Eating Local in D.C.
Sixteen million tourists descend upon the nation’s capital each year. Most of them go for the monuments, museums, history, and government buildings. But they have to eat, right?
We happen to be quite familiar with DC and its many restaurants and encourage you, The DC Tourist, to go beyond Starbucks, McDonalds, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, and your hotel restaurant to frequent the following delicious and locally-owned and operated places:
(Note: there are many more than those we list here. Please consider this list just the beginning. We have included only those we’ve been to and really enjoy.)
- Café Atlantico, Jaleo, Oyamel, or Zaytinya – All of these restaurants were the brainchildren of Spaniard chef Jose Andres who has become a Washington celebrity. The most convenient to the National Mall is Café Atlantico (the priciest) at D and 8th St. However, just one block up is Jaleo and a few
blocks from that are Oyamel and Zaytinya. Jaleo, a tapas restaurant, has been so popular it now has locations in nearby Crystal City, VA, and Bethesda, MD. - Two Amys – Probably the best pizza in the city. However, this is not a typical pizza joint; it also has gourmet-ish food and a wonderful wine list. Great for families because it’s quite noisy and your kids won’t bother anyone if they make noise themselves.
- Meskerem – DC has a large Ethiopian population so you have your pick of Ethiopian restaurants. We’ve heard there are better places than this one but Meskerem serves great food and has been around for a while, earning it an extra star for endurance.
- Crisp and Juicy – There’s a lot of competition in DC for your typical Peruvian rotisserie chicken. The winner in our book is clearly Crisp and Juicy, now a mini-chain with branches all over the metro area. Make sure to order the spicy sauce!
- Obelisk – Also owned by Two Amys co-owner Peter Pastan, we are able to go here only for special occasions. Obelisk offers a fixed price, 5-course dinner with options that change each night. Your dinner will last a couple of hours and your wallet will be a little emptier, but if you love amazing food coupled with wonderful service and ambiance, it will be worth it. Reservations are necessary.
- Julia’s Empanadas – For cheap eats, you can’t do better than Julia’s. There’s no place to sit down so you’ll have to eat on the go or take the food back to your hotel. We recommend the Bolivian saltena but are also fans of the Chilean empanada.
- Afterwards Café – Long before Barnes and Nobles attracted customers by housing a Starbucks inside, there was Kramerbooks and its partner, Afterwards Café. Buy a book and find a cozy seat to read it over a delicous meal (breakfast and brunch especially recommended).
- Sergio’s Ristorante Italiano – Finally, while not in DC, we are letting you in on a little secret we’ve discovered in nearby Silver Spring, MD. This Italian restaurant has been around for a looong time and Sergio himself makes the pasta fresh each day and staffs dinners each night. Located in the basement of the Silver Spring Hilton, only locals know about this place and they keep it to themselves. To get there, just hop on the red line metro and get off at the Silver Spring station.
You might notice the absence of a very popular DC fixture that starts with Ben’s and ends with Bowl. While we encourage you to go try it out, we cannot put it on the list because we’ve never been there. Sorry, Bill Cosby!
Finally, if you find yourselves hungry at one of the Smithsonian museums on the Mall with no time to go to any of these fine establishments we’ve written about, at the very least, skip the McDonalds in the Air and Space Museum and get yourselves next door to the National Museum of the American Indian’s cafeteria. It offers somewhat-authentic food from Indian communities around the globe. (And don’t miss the gelato at the National Gallery!)
Bon Apetit!
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This blog’s great!! Thanks :).
I know Bourdain and other celebreties mentioned Pollo Rico when they talk about Pollerias in the DC area, but hands down Crisp & Juicy is the REAL BEST Peruvian style chicken.
http://crispjuicy.com/
These are great restraunts. You are so multifaceted, blogger and restraunt critic. And you write well! And that’s just your night gig!
Ah, but you’re missing the soul food category! May I suggest Levi’s Port Cafe on the Hill (8th and M SE, a fifteen minute walk from the Nats stadium), the Saint’s Paradise cafeteria (at 6th and M by the convention center) and (maybe only for tourists visiting the Frederick Douglass house) Mama Cole’s in Anacostia?
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Thanks, that’s just what we needed.
Though we think we’ll give the Two Amys a wide berth. As we’ve reached our “three score and ten” the thoughts of noicy children is not very tempting!
I’ll let you know how we got on!
Oppps!
Or even “noisey” children!
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