pop culture, reviewed

So Molly did this little list of her “go to” options in NYC/Brooklyn, and I thought it was a good prompt to do my own list for here in DC, so you know, you all can do your own PC,R tour of DC when you come visit.  Anyway, on to the “winners”

Go To Pizza Delivery    
Al’s Pizza, Capitol Hill, zero percent fancy, but excellent.  Especially the Michelangelo on whole wheat crust.  Only downside is: no pork products.

Go To Neighborhood Sushi
Tough as this is really what the neighborhood lacks — Jordan’s 8 is really the only option, and their sushi is merely serviceable—that said, it was a surprisingly nice place to have a drink (except for the cardboard coasters, which just did NOT fit the otherwise trendyish decor). 

Go To Non-Neighborhood Sushi
Kaz, Farragut West.  The tuna with honey-miso foie gras is out of this world.

Go To Pub Food
Tunnicliff’s, Eastern Market.  I know it’s kind of cheating to pick this, b/c, were this England, this would be our “local”, but it really is the best “straight up” pub food I’ve had.  Honorable mention to Dr. Granville Moore’s on H Street — which isn’t traditional pub food (it’s Belgian), but the food is solid and the beer selection is fantastic.  I love this place. 

Go To Spot for Drinks/Dinner During the Week, Brooklyn Capitol Hill
Sonoma.  Capitol Hill’s legitimately good and incredibly friendly wine bar/pretty good restaurant.  Exposed brick, warm interior, and not as packed with interns as the other places for a drink near the Capitol building.  Honorable mention to the Capitol Lounge for me, but only after the intern/members of the house crowd leaves.  However, if you want to see your rep have a beer, Cap Lounge is THE place to go.

Go To Spot for Drinks or Lunch or Brunch or Whatever, Including Meeting People You Don’t Know that Well or Even Going Alone

Hmm… Difficult definition here, but I would say the standby, safe, if-you-can-get-a-table-it’s-hard-for-someone-not-to-like-it spot is Central (pronounced the stuffy way) by Michel Richard in Downtown DC.  Citronelle’s chef does bistro fare and excels at a nice little spot that has the added advantage of being a mere two blocks from my office.

Go To Spot for a Greasy Burger

In DC, it’s always Five Guys, which, despite being a chain (and a pretty big one at this point), still serves up excellent grease-burgers regularly.  (And fantastic fries in GIANT portions).

Go To for Real Pizza
Pizzeria Paradiso, preferably the one on M Street in Georgetown, because it has Bierra Paradiso in the basement, which is perhaps the most interesting “beer” bar in DC.

Go To Gut-and-Wallet Busting Dinner
CityZen in the Mandarin Oriental—honorable mention to the Blue Duck Tavern in Foggy Bottom, which exceeded all our expectations, but for true wallet busting, CityZen’s the spot.

Go To for Dessert

Old Ebbitt.  Seriously, this restaurant is one of the few “touristy places” that is not only not a trap, but worth everyone’s time.  Right across the street from the treasury and a block from the White House it serves up surprisingly good food and spectacular peanut butter pie.  I’m not kidding.

Go To End-of-a-Hard Week And I Need  a Margarita Place
Margarita in particular?  The last place I had a margarita in DC was at Rosa Mexicano in Chinatown—a nice fancy pomegranate margarita.  As far as drinks go?  I’ll take this opportunity to list Jake’s 10 favorite drinking establishments in DC (generally dive(y) bars), in no particular order:

1. The Red and the Black (H Street) (marginally “New Orleans” themed.  Exceedingly friendly bartenders, good jukebox, and cheap drinks).
2. The Tune Inn (Capitol Hill) (Classic.  Stuffed deer butts really bring the decor together.)
3. Cafe Saint-Ex/Bar Pilar (U Street/Logan Circle— Saint-Ex is really a restaurant, but the French inspired bar is great.  Pilar is next door and a suitable option for when the Saint-Ex bar is full.)
4. Capitol Lounge (Capitol Hill — sure, it’s full of interns a lot, and gets packed at night, but for some reason I always have a good time here.  Plus, if you get kicked out of the house by your wife while she hosts book club, you can almost always make friends with the bartender/other patrons)
5. The Big Hunt (Dupont Circle - good location for meeting up.  Plus, a special place in my heart, as one night this bar + many beers + Will and Michael came together on the night Emilie and I solidified our decision to move to DC)
6. Fox and Hounds (Dupont Circle - great jukebox.  Service was stuffy last time, but I’m blaming the bartender.  Otherwise excellent)
7. Keyhole at the 18th Amendment (Capitol Hill — this bar is not very good, but it gets on this list for 2 reasons.  They have Magner’s Cider, which is in-freaking-credibly good and worth a special trip, AND you can usually get the downstairs bar—complete with separate jukebox, pool table, and bartender—almost entirely to yourself/your group.)
8. Solly’s (U Street.  The only “dive” on U Street now.  $2 PBRs, not crowded, good windows for people watching, and not full of TVs).
9. The Palace of Wonders (H Street) — A circus freak bar.  My friend Derek from Columbia really needs to come visit and visit this bar.  If he drank, he might never leave it.
10. Dan’s Cafe (Adams Morgan — Emilie won’t let me go here, but let’s just say this.  $10 buys you a flask of gin, some tonic, 2 glasses and a bucket of ice.)

Ok, this was supposed to be a short break, so I’m cutting off the rest of the categories.  More/edits when I get inspired…