Visiting Washington DC for 1.5 days... Top 5 Cafes and Restaurant Recommendations?

Talk about your favorite cafes, local barista events, or plan your own get-together.
Nuprin
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#1: Post by Nuprin »

Hi everyone, heading up to DC Sunday afternoon and leaving late Monday night so I was hoping to get some recommendations for your top 5 must visit places to eat and of course cafes to visit.

I'm looking for restaurants that are really unique to the DC area, places that stand out and not just high-end 4 star places. Hole in the walls are perfectly ok, don't really care about the decor, as long as the food is fantastic/unique but not where I might get shot or mugged. Frequently traveled to NYC, LA, SF, Boston so I've been to a few good places...

Thanks in advance!

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[creative nickname]
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#2: Post by [creative nickname] »

Last time I was there, I had very good cups at Peregrine and The Coffee Bar.
LMWDP #435

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trihard
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#3: Post by trihard »

Check out:

Baltimore-Washington DC Coffee Shops

It is a great list and there are many, many options. I'll second that Peregrine is fantastic.

Enjoy,
--David

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admcptch
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#4: Post by admcptch »

Mike,

I lived in DC for two years until a month ago. I'm not sure what sort of cuisines you're interested in, but in the DC area you can get a lot of great asian food (especially Thai). If you want something that you can only get in DC, I'd say to check out Ben's Chili Bowl. It's the place that ends up on Food Network shows with the hosts stopping by, along with presidents, and other famous people.

Beau Thai has great food, a solid beer list, and the restaurant is a nice spot. The food also comes insanely fast. There are two locations, but I have only ever been to the linked one, in Mount Pleasant.

If you like Belgian food, St. Arnold's is a good choice. Again, there are two locations. The linked one is near a nice cafe which I mention below (Filter). I've been to both and they're both great, this one is just a bit closer to everything.

If you need a light snack and you want to try something very unique, I'd say stop by Mockingbird Hill. It's a Spanish-style jamon/sherry bar, with coffee! For more info, check out the bit Sprudge did on them when they first opened. I can only speak for the iced coffee, as I was there in the dead of summer, but it was good. A word of caution, since you mentioned it in your original post; I'd stop in here in the afternoon-early evening. I've never felt concerned or anything in the area, but I know some people consider it "up and coming." I wouldn't let that put you off from visiting though.

As others have said, Peregrine (Counter Culture beans) is great and they have multiple locations in the city. I'd also recommend checking out The Wydown (Kaldi's, Madcap, guest spot) which opened fairly recently and Filter (Ceremony beans). There's also La Colombe, which if you end up at Mockingbird Hill, is only a few blocks away (same word of caution applies).

Sorry for the overload of information. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or want more options!
Adam

pngboy
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#5: Post by pngboy »

2ed Filter! I've had good experiences the couple time's i've been there.

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erics
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#6: Post by erics »

Here is a link to a new café that opened in Washington DC: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/goi ... e-in-shaw/

While I have yet to visit, the story describing their path is a most interesting read.

As regards food, Attman's Deli in Baltimore ( http://www.attmansdeli.com/ ) serves a very nice hot pastrami and Timbuktu ( http://www.timbukturestaurant.com/ ) near the Baltimore airport serves delicious Maryland crab cakes.
Skål,

Eric S.
http://users.rcn.com/erics/
E-mail: erics at rcn dot com

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erics
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#7: Post by erics »

This may be a better link to the entire story collection about Compass Coffee:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/style/ ... ground-up/
Skål,

Eric S.
http://users.rcn.com/erics/
E-mail: erics at rcn dot com

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Exordium01
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#8: Post by Exordium01 »

I'll second La Colombe. It's worth going just to see the Steampunk.