One of my favorite cities to visit under normal circumstances is Washington D.C.. Between the historical aspects, family pieces, outdoor opportunities, major sports, I have struggled with finding something not to like about the northern Virginia, Beltway, Maryland area as a place to visit…and great food to boot! I think it’s really easy to fall into a “rut” of going to places you know or to places that you are at least casually familiar with. With my most recent trip to DC prior to the COVID outbreak, I stumbled into some great places that are across the price/environment spectrum that I wanted to share with you.
For the first time, I ate at Poki DC. a hawaiian fusion quick-eat stop. Not much bigger than several urban quick stop eateries I had been in before, but if you have never tried fusion food, this may be a good first stop for you. We stopped in at a bit before lunch and there was no wait. The service was great, and with this being my first “fusion” like this they entertained a wide array of questions from me with a smile and fantastic attitude.
The options were wide for a first-timer, but to the staff’s credit, they took the time with me to walk through it all. I ended up arriving at the bowl pictured below. Believe it or not, it was surprisingly filling too.
To this day, I am not quite sure how I accomplished that one because it can be hard to fill me up at any given time.
For a dinner meal, I went several different routes while i as in DC for this trip. The first, the Capital City Brewing Company. If you are looking for a good hybrid bar/restaurant type vibe that, dependent on the timing, could accommodate couples, families, singles, friends, you may just have a good spot to eat. I have yet to have a bad sandwich, bad appetizer, bad entree or even a bad dessert. Service was great, pricing was very reasonable, I didn’t get higher than I expected, and it has become a preferred spot for me when I am in DC on business trips or the like. I have not had the privilege of being there during football season but something tells me it could be a great spot to watch the Redskins play.
It’s an easy find too, located adjacent to the Grand Hyatt and about a block down the street from the National Museum of Women in the Arts. It’s also about two to three blocks from Washington Center as well at the corner of H and 11th.
So that is another lighter dinner possibility for you and one that is just a few blocks off the main historical rows of government buildings, museums, or the like.
Now if you are there for a more formal setting, a special, a business dinner, or something in that vein, let me throw out
the District Chophouse and Brewery for you to consider. Tucked back in not far from the MCI Center it has a good amount of seating both open and private. I had a steak dish and appetizer which was ridiculously good. The menu struck me as reasonable and not overly expensive, for D.C. and for the higher quality meal. One thing though, I would not do is bring a young family to this one-By just observation only, the youngest child I observed in the restaurant (which was around the normal dinner hour) was between 10-13. Check out our social media pages for more pictures.
So a few out of my normal food interactions for you to take a look at! I hope you enjoy. Next up….Nawlins friends!
