<p>Thanks for all the replies. We have eaten at Founding Fathers before on a visit to DC. My daughter really liked that place. Since we will be traveling in 2 cars with grandparents in tow, would any of the places suggested be better for parking? If it was just us parents I would not be concerned. But mixing in some of the ‘more senior’ members of the family really makes things interesting. I dealt with this same issue last year when my son graduated high school. And we do not live in the DC area. I’m glad they are able to celebrate with us, but sometimes what a pain in the __.</p>
<p>Thanks again for all the suggestions. I’ll start calling and checking menus.</p>
<p>hokiefan, There are parking garages in the area but one of the cars would probably just want to drop the grandparents right at the restaurant’s door before parking. I would check on Open Table rather than calling around. You can find all the open tables for the times you are looking at for the number of people in your group. Also,there are reviews, menus, and restaurants can be sorted by location, type of cuisine,etc.Have fun!</p>
<p>gladgraddad - try Cactus Cantina. GW Bush ate there a few times. It’s very close to Washington Cathedral, so if you’re there during the day you can tour around the little medieval garden before or after. It’s also big, and they know how to handle a large crowd but it gets busy just like every other good place. </p>
<p>Two Amy’s Pizza is around the corner and is fabulous as well.</p>
<p>If you go to any restaurant in Penn Quarter, especially a Jose Andres restaurant, be prepared to wait at least an hour. They’ll give you a little buzzy thing but it doesn’t have a great range. We were told there was a 2 1/2 hour wait at Jaleo once, but we sat at the bar to eat and they buzzed us in less than an hour. (I think people had abandoned the line and it got shorter). We were only a party of three also.</p>
<p>The only restaurants I can think of with parking are those big places along Water Street SW near the “waterfront”. Grandma and Grandpa will probably like the views over the water towards East Potomac Park and the Tidal Basin. I’ve never eaten there, so I’m not sure what the best ones are.</p>
<p>Question on Zatinya–what’s the ambience like? I have no problem with ethnic hole-in-the-wall restaurants with formica tables and wonderful food, but given that we’re celebrating two graduations, I’d like something a little more formal. </p>
<p>D and son-in-law went to Komi for their anniversary last year and liked it a great deal. Any one know it? We’ll have 8 people in our group.</p>
<p>Mathmom: It looks perfect!! D2 and son-in-law love ethnic food–this looks perfect (very modern look). Will call for a reservation this afternoon. Thanks.</p>
<p>You can use Yelp. It’s been a great resource for me to find great restaurants. I go with at least 4 stars (average score). 4 stars doesn’t necessarily mean good (e.g Five Guys burgers (what are people thinking?)) but below that definitely means mediocre at best. I’d further read the reviews to decide if I want to rely on the average score. In short, we have “grade inflation” there.</p>
<p>I like Zaytinya.</p>
<p>Jaleo is extremely overrated; in DC, if your restaurant has decent decor, seemingly sophisticated menu, and is in great location (e.g. Penn Quarter), it’s automatically elevated to some world-class status even with mediocre food and you can charge a lot for it. Jaleo is the perfect example. I had the saltest paella I’ve had in my life. On top of that, the tapas sounded interesting on the menu but were definitely “meh” when they came out. Shame on me that I went there twice to give benefit of doubt (also because of lack of better alternative Spanish restaurant in DC; now I save that for my NYC getaway). By the way, it’s 3.5 stars on Yelp; so I am definitely not the only one thinking it’s overrated.</p>
<p>I had wanted to go to Zaytinya for S2’s graduation, but he doesn’t like small plate restaurants. Since we are celebrating his graduation, I felt I needed to take his wishes into account. We’ll have to try Zaytinya on another trip to DC.</p>
<p>Komi was just ranked the #1 restaurant. It’s a tasting menu - the chef prepares what you will eat that night. You better be more on the adventurous side for that place - imo. Many people don’t care for raw fish, octopus or some more out there fare, that could be perfectly delicious, but you need to be ready to eat what they make that night.</p>
<p>We’ve been debating giving a whirl, but it is a small restaurant with a long wait for a seat, so if that’s where you want, now is the time to get a reservation.</p>
<p>I still stand by fogo de chao for a group that wants “normal” familiar food in a nice setting, valet parking in a nice part of town. Nice without budget breaking and a nice atmosphere inside.</p>
<p>I forgot about Fogo. Don’t expect great steaks/meat there. They are just okay. But you do get the variety. The salad bar is quite good and actually the best thing they have. </p>
<p>I agree with eyemamon that it has a nice setting and atmosphere. It’s also fine for larger party.</p>
<p>lol, GladGradDad. I wouldn’t use him as reference if I were you.</p>
<p>Cactus Cantina is Tex-Mex actually. </p>
<p>I was told Bush liked going to Peking Gourmet Inn too. My American friend asked for customers’ favorite there; we both didn’t like it and it was not close to anything I had in my home country. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, I don’t have any good recommendation for you when if I comes to Mexican food. I am kinda picky and having lived in LA before certainly makes it worse (way better Mexian there). The only one I like is a hole in the wall place in Alexandria and that’s not what you look for.</p>
<p>Gosh, all these restaurants look terrific. I am just sad to think my daughter spent 4 years in DC and we’ve only been to one place on your list (Founding Fathers). Did I mention we live in Richmond just a few hours from DC. Shame on me. Anyway, thanks again for all the help. I’ll be checking in with my daughter and than making reservations. Can’t wait to go out for a meal on graduation/mother’s day:)</p>
<p>ggd - I’ve eaten at Cactus Cantina many, many times, and it’s very good. You will have to find parking on the street, which is difficult, but not impossible. Closest metro is Cleveland Park, which is not very close. The zoo is down the road on Macomb St., too.</p>
<p>Jose Andres has a Mexican restaurant too, called Oyamel. I didn’t like it as much, but the table-side freshly made guacamole was great. Beware, as there are insects on the menu.</p>