pidgey

Thanks DaRiv, Baby Wale was an excellent choice. The bar had plenty of room, and the drinks were great. My only complaint is that they had started to run out of food (a few appetizers and cookies) earlier than usual due to a large party upstairs. They had said it was okay to bring in cupcakes, which I didn't have a chance to pickup before hand. But otherwise, a good time was had by all.

I should add that there will probably be 10-12 people altogether, so we're looking for a place that can accommodate our group without feeling too cramped by other folks in the bar. I like all of these restaurants so far; please keep suggestions coming!

My husband is celebrating his 40th birthday in two weeks, and we have dinner reservations with another couple at 6:30 pm at Zaytinya. We're looking for a bar to meet up with several other friends, preferably a place that has cocktails as well as a nice wine list, and possibly even a food menu for those who haven't eaten yet. Any Chinatown/Penn Quarter/Shaw/close by downtown DC places come to mind? Possibly even H St or Capitol Hill. We haven't been to the Passenger since they've reopened in Shaw, but would consider it.

Visited Hugo's last week for lunch. While our service was not exactly spot on (my husband suspects he got the wrong margarita, and it was clear that they were understaffed as our waiter kept disappearing), the food was amazing. My husband had the Chiles en Nogada with pork ("Two, walnut-crusted poblano peppers stuffed with your choice of either pork, brisket or vegetables mixed with red and green apple, pear, peach, plantain, sweet potato, almonds and raisins, and topped with your choice of sweet or savory walnut cream sauce, garnished with pomegranate seeds and parsley"), and he was delighted with the presentation as well as the taste. I enjoyed the enchiladas verde with chicken served with white rice and a tiny dollop of finely pureed refried black beans (delicious!). For a lunch portion, this was plenty of food. We were tempted by the appetizers, especially since they are Dos por $22, but in the end, we were quite satisfied with our margarita plus entree lunch.

I've had a love/hate relationship with the Argo. On the one hand--they have been great with kids. On the other hand, I have often overlooked their idiosyncrasies because they have been so great with kids. I've had food that I tried to return because it was burnt and served upside down in order to hide it. This was after the owner inspected it and said it was fine (they still asked me to eat it, and finally took it off the bill). Poached eggs at brunch on a benedict that were actually hard cooked. But there have been really nice servers and pretty good burgers and booty beer. I hope that the Argo returns. There are so few family friendly places in the area that any loss will hurt.

How handicap friendly is this space? My dad has mobility issues (walks with a cane) and can't make it up and down stairs, so things like bathrooms down long staircases and even booth seating aren't doable for us.

You just made me homesick. The puffy taco is one of San Antonio's real delights.

Is this place still around? DCist named this one of the best bakeries in 2013. I've been looking for a bakery like this, and would love to try it.

Went tonight and was completely disappointed. Everything was over salted or over seasoned- brisket, Brussels sprouts, beans. The brisket was dried out. This was after waiting 30 minutes to get our food. Maybe they were having a bad night, but we won't be going out of our way for this place.

Thanks, Dean! They were delicious!

Its that time of year again! Who has softshells on the menu?

It was there in May, but was not there in August. My guess is they closed it to focus on the DC locations, because they were doing a nice little business at the mall.

This place opened over the summer in the former Town Hall space. Anyone been? Going there tonight with a large group, including two small children.

We're back and had a great time! We tried going to Franny's on Saturday at 5 pm, only to be told that there would be an hour and a half wait. That was a little bit too much time, so we called Applewood and asked if there was a wait. They took a reservation for us, and we headed over. This was the highlight of our dining! Despite a high end menu, they were so wonderfully kid friendly. They had kid sized plastic plates at our table, and our little dude was not the youngest there by any means. After we ordered our much needed martinis, they brought out some wonderful bread with three spreads: regular butter, rutabaga butter and pate. The restaurant was small, but the ambiance in there was such that the occassional squeal blended in with the din. They did not have a kid's menu, but there was plenty on our dishes (I had the bass with sweet potatoes and my husband had the pork loin with duck confit and cannelini beans) that we could share with our little guy. However, he preferred to have a dinner of mostly milk and bread with rutabaga spread. The service was excellent, and this was by far one of the best dining experiences we have ever had with our little guy. On Sunday, we met some friends at Dizzy's diner, where there were tons of families there at 9:30 am. Its a small place, and we ended up sitting on the covered patio. They include 2 non-alcholic beverages (coffee or tea, plus juice) in the cost of the meals, which is fine, but it seems an unnecessary waste to keep offering people beverages when all they really want is water. The meal and the service were fine, but nothing too noteworthy. On Sunday night, we decided to pick up pizza from Franny's because we just weren't feeling that we could sit through dinner at another restaurant. They only do pizza for take out; no salumi, appetizers, or pasta, which was only slightly disappointing, as the pizza itself was delicious. We considered going to DiFara, but decided we just didn't have the energy for it. Overall, an excellent trip with excellent dining.

That is exactly what I'm looking for! I'm looking forward to this little excursion and will definitely report back.