On a scorching summer afternoon on Martin Luther King Avenue in Southeast Washington,  Cedar Hill Bar & Grill opened its doors to the neighborhood. It’s named after Frederick Douglass’ historic home around the corner, just up W Street. 

But this is no ordinary opening in just another neighborhood. Cedar Hill occupies the  former Uniontown Bar & Grill, whose sign still adorned the building on the day of the soft launch. That place had a short, but eventful, history: Two years ago, Natasha Dasher, the restaurant’s owner, was  busted for drug trafficking. After  so much fanfare, to see it shuttered in such a way was disappointing for more than a few residents East of the River.