Chris Adams

A relative asked for some tips for a friend who was visiting DC and staying near Thomas Circle. This ran a bit long…

Sounds like fun. Just off the top of my head, you’re right around the corner from one of DC’s best beer bars (Churchkey); I haven’t been to the restaurant downstairs (Birch & Barley) but it’s also supposed to be good. Brasserie Beck is a very popular Belgian place with excellent mussels and a good beer selection. Peregrine might have their second coffeeshop open on 14th St. by then; otherwise your best option for high-quality coffee is probably Chinatown Coffee.

For Ethiopian food, Dukem is quite nice - there’s a big vegetarian platter which is quite good for variety - and Lalibela is good and also quite close to where you’re staying. In general, you can’t go too far wrong if you walk up to U St. (not too far) and stop when you smell something tasty. One word of caution: we haven’t been to a quick Ethiopian place yet, so plan for a comfortable, leisurely dinner.

Heading down to Chinatown, Burma is good for variety and Jaleo has good Spanish food. Rasika is a good high-end Indian restaurant - perhaps if you were thinking “upscale night out” - but to be honest, the best Indian food in the area requires a car trip up to College Park. Zaytinya is great option for Greek/Turkish/Lebanese and has good happy-hour pricing and specials.

Around the Mall, there aren’t many options on the south side - the cafe at the American Indian museum is easily my favorite as they feature a wide selection of Native-American food. One option which has really improved matters during the week is the new wave of food trucks competing with the traditional hot-dog vendors; the locations vary and the easiest way to track the options is to use a Twitter aggregator like Food Truck Fiesta - they frequently tend to cover the areas around the Mall since there are a ton of visitors and federal workers looking for better lunch options.

If you found yourself on Capitol Hill, Seventh Hill Pizza is superb and Belga is another good Belgian option.

Our favorite chocolate covered figs come from Biagio which is heading into the Adams-Morgan (18th St. NW up past U St). If you were up there, perhaps walking on the way to the Zoo, a really fast, tasty and cheap option is the Amsterdam Falafelshop and if you were looking for light meals and good coffee or drinks, Tryst is a coffeeshop with a liquor license and a full kitchen. There’s also a hispanic street market there during the day with most Central & South American cuisines represented by at least one stand. (One note: there are many places which claim to serve Mexican food in DC; none of the ones I’ve tried have been good. The closest option to moving back to San Diego which I’ve found is a taco cart in Northern Virginia).

I’m not sure how you were planning to get around town but one new option is Capital Bikeshare You can spend $5 for unlimited 30-minute rides within a 24-hour period or $15 for 5 days, there’s a great iPhone/Android app to find the closest station, and it’s extremely convenient for dodging traffic while still seeing the city. I use this heavily to head down to work and have been quite happy with it.