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30th Birthday for Six, Diverse Family Members - No Pork, Some Are Vegetarian


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I have what very well may be an impossible task.  I'm turning 30 in late June, and plan on celebrating with my girlfriend, my twin brother, my other brother and my parents.  My girlfriend and father will eat anything.  My twin doesn't like seafood.  My older brother and mother are both vegetarians (no fish).  I try to avoid pork, but otherwise the more adventurous, the better.  We don't want a white table cloth formal experience (i.e. no Kinship even).  Any thoughts?  Tail Up Goat won't take reservations for 6.  Arroz seems too casual.  Convivial is maybe my favorite place in the city, so it's a contender.  How is Masseria these days? Worth the cost?  Any other ideas? Thanks.

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Maybe Garrison - the vegetarian main dish is the only issue, since there are usually only 2 pastas and only 1 may be vegetarian. But their vegetable salads and sides are fantastic. Food is lovely, service is great, but it's not too formal.

We had Mothers' Day brunch at Arroz and it didn't feel too casual to me. 

Maybe Masala Art, Indique, or Rasika? Bindaas seems too bustling/casual for this.  

Sfoglina or Centrolina?

 

 

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All good ideas.  I just felt that Arroz felt too "hotelly" too me, but that's just a personal thing.  loved the bombas. 

Garrison is a really good idea--i haven't been yet.  Centrolina isn't adventurous enough for a special meal for me.

thanks for taking the time to rack your brain. 

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You're welcome! I've been to Garrison 3 times and really loved it. Just depends on if your vegetarians will mind having only 1 or 2 main dish options, given that there will be tons of great vegetable-focused sides. 

This list is out of date (has some places that have closed or where the chef left and they're not so good anymore), but could give you some more ideas of good restaurants where vegetarians will have options:  http://www.firstclassvegetarian.com/p/washington-dc-restaurants.html

 

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Before revisiting Cedar the other week I scanned reviews (couple of thousand in total- most on OT and Yelp)

What grabbed my eyeballs were many raves for their vegan menu/dishes.  I'm not a vegan and never look for that--but there were enough to grab my attention.

Haven't had dinner there in over 2 years.  In the past mains were usually good to great. There has been chef turnover.

I can vouch for inventive cocktails and I've always had great service.  It's small and never been loud making it good for a close knit group that wants to hear one another.

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What an excellent idea. Zaytinya is so classic and been overshadowed by all the new places that I think it's cool again... like record players or jean shorts ... something for all palates, easy to get reservation, great ambience, interesting wine. It would be a great way to ring in 30! Someone on New Orleans thread said that Z is probably better than Shaya, and I wouldn't doubt it... they've been crushing it for years.

And I can tell it's probably not what you're looking for, but I had a fantastic party last month for my birthday. I got to Kingfisher (dive bar on 14th) early on a Saturday evening, decorated, invited about 40-50 people and catered it with Baan Thai (Kingfisher doesn't have food, so you can. bring anything). It was a blast and food was delicious! If anyone ever wants a chill/fun party in a fun space, I'd recommend it!

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15 hours ago, DaveO said:

Before revisiting Cedar the other week I scanned reviews (couple of thousand in total- most on OT and Yelp)

What grabbed my eyeballs were many raves for their vegan menu/dishes.  I'm not a vegan and never look for that--but there were enough to grab my attention.

Haven't had dinner there in over 2 years.  In the past mains were usually good to great. There has been chef turnover.

I can vouch for inventive cocktails and I've always had great service.  It's small and never been loud making it good for a close knit group that wants to hear one another.

I had a pretty bad dinner there about a year ago.

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25 minutes ago, Genevieve said:

I had a pretty bad dinner there about a year ago.

LIKE!!   .....and that is the ying and yang of things!!!  :D   ....and its why I was "measured" in my endorsement above since I hadn't had a full dinner there in probably 2 years.  Still I was grabbed by the volume of positive mentions/reviews (among a total of 3k) wherein the vegan dishes were lauded.  (I only scanned it--can't be bothered to read all that stuff)

Out of curiosity, are there many restaurants wherein customers significantly applaud and suggest a vegan menu?  Frankly its not something to which I pay attention.

 

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