If you haven’t heard, the former Philly Pizza & Grill reopened about a month ago as Gofresh, “Where healthy meals meets delicious taste.”

Yesterday, Vox decided to go see what the new restaurant was like. I am sorry I did.

From the sidewalk, one can still read “Philly Pizza & Grill” under the black paint covering the awning. A sign reading “QUIET!!” and “NO LOITERING” hangs next to the door. The interior looks the same, but the counter is farther back to provide more seating. Alas, the restaurant was empty.

According to the cashier at Gofresh, their baked potatoes are their most popular item. He recommended the “spinach artichoke,” pictured here wrapped in tinfoil and buried under creamed spinach, some cucumbers, and feta cheese. It was glommy. I did not ask for ranch dressing.

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We’ve got bad news if you expected to taste ranch-drenched Philly Pizza anytime soon. Hell, we’ve got bad news if you expected Philly Pizza to reopen.

According to a final consent order issued by the D.C. Department of Regulatory and Consumer Affairs, the restaurant will reopen as Go Fresh, a prepared food shop that bares little resemblance to the former late-night pizza peddler. Owner Mehmet Kocak‘s new certificate of occupancy came with strict conditions from the DCRA.

As per the consent order, Go Fresh will not be able to cook raw ingredients, such as meat, dough, or fish. The restaurant will stop serving customers at 12:45 a.m. and close at 1 a.m.; Thursdays through Saturdays, deliveries can continue until 3 a.m. And the final nail in Philly Pizza’s coffin? Go Fresh “shall not serve and/or sell pizza.”

That’s right: No cooking, no late nights, and no pizza.

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Yesterday, the Georgetown Dish broke the news that the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs granted Philadelphia Pizza Company a new certificate of occupancy in late September.

In an email to the Dish, DRCA Director Linda Argo confirmed the ranch-and-pizza hawker’s phoenix-like revival.

“The owners have altered the interior of the property and replaced the cooking oven with a ventless oven to be used to warm sandwiches and other food.  The owners have also removed the rooftop vent [and the] Certificate of Occupancy…was issued by DCRA on September 22, 2010,” Argo wrote.

In August, Philly P’s owner Mehmet Kocak filed for the certificate after he began to renovate the restaurant’s Potomac Street location. Kocak plans to reopen Philly P’s as a prepared food shop.

Georgetown residents are not pleased with the decision.

“We’re not happy. Nobody understands this ruling. The timing of it . . . it’s strange. It makes no sense,” ANC Comissioner Bill Starrels told the Dish.

Just like last year, Vox has compiled a guide to “news you can use”, or in other words, an excessively comprehensive review of last year’s important news stories. Today, we cover the off-campus issues that made headlines.

Georgetown’s 2010 Campus Plan

Every ten years, the University has to submit a campus plan to the D.C. Zoning Commission, detailing its construction plans for the next decade. University administrators hosted a series of meetings to present the plan to the neighborhood and ask for feedback, but Georgetown residents have been unsupportive, to say the least.

Their main complaint: the University has no plans to add new undergraduate housing on campus, which means upperclassmen will continue to live in West Georgetown (the neighborhood east of the front gates) and Burleith (the neighborhood northwest of the hospital). The neighborhood associations have launched fundraising campaigns, circulated a petition, and put up lawn signs to oppose the 2010 Campus Plan.

While the plan has some initiatives to benefit undergraduates, such as a New South student center, Voice writers have expressed concern about circuitous free shuttle bus routes and overcrowding from increased graduate student enrollment.

But, you still might ask—why should you care?

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Georgetown’s favorite pizza place is trying to come back—again.

Philly Pizza & Grill, which D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles once compared to a brothel, recently filed a demolition permit with the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) for its Potomac Street location. However, don’t start dreaming of late-night, ranch-drenched pizza just yet.

According to the recently-approved permit, the building is zoned as a “prepared food shop.” Philly Pizza originally closed because it violated zoning laws about prepared food shops; even if owner Mehmet Kocak reopens the eatery, it can’t be the late-night pizza peddler it once was.

The permit allows for “limited interior demolition” that focuses on equipment that would be needed to make food on the premises. The building’s “kitchen hood, ductwork and exhaust system” are all being removed.

Shortly after Philly Pizza was closed via court order in March, owner Matt Kocak filed papers with the DCRA for a new certificate of occupancy. While the DCRA has yet to approve the application, the renovations suggest that Kocak is angling to reopen his restaurant.

However, those who fought to close the restaurant, such as ANC Commissioner Bill Starrels, are disappointed with the new developments.

“I don’t think [Kocak] has earned any credibility,” Starrels said. “I hope that Peter Nickles will do everything in the law and his power to protect my constituents from having to suffer under these people again and from this place reopening.”

Even if Philly Pizza does reopen, neighbors shouldn’t expect large crowds of customers—the permit lists the proposed maximum occupancy at 18 persons.