DC Restaurants
 

We will be staying in DC, City Center during the first week in December. But we will be sightseeing all over the District. Can you please provide us with some restaurant recommendations? We like all sorts of ethnic food and are always willing to try those we have not had. We could have one splurge meal over $50 a person but prefer to stay in the $25-30 per person range but we appreciate value meals, even places with slap dash service and minimal decor. Quality of the food is the focus.

Among other suggestions, does anyone know a good French Bistro, not haute cuisine.

Thank you.

Your budget is kind of low for DC proper, except for one main course.

Bistrot du Coin near Dupont Circle is an unpretentious French bistro. Le Diplomate is the well-regarded French brasserie that is medium-priced, I think (Marcel's is good French but expensive, they have a fairly reasonably priced pre-theatre menu). Chez Billy Sud is good but more expensive.

http://www.bistrotducoin.com/
http://lediplomatedc.com/
http://chezbillysud.com/

Thank you Christina.

I find the noise levels at Bistro du Coin painful. WAY too painful.
Alternatives:
Bistro Cacao (may be too upscale for your interests)
http://bistrocacao.com
Le Grenier (not a true bistro)
http://www.legrenierdc.com

As Christina notes, your price point is low for DC, so I’ll ignore prices and give you some ethnic options I enjoy, in no particular order:

Spanish: Jaleo
Turkish / Greek: Zaytinya
Indian: Rasika or Raskia West
Serbian / Croatian: Ambar

Thank you. We will adjust are pricing expectations.

Here are some places that are cheaper. DC is known for Ethiopian restaurants but I don't care for that cuisine so can't recommend one, I just don't like it much so am not up on which is good or not, but there are probably some that aren't that expensive. This one is wellknown
http://dukemrestaurant.com/content/menu


cheap Thai
http://www.buathai.com/
http://www.baanthaidc.com/

I really like Jaleo for tapas, it's not too bad if you don't eat a whole lot, it's fine for me and I can eat there for your price point.

City LIghts is good for Chinese
http://www.citylightsofchina.com/

Ben's Chili Bowl is famous, of course, and that's cheap.
http://benschilibowl.com/

I enjoyed Founding Fathers if you haven't been there. If you like ramen- Toki Underground. Definitely more quirky than fancy, but friendly.

That you Christina and Marvel. We may try Jaleo.

And since we have only had Ethiopian once, we will put that on our list.

I think marvelousmouse probably meant Founding Farmers. Very popular (though I didn't think it was memorable).

We loved the food at Zatinya, would love to try Jaleo.

What neighborhood are you staying in?

Lol. Yes, sf, I did. Thanks! Didn't even realize I had typed it that way. No, I wouldn't say memorable, just good service, good food and drinks . Toki Underground is the same. Not the best ramen ever but good enough to go back. Can't have memorable every meal:)

We are staying in City Center.

If you're up for hole-in-the-wall, I have three suggestions, in no particular order:
* Sakuramen, in Adams Morgan: it's Korean-influenced ramen, with excellent gyoza (and, of course, ramen!). One of my favorites; only open in the evening, though, so not for lunch.
* Pho 14, in Columbia Heights (apparently there are other locations now as well, but the Columbia Heights one is the only one I've been to and, I think, was the first): like it sounds, Vietnamese noodle soup, always busy and (in my experience) very tasty and reasonably priced.
* Nooshi, Barracks Row/Capitol Hill: pan-Asian, noodles, sushi, and the like; also reasonably priced for the location and reliably tasty and filling.

All of these are in areas with lots of interesting sight-seeing (of the less typical/tourist kind) as well as lots of food choices. All are also reasonably public-transit accessible via metro (Sakuramen is a mile-ish from both Dupont Circle and the National Zoo stops on the red line; Nooshi is 2 blocks from Eastern Market on the blue/orange/silver; Pho 14 is a couple of blocks from the Columbia Heights station on the green line).

Another option, also metro accessible, is Ben's Next Door (immediately next door to the original Ben's Chili Bowl on U St NW); it's a restaurant with a liquor license and has a wider menu than the original Ben's, but is still affordable, with excellent service. I usually make a point of taking out-of-town guests there.

The cafe at the National Museum of the American indian has some interesting options for a mid-day respite; it features dishes made from native American ingredients (even if the dishes, themselves, aren't native American):
http://www.mitsitamcafe.com/content/menus.asp

Thank you for all the suggestions.