weekend in D.C.
 

I will be spending this Sat through Mon in D.C. with my husband. We have seen the tourist sites before museums, monuments, buildings, etc. I would like some suggestions on areas for trendy restaurants and bars/lounges for dinner and drinks, women's boutique shopping, and a good spot for Sun brunch. We are in our late 20s. We just want to spend the weekend soaking up the D.C. atmosphere.

I suggest Tabard Inn for Sunday brunch - but you better call NOW. Highly recommended. Not a youth hangout, but my favorite brunch.

http://www.tabardinn.com/rest.htm

You should check out U st. (get off at the U st. metro stop) for trendy restaurants and bars/lounges for dinner and drinks. A very 20 something area. I like Cafe St. Ex and Dukem there.

http://www.saint-ex.com/
http://www.dukemrestaurant.com/

Some U st. shops...
http://www.meepsonu.com/
http://www.gomamago.com/
http://www.homerule.com/


Also, take a 5 minute taxi to Adams Morgan for additional options (especially bars/lounges)- have the cab let you out at 18th St. & Columbia Rd.

Depending on where you are staying, here are some recommendations:

The Penn Quarter is a great place to spend time--there are a number of good restaurants and the newly reopened American Museum of Art/Portrait Gallery are musts. For dinner in this 'hood, try Zengo or Matchbox (excellent wood-oven pizza, cute atmosphere, not too pricey). I agree with Bardo1 about U Street (only a few stops on the redline Metro from Gallery Place/Penn Quarter). While you're shopping along U St., stop by the Love Cafe for fantastic cakes and cookies.

For brunch, you could also go to Busboys and Poets at 14th and V streets. It gets crowded--usually a 20 minute wait for a table--but you can hang out by the bar and have drinks while you wait.

Busboys and Poets sister restaurant, Mimi's, near DuPont Circle also does a great brunch. If you are really adventurous, there is also the infamous "Drag Brunch" at Perry's in Adams Morgan. Yes, drag, as in drag queens.

Some of the coolest bars in town, these days, are in hotels. The bars at the Palomar, Rouge, and Madera are all very hot.

If you haven't been in town for awhile, you owe yourself a visit to the reopened Smithsonian American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery. It's in the Penn Quarter/Chinatown neighborhood so you don't have to bother with the masses on the Mall.

Thanks for all the great suggestions.