Washington DC restaurant help

[Brumeiser]

We are working on our DC trip for the summer and one thing we noticed is there is not much fast food in DC. So there goes using gift cards. First as anyone used the Entertainment book either the Dc/Maryland book or the DC/Virginia book and is there much for DC? Second any reasonable restaurant in DC that you would recommend? We heard one reasonable place was at the US Agriculture building. Thanks everyone.

 

[Madison'smommy]

We are working on our DC trip for the summer and one thing we noticed is there is not much fast food in DC. So there goes using gift cards. First as anyone used the Entertainment book either the Dc/Maryland book or the DC/Virginia book and is there much for DC? Second any reasonable restaurant in DC that you would recommend? We heard one reasonable place was at the US Agriculture building. Thanks everyone.

Where will you be staying? Where will you be going? You will be able to find food, not to expensive... There are tons of great restaurants there, some are reasonable. I am not sure what restaurants are in the Entertainment books anymore. I used to buy them years ago, but never to use in DC.

 

[Brumeiser]

We are going camping at the Cherry Hill Campground which has a bus stop right at the campground. So we don't have to worry about breakfast at least, we are hoping to cook some meals at the RV. That will depend if we get adjusted to using the metro system and how comfortable we are using it. What I am trying to work at is I always come up with a trip budget. So I am trying to get a rough figure what it would cost to feed a family of three per day. Thanks.

 

[delmar411]

there is fast food in DC. Are you going to be driving? I'd get out the GPS and figure out where you are staying vs the closest fast food places. If you are staying over the bridge in VA then there will be fast food within walking distance of most any hotel/motel.

 

[mikehn]

There is plenty of fast food in DC. Subway, Potbellys, Cosi, McDs, Burger King, Five Guys, Chipotle, hot dog vendors on every street corner. Am I missing something? Go to www.washingtonian.com/packages/cheapeats for a list of cheap eats all over the city.

 

[clutter]

There should be fast food near Cherry Hill campground.

As for downtown, there is fast food. Just a few blocks north of the mall is tons of office space, so there is plenty of lunch places. McDs, BK for sure. There's a Chipotle by the verizon center, but it always has a long line. There will also be a ton of places for quick service, either deli-type or with a theme like chinese, salads, pizza, etc.

I find eating lunch in DC comparable to eating at Disney. Figure an adult lunch will run around $10, with drink. Most value meals at a fast food chain are a dollar or so more.

So much of what's available will depend on where you are tourning each day. The zoo has fast-food type food on site, lots of local quick service down the street. There are a few food courts around, but it's not all that easy to pop around from one part of town to another.

 

[Tiana]

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[Priorityonecb]

Another vote for Potbelly's. I went for the first time downtown DC a few weeks ago. The sandwiches sort of reminded me of Earl of Sandwich...very good!!

 

[howlongtildisney]

I second the person who recommended looking at the Washingtonian's Cheap Eats list. I went to school in DC and that was our go-to list for cheap places to eat out. Here are my recommendations:

Potbelly - Fabulous sandwiches. There's one on the corner of 17th and Pennsylvania, right by the White House.
Corner Bakery - There are a few in DC and they have good sandwiches and salads.
Five Guys - Burger joint. There's one near the National Portrait Gallery.
Olde Ebbitt Grille - Someone else mentioned this. Near the White House, really great brunch.
Chinatown Express - Fresh Chinese noodles made every day. Definitely a hole in the wall and probably full of MSG but the best noodles I've ever eaten.
Ben's Chili Bowl - Well away from the main tourist areas, but the best chili dogs in the city. A bunch of celebrities, including President Obama, have eaten there.
Julia's Empanadas - There's one in Dupont Circle and one on K Street. Cheap, and easy to eat on the run.
American Indian Museum Cafeteria - They have a lot of Native American cuisine that's delicious. A little pricey, though.
Jaleo - Pretty pricey but my favorite restaurant in DC. It's a Spanish tapas place near the Portrait Gallery.
Subway - There's actually one in the American History Museum, or at least there was before their renovations.

Have fun! DC is a great place to visit.

 

[frostymom]

Cherry Hill campground is right in my work area. So very familiar with the area. If you are doing the metro you could catch it at the college park station and on the way there you will pass a lot of fast food.

Everyone has added a lot of good info on downtown restaurants. We do have the entertainment books from time to time but do not always use the coupons for downtown. You can always log into the entertainment .com and check out the current deals. Also, restaurant.com might be another place to get some cheap discount eats.

PM if you need more info, I am very local to where you are staying.

 

[Echo queen]

Going to DC in June for the first time. Thanks for the info.

 

[bluesaturn]

There are many places to eat by the campground. For one thing there is an Ikea, which serves cheap food that is pretty good. There's an IHOP, Friendly's, and Buffalo Wild Wings. Several people mentioned Potbelly's and there is one close by. That is my favorite sandwich place. There's also tons of fast food. Let me know if you would like some specifics, I'm very familiar with the area.

In DC, you should try to go to Ben's Chili Bowl. It's pretty famous and really good. They only take cash.

 

[gardenergirl]

We were in DC last summer and also on the lookout for cheap eats with extended family.

Don't know about anything near the campground, but in DC proper we ate at Nando's Peri Peri one evening for really reasonably priced awesome food. Great chicken! Two SILs ordered the Sangria-pitcher for $6 (didn't try it-but SILs said it was great). There's a review for it on the Washingtonian, that's where I found it, they have website too, I think.
It was our favorite restaurant (there were 8 of us, so agreement was rare!)

Quizno's is a fast food place that seemed to be quite available. We have that here, but I had never eaten there. It was good and cheaper than I thought it would be-had different sandwiches on special each day, I think.


Tried Ray's Hellburgers in Alexandria-there were some foreign students or travel channel type people (their equipment looked expensive) interviewing the workers and videoing while we were there-was fun to watch. Didn't seem quite worth the metro ride and walk in July, but hubs liked it.

On a side note...we had a terrible time with iphone map apps while we were there. I tore the map from one of the little book/magazine things they give you at checkin and used that the whole time-the iphone carriers in my group laughed at me. We fought like crazy over the iphone directions. Even looking at a map my crew (there were 3 iphones amongst us) wouldn't believe their gadgets could be wrong. sigh. They were-it was a long trip.

 

[MEM]

We were just in DC two weeks ago. We stayed in Woodley Park which has some excellent ethnic restaurants but unless you will be visiting the National Zoo (4 blocks away) its not worth driving to just to eat.

I agree with Potbelly's and the cafeteria at the Museum of the American Indian - we ate there two days in a row because of the "Indian" taco, salmon and buffalo. The cafeteria at the Museum of American History is a mixed bag - great desserts but burgers and fries that were just mediocre.