Mark Dedrick

My go-tos before shows at Lincoln Theater or U Street Music Hall tend to be Seki or Archipelago. Ranging slightly further afield, other pre-show favorites for us at 930 Club, DC9 and Black Cat include Hazel, Haikan, Kyirisan, Bar Pilar, Lupo Verde and Doi Moi. --- Archipelago (funkyfood)

Anybody have any recent recommendations?

I've been here a few times this year, and I'm a fan. The menu appears to have turned over a fair amount since I was last in, but the Pan-Seared Scallops with Coconut Risotto are fantastic, and the wings are always a winner. I don't think you can really go wrong, I've enjoyed every meal I've eaten here, and I'm always surprised it isn't busier.

Good tip on happy hour, I'll have to give that a shot. We were there last night for dinner, and ordered all over the menu, although hit the sashimi section hard. I agree with Don on the sashimi in general, and the prawn in particular. It was all spectacular. In addition to our sashimi we got the tempura soft shell crab roll, and it was good, although I wouldn't feel the need to order it on a return visit. And we ordered the "Steak" which is different than the hangar steaks ordered above. It's shaved ribeye wrapped around shishito pepper and pearl onion, fired on the robata grill, which was recommended by our server. I'd probably just do the hangar next time which is significantly cheaper. The ribeye was challenging to eat with chopsticks, and I don't think the shaved and wrapped preparation really added anything. But it was still very good. From the "Raw" section we got the hamachi, which was basically pieces of hamachi sashimi with a gochujang sauce. I would have rather just ordered hamachi sashimi. Service was weird. I didn't feel like our server had a good handle on the menu, and as a result wasn't able to really answer rather basic questions. And when I attempted to order a glass of red later in the meal and tried to order the Gamay I was told they didn't have it because it wasn't the correct season for gamay. On the whole, however, I'm glad it's there, and I'll definitely go back. Didn't get the chance to check out the roofdeck, but I look forward to doing so.

FWIW, last year I had a rather complex flight itinerary I was trying to use CSR points for. Customer service on the phone was friendly and efficient, and the price they quoted exactly matched the cheapest airfare I could find online. Of course, YMMV.

Glad to see Burnt Ends get recognized here, I still dream about that meal.

I've now been twice in the summer and the weather has been pretty great both times. It's pretty high above sea level in the capital (over 5,000 feet), and that moderates the temperature pretty well. Last week we had highs in the low 80s and lows in the low 60s. Quite pleasant to walk around.

We ate at Poca Madre a couple of weeks ago and it was absolutely fantastic. Everything we ordered was delicious, in particular the Pato al Pastor. Strongly recommend it.

I ate everything I was served, as did my wife, and we had no issues at all. That included lettuce and tomatoes on top of our tlayudas, onions and cilantro on tacos, and several different salsas. Oh, and your lodging is probably already sorted, but if not we stayed at La Quinta Real, and it was fantastic. I'd strongly recommend it. It's a very cool space, a former convent, and the location couldn't be better.

One other thing I'll mention about our trip was our mezcal tour we did on Friday, which was one of the coolest things we did on the entire trip. We booked with Alvin, who operates under the name Mezcal Educational Tours. We traveled throughout the Oaxacan countryside and visited five different palanques, and saw every single aspect of mezcal production happen. We also saw different types of production, including crushing by hand and by horse, clay pot distillation and copper still distillation. We also tasted an incredible variety of mezcals poured for us by the mezcaleros, and learned so much. Very cool experience, and if anyone is interested I can send you Alvin's information.

My wife and I met a friend in Oaxaca this past week, and spent four nights there. It remains one of my absolute favorite places to visit. It's beautiful, and such a vibrant and alive city, and extremely walkable. I also don't know that it's possible to eat better anywhere in the world. Here are some restaurants and bars we visited while there: Criollo - I have loved every single Enrique Olvera restaurant I've been to, and Criollo is no exception. There's no menu at all, which was mildly annoying as it would have been nice to confirm the specifics on what exactly we were eating, as my Spanish is very mediocre. That said, this was a spectacular meal. Total cost for three people for seven courses, with beverage pairing, was about $250. The exchange rate in Mexico is really working in our favor right now. Pitiona - The most disappointing meal we had our entire trip. It was my favorite spot last time I was in Oaxaca, but didn't come close to measuring up this time around. Service was very weird at the very beginning, and then non-existent at the end. The savory courses were good, but the two desserts were among the worst I have ever eaten. One was, literally, a flavorless ball of ice. Origen - Great meal. Duck carnitas with mole rojo was awesome, as was the pork. Service was also fantastic. The entire meal, including cocktails as wine, was $100 for three people. Los Danzantes - Really cool room, and great vibe. I think the food here is good, and they have a fantastic Mexican wine list. It's not operating on the same level as Origen or Criollo, but it's still a very good restaurant. Cabuche - Great lunch spot. We ordered huaraches, which I'd never had before, but which are masa dough with beans mashed into it, and then topped with various things. We had carnitas and a beef version which were both awesome. We also several of the tacos de guisado, and all of them were great. It's right in the center of town. Mercado 20 de Noviembre - Great market, and one of my favorite places in Oaxaca to eat. I don't remember the exact names of the stands we ate at, but our methods are typically to wander around and pick one that looks good and that's busy. There's a particular section of this market that's a long, narrow corridor with meat vendors on both sides yelling at you. You order your meats by the kilo, pick out what you want, and they'll grill it up and bring it to you. Somebody else will sell you tortillas, salsas and limes, and another person will come over and offer to sell you beer or soda. PAN:AM - Wonderful coffee and pastry spot right by our hotel. Cafe Brujula - Another good coffee spot. They have two in the Centro, the newest one is right by Santo Domingo. La Mezcaloteca - Within the city of Oaxaca this is probably the most informative mezcal experience you can have. You need to book a reservation, and you can then order some number of flights of mezcal. You can pick either specific flavor profiles you want, or which types of maguey you want, or what sort of production methods you're interested in and they'll pick out three mezcals to fit those criteria. All of their offerings are very, very small batch (the largest we tried out of 12 mezcals was a 100 liter production), and you can buy bottles from them as well. Union de Palenqueros de Oaxaca - A rather surreal mezcal tasting experience. It feels a bit like you're in a garage. Del Maguey - It's not a bad idea to visit this spot as kind of a baseline for the rest of the mezcal tasting you'll do, but all of their stuff is available in the US. Mezcaleria In Situ - Very cool bar with an incredible selection of mezcal. Mezcalogia - Another cool bar. The cocktails here were only ok, but they have a great mezcal selection, and they're very interested in teaching people about it. Los Amantes Mezcaleria - Tiny little mezcal bar, but worth visiting. They pour only their only label, but they have really good stuff. Gozobi - Great rooftop. We stopped here late afternoon one day and enjoyed cocktails while looking out over the city. Sabina Sabe - Cool bar, extensive mezcal selection. It had been recommended to us for cocktails but we didn't particularly like the look of the list, so we just ordered flights of mezcal. El Destilado - Fantastic bar, and the best cocktails we had in Oaxaca. Great mezcal selection as well.

And I'm going to throw this in here as well, I'll be in Portland for two nights in late August as well. Recommendations welcome.

I'm headed to Bar Harbor with my parents and my cousin in late August. Any recommendations?

I don't think I've been in a restaurant that smelled better than Bazaar Meat in Vegas. It got all of us so hungry and excited to order that we way over-ordered. Which I'm sure is the point.

Were you able to just walk in to the bar and sit down? I'm curious how easy it will be to get into this place on short notice.

I was generally a fan of this place. I was relaxed, at least on weeknights, and the bartenders were friendly. It's a pretty small space, however, so I'm not sure what they need to do to make things work.

Yeah, probably at least a year? It's now Choong Man Chicken, or perhaps Choong Man Chicken & Seafood. I've not been in.

I think it does very well with tourists. When I've had clients in town, many of them love that place.

Are you dining at the bar or the restaurant? I don't believe that they have a wine pairing at the bar, but not sure what the cost is in the restaurant, where they definitely have wine pairings.

We did the bar menu about a week ago, and as mentioned above it's still $30. The soups were, as always, incredible.

This is a spot, like Old Glory, that I used to frequent a bunch 15-20 years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if the proliferation of craft beer has hurt them a lot recently.

It was definitely a fun spot. Also, for the time, it had a solid beer list. Being from Oregon I had a bit of trouble drinking Rolling Rock when I moved back here, and I could do better at Old Glory.

When I first moved to DC just over 20 years ago we would go here frequently. To someone who at the time had never been to the American south I thought the barbecue was good, the atmosphere was fun, and Georgetown was one of just a couple of happening neighborhoods in DC for young people, so we'd meet friends and go out after. And it wasn't that expensive which was key because we didn't have much money at the time. The first five years we lived here this was also probably the restaurant we took guests to the most often. I suppose I'm sad that it's closing, although I also don't think I've been here in at least ten years.

Exactly, this is key. Go straight through to one of the cutters (I tend to go to like #5 or 6). Too many people either mill around by the door confused, or settle for one of the tables with servers.

I had lunch here yesterday. I don't have a lot to add, except that it is still fantastic.