WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL: Just in time for March Madness, a new sports betting parlor has opened in D.C.
Grand Central Sportsbook & Cafe at 625 H St. NE will begin accepting its first wagers Friday after receiving final approvals from the Department of Small and Local Business Development.
It is owner Brian Vasile’s second D.C. sportsbook — he also owns Grand Central Restaurant, Bar & Sportsbook in Adams Morgan — and it’s the first new betting parlor to open in the District since Over Under Sportsbook debuted within Cloakroom Gentlemen’s Club at 476 K St. NW in December 2022.
The new Grand Central on H Street occupies about 1,800 square feet in space that had previously housed the fast-casual noodle shop Rice Bar. Vasile had hoped the new venue would be open in time for the Feb. 11 Super Bowl — always the biggest betting event of the year — but a delay in filing some paperwork with the city pushed the date back by a few weeks. Still, it will be open in time for March Madness, the NCAA’s three-week basketball tournament that is also among the most heavily bet sporting events.
“If you’re going to miss the Super Bowl, then March Madness is the next best thing,” Vasile said.
Vasile’s Adams Morgan sportsbook came online in 2021within a restaurant he opened in 2007. It was the first in the city to open under a unique-to-D.C. law that allows independent restaurant and pub owners to operate sportsbooks as an additional revenue stream.
It was a hefty upfront investment — well into the six figures, Vasile previously told me — but it appears to be paying off for Vasile and his partner in its ventures, Elys GameTechnology, an Italian company that provides odds and back-end technology for gaming machines at independent sportsbooks in Europe and North America. Grand Central’s sportsbook pulled in $4.4 million in wagers in 2022, its first full year operation, and last year topped $5 million, according to the D.C. Office of Lottery and Gaming. Its “hold” — the amount a sportsbook keeps after paying outwinnings to gamblers — was about $752,000 before taxes.
The H Street venue has a decidedly different vibe than the Adams Morgan location, which is a full-service restaurant and morphs into a dance club at night. The new location has four betting kiosks, a betting window and three large TVs forviewing sporting events but, for now, is not serving alcohol and food will be on-the-go items like sandwiches and salads. It is also serving up baked goods and other desserts from Tissy Sweets Bakery & Cafe of Clinton, Maryland.
It does have a license to sell beer and wine to go, though Vasile said he doesn’t expect to sell alcohol until later this year.
“We kind of want to get our feet wet in the neighborhood, make sure everything is operating correctly, then maybe in six months we’ll start selling beer and wine for carryout,” he said.
Despite the recent headlines about restaurants abandoning H Street due to declining foot traffic and rising crime, Vasile isoptimistic that a sportsbook will do well there, given itsproximity to Capitol Hill and NoMa.
“I’ve always been enchanted by H Street,” he said. “I love its location, its diversity. And it’s far away enough from Adams Morgan that it won’t cannibalize my other business.”
Grand Central Sportsbook & Cafe will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., though the hours could be adjusted for major sporting events.
D.C. now has six sportsbooks and Baltimore-based Live! Hospitality & Entertainment has filed applications with the D.C. Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) and the Department of Small and Local Business Development to open a seventh at its Sports & Social restaurant at 1314 U St. NW. The company behind The Greene Turtle is also looking to open a sportsbook on M Street in Georgetown.
The largest full-service sportsbooks are at professional sports venues: Caesars at Capital One Arena, BetMGM at Nationals Park and FanDuel at Audi Field.
