JC98

We're going to D.C. in early April for the Cherry Blossom Festival, and would love to get your recommendations on what and where to eat in D.C. We're looking for something unique to this region. The more down-to-earth and authentic the better, although we could splurge on one or two meals if you think it's truly worth it.

Some D.C. area food I've heard of:
* blue crabs
* crab cakes
* Ethiopian food
* half smoked chili
* Obama's favorite burger place -- where is that?
* what else?

I 'd posted a similar question before our last trip to Florida, and was delighted to get many enthusiastic and helpful responses, which made our trip memorable. Looking forward to the same from this forum. Many thanks!

longhorn55

President Obama has eaten at a few different hamburger places around here. Two that come to mind are Five Guys (which is a chain and has many locations in the area) and Ray's HellBurger which is located at 1713 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington. If you go to Ray's, I think the closest Metro stop would be Courthouse (on the Orange Line). It's a few blocks away from there.

GoAway

jamitezeno: What does Chinese New Year (in February) have to do with dining during the Cherry Blossom Festival (in April)?

Or is this just a (bad) plug for your website?

To the OP - I wish I could help with better suggestions, but I can't. The only place DH wants to eat when we go to DC is Zaytinya - definitely a splurge, but well worth the cost. However, I've been following several threads over on Chowhound concerning various empanada and saltena places, and we will make it to some of them sometime!

kayd

Look at the restaurant pages in local publications: Washington Post, City Paper, Washingtonian Magazine.

No such thing as "half smoked chili" -- what you want is "a halfsmoke" (spicy hot dog) with chili (as the topping). Ben's Chili Bowl (13th and U NW) set the standard, but street vendor carts also sell a version.

NewbE

Ben's Chili Bowl, yes!
Five Guys, noooo.
Jaleo for tapas, yes!
Ethiopian, yes, but I'll look to others for a specific reco as it's been years since I had any in DC.

yestravel

Five Guys is just a chain and has average chain burgers. At one time it was probably good, but now its really just mediocre I think. Ray's Hellburgers is far superior. My favorite burger in DC is at Palena's in the cafe part of the restaurant in Cleveland Park, right on the RedLine. In the Spring u can grab a table outside and have a fabulous burger on a homemade roll. They also have really great desserts.
If u like half smokes Ben's chili Bowl is an institution. I don't know that its worth a trip to have one though.
Jaleo's is a fun place for tapas. Right down the street is Oyamel which is good Mexican and great margaritas. Amsterdam Falfel on 18t St in Adams Morgan is really nice for a quick lunch.Also in AM is Meskerem for Ethopian. Etete on 9th St in the U St area is also good for Ethopian.
Good pizza at Two Amy's and Pizza Paradiso.

When u say a splurge, what's your price range? Lots of really good restaurants where u can pay $100-$150 for two.

crepes_a_go_go

I really enjoyed Sorriso at the Cleveland Park metro stop, La Chaumier in Georgetown sort of across from the Four Seasons hotel, and Petits Plats across the street from the zoo metro stop. This was in 2008 so I hope all three are still just as good. I will be dining at La Chaumier next week for certain, so I will report if it is not up to snuff although I highly doubt that will be the case.

obxgirl

>>Five Guys is just a chain and has average chain burgers. At one time it was probably good, but now its really just mediocre I think. Ray's Hellburgers is far superior.

BlueSwimmer

I like Dukem for Ethiopian and they have outdoor seating if it's warm. They also do Ethiopian dance performances some nights, which can be interesting. The food is good quality and the servers are all really kind.

I have to say that I love Five Guys, especially their fries. There is a good location in Old Town Alexandria if you plan to spend any time there. Ray's Hellburger is more over the top gourmet and expect a wait for a table. The meat quality is exceptional, just like at Ray's the Steaks.

As a Baltimore native, my advice would be to have crabs in Baltimore or Annapolis, not DC. Check out the boards on Chowhound.com for very up-to-date recommendations for crab houses. Spring isn't really quite the time for eating blue crabs but you can still get them and enjoy the experience. Keep in mind that they are very expensive these days and won't fill you up unless you are a millionaire and have patience to pick them for a few hours (beer helps.) We always start the meal with Maryland crab soup or cream of crab. Yum.

You can also try a crab cake, maybe at Lexington Market (I think you mentioned going there in another thread) and if you are anywhere with stuffed hard crabs or green pepper rings, try them. They are old time Baltimore bar food. Green pepper rings are like onion rings but so sweet some places sprinkle them with powdered sugar (weird, I know, but delicious). Fried hard crabs are a crab with the gross lungs and stuff removed, stuffed with either a crab imperial (at fancy places) or just bread crumb stuffing, and deep fried in beer batter. A mess to eat but so good. Another old Baltimore thing that you can still get many places is french fries with gravy. I ate that every day for lunch in high school. Many Baltimore natives eat their crab cakes with mustard instead of tartar sauce- I much prefer them that way.

If you like down to earth food experiences, a cool DC institution is the floating fish market at Maine Avenue mentioned above on the waterfront near L'Enfant Plaza and Arena Stage. It is gritty and unique. http://www.yelp.com/biz/maine-avenue...ket-washington
A series of floating barges selling all types of fish and seafood. You will see people from every walk of life in the DC area there. The guys on the barges are mostly from Southern Maryland and come up and work for a few days at a time, sleeping in the backs of the barges. They love to flirt with the ladies and try to entice you to buy from them, all good natured. There are also some floating cooked seafood places where you can get fried fish, steamed shrimp and crabs, etc. You either take it away, or pull up a section of curb to eat. The trailer in the parking lot that looks like a construction trailer is where you take your whole fish to get them cleaned for incredibly reasonable prices. They are lightening fast artists in there. One caveat- don't think about trying any of the sit down restaurants along Maine Ave there- the worst overpriced, indifferently prepared tourist food.

If you are coming from a town without a big Vietnamese population, you could also try pho while you are here. The DC suburbs have pho places in almost every strip mall. My favorite is Pho King in Alexandria.