Washington D.C. restaurants are amazing and I always make sure to hit up as many as possible when I visit the nation’s capital.
Every year I make sure to tag along as my husband makes his annual business trip back to this awesome city. While here, I do no business and my time is completely focused on food, food, and food. Oh, and I visit a few museums along the way too. ♥
So for anyone traveling to our nation’s capital, here are some highlights from restaurants that are so good that I’m still thinking about them.
I have listed choices for a romantic dinner, brunch, and a healthy option… and of course, there is always FroYo!
Romantic Dinner
My husband and I have a tradition – we have our first dinner of the trip at Firefly restaurant, near DuPont Circle. It is the best, seriously. The décor is a romantic enchanted forest and the food is top notch. It never disappoints. It’s like going on a picnic in the middle of the city!
The menu is seasonal, so best dish recommendations are hard. But I’d definitely budget your belly for two appetizers if you are a couple – more if you are with a group. There are so many amazing choices. My husband always makes sure we get the deviled eggs, and I love the Devils on Horseback. They are on the Urban Picnic part of the menu.
The dinner menu is simple, but there is something for everyone. Options include seafood, pasta and meat ranging from steak to lamb. The food is fresh and flavorful, without being heavy. If you having trouble choosing, just ask your server. I’ve never been led wrong. Again, my husband always seems to pick the Eastern Shore Crab Cakes. But we both love the Vegetable Lasagna. And the sides are fantastic, and my husband almost always gets the Mac N Three Cheese.
The desserts are good, but a couple can easily split one if you are watching calories. I’d recommend doubling down on the appetizers instead.
Brunch
We got extremely lucky and ended up having a brunch we will never forget.
We had reservations at Farmers Fishers Bakers for lunch on Saturday for 2:15 pm. It’s in Georgetown, so we took a cab over and got there about an hour early. We had planned on walking around because Georgetown is simply adorable.
The day we went was surprisingly cold, and this California girl was struggling, so we headed into the restaurant and asked if we could be seated early. We got lucky and they seated us. Because we were seated before 2:00 pm, we got in on the weekend brunch instead of the traditional menu.
It was literally so good I wanted to cry.
Southern food, Mexican food, amazing salads and heart-stopping desserts. And I had the best French toast I’ve ever had in my life. Skip breakfast, don’t make dinner plans, and make sure you have this brunch!
Healthier Side
Not EVERY meal was a caloric nightmare. One morning we had breakfast at Commissary, a really cool restaurant in the Logan Circle neighborhood. I enjoyed an amazing vegan burrito.
I’m not a vegan, and I was nervous to forgo cheese, but this burrito was so good that you didn’t need it – WHAT??? Yes, crazy but it’s true.
My husband had the blueberry pancakes (not really a light option, but oh well!). After he left for a meeting, I stuck around for a few more hours in their coffee lounge area. The staff is all so nice. It was a great experience all around.
Calorie Splurge
Take a break from balance and just go big at Georgia Brown’s, near McPherson Square. This restaurant features amazing southern food that is worth every, single calorie.
For starters, do not say no to the bread basket. It features cornbread that is a little slice of heaven.
For dinner, I picked the Devil Shrimp dish and it was unlike anything I’ve ever had. Its crab stuffed shrimp in a “lobster nage” sauce, with a drizzle of sweet and spicy chipotle. It was the perfect balance of sweet and flavorful spice, not the ‘burn your mouth’ kind of hot you might think of with chipotle. The dish came with two sides, sautéed spinach and macaroni and cheese. It was so ridiculously good. My husband had the gumbo, which was also amazing.
For dessert, we split the peach cobbler. Sure, in the end, we both rolled out of there, and we were in a food coma for the rest of the night. But it was totally worth it.
Always – Fro Yo
Frozen Yogurt is my passion. I should start by saying that I have no desire to try and make it at home, nor dreams of owning my own shop one day. But it really is my favorite thing to eat. Most celebrations in my life are capped off with a trip to the local froyo shop.
So on vacation, I make it one of my missions to find the local shops and expand my froyo experience. I have to say, D.C. has one of the best shops I’ve found so far. FroZenYo makes me ridiculously happy -there are few throughout the D.C. area, but I always go to the one next to the Farragut West Metro Station.
The frozen yogurt consistency is super light, almost like it’s been lightly whipped. They also have a ton of flavors. They are a little light on the topping options, but really the froyo is so good, you don’t really need much more.
Those were my highlights from my most recent trip. In a future post, I’ll recap what I did when I wasn’t eating!
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