Good Diner in DC?

[vengroff]

I woke up this morning with the urge for a diner breakfast. Nothing fancy at all, just a decent cup of joe, a couple of pancakes and a properly cooked over-easy egg. Maybe some bacon on the side. Served someplace I can sit at the counter and read the paper. Sure I could make it myself at home, almost certainly with better bacon, but that's not really the point. I want the diner experience.

I don't get this particular urge very often, but when I do, it's incurable. I haven't had it since I moved to DC and I now I realize that I have no idea where to go to satisfy it. Please help me out. No fancy brunch places please, just diners or dinerish establishments.

[jparrott]

All together now.

"BEN'S CHILI BOWL"

near 14th and U. Half-smoke breakfast, eggs over easy, homefries well-done, biscuit, please.

[nerissa]

The Diner, on 18th in Adams Morgan. It is not that fancy but they have a menu that should please everyone. I haven't been there since I moved from DC to Chicago. But, I loved that place. Go early.

[Mark Sommelier]

Hop the metro to Silver Spring. The Tastee Diner is the epitome of this genre. Years ago, the Trio Restaurant at the corner of 17th and Q St. NW DC was the spot. I don't know about today. The waitresses with the banana curls are all gone........

[jparrott]

I'm sorry. I've eaten at the Silver Spring (and Fairfax) Tastee and "The Diner," and neither hold a candle to Ben's.

[Malawry]

I have always meant to make Ben's for breakfast. How are their fried apples and salmon cakes? Those are the menu items that always intrigue me when I stop by for a chili burger. (The breakfast menu is posted on the wall, as is the regular menu.)

[Mark Sommelier]

I'm sorry.  I've eaten at the Silver Spring (and Fairfax) Tastee and "The Diner," and neither hold a candle to Ben's.

Well, then, I defer. Haven't been to Ben's. Sietsema is high on Stoney's on L Street. My recollections are different.

[jparrott]

I have always meant to make Ben's for breakfast. How are their fried apples and salmon cakes? Those are the menu items that always intrigue me when I stop by for a chili burger. (The breakfast menu is posted on the wall, as is the regular menu.)

Never made it that far down the menu. I'm a half-smoke boy.

[Becca]

Bob & Edith's on Columbia Pike in Arlington is a classic. Market Lunch/Brunch at Eastern Market is also great. (both are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the diner -- sorry)

[VivreManger]

A classic soul-food diner and breakfast establishment is the Florida Ave. Grill, 1100 Florida Ave. NW, on 11th St near Howard University. We just got back from our trip to DC. I will post the rest of it later, but in response to this thread I can certainly recommend the restaurant for all the hearty breakfast food you can imagine, if their lunch menu is any indication.

Rumor has it that Janet Reno used to breakfast there regularly , for what that recommendation is worth.

The prices are also low. The parking lot, though is unpaved.

[Vinitas]

Check out brunch at Bread and Chocolate, although it isn't quite the greasy diner..

A good day is buying some fresh veggies and fruit at Eastern Market and then heading to B&C for a decent brunch. The patio is great for people watching...although people seem to bring their dogs alot.

V

[bilrus]

The breakfast at Market Lunch in Eastern Market is pretty good. Although I have never had them the blueberry pancakes look incredible.

Posted this before I saw Becca's post.

Edited June 17, 2003 by bilrus (log)

[Damian]

Vivre's got it. Florida Ave. Grill is the one. I like Ben's and I like the Bethesda TD, but FL Ave. Grill is the real deal. Is Jimmy T's on the Hill still around?

[hillvalley]

Is Jimmy T's on the Hill still around?

I had brunch with my sister there the weekend before halloween. It was as crowded as ever. The waiters haven't changed either! They have great combo plates with half a wafle, which is perfect for me and the milkshakes are great. Thick and full of flavor. We got plastic spider rings with our check, which was rediculously low for the amount of food we ordered.

[JPW]

My 2 cents,

Breakfast is one of my 4 or 5 favorite meals of the day. Nothing beats a good diner plate of eggs, sausage, pancakes and hash browns.

The Tastee in downtown SS is the best example of classic diner breakfast that I've found in the area. THe one in Bethesda is not nearly as good. I went to Bob and Edith's a couple of times when I lived over there and found that it really did not live up to all the hype. Frankly, it stunk -- the eggs were greasy and the sausage was dry.

Also, the Jewish deli/diner in Chevy Chase/SS on Grubb Road (can't remember the name) is very good.

[ieatfire]

The place in Silver Spring is called the Parkway - it was my favorite DC-area diner, and I've been jonesing for it ever since I moved to Boston.

You'll need a car to get there, but it's worth the journey - take 16th Street all the way up into Maryland; left on East-West Highway; go about a mile - you'll see a synagogue (Temple Sinai?) on your right, and make a left onto Grubb Road. It's about two blocks down on the left, in a little strip mall.

[Malawry]

I dig Parkway. I have breakfast there with my folks whenever they're in town. Sometimes I go there for a reuben sammich at dinnertime. They have a wonderful pickle bar at lunch and dinner which is FREE.

[ieatfire]

A whole pickle bar - two (three?) different pickles, plus pickled tomatoes and peppers and a few other things. Mmmmmm, pickles...

And gooooooooood egg creams, made with Fox's U-Bet Chocolate Syrup.

Sigh.

[hillvalley]

The power of suggestion...I am off to Parkway before I begin my road trip! Cornbeef and pickles, here I come.

[Jason Perlow]

Bob & Edith's on Columbia Pike in Arlington is a classic. Market Lunch/Brunch at Eastern Market is also great. (both are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the diner -- sorry)

I havent been there in like 15 years, but I gotta agree with the Bob and Edith's rec. Was our standard hangover cure back in my American University days.

[Malawry]

I just had dinner at Parkway on Sunday night. They had half-sours, bread-and-butter pickles, Claussen-type Kosher dills, and I think the crappy Mt. Olive type pickles on the pickle bar. Also kraut, some kind of red cabbage salad, carrot salad, pickled tomatoes, and a few other things. I had a lovely dinner of pickled things and an authentic reuben, washed down with Dr. Brown's Black Cherry soda. I second the nomination of the Parkway Egg Cream (I've purchased Fox's U-Bet there before) but something about a dairy beverage doesn't seem to go well with a reuben.

I adore Parkway, yes. However I'm not sure they would fulfuill Vengroff's diner desires...or anybody else's. They're a semi-Jewish-style deli with a few diner type foods on the menu. Not a diner.

[babka]

there's a great place in brookland--cracked orange vinyl seats, best grits & fried egg combo in town, and the godawful coffee that only tastes good in a diner....it's across the street from the meat market, maybe?

[reesek]

steak and egg on wisconsin if it's still there, SS tastee (did you know that if you drink enough coffee you'll actually make yourself sick? i spent half of high school there) excellent greasy spoon fare.

and parkway - even if it is a deli, not a diner, still fits the bill. i fly 3000 miles once a year for their potato pancakes. the hashed browns this last visit (new years eve day) were almost pureed in the middle, but it was still tasty (get them extra crispy) the bacon (extra crisp) has kept my dad returning for almost 30 years.

[Christopher]

Bob & Edith's on Columbia Pike in Arlington is a classic. 

Ditto Bob & Ediths In fact, not a classic but The classic

[hillvalley]

steak and egg on wisconsin if it's still there

It's still there...can't imagine that corner without it.