Le dip is classic DC. Get the seafood tower for sure. Any reason why you’re doing Sfloglina for Italian? Personally I prefer both Centrolina and Masseria ($$$). I’d confirm your Daikaya reservation gets you access to the ramen menu. Last time I was there, you could only make reservations for the second floor, which is their izakaya menu. Same owners have Haikan up off U Street, which you can make a reservation at and I prefer the ambiance there too. Also, you’ll be closer to good bars for an after dinner drink.
Taco Bamba is great for taking people who you won’t to avoid conversations with... they play the music so loud you can barely hear the person in front of you. Great spot for when you need a break from the in-laws. An oldie but still a goodie is Zaytinia near the Capitol One Arena. If you find yourself in downtown, the Greek Deli or Bub and Pops for lunch is also great.
No reason on Sfoglina, menu looked decent and good location. Good info on Haikan, definitely want ramen.
Do you guys have any bar recommendations? I'm staying at Logan Circle, most restaurants are in that area or a little north. I know I want to go to Kingfisher and Archipelago (I love tiki). I love high end cocktails but also can always enjoy a cool dive to give me a break from 18 dollar drinks and have a few beers.
If you’re trying to black out cheap go to Dan’s cafe. But don’t touch anything while you’re in there. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/washington-dc/nightlife/dans-cafe/a/poi-dri/1098043/362241
if you come a little north of U street there are some grungier but cool/cheap bars, imo. Lyman's Tavern (pinball and PBR on draft), Red Derby, Wonderland Ballroom, Looking Glass Lounge.
The wife and I always like to stop by Off the Record when in town, which is downstairs in the Hay Adams hotel near the White House. A speakeasy feel for some good, strong $18 drinks. It’s got some history if you look it up and they filmed a few scenes from movies in there like Charlie Wilson’s War. And my wife always likes to steal the coasters.
If you’re going to be in Logan, hit up Churchkey for beers. Also, if you want a small, historic cocktail bar, go the the Round Robin in the Willard hotel. I bring a lot of out of towners there and they love it. The mint julep is particularly good.
Guns has some good recommendations. Looking Glass is my personal favorite. DC reynolds next door has an awesome BoGo. If you do go to Lyman's or Red Derby grab some tacos at Taqueria Habanero. The Raven in Mt. Pleasant is probably the most well known dive in the city. Sabydee up the street is a hole in the wall that serves decent Laotian food.
Close to Logan at 11th and U is sollys. It’s an Ohio st bar and probably my favorite in the neighborhood. It’s a more of a dive bar which is refreshing considering DC has so many uppity douchebag bars. They have live music I believe thursdays - Saturdays
mal630 It all depends what kind of scene you're looking for. Those upper 14th street/Petworth dive bars are solid hangouts, but they’re mostly local neighborhood bars. While I frequent those types of places in my day to day life, when I’m traveling I usually like to go to areas with more foot traffic and options. I agree Solly’s is a good mix of the two because you’re getting the divey feel while being closer in to the center of the city. Boundary Stone is another favorite of mine for a normal bar with good food and a solid beer/whiskey list.
I personally think the collection of bars and restaurants on the Red Derby block in upper cohi are the best in the city, but that's only because I live in brightwood now and that's about the furthest I want to bike when I'm drinking / it's cold out.
Has anyone does the tasting room reservation at Columbia Room? I've got a call into them hopefully I hear back. Its $85++ for 4 drinks with some food. Just trying to figure out how much food we are talking and if my GF is going to be bombed after this. Trying to plan it before or after a dinner.
The Senate bill completely fucks over the District. Places like Wyoming get like 4x more $$$ than us. https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...c364f4-6eca-11ea-aa80-c2470c6b2034_story.html fucking outrageous.
The DMV has the worst drivers on the planet. I would rather drive on the 405 in LA or 76 in philly than the beltway. Virginia drivers are worst offenders imo. Apparently slow moving traffic staying to the right/passing on the left aren’t a thing in VA. You get four lanes of whatever the fuck you want on the beltway traffic patterns be damned. Did I mention the phantom braking? Not saying Maryland drivers are much better. Apparently they never learned to take turns in Kindergarten bc they will prevent cars from merging causing traffic to back up further. Yield also apparently means stop. My point is that Maryland and Virginia drivers are quite critical of each other’s driving skills when, in fact, they are both astonishingly terrible.
There’s ample objective data on Maryland drivers being the worst in the region (and one of the worst nationally). I’m from LA and lived in all three places, fwiw.
Have lived in VA and MD. MD drivers are by far the worst at pretty much everything, using turn signals, crossing 2+ lanes at a time, merging, driving slow in the left hand lane. everything.
I would like to confirm that every accident I’ve seen in the DMV involves MD plates. Can not say the same for VA or DC plates. This is purely scientific and not at all anecdotal.
MD drivers are the worst. VA and DC drivers aren’t good either, but nothing compares to Maryland. It’s even worse when you catch them in nova
I'm fine with it - Rare that you're driving over 20 MPH in a residential area in DC anyway. The avenues are mostly 35-45 already. Feel like most district drivers don't do that but plenty of Maryland drivers and Uber drivers do.
I’m fine with it but I don’t think it’s solving any problems unless they’re going to start bringing criminal charges for doing 40 in a 20 when they wouldn’t if it was 40 in a 25.
Thanks, currently live downtown (Mt. Vernon Triangle area) and lived in near the Washington Hilton for a few years before that (always tough to describe that area because it's about 4 neighborhoods at once). Got a bunch of friends who live in Petworth and I'm super excited for a more neighborhood-y feel while still being in the city. And mostly to have a yard.
yeah I've been here for about 7 years now. chill hood although there's been an increase in shootings the past couple years. Scary sometimes. The last one was about a block from me. https://www.popville.com/2020/05/dc-friday-night-crime/
Yup, we went up Friday night to check the scene at night and it definitely was not encouraging to my fiancee. Ultimately I got her comfortable by showing her the crime map where we live now vs the one in Petworth. It's not much different and seems like most (but admittedly not all) of the violent crime is targeted and between people who know each other. I don't feel unsafe there at all but it will take a little convincing (and a security system) on her end. She also grew up in the middle of nowhere so even the idea of having neighbors is weird to her.