Georgetown Icon, Dixie Liquor Rises Again

Closed since July 1, Dixie Liquor, founded in 1934, reopened April 20 — same place, same times, same property owners, different business owners. The new owners for the business are Jason Lim and his wife Soo Hyun Lim.

Frequented by generations of Hoyas and the likes of John Kennedy and former Redskins running back John Riggins, Dixie is considered the oldest liquor store in Washington, D.C., at the intersection of M Street and Key Bridge, at the bottom of the cobblestone hill of 35th Street.

Along with a store interior upgrade, the new owners applied for Class A liquor license and transferred a liquor license from Best DC Supermarket at 1507 U St. NW.

New store times call for a closing at 10 p.m. during the week and 11 p.m. on the weekend — essentially the same as the previous ownership — but with earlier opening hours than the previous owner. Some community leaders expressed concern at the Jan. 30 advisory neighborhood commission meeting about the longer hours and said they wanted to speak with the new owners. (The ABRA request records the originally requested new times as 9 a.m. to midnight, Sunday through Saturday.)

The Lims have also worked with other family members at the Market at Columbia Plaza apartments, located along Virginia Avenue and 23rd Street, next to George Washington University, and said that they have experience with a college-student clientele.

The Miller family still owns the property at 3429 M St. NW.

Dixie Liquor has been known as much for its staff’s and clientele’s personalities as for its beers, wines and spirits.

The following is how the business presented itself a few years: “Some say Dixie Liquor is the only privately owned monument in Washington and that the only reason we are so close to the bridge is to make Virginia jealous. All we know is that the more the world changes, the more Dixie stays the same.”