I used to live in Crystal city (a very convenient location from which to see the general vicinity). There are a number of pretty good restaurants in CC. Ruth's Chris Steak House is here (it isn't exactly cheap, but the steaks are supposed to be the best in the area). There is a really decent italian restaurant, Pines of Italy, on 20th (I think) street. This is the street with all the small, budget restaurants that serve as the neighborhood watering holes. There's a chinese restaurant, I think a Thai place, a pub (don't get their pizza, it's awful, IMO). What you should do is check out www.washingtonian.com online. It gives the best restaurants in the area and where they are, also the budget. I highly recommend ou taking METRO to visit this great greek place (it's near Clarendon) called Aegean Taverna. They have live Greek music on Friday and Saturday nights, the food is fantastic, they have it al fresco in the spring, summer and fall, and the prices are decent. I recommend the veal casserole (made w/penne, sauce, feta and veal w/kefalotiri cheese) and the aegean sampler (pastitsio, dolmas, moussaka and another good greek dish that I forget). Another excellent place is called Rio Grande Cafe, in Ballstn (all these places I'm telling you about are in Arlington, where I used to live). Rio Grande has THE BEST Tex-Mex food. It is always mobbed and you usually have to wait a long time for a table during peak hours. Get the plato gordo (has fajitas and ribs). They make their own tortillas (you can see them making them) and they are the best tortillas, bar none, I've ever had! In Georgetown, there's Houston's. It isn't expensive (it's on Wisconsin Ave across from Georgetown Park). It is kind of like a pub (the movie St. Elmo's Fire was filmed there). They have excellent salads. In Fairlington, there is the Carlisle Grand Cafe. Very good food, a movie theatre nearby, all these little cafes w/good food in one area and small cute shops. Another good place is RTs. It is located off Mount Vernon Ave in Arlington, very close to Crystal City. It has cajun food and is excellent. In fact, it is a favorite of the Clintons/Gores. The Gores actually live in Crystal City (off Ridge Road) when they are not in office (Tipper's ancestral home). The Birchmere is a good place to listen to music. This is also near Crystal City, in the same area as RTs. Be very careful when you walk around at night in Crystal city. Very careful. It has a lot of wierdos walking about and many homeless near the entrance to the Underground. Don't go near the Crystal City Restaurant (next to 7-11) unless you want to bump into a lot of drunken leering men (it is a strip joint). When I was living in CC, a girl was carjacked and killed outside my building, which is why we moved. There's a lot of violent crime at night in the area, but it's safe and a great place during the day and early evening. It might be less violent now (probably more police now, but we didn't want to stick around after seeing a girl shot to death outside our balcony in the middle of the night). You can walk to Pentagon City mall (or the Pentagon, for that matter). It has a lot of small restaurants in its food court and also restaurants inside. The shopping mall is one of the best (Tysons I and II are the best, for sheer number and diversity) in the greater Washington Area. If you are in Tysons Corner at all for the Malls, I suggest you visit Maggiano's little italy at Tysons II. The best Italian food ever. I recommendthe carbonara or the 4 cheese lasagne w/cream pesto sauce. We had a five course dinner there last week for Valentine's and the total cost of meal w/drinks was something like 50 dollars, which is excellent pricing considering they serve huge amounts of food (we take home a lot of leftovers) and the food is the best Italian I've had since moving away from Boston. Have fun while you are here. Don't be majorly alarmed by what I said about the girl being carjacked and killed -- the hotels are relatively safe. Just don't be wandering the streets in the dead of night -- in a major metropolitian area like DC, you will stick out as tourists and it is like asking to be mugged because there is a lot of violent crime in this area! Tammi
Washington, DC
Good Budget Eating in DC area
Someone wrote: : I used to live in Crystal city (a very convenient location from which to see : the general vicinity). : There are a number of pretty good restaurants in CC. Ruth's Chris Steak : House is here (it isn't exactly cheap, but the steaks are supposed to be the : best in the area). Ruth's Chris is one of the most expensive restaurants in the whole DC area. There is a really decent italian restaurant, Pines of : Italy, on 20th (I think) street. This is the street with all the small, : budget restaurants that serve as the neighborhood watering holes. There's a : chinese restaurant, I think a Thai place, a pub (don't get their pizza, it's : awful, IMO). The main restaurant drag is 23rd St. Pines of Italy, I think you have to enter from another street. It's decent, I agree. There's also the Taco House, authentic Mexican. Across the street is a pretty decent Ethopian place. And the kabob place is supposed to be great. And don't forget the Afghan Restaurant just a short jaunt down Rt. 1. These are all pretty inexpensive. There's a very good Korean restaurant in Pentagon City,which is close by. It's supposed to be very authentic,b ut a bit pricey. : Be very careful when you walk around at night in Crystal city. Very : careful. It has a lot of wierdos walking about and many homeless near the : entrance to the Underground. Don't go near the Crystal City Restaurant : (next to 7-11) unless you want to bump into a lot of drunken leering men (it : is a strip joint). When I was living in CC, a girl was carjacked and killed : outside my building, which is why we moved. There's a lot of violent crime : at night in the area, but it's safe and a great place during the day and : early evening. It might be less violent now (probably more police now, but : we didn't want to stick around after seeing a girl shot to death outside our : balcony in the middle of the night). The fact is, you've got to be careful anywhere in this area. Crystal City is one of the safest areas in the DC metroplex. That one incident you are referring to took place at midnight. It happened several years ago (3 years?). It was played up by the media because such crime is so unusual in Crystal City. We lived in Pentagon City for 1.5 years, and Crystal City for just over a year. We would walk from our condo on the North end down to 23rd St. for dinner all the time in the evening. We never felt unsafe. There are a ton of tourists about. I agree that right around the underground, there are some strange characters. But IMHO, a tourist walking from the hotel to the restaurant, or even through all the gardens off Crystal Drive, is just about as safe as anywhere in the area. : You can walk to Pentagon City mall (or the Pentagon, for that matter). It : has a lot of small restaurants in its food court and also restaurants : inside. The shopping mall is one of the best (Tysons I and II are the best, : for sheer number and diversity) in the greater Washington Area. Blah, I don't like the "Fashion Centre at Pentagon City." Too expensive and ritzy. I want a mall with a drug store, for goodness sakes! But I agree that the food court is OK. I like Mozarrella Cafe and L&N Seafood. Maria
allan thomson wrote: > I will be visiting the DC area in April from Scotland and would > welcome any recommendations of good cheap places to eat. > > There seem to be any number of 'ethnic' eating houses are there any > American places? I like Rhodeside Grill in Arlington. See http://www.wdn.com/ems/rg/ as a modern American (eclectic) style restaurant. Good prices, great food, and often no wait (only now being discovered).
Eric E. wrote: > I like Rhodeside Grill in Arlington. See http://www.wdn.com/ems/rg/ > as a modern American (eclectic) style restaurant. Good prices, great > food, and often no wait (only now being discovered). I'm sorry, but I can't agree. I've been to Rhodeside several times and found their cooking to be pedestrian and their prices a bit high for what you get. Take yesterday's brunch, for example. I had the va. ham & swiss omlette. The omlette was small (likely 2 eggs, not 3), with a bit of cheese but barely any ham. Home fries were potatoes and onions with little spice (they were not at all greasy, though.) That was $6.95--you had to pay extra for toast or bread. If you want truly budget eating, try one of the ethnic restaurants near Clarendon metro, or Hard Times for chili, or Red Hot & Blue for memphis barbeque. Jim Sweetman Arlington, VA sweetman (at) mnsinc.com
Rob P. wrote: > > wrote (of the Rhodeside Grill): > > >I'm sorry, but I can't agree. I've been to Rhodeside several times and > >found their cooking to be pedestrian and their prices a bit high for > >what you get. Take yesterday's brunch, for example. I had the va. ham > >& swiss omlette. The omlette was small (likely 2 eggs, not 3), with a > >bit of cheese but barely any ham. Home fries were potatoes and onions > >with little spice (they were not at all greasy, though.) That was > >$6.95--you had to pay extra for toast or bread. > > I've never had brunch there, but in my book these guys have one of the > best steaks you'll find outside of the likes of downtown steakhouses, > except they tend to be much more creative than all those old-school > places. Also, their fries are the best I've had anywhere outside of Five > Guys or Les Halles. > > For the quality, I consider their prices--basically, nothing's above $14 > or $15--to be downright cheap. (The prices on the sample menu at > http://www.wdn.com/ems/rg/roadmenu.htm are pretty representative.) > Well, I guess I'll jump in here. I've eaten at Rhodeside twice. The first time I got a crawfish po-boy that was an incredible bargain at $5.25 or so. It was brimming with mudbugs, and on very good bread. BUT, the fries it came with were soggy to the max and virtually inedible. Then I went back a few months later. I didn't see the po-boy on the menu, so I asked the server. He said "oh, we changed the menu" in a somewhat snotty tone, not appropriate for a neighborhood joint in Clarendon. I tried the wild mushroom pasta, which was quite good and a good portion, but the server put me off and I haven't been back since. Bob Wells