Oh, The Places I'll Go

Saturday, January 31, 2009

New bars are opening in D.C.! And I like to drink! And... not a single one of them is nearby because I live in a neighborhood full of dog walkers, stroller pushers & elderly folks.

Don't get me wrong, I adore my little neighborhood. But in terms of going out, I'm still living the small-town mindset, frequenting the same two or three bars that are in my comfort zone -- you know, like the one that's two blocks steps from my office or 15 steps from my apartment. And it's not just bars: It's everything. I don't like venturing too far from home, which my bestie Becca will testify to - she lived in the U Street corridor for an entire year, & I NEVER came to see her!

One of my goals for 2009 was/is to be more adventurous in terms of taking advantage of the city I'm lucky enough to be living in. I've already been here a year & a half, and I don't know how long I'll be here - at some point, I plan to head back to the Midwest, & when I do, I don't want to look back on my D.C. time & wish I'd been more exploratory.

So I'm finally putting to paper (to blog?) a list of places to go & things to do that's been building in my brain for quite awhile now. All you DCists -- got any suggestions for me? Here we go:

Food & drink:
  • Ben's Chili Bowl: A D.C. icon with massively long lines every night
  • Ben's Next Door: Soul food at the newly opened joint next door to iconic Ben's Chili Bowl, featuring head chef Rock Harper of "Hell's Kitchen" fame
  • Casa Oaxaca: Every time I pass this little Mexican place I want to drop what I'm doing to try it out.
  • Chi-Cha Lounge: I don't even know what Andean food is, but I think this place has hookah, which I'm very down with.
  • 18th & U Duplex Diner: An American diner-style, which hopefully means waffles!
  • Indique: I've been pretty resistant to trying Indian food thus far but really want to try this place, which I pass every day.
  • Inti: Peruvian! Do I like Peruvian?
  • Jaleo: Spanish tapas
  • La Tasca: More Spanish tapas, which I don't even know if I like
  • Mama Ayesha's: I pass this little Middle Eastern place on the bus all the time, & it just looks really cool.
  • Meskerem: Ethiopian, which I'm prooobbably not going to like
  • Mixtec
  • Oyamel: I hope this place is better than the crap Mexican places I've tried here so far.
  • Pasta Mia: I haven't found a good Italian place in the city yet, although I suppose I haven't looked very hard.
  • Plum Blossom: Because Asian-fusion is my newest fave
  • Tom-Tom: Cute little TexMex place
  • Zaytinya: More tapas - Greek/Mediterranean this time
For fun:

8 comments:

  1. My favourite continues to be Fox & Hounds whenever I'm in DC, or Rock & Roll Hotel or 9:30 Club. All solid recommendations.

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  2. GREAT list! In fact, I may refer to this list myself :-)

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  3. Dan and I have a similar list for Virginia Beach/surrounding areas. We also have a few places in DC :) We've been here 2 years together and have scratched 1 place off the list :) hahahah

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  4. One of my old friends went to GW and I came to DC to visit her a lot! So I have some suggestions even though I've never been a DCist.
    We went to Rock n Roll Hotel once, and it was fun although we were the only people there the night we went. It would probably be more fun on a weeknight, or when they have a show there.
    We also went to Tryst in Adams Morgan a lot, and always got Jumbo Slice after!!
    We also went to Clydes a lot, in Georgetown, and would go to some bars along the main street in Georgetown (don't remember what its called...) but they were pretty fratty college bars so I doubt you'd want to go to them.

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  5. "and would go to some bars along the main street in Georgetown (don't remember what its called...)"

    M Street.

    Or Wisconsin Ave.

    - MPM

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  6. Hey!! So many of those places are in my old neighborhood--now I'm even more peeved I never insisted you come my way. Ben's Chili Bowl is obviously a fave of mine, and I'm guessing Next Door is equally awesome. Busboys & Poets is fantastic, complete with more cool murals. Jaleo is really tasty, but go with lots of friends so you all can share. Chi-Cha lounge is fun, and I always wanted to go to Duplex Diner... let me know! As for great Italian, Luigis on 19th between L and M is great!

    xoxo

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  7. "Jew-debt-slavery". Right.

    Zaytinya is a *great* place to eat. As is downtown Jaleo (try their pork sausage and shark).

    And yes, it's even better in a group.

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  8. Let me get this straight. You don't like chocolate. Any kind of chocolate. Ever. SECURITY!!! Get this gal OUTTA HERE!!! ;-)

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