Expired Business License Closes Georgetown Cupcake
By • August 11, 2022 0 2207
This article was updated on Aug. 12.
The world-famous and popular Georgetown Cupcake at the corner of 33rd and M Street NW was shut down Aug. 10 by the D.C. Health Department.
Of course, local, mainstream and social media lit up with past images of customers lined up outside the store and yesterday’s yellow notice.
The department’s Division of Food notice, posted on its door, reads in part: “This establishment is closed until further notice for a violation(s) of the District of Columbia food code regulations, which presents an imminent health hazard(s) to the public.” No specific reason was cited on the notice.
Georgetown Cupcake later responded: “Hello. Our business license had expired and that was the cause of the closure. We filed to renew it and hope to be open again as soon as possible. There were no other health code violations. We apologize for any inconvenience to our customers.” (The license expired in November 2021.)
WTOP reported, “According to DC Health records, inspectors came to the location for a routine inspection on July 13, and that inspection returned several safety violations, including the presence of mouse droppings on shelves and mold on a Bailey’s Irish Cream container. The business was also told its license was expired and needed to be renewed.”
DC Health later told WTOP: “DC Health returned on August 10, 2022 for a follow-up inspection and noted that all health and safety violations had been addressed; however, they had not renewed their business license causing DC Health to close the establishment.”
Forbes reported that the shutdown will not affect Georgetown Cupcake’s popular nationwide shipping business — as the company noted to the business news magazine that all shipping orders are fulfilled at its shipping headquarters near Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
Opened in Georgetown, first on Potomac Street, in 2008 by sisters Katherine Kallinis Berman and Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne, Georgetown Cupcake has expanded to Bethesda, New York City, Boston, Los Angeles and Atlanta. There was also the Reality TV series, “DC Cupcakes,” which made the place famous and a must-stop for tourists.
According to Newsweek, a Twitter user joked: “First Mar-a-Lago and now Georgetown Cupcake.”
Quipped one Georgetown neighbor: “The greenies may be after them for their sugar content.”
The D.C. Health notice on the door of Georgetown Cupcake. Georgetowner photo.
