neighborhood cleanliness. George鈥檚 even allowed their outdoor streatry to be taken away at the ANC鈥檚 request to help alleviate traffic congestion and gathering crowds.

Healthier Albarazi, the marketing manager for George鈥檚, said they tried to meet the resident’s demands with solutions.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 understand the persistent noise complaints,鈥� Albarazi said. 鈥淚f聽 our security guard heard people being loud around the block, he would go figure out what that was and address it.鈥�

Noise and littering complaints from residents started rolling in around June. That鈥檚 when George鈥檚 placed signs throughout the neighborhood reminding guests to remain quiet and throw away their trash.

Two years ago, George鈥檚 fought the city to have their own trash receptacles stationed outside the restaurant to help their guests keep the neighborhood clean. But just last week, the Department of Health arrived and told them that the receptacles were no longer allowed.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got to be realistic here and assume it鈥檚 not a coincidence that the Department聽 of聽 Health showed up last week and asked us to remove them,鈥� Albarazi said.聽

Albarazi said the shooting in October frightened everyone, but she does not see how anyone could equate George鈥檚 business hours with luring crime to the neighborhood.

鈥淲e really understood the need at that moment to address this and put our customers and our neighbors at ease and hire security,鈥� Albarazi said. 鈥淪o there鈥檚 something that鈥檚 really important to us and that we鈥檝e happily done.鈥�

But Albarazi is concerned that the ANC鈥檚 resolution could result in a change of operational hours at George鈥檚 and dramatically affect the many communities which they serve.

According to Albarazi, George鈥檚 late-night hours cater to various groups of DC residents, such as front-line workers, who often look for a warm meal at the end of their evening shifts. The restaurant is also entirely halal, which is especially helpful during Ramadan when Muslim people are fasting throughout the day.聽

鈥淚n the Arab community, we鈥檙e really known as the meeting place,鈥� Albarazi said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 how we see ourselves in the community. We bring people together.鈥�

If George鈥檚 hours of operation are forced to change, Albarazi fears it will be the end of a 40-year halal tradition.聽

鈥淲e care about our neighbors, don鈥檛 get me wrong. We absolutely want things to be livable for them in their neighborhood, but we are serving a community that truly needs us,鈥� Albarazi said.

Despite doing everything to meet the demands of residents and the ANC, Albarazi said she feels their efforts have not been recognized.

鈥淪ometimes it feels like no matter what we do, this will never go away. And then I start thinking, what is this really about?鈥� Albarazi said.

George鈥檚 King of Falafel and Cheesesteak has since retained a lawyer in an attempt to arrive at a resolution of their own.

鈥淎t least we鈥檒l have a seat at the table now,鈥� Albarazi said. 鈥淥therwise, I don鈥檛 think we would have ever gotten that.鈥�