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Normally I am proud of my abilities to help my colleagues/friends with recommendations for places to eat in the area (a lot of them based on y'alls tips), but I am at a loss for this one for myself.

Friend in town this weekend and can only do breakfast either Saturday or Sunday morning, around 0900 either day. I would normally suggest a diner like the '29 Diner or Bob and Edith's, but were wondering what other options (I also love Cafe Parisian Express in ARL).

Location: Arlington/DC (Dupont, G'Town, etc)/Fairfax

Price: Nothing too outrageous (no more than say $40 a person)

Cuisine: sky's the limit--we eat anywhere

Thanks

Nashman

:P

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This is an excellent suggestion. The corned beef hash at the Old Ebbitt is not the canned dog food type, it is house made.

The corned beef on thier Rueben that I had recently was heavenly. Soft, tasty, no fatty slices. I digress......back to breakfast!!

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The corned beef on thier Rueben that I had recently was heavenly. Soft, tasty, no fatty slices. I digress......back to breakfast!!

Old Ebbitt, scrambled eggs with scalions, salmon and bagel chips. Bloody fantastic. At 9 am, you also have excellent odds of beating the donkey tourist crowds.

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These are all great ones (thanks again for the thoughts), I just did something I should've done beforehand and did a dump of 0900 on OT and got 26 places (mostly hotel types)--any opinions on which good/bad for breakfast (I've been to some like 15 ria, Poste, Bis for dinner and all were excellent)

15 ria

American Sea Grill

Aquarelle

Bistro Bis

Café 15

Café Promenade

Circle Bistro

Daily Grill - Georgetown

Dish

Fahrenheit

Federalist - DC

Jefferson Restaurant at the Jefferson Hotel

Lafayette Restaurant

Notti Bianche

Old Ebbitt Grill

Poste

Seasons Restaurant

Shula's Steak House - DC

St. Regis Restaurant

The Grill at The Ritz-Carlton Washington DC

Thanks again

Nashman

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As I posted on eGullet:

Circle Bistro should be open for breakfast early enough for you. It is located in the One Washington Circle Hotel near Foggy Bottom.

Circle Bistro

In addition, Old Ebbitt Grill is open for breakfast and is near the White House. I was there on Saturday morning around 10:30am and had a nice brunch. They have both a breakfast and a brunch menu on their website.

Old Ebbitt Grill

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I'm not a frequent brunch-er, but I had a great one last summer at Bistro Bis.  I like the feel, too - swanky enough but solid, unfussy cooking.

Seconded. I had a wonderful breakfast there before a Nats game a couple of months ago. We were there with kids and baseball hats, and we mixed right in with the more swanky crowd and space. Fabulous food, very reasonably priced.

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You could always give Leopold in G'Town a try.  I did not have luck with the service when I was there.  Last weekend I had a conversation with one of the pastry chefs, and she told me that they have fired all of the service staff since then.

I actually ate at Leopold's on Wednesday and the service was PERFECT. I was so shocked... my girlfriend insists on going to Leopold's because it's very Euro and she is from the UK, so.... I had low expectations and was really surprised with very attentive service. I didn't recognize a single server in there. I was so happy I left a 25% tip.
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Seconded. I had a wonderful breakfast there before a Nats game a couple of months ago. We were there with kids and baseball hats, and we mixed right in with the more swanky crowd and space. Fabulous food, very reasonably priced.

Just to confirm, let me third this as I had brunch at Bis this morning before the baseball game. Very bistro-y. Frnech Onion Soup, Frisee au Lardons, Quiche, Eggs Benedict. All perfect examples of their kind.

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A posting on the comfort food thread just reminded me about Market Lunch at Eastern Market. Granted, it's nothin' fancy, but it is a very "DC" experience.

Those blueberry buckwheat pancakes are tasty and it looks like the weather will cooperate for breakfast at an outside table and a stroll through the market after you eat.

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If you're going to be headed to the Mall, Bistro Bis has a good brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. It's on Capitol Hill, near the East end of the Mall. If you're too far away or don't want to walk there, Union Station metro is nearby.

The main web site says that Easter Sunday brunch hours are 11-3, which is slightly different than the regular brunch hours. You should probably call if you want to try that. For Sunday, I'd suggest a reservation. They have a regular breakfast as well.

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Dear All,

My husband and I will be staying in central Washington DC this weekend.

I would be really grateful for suggestions on where to eat breakfast/brunch over the weekend.

Thanks in advance.

Kate

Hi Kate,

I merged your question with an existing breakfast thread. There's also a brunch thread here.

Cheers, (and welcome!)

Rocks.

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I had breakfast at Florida Avenue Grill yesterday. Mmmmm. Half-smokes, eggs, biscuits, homefries, fried apples...what could be wrong with that?

Ben's Chili Bowl is also in the "classic greasy spoon soul food" oeuvre, but it's not open for breakfast on Sunday (it is on Saturday). Both are not strictly downtown (11th and Florida Ave for the first, U St. between 12th and 13th for the second), but they're both institutions.

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Congratulations on your first post! Welcome Kate!

Dear All,

My husband and I will be staying in central Washington DC this weekend.

I would be really grateful for suggestions on where to eat breakfast/brunch over the weekend.

Thanks in advance.

Kate

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Thanks for the welcome and for the merging of the threads.

Also, many thanks for all the suggestions - please keep them coming. We're really looking forward to proper American breakfasts over the weekend. Old Ebbitt Grill looks like a good place to start - I've eaten there before in the evenings but didn't know it opened for breakfast.

Kate

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Brasserie Les Halles recently began serving breakfast on weekdays, from 7:30-11:30 a.m.

However, this weekend only - on Sunday, April 8 - breakfast will also be served from 7:30 a.m.

1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW - 202.347.6848.

I've attached the breakfast menu. Perhaps (and hopefully!).

Cheers!

LHW_Breakfast.pdf

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I haven't been, but have been wanting to try Rib Tip on H Street between 11th & 12th for greasy spoon breakfast. Its gotten some relatively positive reviews for good, basic breakfast here and here.
I went there this morning and it was "closed for reorganization," according to the signs on the door. There was no indication of when it would reopen.

Walking west on H Street, we stopped instead at Sidamo Coffee and Tea, a very pleasant Ethiopian-owned coffee shop at 5th and H, NE. It's only been open 4 months but seems to have developed quite a clientele. There's a small eating area inside and nice patio with a few tables outside. The space is really lovely.

The coffee was quite good, served in beautiful coffee cups. Breakfast offerings are limited to breakfast breads and sandwiches. My friend got the (Canadian) bacon, egg, and cheese on croissant, and I got the same on a bagel. They were very well made for breakfast sandwiches--not at all greasy, obviously prepared from high quality ingredients. They have a chalkboard listing sandwich offerings for lunch as well.

ETA: I didn't notice the post just above about Sidamo :blink: .

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Went to Matisse Cafe Restaurant near Tenleytown on Sunday for brunch. Very nice setting with comfy chairs. They had a small but varied menu ranging from brandied french toast with strawberries (very good - thick french bread - not too eggy) to various egg dishes and lunch items - like quiche or roast chicken. Not amazing, but a nice alternative for a semi-fancy brunch (prices around $10-15 entrees). Lots of dessert options too - I think the waitress rattled off about a dozen. We had the good and very light apple tart (puff pastry with sauteed apple slivers and a caramel sauce) and the homemade mango sorbet. The service was very nice and accomodating of seating requests and a food substitution. One weird thing though was when one person wanted a second glass of their fresh-squeezed orange juice, our server informed us they had run out - at 12:30pm. Very odd, not sure why they couldn't make more or why they'd let that happen - especially when the place was only half full. Oh well, it was probably an off-day.

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I remembered a pretty decent brunch at the Beacon Bar & Grill [Thomas Circle] that I went to about a year ago:

Here's from their website: Brunch Menu. Highlights:

* Waffle Station

With Whipped Cream, Chocolate Chips, Berry Compote, Maple Syrup

* Omelet Station

Made To Order Eggs Any Style, Cheddar Cheese, Peppers, Spinach, Feta, Fresh Herbs, Mushrooms, Ham, Onions and Tomatoes

* With Unlimited Champagne, Mimosas, and Bloody Marys [extra charge if I remember correctly].

About $24.99 each.

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I used to live right around the corner from Beacon, and went to their brunch more than once. I really never thought it was worth it- there was always something off, usually with the service. Examples include unwanted ingredients in made-to-order omelets, bloody marys spilled on customers, a half hour wait for milk for coffee, mysterious items appearing on our bill. Things got so bad one time that I wrote a letter to the manager, got invited back for a complimentary brunch- where the same comedy of errors played out!

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Do places like Ebbitt and Bistro Bis that open early on the weekends serve alcohol, or do the mimosas start flowing at brunch? Getting on a cross country flight on a Sunday at noon and would like to go and have a nice breakfast/brunch, but will definitely want to celebrate the start of our vacation with a mimosa.

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I don't know that I've ever seen this place mentioned, but I think it's definitely worth mentioning - Jack's Place - 222 N. Lee St, Alexandria (next to Overwood). In addition to serving breakfast 8am-noon on Saturday, and 8am-1pm on Sunday, it is also available 6:30-11am Monday-Friday. The menu says Jack's is "one of Old Town's smallest delis with one of the largest breakfast menus" - 17 kinds of omelettes, a variety of breakfast sandwiches, French toast, egg and meat combos, etc. The Breakfast Usual (basically a BLT with a fried egg and American cheese) was quite good.

The place is definitely a local hangout and is more than cozy - 2 tables with seats for 3, 3 hightops for 2, and about 6 counter seats. They also do a lot of carryout, so if you're lucky enough to get a seat you might need to be a little patient while your food is prepared. Oh, and you'll need to go to the counter to order and pick up your food :blink: .

The lunch menu (sandwiches and subs) is also extensive but that's for another thread.

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I'm perusing this thread, looking for Saturday morning breakfast in the area. It is very useful, and I think we're going to Old Ebbitt (where corned beef hash may be in my near future).

Would someone consider doing an update / summary / index that we could put at the top of the thread? As long as we're at it, why limit it to weekends? Tourists are here seven days a week.

As I was typing this, I thought of that beautiful Washingtonian cover from last year. When I went to check, there was a scrollable list that was helpful (I can verify that the hours for Mike's Deli are correct), but who knows if it's up to date? Old Ebbitt wasn't mentioned, and neither was Firefly and *man* does their 9 AM brunch look good - Firefly, it may be.

So yes, let's link to whatever publications are out there, but the only way we're going to really get a good list is to maintain our own. Anyone care to be our Breakfast Baron?

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20 minutes ago, LauraB said:

Unfortunately, DC isn't a breakfast town, unlike, say San Francisco.  The best breakfasts are found in fancy hotels.  Personally, I've always loved the breakfasts at the St. Regis.

True, but shouldn't it support one, really great place? I'm not talking Florida Ave. Grill; I'm talking somewhere like Milktooth in Indianapolis - I remember going there, and wishing that I never got full.

Florida Ave. Grill: Screenshot 2019-01-22 at 12.16.29.pngMilktooth: Screenshot 2019-01-22 at 12.17.55.png

That Daily Meal list up above is a load of baloney, btw - random restaurants, culled from the internet, and used as clickbait.

Here's my experience at Milktooth.

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It is interesting, when I was scoping out places in Albuquerque earlier this year I found lots of places that opened early for breakfast.  The Grove Cafe & Market was the best place we went to and it operates as a breakfast/lunch venue closing at 3pm.

In DC, other than the weekend brunch scene, I can think of only a handful of non-hotel places with a dedicated breakfast menu

Elle (small menu),  Jimmy T's, The Royal, several Ethiopian joints, Little Pearl (small menu), Colada Shop, Tryst & related restaurants.  I'm sure there are others, but this was off the top of my head.

When we stayed in Outer Sunset in San Fran, we ate breakfast every day at Beachside Coffee Bar & Kitchen, good coffee and a killer fried egg sandwich, with a line out the door. 

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