Favorite Washington, DC restaurants
 

What are your favorite restaurants in DC? What is it you like about it~ambiance, location, affordability, great food, great service?

One we tried on our last trip was Georgia Brown's~the pot roast and the fried chicken were excellent!! www.gbrowns.com/

I also love Old Ebbitt's Grill for the history and the ambiance. www.ebbitt.com

What are you looking for?

I'm looking for people's favorite restaurants.......

On our last visit, we really enjoyed Indique and Central. I've heard from others that Georgia Brown's is great.

Oh, you asked why. At Central, we loved most of the food. All the dishes were good and some were great. We liked the bistro ambiance (didn't like having to wait for our reservation however, but we know the restaurant is not always in control).

At Indique, we just loved the food. Some unusual dishes.

Well, you know about our Ben's Chili Bowl experience :-)

Thanks, sf........and starrs~Ben's is on our list to try!

There was a thread from last year where several locals gave recommendations, but I couldn't find it, so I thought I'd start a new one exclusively about restaurants.

Here's a good source for info on DC restaurants:
http://www.opentable.com/washington-dc-restaurants

I love DC's restaurant scene. My current and ongoing batch of favorites:

Jaleo (moderate, Penn Qtr) - Spanish tapas, Jose Andres original restaurant, still wonderful after 20( (?) years. Boisterous and fun, some communal tables.

Zatinya (moderate, Penn Qtr) - Tapas again, only Greek & Mediterranean cuisine. Same chef, calmer atmosphere.

Birch and Barley (moderate, Logan Circle) - American-y comfort food. Hundreds of beers. I can't stop ordering the pork enchiladas. Our last visit we were seated at the bar facing the open kitchen. The host considered it "less than" seating but we thoroughly enjoyed watching the action.

Pearl Dive Oyster Palace (moderate, Logan Circle) - Not for the diet conscious. Oysters, fried chicken, fried catfish. Downside, no reservations. Worth the wait. Same for the other really good oyster place in DC, Hanks Oyster Bar (moderate, Dupont Circle).

West End Bistro (moderate, West End) - American bistro food originally prepared under a 3 Star Michelin chef, now under a chef formerly of the amazing Inn At LIttle Washington. Best fried oyster sandwich in the city. Pretty food.

Rasika (expensive, Penn Qtr & West End) - Indian cuisine, elegant and modern. The crispy spinach (Palat Chaak?) is one of the best things I've ever eaten.

Vidalia (expensive, Downtown) - Southern cuisine. If you enjoyed Georgia Brown's you will almost certainly Vidalia. It's companion restaurant is also excellent, Bistro Bis (moderate, Capitol Hill) but it's not a neighborhood I'm in as frequently.

Baked and Wired (cheap, Georgetown) - Indie bakery and coffee shop. Hands down, no lie, the best coffee (Stumptown) in the city. I love their goat cheese & caramelized onion biscuit. Deadly good cupcakes. I like the Unporked Elvis (no candied bacon for me).

Nando's (cheap, Dupont Circle, Penn Qtr) - Spicy peruvian chicken and fries. Originally a european chain.

Paul (cheap, Penn Qtr & elsewhere) - I think DC is the only US home of this french chain. Second best coffee in the city. Wonderful baguette sandwiches. Lovely pastries. Pleasant atmosphere inside but on a nice day, it's great people watching outside.

I was hoping you'd show up, obxgirl......... :)
Nice mix! Must be nice to live in an area with so many choices!

I haven't lived in DC for a long time, but I used to love people watching at Kramer Books and Afterwords.

obxgirl, when I lved there there were NO restaurants at Logan Circle. I'm so happy there are now.

I also think the Ethopian food in DC is so great. The one across from Ben's on U St. is excellent.

Central Michel Richard. Atmosphere too Californian, but the food is absolutely correct French.

Ackislander's, I wish I could get those French fries in California!

Zed's Ethiopian cuisine in Georgetown. You just don't find these kinds of ethnic eateries unless you're in a huge metropolis like this. very good food and fairly safe even if you don't like Indian food

Sf3707, I wish Swan Oyster Depot would open a branch on the East Coast. My sister just got back from a business tip o SF and has been torturing me!

Didn't the Buddha tell us that desire is at the root of unhappiness?

Rasika is probably my current favorite, if I could only name one. Both locations are just stellar.
I wrote this trip report last winter after a Thanksgiving week trip:
http://fodors.com/community/united-s...-not-short.cfm
We ate so much and so often, everything was great, and yet there were still so many places we regretfully had to save for next year...DC is quite the food town these days! Enjoy...

No need to limit yourself, NewbE..........thanks for the link!

I was a big fan of NewBe's trip report -- we share some favorites!

>>obxgirl, when I lved there there were NO restaurants at Logan Circle. I'm so happy there are now.<<

Lots of changes in LC, suewoo, a ton of renovation and new construction. It's probably in its post-hipster phase now (one too many wine shops and people like me frequenting the neighborhood) but well worth a trip for a a new visitor willing to go just slightly off the beaten path. Do you get back to DC?

I recall more than a couple of nights waiting in line at Ben's after the bars closed though these days I'm going to be the one on line at 2pm and not 2am. Agree that there's a great cluster of Ethiopian places in the area.

Sorry for the hijack, tenthumbs!

though these days I'm going to be the one on line at 2pm and not 2am.

:-)

This thread is doing nothing but making me hungry...

Not a problem............interesting to learn the history of some of the different areas!

What are your favorite restaurants in DC? What is it you like about it~ambiance, location, affordability, great food, great service?
<<

Siroc
DCoast
Mainly for location, but both very good

Rasika has fabulous Indian food, but it's gotten impossible to get into these days. A bit easier to get into their newer West End Location.
Jaleo's is a good standby --consistently good food at reasonable prices. Also love Oyamel, down the street form Jaleos and same owner -- great Mexican food which is hard to come by in DC.
Recently had a very good meal at West End Bistro which was started by Eric Ripert , but he left this winter.
In that same neighborhood I also like Ris which is owned by Ris Lacoste a long time favorite DC chef.
For Pizza, Pizza Paradiso in Georgetown and Dupont Circle -- good sandwiches also. Two Amy's is good out near the National Cathedral.
Absolutely fabulous, expensive food at Obelisk. Also excellent and expensive is Komi's which is Mediterranean Food. Johnny Monis, owner/chef of Komi's opened Little Serow with the best Thai food in town (from the Issan region). No reservations though.
Best Ethiopian Restaurant in DC is either Etete or Dukem both in U ST area, Little Ethiopia.
Not a fan of Southern food, so don't care for Georgia Brown (which does have a nice Jazz Brunch on Sundays) or Vidalia, but they are very popular in DC.
Much of the really good ethnic food is not in DC proper but in the burbs.
Happy Eating!

FrankS, I pimped Siroc for three years on this site. I love that place. No one else ever said boo about it. Seems that we do in fact have something in common.

I've eaten at Rasika, too, and I think it's very very good. Unfortunately for all American Indian restaurants, I've also eaten Indian food where they really know how to make it :-) (and I only mean Great Britain, not India)

Siroc is ok. Its not noisy which is a rare find. Gerard's which it replaced was so much better it's hard to eat in the same location and not miss Gerard's.

obxgirl,
I am from Chicago, and I can say that place is about as good as Italian gets without your damaging your wallet. The lamb and th eseafood pasta, yum! I should write down your other picks, sure would be nice if I could talk my happy hour connoisseur colleagues into trying some new places

FrankS, You're not exactly suffering dining at DC Coast! :-)

We ended up at Teaism in the Penn Quarter last time we were in DC looking for dinner. It was quiet, peaceful and good, and not at all full of tourists. We went to the branch in Alexandria for breakfast a couple of days later. We were not quite as wild about that, but I think that's because the food wasn't quite our style, rather than it not being good.

We just returned yesterday from D.C.

We really loved Hill Country, a BBQ restaurant. It's on 7th Street. Our cab driver actually recommended it, and we thought it was great. It's very casual with excellent food.

I live here and we love Cashions Eat Place in Adams Morgan. It is our go-to restaurant and we have never been disappointed there. Fresh and creatively prepared and nicely plated food, with great wines and drinks and always good service.

obxgirl,
When we end up at DC Coast Im happy, too often we end up at The Chophouse Brewery happy hour for drinks. Next thing I know the idea of trying a new place to dine is forgotten or ignored and a slosh of the low priced apps are ordered. Since we stay in or near Penn Q, I think I can talk my group into the two moderate priced(emphasis on moderate) Tapas places you rec'd (The concierge at the Westin rec'd Zatinya too)

I second Cashion's in Adams Morgan - despite changing ownership a few years back it still puts out consistently good food. Ann Cashion is now the Exec Chef at Johnny's Half Sell on the Hill which is very good. Also on the Hill is one of my favorite casual restaurants, Montemarte which has excellent french food.

That would be Johnny's Half SHELL.

Frank, which is the Italian restaurant you referred to? (My DS and his DW will be living in DC starting in December, so need to know these things!)

Make that starting in September!

Pretty sure FrankS is referring to Siroc. It's on McPherson Square, directly across the square from Georgia Brown's.

Congrats (yes?) to your DS and DW. Hope they enjoy DC!

http://sirocrestaurant.com

obxgirl, they've lived in DC previously (Logan, Thomas) for a couple of summers (both) and my son was there all last fall (Dupont). So they know what they're getting into :-)

Yep sf7307, its Siroc

A new restaurant in Logan Circle with a good review in the WPost
http://preview.tinyurl.com/c8lsuhb Anybody been there?