Fella bilong missus flodnak, the two young flodnaks, and I are going on a long-anticipated trip to Washington, DC, this summer. We’ve booked a hotel in the Foggy Bottom area and will be spending time at the usual geek-tourist destinations, particularly the central Smithsonian museums, and the various National Mall-area war and presidential memorials for our young history buff. Maybe the National Zoo if my Vikings can take the Washington heat!
Can any DC area Dopers (or Dopers who have to travel to the area a lot) recommend some favorite decent places to eat in the general vicinity? We want places where we can just walk in, with two (well-behaved, older) children, wearing Full Tourist Gear, and not look out-of-place. “Reservations Required” or “Dress Code” are out. Ethnic is good. New And Different is good. Pretty Cheap is excellent, and this is where Foggy Bottom is making me nervous. We know the city’s crowded with tourists in the summer and we’ll likely have to wait, and we can do that if the food is worth it and service goes reasonably quickly once we get a table - or we can happily carry our own trays.
I you go to the national zoo, there is a really nice restaraunt a couple of blocks up Conn. Avenue called Dino. It is a friendly, not too dressy place with an amazing wine list, good food. I’d write more, but I’ll get homesick.
Let us know precisely when you’re going to be here, and we’ll be happy to arrange a Dopefest (an evening at a restaurant or something) just for people here to meet you.
In general, you will never have to dress formally for any restaurant, except for a few that I presume you can’t really afford to eat at anyway. However, may I make a suggestion? When you go into most restaurants here, don’t wear full-out tourist clothes. No Hawaiian shirts and no shorts. Just wear regular shirts and pants. It’s not that you can’t get into restaurants with excessively touristy clothes as that you’ll stick out as being tourists. Honestly, I think it’s better to look like a government worker (who doesn’t have to wear a suit to work) than to look like a tourist.
For a mid-priced, casual type place down town I would try Chef Geoff’s, opposite the Warner Theater on 13th St between E & F (and opposite my office). It is somewhat typical type of food though.
While Adam’s Morgan has a lot of restaurants, I am not sure I would recommend going there with kids. Foggy Bottom tends to be totally dead at night.
The closest Metro stop to Adams-Morgan is called “Woodley Park/Zoo/Adams-Morgan,” but you’ll have to have to walk some distance to get to Adams-Morgan. The next closest stop is Dupont Circle. Dupont Circle is also full of restaurants.
If you like beer, I’d definitely recommend Pizzeria Paradiso in Georgetown. Always a great selection of beers on tap and their pizza is quite good. Not terribly expensive, but not exactly cheap, either. Casual atmosphere. Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a walk from the nearest metro stop. I get off at Rosslyn and walk across the Key Bridge. Make sure you get good directions (you can call them and they’ll help out).
Also, for donuts, try the Fractured Prune at Dupont Circle. Absolutely amazing. You can feel your life expectancy shortening as you eat them.
Also, I’d be in for a Dopefest if there’s going to be one.
Fogo is wonderful but expensive. As an English ex-pat in DC, I’d say The Elephant and Castle is as close to an English Pub as Taco Bell is to a Mexican cantina, and the service sucks big donkey balls. Avoid like the plague…
I didn’t notice where the OP mentioned cost requirements, and the handful of times I’ve been to Elephant and Castle, I enjoyed it OK. It’s worth mentioning if you’d like a quick bite while doing the tourist thing on the mall.
Depending on where you are in Foggy Bottom, you might just walk to Georgetown from there. There are quite a few nice places there including the Pizzeria Paraiso.
I would check out Ben’s Chili Bowl. While there, get a half smoke. Its near the U Street Metro on the green line.
If you go to Adams Morgan, get an empanada at Julia’s Empanadas on 18th Street. For American food, there is the Diner, also on 18th Street.
If none of these really strike your fancy, here is a link to Washingtonian Magazine 100 best cheap eats.
First - glad you’re coming here, flodnak - you’re going to have an awesome time in Our Fair City.
If you’re willing to brave Adams Morgan, you should absolutely try Meskerem - it’s got really good Ethiopian food. Everything is basically a sort of stew served on a communal piece of injera, Ethiopian bread. The neighborhood does get a bit rowdy around 10 or so on weekend nights, but you should be fine with dinner earlier than that. You should also grab Jumbo Slice while you’re in the area - it’s a Washingtonian tradition!
If you want someplace closer to your hotel, Lindy’s Lion has the best burgers in the city and is just a couple blocks from the Foggy Bottom metro station.
Neisha Thai is really good, and right outside the Tenleytown metro station - about a 20-30 minute metro ride from Foggy Bottom.
I’d call Foggy Bottom a pretty good choice, geographically speaking (see map ). First, because you’re only a long walk/short cab ride from Georgetown, Dupont Circle, the Lincoln Memorial, and Adams Morgan (an active and diverse restaurant district that caters to the nightclub crowd after dark), and second, because Foggy Bottom has a Metro (subway) stop. You can take the Metro to both the Smithsonian and the zoo: http://www.wmata.com/metrorail/systemmap.cfm
DC has a good number of reasonably-priced restaurants, so don’t be afraid to poke your head in (or search by street here) and check out a menu. When I’m in Foggy Bottom, I like to stop in at Lindy’s Red Lion (21st and I Street) for a tasty, inexpensive breakfast eaten outdoors, though they also do standard diner fare. Edit: I see, that Mr. Excellent beat me to this recommendation, thus proving that his taste is indeed excellent.
DC has a number of Ethiopian restaurants, possibly the best in the world, most of which have special packages for large (well, family-sized) parties. Fasika’s and Red Sea, both on 18th Street in Adams-Morgan and a block or so south of Columbia Road (They’re practically next door to one another), are the best. They’re probably tolerant of tourist-wear, but would it kill you to pack a navy blue blazer and some Dockers?
Georgetown is right out if you’ve got cost requirements; the proliferation of wealthy folks and high rents in that area has caused localized inflation that will drain your wallet. Stick near the Mall or the neighborhoods along the Red Line where things will be less unreasonable. Union Station has a food court downstairs with lots of local chains, like Vaccaro’s (from Baltimore - great Italian desserts). The food court is decidedly one-star, and half a step up from good street vendor food, but it will fill you up, and it’s not horrible. Upstairs in Union Station is the East Street Cafe, where you can get great southeast Asian food (Filipino, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai… the owner blurs the lines). I like their yellow and green curries. You can easily get lunch or dinner at East Street Cafe for under $20, and if you get a seat by the railing, it overlooks the station and you can watch the crowds milling about.
Bizarrely, the cafeteria at the Holocaust Museum is delicious. You’d think nobody would be in the mood for lunch afterwards, and you’d be right. Small crowds when I’ve been, lunch or an early dinner for under $12. Food is a la carte and automat-style (most portions are already wrapped), so kids with eyes bigger than stomachs may be able to get $15 worth of food on a tray.
DuPont Circle and Adams Morgan (neighborhoods on the red line) have loads of good food that won’t cost you more than $30 per person, but drinks will quickly push the price over $40. If $30 - $40 is still reasonable for you, there’s Hank’s Oyster Bar. The food is sublime, and in early summer you’re likely to find local seafood on the menu. If your kids are under 13, I wouldn’t recommend this spot.
I won’t rule the neighborhood out entirely, but all of the restaurants I’ve been to in Georgetown have been in that price range or above, and the service and value for the dollar has never pleased me. Georgetown is also full of yuppies. Privileged, self-important, and practically Parisian in their attitude towards tourists, the denizens of Georgetown wander around dressed like hipster rejects, frittering away their parents’ money on all of the fashionable stuff you can get in Georgetown for only ten times what a sane person would pay. (Clearly this is a gross generalization - I’m sure some lovely people make their homes there. I’ve just never run into them. I will also admit that I have a bias against the neighborhood for refusing to allow a Metro stop to be placed there.)
Since the OP hasn’t clarified his cost requirements, I’d encourage posters to include approximate price ranges for lunch and dinner – if you’ve already posted, maybe even edit to include prices. That’ll give the OP some concrete numbers, since one man’s “not terribly cheap” is another man’s “unreasonably overpriced”.
One of our favorite restaurants is Bangkok Thai in Georgetown – it’s reasonably priced and their Snow White Soup is to die for. If you like tofu, that is. But I second the vote for Ethiopian, and having tried almost all of the ones mentioned, haven’t found any I prefer over any others – they’re all yummy.
There’s one block, I think on Connecticut, that has an amazing variety of ethnic restaurants of every variety, too. I’m trying to remember exactly where it is and am drawing a blank. Can anybody help me out? It’s really distinctive since it’s lined solid with restaurants on both sides.
