Recommended good eats in DC

[SaxChik]

I'll be staying near the DC Convention center at the Marriott Courtyard on F St NW. Any restaurant recommendations? We like all sorts of food. My dining partner will be on a stipend, so we can't make it TOO expensive. We prefer non-chain places.

Thanks in advance!

Lauren

[akur23]

I'll be staying near the DC Convention center at the Marriott Courtyard on F St NW.  Any restaurant recommendations?  We like all sorts of food.  My dining partner will be on a stipend, so we can't make it TOO expensive.  We prefer non-chain places. 

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We had a lovely dinner at La Tasca on 7th Street during Restaurant week.

La Tasca

[JennyUptown]

fyi - La Tasca is a chain.

Near the Convention Center, there are oodles of on-chain choices. On a budget, you'll do well at Zaytinya, Matchbox, Jaleo. On slightly less of a budget, try Cafe Atlantico.

That's only the beginning...

[monavano]

Cafe Atlantico is a wonderful restaurant, and the pre theater menu is 25 bucks for three courses. It is by far among the best deals in town.

http://www.cafeatlantico.com

also:

http://www.butterfield9.com/menus/menu_theatre.php

Edited August 20, 2005 by monavano (log)

[Mark Sommelier]

Old Ebbitt

Oceanaire

Tosca (at the bar, maybe)

New Big Wong in Chinatown (look at all the fish tanks, ask if Kim is working, she understands live food)

[SaxChik]

Old Ebbitt

Oceanaire

Tosca (at the bar, maybe)

New Big Wong in Chinatown (look at all the fish tanks, ask if Kim is working, she understands live food)

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any good sushi bars?

[Rich Pawlak]

Gonna be in DC August 27th-29th near the Convention Center.  Need some good restaurant recommendations.  Something perhaps a little offbeat or ethnic ... not too expensive.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks!

Lauren

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Bistrot Du Coin on Connecticut Ave, a classic French bistro;

Matchbox in Chinatown for the best pizza and mini-burgers in one place;

San Marco in Adams Morgan for quirky and cheap Italian with a huge collection of grappa.

[JennyUptown]

I can't think of many sushi restaurants in this specific area. Sushi AOI comes to mind on 11th and H/New York.

If you search for "sushi" on eg or dr.com, you'll find threads on Sushi Ko, Kotobuki, Makoto, Kaz...and more. Not near the Convention Center, but DC is easy to get around (cabs, metro, bus, etc.)

[Busboy]

A bit of a chain, too, but if it's a cool night, getting an onglet and some frites at Les Halles, 12th (?) and Penn its a pretty good way to spend the evening. Go late (after the crowds) and get a table outside.

Where are you coming in from? If you find yourself on the east coast with a west coast body clock going, (or are just a night owl) the Old Ebbit Grill -- suggested by Mark above -- has a half-priced oyster bar special after 11PM.

[SaxChik]

A bit of a chain, too, but if it's a cool night, getting an onglet and some frites at Les Halles, 12th (?) and Penn its a pretty good way to spend the evening.  Go late (after the crowds) and get a table outside. 

Where are you coming in from?  If you find yourself on the east coast with a west coast body clock going, (or are just a night owl) the Old Ebbit Grill -- suggested by Mark above -- has a half-priced oyster bar special after 11PM.

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I'm coming in from Philly, my boyfriend's flying in from Washington State. We'll have to see how our clocks work out.

Are most of these places open on Sunday, as well?

[monavano]

Old Ebbitt is open on Sunday. It's very "DC" and a real great place for lunch. We took my in laws there recently and they LOVED the hamburgers. I had the rueben which was awesome. It's a great, great deal for lunch.

As a side note, since you're visiting, I'd suggest that if you're going to Old Ebbitt, that you have a libation or two down the block, atop the Hotel Washington's Sky Terrace Restaurant. Don't go for the food. Go for the views of the White House, Mall and Monuments. It's a don't miss (if it's not sweltering outside!)

This one-two combo is my "go to" for out of town guests. It never dissapoints.

http://hotelwashington.com/view.html

My other mention was Cafe Atlantico, which is also open Sunday. For something different, go there for the Latino Dim Sum. See the website for the offerings.

[Miami Danny]

I'll be staying near the DC Convention center at the Marriott Courtyard on F St NW.  Any restaurant recommendations?  We like all sorts of food.  My dining partner will be on a stipend, so we can't make it TOO expensive.  We prefer non-chain places. 

Thanks in advance!

Lauren

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Check out Full Kee on H St-Great Hong Kong-style soup with noodles and homemade dumplings. Jellyfish salad and other delicacies abound-order off the small table-card folded menu thing of specials-cash only-bring your beer from the corner grocer. Very inexpensive.

[rbh]

fyi - La Tasca is a chain.

Near the Convention Center, there are oodles of on-chain choices.  On a budget, you'll do well at Zaytinya, Matchbox, Jaleo.  On slightly less of a budget, try Cafe Atlantico. 

That's only the beginning...

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Just down the street from the Courtyard (which is in the same bldg as Gordon Biersch), there's also Ella's for pizza. I prefer Matchbox, but that's probably for the mini-burgers. Chinatown is not a far walk, and I second the Full Kee recommendation. For lunch one day, goto Capital Q (next to Matchbox) for some BBQ (get the brisket). Also cheap is Kanlaya, a Thai place in chinatown. For Mexican, I've also liked Andale over at 7th and D.

For a little bit of a splurge, Poste is also a possibility.

[docsconz]

The quality/price ratio at Jose Andres' restaurants is superb (Jaleo, Zaytinya, Cafe Atlantico) and any or all of these should be at the top of your list. You might also consider venturing a little bit further afield and visiting Corduroy. do a quick search here for comments on. The food is awesome and the price quite reasonable. A little bit further afield and also excellent is Firefly. Further afield yet, but still accessible and great for a budget is Two Amys for pizza and gelato.

[SaxChik]

The quality/price ratio at Jose Andres' restaurants is superb (Jaleo, Zaytinya, Cafe Atlantico) and any or all of these should be at the top of your list. You might also consider venturing a little bit further afield and visiting Corduroy. do a quick search here for comments on. The food is awesome and the price quite reasonable. A little bit further afield and also excellent is Firefly. Further afield yet, but still accessible and great for a budget is Two Amys for pizza and gelato.

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if i keep going further afield i'm gonna end up back in PA!

thanks for the suggestions!

[monavano]

The quality/price ratio at Jose Andres' restaurants is superb (Jaleo, Zaytinya, Cafe Atlantico) and any or all of these should be at the top of your list. You might also consider venturing a little bit further afield and visiting Corduroy. do a quick search here for comments on. The food is awesome and the price quite reasonable. A little bit further afield and also excellent is Firefly. Further afield yet, but still accessible and great for a budget is Two Amys for pizza and gelato.

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if i keep going further afield i'm gonna end up back in PA!

thanks for the suggestions!

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Honestly, you have so many options in Penn Quarter, there's no need to look farther

[lackadaisi]

Zaytinya, Jaleo, Cafe Atlantico, Poste, Ginger Cove, Teaism, and Ella's are all good choices. Skip La Tasca.

If you want sushi, please take the metro a couple of stops and go to Kaz Sushi Bistro. Do not go to Sushi Aoi; the sushi is inedible.

[wkl]

Second Bistrot du Coin! About as classic a French bistro experience as you can have.

Jaleo, for tapas style dining.Same chef, Jose Andres, owns Zaytinya which is Greek/Lebanese styled little plates.Both are great. I believe both take reservations only 'til 6:30, and can be very busy after that.

You could do three or four tapas at jaleo and be out of there reasonably.check out www.jaleo.com for a menu and link to zaytinya.

[robertruelan]

Second Bistrot du Coin! About as classic a French bistro experience as you can have.

Jaleo, for tapas style dining.Same chef, Jose Andres, owns Zaytinya which is Greek/Lebanese styled little plates.Both are great. I believe both take reservations only 'til 6:30, and can be very busy after that.

You could do three or four tapas at jaleo and be out of there reasonably.check out www.jaleo.com for a menu and link to zaytinya.

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I second Jaleo. I went there a few years ago and their tapas were great, along with their sangria. Hmmm.. tapas....

[wkl]

Saw the post on the dc forum and can second the Teasism suggestion.Great for an inexpensive lunch.

[Curlz]

Jaleo, YES!

Zaytinya, YES!

Rosa Mexicano, NOOOOO.

The bar at Palena, YES!

David Greggory, YES!

Just a few thoughts.

[Catherine Nash]

Another vote for Jaleo. The Tabbard Inn has a restaurant that I've heard is pretty good (though I stayed there, I didn't eat there so I can't vouch for it personally).

[JennyUptown]

I'm a fan of Tabard Inn (though some people are not), however it will be a budget buster for you, to be sure.

[LoveToEatATL]

We were just in DC and ate at Firefly for dinner - so good and so romantic!

We also loved Tryst in Adams Morgan for brunch.

[SaxChik]

well, my weekend in DC was a lot of fun (jungle heat aside) ...

here's where and what we ate ...

for dinner saturday night, we decided to go out for german food (a favorite of both of us). we went to the Cafe Berlin on capitol hill. i ordered the jagerschnitzel with spaetzle. my boyfriend had the sauerbraten with a potato dumpling and braised red cabbage. we started with potato pancakes and ended with linzer torte. we both ordered beers (a heffeweisen and a dark lager .. BIG BEERS!).

the food was good and the restaurant was really pretty and quite romantic. the sauerbraten was a little tough (we like it when it's fork-tender). the linzer torte was pretty dry. the jagerschnitzel and spatezle were delicious.

i'm not sure if they were short waitstaff, but it seemed to take FOREVER to get through dinner. luckily, we had a lot to talk about and were enjoying our huge beers.

for lunch on sunday, we hit the eastern market and ate sandwiches and munched on all the cut up fresh fruit each stand had out.

dinner on sunday was spent at full kee. YUM-M-M-M-Y!!! when we got there, we were the only americans in the joint (a good sign!). we had the beef and golden mushroom hotpot and the short rib and eggplant casserole. we started out with an order of steamed dumplings. perhaps the best chinese food i've had in a long while. i will definitely be hitting that place again my next stop in DC.

many thanks to everyone who put in their 2 cents. i have passed your other suggestions on to my boyfriend who will be in DC for the rest of the week.

you dc folks can pour on the hospitality. feel free to hit me up for any philly and suburb info you might need.

cheers!

lauren