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Hunan Number One, Wilson Blvd and N. Garfield St in Clarendon - Closed Aug 12, 2019


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On 4/25/2012 at 10:39 AM, 'SeanMike said:

Speaking of giant beers - I was told during happy hour that beers are $5.50 for a 34 ounce.

Hunan Number One in Clarendon has been doing this for quite a while, and their "happy hour" lasts all day long. The food's not bad, either, for Americanized "Chinese" food (though, the quality can vary, depending, I guess, on who's manning the wok).

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Hunan Number One in Clarendon has been doing this for quite a while, and their "happy hour" lasts all day long. The food's not bad, either, for Americanized "Chinese" food (though, the quality can vary, depending, I guess, on who's manning the wok).

Yeah, I've hit their happy hour before (actually, I quite enjoyed their General Tso's Wings). I'm just glad I won't have to fight those crowds to get said beers on Saturday!

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Yeah, I've hit their happy hour before (actually, I quite enjoyed their General Tso's Wings). I'm just glad I won't have to fight those crowds to get said beers on Saturday!

Hunan's always been an enigma to me--when I first started going in 2009, there was never ANYONE there. Just me, the wife, and our liters of beer. Then suddenly it got incredibly crowded, since the secret was out. But since then, it's either one or the other, and never in between. Really weird.

They do have excellent steak fries though. They are definitely frozen, not ACTUALLY good, but after a couple liters a huge bowl of salty steak fries is pretty much perfect.

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Hunan's always been an enigma to me--when I first started going in 2009, there was never ANYONE there. Just me, the wife, and our liters of beer. Then suddenly it got incredibly crowded, since the secret was out. But since then, it's either one or the other, and never in between. Really weird.

They do have excellent steak fries though. They are definitely frozen, not ACTUALLY good, but after a couple liters a huge bowl of salty steak fries is pretty much perfect.

We used to go back in the late 90's and early 2000s, and liked their dim sum very much. Then they seemed to have a precipitous dip in quality -- after three visits where we were greatly disappointed, we stopped going. At some point, I heard that they were mainly a draw for their very cheap beers.

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Yes, I've never seen anyone there for the food. There are many bartenders and many at the bar, but just the one lone older guy in the corner you have to find to pick up your carry-out order. Quality is lacking. Not the sauce, but the meat itself is really gristly, tough, and chewy. We recently switched to ordering from Rien Tong which is better, but still not great.

I don't think that anyone's going to H#1 for food though, just drink. And food as an afterthought.

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On 4/26/2012 at 2:34 PM, Genevieve said:

We used to go back in the late 90's and early 2000s, and liked their dim sum very much. Then they seemed to have a precipitous dip in quality -- after three visits where we were greatly disappointed, we stopped going. At some point, I heard that they were mainly a draw for their very cheap beers.

On 4/28/2012 at 11:01 PM, discojing said:

Yes, I've never seen anyone there for the food. There are many bartenders and many at the bar, but just the one lone older guy in the corner you have to find to pick up your carry-out order. Quality is lacking. Not the sauce, but the meat itself is really gristly, tough, and chewy. We recently switched to ordering from Rien Tong which is better, but still not great.

I don't think that anyone's going to H#1 for food though, just drink. And food as an afterthought.

If you go to this fascinating interactive map of the Washingtonian's Very Best Restaurants from 1969 to present and drag the green button to 1995 you will note that Hunan Number One was once considered among the very best in the region, at least on one scorecard.

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10 hours ago, dcs said:

If you go to this fascinating interactive map of the Washingtonian's Very Best Restaurants from 1969 to present and drag the green button to 1995 you will note that Hunan Number One was once considered among the very best in the region, at least on one scorecard.

Overall I find that map/data/addresses/years to be one of the best presentations of its type that I've seen.  (Sue me, I'm local and I like to dine out). And I love these types of presentations--maybe it's b/c there are only 100 distinct data points/yr. that it reads so well.

As Genevieve noted above I was introduced to Hunan1 possibly in the late 90's and subsequently dined there a fair amt.  I thought it comparable to the best Chinese food in Baileys if not the region.

And then it changed.  I don't know why or when.  We order out for lunch currently and it is terrible.  I'd never eat there.  The bar school places many grads there for their active cheap HH's.  I guess the bartenders don't stick.  

What the H happened to this place?

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7 hours ago, DaveO said:

Overall I find that map/data/addresses/years to be one of the best presentations of its type that I've seen.  (Sue me, I'm local and I like to dine out). And I love these types of presentations--maybe it's b/c there are only 100 distinct data points/yr. that it reads so well.

As Genevieve noted above I was introduced to Hunan1 possibly in the late 90's and subsequently dined there a fair amt.  I thought it comparable to the best Chinese food in Baileys if not the region.

And then it changed.  I don't know why or when.  We order out for lunch currently and it is terrible.  I'd never eat there.  The bar school places many grads there for their active cheap HH's.  I guess the bartenders don't stick.  

What the H happened to this place?

Clarendon has changed a lot in the last decade.  Look at how many mediocre/poor restaurants there are now that attract the bar crawl crowd on weekends.  I have a feeling HN1 found they could make more money by selling super mugs of beer to a packed crowd at 10pm than good chinese to a moderate crowd at 6pm.

And I will admit, I smiled a little when I saw this thread get bumped up.  And I've never eaten an entree at HN1 (and am now in my mid-30s, so its been that way for awhile)

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