A new deli on Capitol Hill offers more than meets the eye.
By The Pound sells meats, cheeses and salads by – you guessed it – the pound. The menu also features sandwiches to-go.
But customers may want to stay, and discover what lies behind the walk-in freezer door: a hidden back-bar.
"There will be people sitting down eating their sandwiches, then someone will walk up and open the freezer door,” laughed Matt Mead, one of the owners.
“Yeah, a group of eight walks through the walk-in freezer and all of a sudden it’s like, ‘What's going on?’” added co-owner Sean Majors.
The surprises don’t end there. Inside the back-bar, there’s a bookcase that slides open to reveal yet another space – a smaller dining room that can be rented for private events.
"The front room is dedicated to music, literature, art, philosophy and film. The second room, as you go through the hidden bookshelf door, is dedicated to activism and civil disobedience,” Majors said. "This is our little objection to 2018, social media and the 24-hour political news cycle."
Instead of television sets, newspaper clippings and full bookshelves cover the walls. The owners hope the décor will inspire real human connections.
"You'll see something on the wall or you'll see something on the bookshelf and kind of spark up a conversation, that's really what we're all about here,” Mead said.
The menu is part craft cocktails, part neighborhood watering hole. Customers can also order food from the deli.
By The Pound is located at 1801 East Olive Way and is open from 11am until “really late.”
