The GF and I will be making a trip to D.C. at the end of May. It will be her first trip (she’s wanted to go since she was a kid) and my second. Any particular recommendations for places to see, eat, etc? We’ve already requested a White House tour through our state representative’s office and have reservations for dinner at 1789 and Blue Duck Tavern, and for breakfast at Seasons.
Any particular recommendations or tips from D.C. insiders?
Hi Nicholas! Where should I begin! There are a few other threads on here with recommendations, so do a search for those. But here’s a few thoughts to get the thread started:
For things to do – I think you have to do the National Mall and the Smithsonian museums (American History, National Gallery of Art, Hirshorn, Air & Space, etc.). The new Renwick Gallery (near the White House) has a great exhibit right now called “Wonder.” Consider visiting some of the monuments at night … FDR, Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial are all gorgeous to walk around at night.
Hopefully that’ll get you started! Enjoy!
Iron gate was good Italian. Any one have thoughts on Oblesik?
I enjoy Obelisk….it has been a good restaurant in DC for at least 18 years.
Other places I enjoy - Bad Saint (fillipino), Izakaya Seki (japanese), Fiola Mare (seafood), bar at Corduroy (american, great value), Red Hen (pasta), Etto / Two Amy’s / Pizzeria Paradiso (italian and pizza), Rasika / Rasika West (indian), Thip Khao (laotian), Garrison (american), Maketto (fried chicken and baozi), Crane and Turtle (asian influenced american).
Cannot “ditto” the below enough. If you’re looking for something super special, Obelisk is a wonderful choice. Red Hen is a difficult reservation but a wonderful meal, and a super great choice if you can chance a walk in. Same with Etto in that respect. Beautiful wine lists (erring toward the weird / geekier at the hen) the both of them. Gorgeous food. Sadly, Crane and Turtle will shutter their doors in mid April, so I’d leave that off your list for May. Garrison has iffy service and a mediocre wine list but the food is outstanding.
I’d tack onto this list Kinship (if you’d like a fancy special occasion res - IMHO, this meets or exceeds Blue Duck), Convivial, and Masseria.
In addition to the monuments and the museums (the National Gallery and Hirshhorn are lovely - remember, the Smithsonians are all free), I’d recommend strolling down 14th St / U St area for shopping. Head over to Union Market for more snacks and treats and the larger Salt + Sundry (smaller store on 14 + S - your girlfriend will go nuts for everything there) and down to the Navy Yard for some good wandering. If you’re here on a Friday eve, see if you can catch jazz in the sculpture garden. Pick up a sandwich at Union Market and steal a blanket from the hotel and enjoy a picnic outside, weather permitting. Yards Park also does weekend outdoor concerts - maybe search online for something that way too.
Good luck and enjoy.
Lots of good advice above, Nicholas, and lots more in prior DC threads. I just posted about a fantastic meal at Fiola, which I would add to your “special dining” list. Expensive. Worth it.
My favorite places in DC proper at the moment: Rasika, which may be the best Indian restaurant in the US, Fiola and Fiola Mare (the former is downtown, the latter is a seafood offspring in Georgetown; both are fabulous and in my view both MILES better than Obelisk), Oyamel (small plates Mexcian), Estadio, Diplomat (great for brunch too), Two Amys, Kapnos (edging Zaytinya for Greek/Med/middle east) . . . lots of others but that is my current fave list.
I work 2 blocks from Ebbitt Grill and I would not recommend anyone going out of their way to eat there. It is super convenient (a half block from the WHite House) and you can get a decent meal there if you are famished, but there are many better choices nearby. A half block north of the White House is Bombay Club which is fantastic. The Oval Room is next door and is also terrific. Both are substantially better and more ambitious than Ebbitt. If you want cheap and quick in that neighborhood, District Tacos is very good. Also, Michel Richard’s Central is in easy walking distance.
Every chain hotel has at least one place within 2 blocks of the Mall, so that would be easy to do. The W on 15th has a fabulous view form the bar on the roof. The Willard is historic, ornate, old school and a little creaky. I love the Sofitel for a small property a block from the White House.
Let us know more about what interests you and I can give sightseeing advice. Note: the East Wing of the National Gallery and the Natural History Museum are closed for major overhauls. TONS of other museums to see though.
What Alicia said. The monuments at night are awesome. Everyone I know is going nuts for the exhibit at the Renwick. Also, don’t forget the zoo.
While on the mall doing the museums, Lunch at the American Indian museum is really good. It is a cafeteria but probably one of the best I have been to.
George
The Renwick show is on our list for next week
Thanks for the heads up!
One of my favorite French Restaurants is in Bethesda. Can get there by subway. It is called Bistro Provence. I think the food is much better than Le Diplomate, although the restaurant is not nearly as hip and trendy. I also like Ripple in Cleveland Park for modern American food.
If you want something like Fiola and Fiola Mare but not as expensive, try Casa Luca.
Another restaurant I love is Jaleo (Spanish Tapa).
For things to do, go to Nats Park and watch the next National League champs play baseball.
Nicholas, quick question. We also recently started the process to request a White House tour but the staff from our rep wanted us to put our full names, social security numbers, birth dates and address in a spreadsheet and email it back to them. My whole crew balked at providing that level of info into a non secure system. Just curious. Is this what they asked you to provide and in a spreadsheet attachment to an email?
Password protect the spreadsheet and send them the password in a separate email.
I found the White House to be a big let down. If it wasn’t for seeing W walk out the back and into the helicopter it wouldn’t have been memorable at all. Lots of time that could have been better spent elsewhere.
Echo a lot of comments above, and here are some others to consider:
Komi: fantastic for a special occasion meal
Little Serow: basement, dive-esque (but not really a dive) Thai restaurant run by the same folks that run Komi. Some of the best Thai food I have had in the US. Line can get pretty harsh unfortunately with people lining up 30+ minutes before the restaurant opens
Founding Farmers: out in Bethesda but great restaurant for all meals. Love their breakfast
Re: Obelisk: agree with what others have said. This is a small, quaint restaurant. BUT, it does have a fairly limited menu so it would be worth checking out the menu in advance to make sure they have something that suits your tastes. Went there with 3 clients last year and we practically ordered the entire menu across the 4 of us; everything was spectacular
Thank you, everyone, for such amazing recommendations. Based upon your feedback, I intend to replace our 1789 reservations with either Fiola or Fiola Mare. I’ve been able to get the GF into Indian food lately, so I may try to do a dinner at Rasika as well. I love Thai but the GF is not a fan, so Little Serow may be out on this trip.
As for sights, we’ll also be seeing the Phillips Collection, Library of Congress, and all of the monuments (hopefull at night as well). This is her first time visiting, and she is very into American history, so I intend to leave much of that up to her. We’re staying at the Sofitel (which I believe Neal mentioned), so just a block or so off from the White House.
Older Excel file formats do not encrypt the file when a password is applied, so I put the Excel spreadsheet into a ZIP file and encrypted the ZIP file with password protection. Depending on your legislator’s staff, they may not be willing to take a ZIP file though so I would check with the legislative contact first.
The Phillips is a fantastic place. Unlike the Smithsonian, not free, but a beautiful little collection, and some obscure (at least to me) little pictures in the old house that are quite captivating.
You don’t mention the Smithsonian museums at all, and it would be a great shame to miss out on them (unless you are planning a second trip). Air and Space is unique and is now the 2d most visited museum in the world (it has slipped from #1). The original Wright Flyer, the Spirit of St Louis . . . just amazing. The Hirschhorn for contemporary art, the Nat’l Gallery for everything else . . . LOTS of art choices for free. GF is into American History so that museum seems like a natural. Also, the trip down the GW Parkway to Mount Vernon is ~20-25 minutes from your hotel by Uber or rental car if you are going to have one (no reason other than this trip I suppose) and the tour of the house and grounds is quite something. The entire house is original – the same floorboards he and Martha walked. For a history buff, it is quite something. On your return you can stop in Old Town Alexandria, which was GW’s “home town” and is mostly 18th century buildings. On the water, on a nice day it is a fantastic place just to walk. There is also the Torpedo Factory, which is now art studio spaces and galleries for local artists. Some very interesting stuff. (Pizzeria Paradiso is a block away if you are hungry)
If it isn’t raining, May will be the perfect time to walk the Mall at night. If you are fit and want the exercise, you can park at the Capital and walk all the way past the WWII memorial, the Washington Monument to the Korean and Lincoln, or bite off as much as you want. There are always cabs at Lincoln to carry you back to your car. FDR is worth seeing as well, but I’d do that in daylight.
If you are looking for live music, check to see who is playing at 930, Birchmere, and Blues Alley while you are here. Lots of fantastic local theater too. The Friday WashPost Weekend section will let you know what else might be going on.
It is a fantastic city. Lots to do, and a much more human scale than places like LA or NY. Have a great time!
Would be interested to hear your thoughts on Fiola after you’ve gone. Have never been but it seems to be on everyone’s to-go-to list
Also, if there is availability, check out the bar at MiniBar. You won’t get into MiniBar but they have a fantastic bar with light eats. Even if you don’t go for food, they have some great cocktails and it’s a really fun atmosphere
National Portrait Gallery is very worthwhile to visit.
Try Dino’s Grotto in Adams Morgan for at least drinks - or brunch. Fun place and Dean is really into wine - he has a very good list.
You can walk along the U Street corridor for any number of places to eat. We enjoyed Pearl Dive the last few times. We lived in DC and, until this fall, our daughter lived there as well. So we visited often.
Rose’s Luxury is THE hot restaurant but near impossible to get in. You have to line up before 5:00.
The White House tour is no great shakes – but go if you already have your slot. I went there often when I worked in DC and got to see lots more for working meetings. I was able to arrange a “special” tour for my father-in-law. I think it was the highlight of his life – he came here as a child from Russia and couldn’t believe I could have arranged a private tour for him:)