Finally planned a mini vacation to Washington DC

[ChrisinNJ]

My DH & I are very different. I have to research, price check, look for the best room etc... Whereas Hubby says, I'm going to take off Monday & Tuesday, why don't we go to ......(fill in the blank) for 3 nights.

Since I haven't been able to nail him down for a definate vacation time, I haven't been able to book anything until now.

Anyway, we are staying at the Embassy suites in Old Town Alexandria VA. Now that I have booked I am going to search some threads for places to eat, etc.

If anyone has any recomendations for family friendly places to eat, either in OT Alexandria or near the museums, I would love to hear them!

 

[ssawka]

I don't have a specific suggestion, but you will find no shortage of restaurants in Old Town. What kind of food do you like? For seafood, I would say the Fish Market on King Street by the River. If you're looking for a bit cheaper, there is a Hard Times Cafe in Old Town which has chilli. If you let me know some of the food that you like, I might be able to suggest a few more.

 

[elgerber]

I don't have a specific suggestion, but you will find no shortage of restaurants in Old Town. What kind of food do you like? For seafood, I would say the Fish Market on King Street by the River. If you're looking for a bit cheaper, there is a Hard Times Cafe in Old Town which has chilli. If you let me know some of the food that you like, I might be able to suggest a few more.

I am not the OP, but I am staying here starting tomorrow, so maybe if you give me suggestions it will help them too? LOL. We are a family, 2 teens, nothing too fancy for us. We like Mexican, Italian, Sports Bar/American, and some seafood (kids will eat fried shrimp). Would not like to spend a couple hundred bucks on a meal, but not fast food either. Also, we will take 1 set of nicer clothes, sundresses and khakis, but no real dresses stuff.

Any suggestions?

 

[ssawka]

I am not the OP, but I am staying here starting tomorrow, so maybe if you give me suggestions it will help them too? LOL. We are a family, 2 teens, nothing too fancy for us. We like Mexican, Italian, Sports Bar/American, and some seafood (kids will eat fried shrimp). Would not like to spend a couple hundred bucks on a meal, but not fast food either. Also, we will take 1 set of nicer clothes, sundresses and khakis, but no real dresses stuff.

Any suggestions?

Let's see, I'm not sure about Mexican, but there is a local chain called Austin Grill that has a pretty good TexMex at reasonable prices.

I haven't tried any of the Italian places down there, but I have read good things about A la Lucia. There is also a Bertuccis. Not the best Italian and you are probably familiar with them, but they do have decent wood fire pizzas.

For bar food, there is a good Irish bar called Pat Troy's Ireland's Own. In the evening the generally have live entertaiment as well.

If you want something quick that isn't your typical fast food joint, there is a chain called La Madeleine.

Also, make sure you make it to either Ben and Jerry's or Pop's Old Fashioned Ice Cream. Pop's is right on King Street (next to The Fish Market), B & J is on the first street closest to the river. Make a right off of King if you are facing the river.

 

[elgerber]

Let's see, I'm not sure about Mexican, but there is a local chain called Austin Grill that has a pretty good TexMex at reasonable prices.

I haven't tried any of the Italian places down there, but I have read good things about A la Lucia. There is also a Bertuccis. Not the best Italian and you are probably familiar with them, but they do have decent wood fire pizzas.

For bar food, there is a good Irish bar called Pat Troy's Ireland's Own. In the evening the generally have live entertaiment as well.

If you want something quick that isn't your typical fast food joint, there is a chain called La Madeleine.

Also, make sure you make it to either Ben and Jerry's or Pop's Old Fashioned Ice Cream. Pop's is right on King Street (next to The Fish Market), B & J is on the first street closest to the river. Make a right off of King if you are facing the river.

Thanks!!!!! OP, hope this helps you too, since I hijacked your thread .

 

[4Seasons]

Although not necessarily budget we love the Warehouse Bar and Grill on King Street.
Don't forget to visit the Torpedo Factory (free) while there, very interesting.
The visitor's center is almost directly across the street from Warehouse, stop in there and they can give you ideas on what to do in the area as well.

 

[4Seasons]

I am not the OP, but I am staying here starting tomorrow, so maybe if you give me suggestions it will help them too? LOL. We are a family, 2 teens, nothing too fancy for us. We like Mexican, Italian, Sports Bar/American, and some seafood (kids will eat fried shrimp). Would not like to spend a couple hundred bucks on a meal, but not fast food either. Also, we will take 1 set of nicer clothes, sundresses and khakis, but no real dresses stuff.

Any suggestions?

Bring your shorts, it's like summer weather right now here!

 

[elgerber]

Bring your shorts, it's like summer weather right now here!

The forecast I have seen shows it cooling off drastically by Friday.
It's been nasty here too, 95 Monday and 90 yesterday. And HUMID, yuck!

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Thanks for the advice. We do like seafood, as well as mexican. We aren't big on Italian restaurants, unless there is a good pizza place for a quick meal. We also like steak, so if there is a good steakhouse that is reasonable & kid friendly....

How about lunch near the mall, & the zoo. Are there fast food places in those areas? I know they are not healthy, but they are an easy way for us to get a fast cheap lunch. We will have breakfast at the hotel.

 

[sharon_wv]

A quick lunch you can get not too far fromthe mall is a place called Cosi. Getcosi.com. They have salads, sandwiches, pizzas, etc. It's a little less expensive than the food in the museums. The closest one from the mall is near the art museum. It's one block from 7th and Pennsylvania. Closer to 6h street. If you can handle a short walk, in Chinatown there are a lot of good places to eat. Would definitely recommend clydes or chop't. There's a fuddruckers up there too. Just walk up 7th street toward the verizon center. Have fun!! I work right in the neighborhood of the air and space museum. Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[Echo queen]

Keep the tips coming we leave June 4th

We love to visit restaunts that have been on Food Network or Man Vs Food ect., are any of those in the area. We will hava a car.
Thanks

 

[Tink-n-MrIncredible]

I am on a special diet (by choice), do you know of a place that cooks more of a healthy option, nothing fried or breaded. Now I am going to hi-jack this thread if that is ok. My child will be staying at the 4H complex, we can't stay there. What is a good place or area on the metro route that is near the 4H complex?

 

[ssawka]

A quick lunch you can get not too far fromthe mall is a place called Cosi. Getcosi.com. They have salads, sandwiches, pizzas, etc. It's a little less expensive than the food in the museums. The closest one from the mall is near the art museum. It's one block from 7th and Pennsylvania. Closer to 6h street. If you can handle a short walk, in Chinatown there are a lot of good places to eat. Would definitely recommend clydes or chop't. There's a fuddruckers up there too. Just walk up 7th street toward the verizon center. Have fun!! I work right in the neighborhood of the air and space museum. Enjoy your trip!!!

Yes, definitely avoid eating in the museums, food there is very expensive!! The Smithsonian does not charge admission, and they do not have there own parking, so the only way they make $ is through donatinons/endowments and vending (food/gift shops).

You are far better off walking a few blocks to a restaurant. For example, DBro came down with his family (5.5 people, the youngest is 1 and dosen't eat much!) and it cost them $85 for lunch. I told him, they could have all eaten at the Hard Rock for less than that. For fast food, while downtown, you can try the Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Ave., there is a food court in there. There is also a food court in the JW Marriot, also on PA Ave.

 

[ajcolorado]

We went to DC two years ago and our group really liked "Teaism" - good food at a reasonable price. We ate at the location near the National Archives but they have a couple of other locations too. You can see their website at: http://www.teaism.com/ We splurged on the chocolate Salty Oat Cookies and they were worth every penny.

You can go to yelp.com and type in "Cheap" and "Washington DC" for suggestions.


There are a lot of free things in DC but hotels and food are on the spendy side so we felt it was in our best interest to minimize lines.

I suppose that this is the opposite of saving money since the Monuments are free but we did the "Monuments by Moonlight" walking tour and felt we got so much out of the monuments than if we'd just wandered around looking at them. Our group ranged in age from 10 to mid-sixties and everyone felt the money was well spent, even my in-laws who have been to DC many times said they learned new things. See: http://www.washingtonwalks.com/tours/memorials-moonlight.shtml
We felt this fit in our overall gameplan because it let us do the monuments later in the day, in an organized fashion. And the monuments could be really hot mid-day, in the blazing sun.

Our Congressman's office was really helpful in booking our capitol tour and the National Archives. We avoided a lot of long lines this way.

We felt it was well worth the few dollars per person it cost to get a Washington Monument advance reservation.