We will be visiting Washington DC over the Memorial Day weekend. We have been to DC several times, but our trips have been only a couple of days..this time we will have a little longer. I am looking for restaurant suggestions...casual, inexpensive (less than $20.00 a person for lunch, less than $30.00 a person for dinner). We are staying in Crystal City but will have a car, so different neighborhoods should not be a big problem. We are three middle aged couples. We are looking for hamburger, salad, sandwich type places or Italian or Mexican. We enjoy sitting outside (weather permitting) and would love to find something that has a nice view of the Potomac or monuments. Any ideas?

There are endless choices to meet your criteria - here's a few in locations you're likely to be:

In Crystal City:
http://www.jaleo.com/crystalCity.htm

Near the White House:
http://thebreadlinedc.blogspot.com/ (M-F lunch only)
http://www.teaism.com/ (800 Conn. Ave. location)
http://potenzadc.com/

Near the National Mall:
http://www.oyamel.com/ (best Mexican in town and great location near Mall)
http://www.tenpenh.com/

Near the Capitol:
http://www.splendidfare.com/about/leboncafe.html (breakfast/lunch)
http://www.sonomadc.com/

Near Eastern Market:
http://www.belgacafe.com/
http://www.seventhhill.com/


Near the Zoo:
http://www.petitsplats.com/
http://www.dino-dc.com/

Near the National Cathedral:
http://www.2amyspizza.com/

BTW, There are NO restauarnts with the monument/river view your looking for I can recommend. Also, there are NO options near the monuments (unless you pack a picnic) - plan your days accordingly.

Actually, there is one place w/ river views if you happen to visit Georgetown for some reason - it's expensive:

http://www.arkrestaurants.com/sequoia_dc.html

If you go over to the Clarendon area of Arlington, you should find a lot of restaurants with seating outdoors at that time of year.
My favorite Tex-Mex restaurant in Arlington is El Paso Cafe. It's not a chain restaurant, which is a "plus" for me. It's definitely not fancy, but it's a real family, neighborhood kind of place with good Mexican food. It's generally pretty busy in the early evenings when the families are there. They also have mariachi bands on some nights. (You can call to find out when so that you are sure to be there that night or are sure to avoid them, depending on how you feel about mariachi bands.)

Thanks for the help. A little disappointing about the lack of restaurants with a view....that is always something we enjoy. But...I will check out all the websites, bardo1. I am sure some of those will be great for us. And, longhorn55, the El Paso Cafe, sounds right up our alley. Thanks.

Unfortunately, the restaurants with a view of the Potomac are overpriced and not very good. There aren't really restaurants with Monument views.

The one exception is Ruth Chris Steakhouse in Crystal City, which overlooks the Potomac and you can see the Mall.