<p>Please list some of your favorites for lunch and dinner. Thanks.</p>
<p>Pizza Paradiso [Pizzeria</a> Paradiso, Washington, DC](<a href=“http://www.eatyourpizza.com/]Pizzeria”>http://www.eatyourpizza.com/)</p>
<p>Wow! Too many to name all. Near Dupont Circle you can find just about everything.
I like Thaiphoon and Banana Leaves for Asian. (Connecticut and S and T Streets) There are the chains, Johnny Rockets and Five Guys, Cosi.
I like Kramerbooks and Afterwards, a cafe and bookstore, and Bistro du Coin for French fare. These are all on the north side of the circle.
My list is low brow, no fancy dinning here.
Bon appetit!</p>
<p>Okay, please list really special places. Please exclude restaurant chains since we can eat at those at any time. I’d like at least one very special restaurant.</p>
<p>Why limit yourself to Dupont? Cabs are plentiful and inexpensive. I would recommend B. Smith’s in Union Station. If you have a large group, you can reserve a separate room. Very nice, southern gourmet cooking.
Old Ebbit Grill near the White House, a DC institution. Gets very busy.
1789 in Georgetown, very, very nice.
Back closer to Dupont are Nora Restaurant and Obelisk. I’ve not been to these last two but have heard good things.</p>
<p>gentleharp, I do not need to limit myself to Dupont at all. Thank you for these suggestions!</p>
<p>northeastmom</p>
<p>can you narrow it down a bit?</p>
<p>are you looking for organic, local ingredients? small plates? wine? vegetarian? ethnic? near Metro?</p>
<p>we have had great meals all over the area, my list could overwhelm!</p>
<p>I am NOT interested in organic, or vegetarian. We like different types of food, but already have one Asian restaurant lined up where we are meeting another couple, so I’d rather not get more Asian suggestions. When I say “Asian”, it is because that is what I was told. I don’t know if it is Japanese, Chinese, etc. My guess is that it is Chinese cuisine.</p>
<p>I won’t have computer access for about an hour, but keep suggesting!!</p>
<p>For a group, I love Jaleo [Jaleo[/url</a>] . Spanish tapas, great for tasting and sharing. 480 7th Street, NW.</p>
<p>I am also very fond of Willow [url=<a href=“http://www.willowva.com/directions.html]Willow”>http://www.willowva.com/directions.html]Willow</a> Restaurant - Arlington Virginia](<a href=“http://www.jaleo.com/downtown.htm]Jaleo[/url”>http://www.jaleo.com/downtown.htm) 4301 N Fairfax Drive in Arlington. It is 1.5 blocks from Metro’s Orange line at Ballston. It is where we take our out of town foodie friends. Never had a bad meal here.</p>
<p>I will second the suggestions of Bistro du Coin [Bistrot</a> Du Coin, Washington, DC - Home Page](<a href=“http://www.bistrotducoin.com/]Bistrot”>http://www.bistrotducoin.com/) and Old Ebbitt [Old</a> Ebbitt Grill](<a href=“http://www.ebbitt.com/main/home.cfm?Section=Main&Category=About_the_Ebbitt]Old”>http://www.ebbitt.com/main/home.cfm?Section=Main&Category=About_the_Ebbitt)</p>
<p>Have a great time. Let us know where you end up.</p>
<p>We are not with a group, so I will scratch out Jaleo.</p>
<p>Do you need to make reservations weeks in advance for most of these restaurants?</p>
<p>mominva, if we drove our car, do you know how long it would take to get from Washington DC to Willow Restaurant in Arlington, assuming average traffic?</p>
<p>Check out Founding Farmers-took S out to eat when we visited him in DC a couple of weeks ago and we enjoyed the place very much</p>
<p>northeastmom,
Googlemaps puts the trip from ‘dupont circle’ to Willow at 14 minutes
I would recommend reservations.
You can make reservations at OpenTable <a href=“http://www.opentable.com/willow-restaurant-reservations-arlington[/url]”>http://www.opentable.com/willow-restaurant-reservations-arlington</a></p>
<p>On our last trip to DC in November, we ate at Zaytina, a Greek-Lebaneses-Turkish restaurant. It was very good. But our very favorite was Clyde’s, right next to the basketball/hockey arena. It’s not what you would think, given the location. The food was fabulous. I’m still dreaming about the pumpkin seed encrusted shrimp!</p>
<p>Two of the top restaurants in the city are Cityzen, which is in the Mandarin Oriental and Citronelle, in Georgetown.</p>
<p>If you’re willing to venture away from DuPont Circle check out Ben’s Chili Bowl. It’s a DC institution. </p>
<p>It’s right across the street from the U Street/Cardozo station on the Metro Green line.</p>
<p>I second the recommendation for Zaytina’s. It is not too far from the Verizon center. It is a tapas restaurant but specializes in mid eastern food. The lamb chops are excellent. They also make great martini’s</p>
<p>Founding Farmers is an organic restaurant using food from local farmers, etc… Great food. Very popular and you must make reservations. I would not be turned off by the “organic” label at all. It definitely does not feel like an “organic” restaurant.</p>
<p>Update:</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the suggestions. They were helpful. We had a great few days in Washington DC! It was an absolutely WONDERFUL time.</p>
<p>The variety of options were amazing. To be truthful, after a full day of running around in the hot weather the last thing that we wanted were really upscale restaurants. We ate at the following:</p>
<p>Pizzeria Paradiso-I never thought that we would pick a place like this, but it was great! Thanks blackeyedsusan, it was a very good suggestion! This is not your typical pizza (in fact is is my new personal favorite pizza), and the selection of beers from around the world were really fun!</p>
<p>TenhPenh-we enjoyed the food very much, especially the appetizers. I know this sounds crazy, but save a little room for their donuts!</p>
<p>Meiwah-A restaurant where one can enjoy some good tasting Chinese food while showing up in shorts! We enjoyed it very much.</p>
<p>To sum it up, we did not have a bad meal anywhere. We might try some of the other suggestions on our future visits.</p>