Dinner near Arena Stage

[SWoodyWhite]

Are there any good places to eat near the Arena Theater? We'll be in town for the opening of Hallelujah, Baby!, and I've a hunch a grumbly stomach in the middle of the first act wouldn't be appreciated.

[iamthestretch]

How about Cafe Mozu at the new Mandarin Oriental? It's probably the closest interesting place to the Arena Stage, unless you want to go the whole nine yards at CityZen.

[oliveDC]

Ditto on Cafe Mozu or you could try your luck with Cantina Marina, which you could walk from, though I'm not sure what it's like in the middle of winter.

There's a handful of other (questionable) spots within walking distance: H2O, Phillip's, Jenny's Asian Fusion...

But you might be better off food-wise cabbing/driving from somewhere downtown, maybe Cafe Atlantico or Andale?

[Busboy]

That area is kind of a wasteland. But, depending on curtain time, you could eat at Montmartre on Capital Hill and then head down 3rd street to the Freeway and be at the theater in less than 10 minutes. Similarly, you could munch in Dupont at Firefly or Pesce and catch the GW Parkway at P Street and make another quick dash. Depends how well (if at all) you know your way around the city and whether Arena offers parking, of course. You'll find little worthwile within walking distance of Arena, however.

[jml3]

If one is headed to Arena Stage for an 8:00 curtain, CityZen is not an option. Is there any other reasonable place in the neighborhood? Has anyone tried Jenny's, which went into the old La Rivage space on Maine Avenue SW?

[DonRocks]

If one is headed to Arena Stage for an 8:00 curtain, CityZen is not an option. Is there any other reasonable place in the neighborhood? Has anyone tried Jenny's, which went into the old La Rivage space on Maine Avenue SW?

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Is this the same Jenny's that was in Waterside Mall? If so, then think: corn starchy hot-and-sour soup, nasty eggrolls, greasy beef lo mein, and cold egg foo young with brown gravy. Assuming Negril carryout is open that late, make a beeline there, getting an order of curried chicken, a dozen meatloaf patties (they freeze and toast famously if you flatten them a little bit before freezing and/or have a bagel-width toaster), an Inca Cola (actually, this sort-of tastes like bubble gum), and sit and scarf in your car trying not to dunk your tie in the Satanic Matouk's hot sauce that you just poured onto your food.

Or, you could try the Empress Lounge at the Mandarin for a drink and a couple small plates.

I'd say hit The Apple Of Eve, but that's, like, soooo 1980s.

Rocks.

[babka]

For waterfront dining, you can't do much worse than Jenny's. I attended a Christmas party there last month. It's scary.

for pre-Arena dining, I usually head to Cafe Atlantico and then jump on the green line down to the waterside mall--door to door takes about 20 minutes, unless you get caught in metro hell.

[MMerrill]

Any updates for dining in this area on Sunday?

[Busboy]

It's not in the neighborhood, but if you eat at, say Montmartre and then jump on the freeway, you can be to Arena in minutes. Similarly, you might be able to make an even quicker dash from MoZU at the Mandarin.