Wild Mushroom, Applewood-Smoked Bacon & Truffle Cream mussels at Brasserie Beck.You may recall that Kail and I have a DC food bucket list of places to eat before departing for post. As departure time is fast-approaching, I feel it’s necessary to update the list and strategize about where we want to spend our final meals in Washington, DC.There are only so many meals in a day, and only so many days in a week — meaning we really need to prioritize. It’s a serious issue.
Dollar-oyster happy hour at Tacklebox in Georgetown.Behold, The List:Mandatory
- Acadiana (best brunch ever)
Brasserie Beck(I am partial to Belgian beer and food)- 2 Amys (this always makes it on one or more “best pizza in DC” lists)
Nam Viet(pho!)- Carmine’s (you can’t go wrong with family-style Italian)
East Market Lunch Counter(yummy and cheap breakfast and lunch)- Sweet Water Tavern (allegedly the best pork chop Kail has ever had)
- Ray’s Hell Burger (hamburgers are my favorite food)
Peking Gourmet Inn(who doesn’t love tableside-carved duck?)Italian Store(great sandwiches)- Granville Moore’s (see: love of Belgian food)
- Ben’s Chili Bowl (obvs)
- Billy Goat Tavern (we went to the original in Chicago)
District of Pi Pizzeria(Chicago-style pizza — almost as good as the real thing)Matchbox(a favorite when I lived on the Hill)Good Stuff Eatery(nom nom)
District of Pi has a tasty garlic bread appetizer served with an entire bulb of spreadably soft roasted garlic.Optional
- Vienna Inn (one of Kail’s favorites growing up)
Tru Orleans(not as good as Acadiana)- Passion Fish (we’re fans of all Passion Food Group restaurants)
Shake Shack(see: love of hamburgers)Outback Steakhouse(see: love of chain restaurants)Bistrot du Coin(très délicieux)Tacklebox(fresh, inexpensive seafood)Blue Duck Tavern(see: note re: bone marrow above)Pete’s A Pizza(second to my love of hamburgers is my love of pizza)- Corduroy (one option for a fancy meal)
- Mark’s Duck House (dim sum!)
- Churchkey (tied with my love of hamburgers is my love of beer)
- Beau Thai (hipster Thai)
- Tabard Inn (have yet to try their ever-popular brunch)
Ben’s Next Door(yum)- Minibar (imposs to get a reservation but we’ll try)
Pizza Paradiso(see: love of pizza and beer)Kushi(we are so trendy that weaccidentallywent here the second day it was open)- Ray’s the Steaks (no fuss, no muss)
- Ted’s Bulletin (ah, the pop tarts)
Steak N’ Shake(good food, fast)Evening Star Cafe(recently added after we moved across the river)
Morton’s hamburger.We’ve updated the list with a few new additions as well:
- Zorba’s Cafe (Greek — yum)
District Commons(we celebrated my FSI graduation here)Taqueria Poblano(authentic Mexican in Del Ray)The Dairy Godmother(because what better dessert after Mexican food than frozen custard?)- Super Pollo (Kail went on a Peruvian chicken field trip here for lunch with his Spanish class and I was super-jealous!)
Morton’s(arguably the best hamburger in DC — yes, I ordered a hamburger at a steakhouse, as I’ve actually only been here for business lunches and happy hours)Pupuseria Doña Azucena(we need to acclimate ourselves to Salvadoran cuisine)- Ledo Pizza (this didn’t make the original list because it’s practically a staple of my diet, but I love it so much it belongs on here — and I need to have it one more time before we move!)
Honestly, it’s been so long since we’ve enjoyed some of our longstanding favorites that we may need to revisit some of the places we’ve already crossed off. What?! I know. Crazy.I also debated adding Chipotle to the list because it seems to be something a lot of people miss abroad. What other DC/American restaurants do you miss overseas?
La Vie Overseas 
Quiero regresar a DC y comer en los restaurantes alla! Indonesians just cannot coin western food, despite the beautiful ingredients they can find locally!
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¡Pero tú acababas de viajar en Europa y Mexico y comías comida deliciosa! We are looking forward to our last few days in DC, but are also excited about discovering new Salvadoran foods!
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So far we haven’t had any specific cravings, but I will tell you what VA restaurants we enjoyed. We frequented La Union, District Taco, El Pollo Rico, and Pupatella. I hate to add another pizza joint to your list, but Pupatella is authentic Neapolitan pizza. http://www.pupatella.com/_/home/home.htmlI never left without also having gelato on a cone for dessert.The waiters at La Union seem to know everyone and they serve Mexican-Salvadoran dishes. http://www.launionrestaurant.com/We are suckers for breakfast tacos! Our actual all-time favorite place to get these are back in TX at a place called Tres Magueyes, which is a total hole-in-the-wall joint, but they have the cheapest and best-tasting breakfast tacos! District Taco comes in 2nd place for me, but were still good… with a little salt added. We would go around 9 or 10am on Sundays when there were no lines. http://www.districttaco.com/Finally, I really enjoyed the peruvian chicken at El Pollo Rico. http://www.welovethischicken.com/OMG, don’t even get me started on that mayonnaise dip they serve. My husband would mix it with the diced jalepenos. Great. Now my mouth is watering at 9am. 😉
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Um, YUM! All of these places sound great. There is a new District Taco downtown near Metro Center and that is definitely on our lunch list this last week. Sadly, we will be sans car so it will be a little more difficult for us to get around — particularly outside the city. Thanks for the recommendations!
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We adore Ledo’s Pizza as well. I love this list so much! Having lived in Arlington I am not familiar with lots of these DC places but you should give Lost Dog Cafe a run if you are in Arlington. Best Chicken and Corn Chowder ever…and pizza…and sandwiches. Also, if you make it to Sweet Water Tavern for that pork chop fix your hubby needs, you simply must order the white chocolate bread pudding dessert. It comes with a rum sauce and is the most delicious dessert. I would always order the chop house salad so I’d have room for dessert there! Oh and in November they have a really nice pumpkin ale they brew!
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Oh Lost Dog! I don’t know why that wasn’t on the list. Sadly, I don’t think we are going to make it out to the ‘burbs for Sweet Water Tavern since we’re spending our final nights in DC. But I love bread pudding so I’ll keep that in mind for the future!
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[…] given that we are us, we over-ordered and still had a main course to tackle: Brocheta Gigante (“Giant […]
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[…] period — it’s somewhere I would eat back home in DC. And you know how extensive my DC food bucket list […]
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