H street corridor restaurant - Christmas Eve
 

We are arriving in DC for a week long stay on Christmas Eve and are staying in a VRBO a couple blocks south of H street corridor. I would like to make a reservation for dinner somewhere we can walk to since we will likely have had a full day of driving and it's Christmas Eve / Sunday night. I don't want to take our chances with places being open or having availability. We aren't looking for a special holiday menu - I just want to make sure we have somewhere to eat that night that isn't fast food or pizza.

Granville Moore's has caught my eye - they have tables available. Smith Commons looks good too but no tables available (I suspect they are closed). Any other suggestions?

And one more restaurant question... we have tickets to see the Capitol Steps (at the Reagan Building and International Trade Center) - show starts at 7:30pm. Looking for dinner within walking distance. (I assume we should make a reservation for 5:30pm?) Someone suggested Old Ebbitt Grill but I see lots of dining options around there. It's DH's birthday so I'd like to go somewhere nice but not ridiculously expensive ($100/person). Suggestions?

Just was on H Street last week. We really liked Jaleo. We have spent considerable time in Spain and these were some of the best tapas we have had. For straight forward American food, we had a pretty good meal at Clyde's.

It's not necessarily in the specific areas you are researching, but for Christmas Eve, you might want to consider the Tabard Inn's restaurant. If so, reserve WELL in advance!
http://www.tabardinn.com/dining

For a special meal near the theater, you might consider Tosca.
http://www.toscadc.com

Jaleo is great, as are Zaytinya and Rasika -- but perhaps a bit far for your theater evening....

The problem is many people aren't going to know what you mean by "H St Corridor", although I think in DC that area only refers to a NE address. Jaleo isn't anywhere near where you are going to be, I suspect, if you are near Granville Moore's. That's way in NY Washington towards Benning Rd, not a favorite area of mine.

It isn't clear where you are, but if near Granville Moore, that really isn't the greatest location for walking to good restaurants.

The best thing I can think of is the Berliner, which is an attractive nice German restaurant, but it's over towards Union Stn, you may not want to walk that far (it's around Maryland Ave NE and 4th St). But they do have Xmas eve dinners.
http://www.cafeberlin-dc.com/christmas/

You could look at DC HArvest, also, although it's farther west on H St. http://www.dc-harvest.com/ Presumably the streetcar which runs along H St will be working, though, so that's a decent location considering that.

For the Capitol Steps night, all about a 15 minute walk:

Do you like Indian? Rasika is an upscale Indian restaurant that is perhaps my favorite restaurant in DC.

Or for really wonderful, creative Italian, you can't go wrong with Casa Luca. I would love to have my birthday dinner there!

At City Center DC, I love Del Frisco's, and DBGB is good, too.

Well, if they’ve eaten in that area, they’ll know what the OP is talking about, Christina.

Unfortunately, the place I have eaten at is closed on Sundays, although it probably wasn’t what you’re looking for anyway. Is there a particular reason you haven’t booked Granville Moore already?

Sorry, I'm not really familiar with the H Street corridor. I know it's up-and-coming. You could try using OpenTable or Resy and filtering for location, just to see who is even open... Or study Tom Sietsema's columns for the Washington Post, he's their food reviewer and a very good one, too, IMO. He has written about the burgeoning restaurant scene in NE.

<Well, if they’ve eaten in that area, they’ll know what the OP is talking about, Christina. >
Kinda? "H Street Corridor" is a new-ish term for NE, just as Penn Quarter is a new-ish term for Shaw (a historic name I'm glad to see making a comeback).

Le grenier appears to be open if you like French.

I think to find a restaurant there to begin with you’d be looking at list that would specifically be referring to the area. Wouldn’t have even been on my radar if I hadn’t been looking for a specific cuisine.

I’d probably expand your options to a short taxi or transit ride distance. There aren’t that many options in your area.

If an Uber/Lyft/taxi is possible, there are so, so many places I'd recommend! I love The Dabney, Espita Mezcaleria, Le Diplomate, Iron Gate, Tabard Inn...and I'd still recommend Rasika, Casa Luca and Del Frisco's. Jaleo is always a good time. Also like Proof.

Have heard great things about Arroz and Kith & Kin but haven't been yet.

If you want French, the Grenier could work for a casual meal; Bistro Cacao, also open on Christmas Eve, would make for a much more special occasion IMO. it's right next to the Cafe Berlin (not "Berliner"), which is also worth considering if you want German food.

I don’t think HSt has great restaurants. I would Uber it someplace nearby. I like NewbE’s list. Arroz is really good. Try searching Res’y or Open Table to see what’s open on Xmas Eve.

Just reporting back... we had dinner at Granville Moore's... very good! We dined at District Chophouse for DH's birthday - excellent! Not much else to report as I was out of commission (sick) for more than half the trip. Ugh.

Great! Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back. Bummer about being sick:( hope you’re feeling better!

Thanks for letting us know and please feel better soon!

Sorry you got sick. Hope you are feeling better. Thanks for reporting back.