Genevieve

Maybe this show at the 9:30 club? You can only buy 6 tix per household, so you'd need two people buying tickets. Teens are allowed at the 9:30 (mine has gone w/a parent and other kids). http://www.930.com/event/1375337-lotus-washington/ The Black Cat also allows teens, don't know if this would be to your daughter and friends' taste (not live music): http://www.blackcatdc.com/shows/we-the-people.html Restaurant but not music: I haven't been to this place in years, but Coco Sala was very fancy looking and has a chocolate theme and luxe desserts: http://www.cocosala.com/menu/ You could even take them for a prix fixe 3 course brunch, if your daughter could do a party then: http://www.cocosala.com/themencode-pdf-viewer/?file=http://www.cocosala.com/media/menus/group/29-3courseBrunch2016.pdf

I had a very good breakfast sandwich from there before (something with eggs, probably was the breakfast burrito), but haven't tried the sausage. I'll do that next time! We still get sandwiches from there regularly for lunch or sometimes dinner.

Kabob Bazaar in Clarendon might be open on Christmas, worth checking.

Thirty minutes wait is fine. It's when it's an hour to 90 minutes that it's a problem. We used to have a number of places with delivery in 30 minutes or so, and now we don't seem to, for those occasional nights when we're too exhausted or under the weather to go out and pick up.

Oh well. Thank you.

If you want to go into DC on Christmas Eve but avoid downtown, you could go to BlackSalt in Palisades or Osteria Morini in Navy Yard.

Me Jana in Courthouse is open for lunch on Christmas (we're going for dinner, which has become a tradition for us). And it's near the movie theater in case you want to do that. It is booking up, though. Ambar is open early for brunch (I haven't been yet, and for me their dinner menu looked more appealing than their brunch menu, but it's an option and the food is supposed to be good). A lot more Arlington restaurants are open for breakfast, brunch, or lunch on Christmas Eve. Lyon Hall, Liberty Tavern, Yayla, Lebanese Taverna, Mazagan, Osteria da Nino, and Kapnos are good options (caveat that I've enjoyed dinner at all of these but not tried their brunch options except for Lyon Hall - good housemade doughnuts there). Yona and Pepita Cantina are open then too, but I haven't been there so I only know what I've read about them (I know people liked Yona with the previous chef, but don't know now that he's left).

Planning to meet a friend near Smithsonian Metro this weekend and walk to the MLK memorial / Tidal Basin. Would like to meet up first for a drink and quick snack. Is there a nice cafe or bakery near there or between the Metro and the memorial? Thanks.

That's a real shame. Vermilion was so good under Chittum. Thanks for posting about it.

The Balkan Experience is unlimited small plates, so doesn't that mean you could have more food for your $35/each than 9 plates total for 2 people? Of course, that may mean the value depends on your willingness to feel miserably stuffed, which isn't optimal. If you don't get the Balkan Experience, then the value depends on how many small plates you need to feel sated. We've been meaning to try Ambar (maybe next week when it'll be easier to go on a weeknight) and I'll have to see. It's hard to plan if you can't tell from the menu which dishes are smaller and which are larger, but I've had that issue at tapas and mezze places too.

Fewer restaurants seem to have delivery these days (in Arlington, at least), and while Takeout Taxi is still in existence, we gave up on them a few years ago due to very long waits (1 hour minimum). We've tried Seamless a few times and had long waits and food forgotten. What are people using these days? Seamless? UberEats? Something else? Edit: Amazon Delivery? I saw in the Raaga thread that someone had used it and gotten dinner in 33 minutes (though I'm guessing wait times will differ depending on where you are).

Beautiful! Love the tile. That's a kitchen with plenty of room to cook in. The barstools are especially nice - where did they come from?

Hm, we have a gift card for $150 and haven't used it yet b/c of the line (tried one day, waited half an hour and I wasn't physically able to stand any longer, so we left and went to Garrison). I wonder if they'd let us use it for Jan./Feb. with a reservation? My alternative thought is asking them if they might let us use it for Pineapple and Pearls.

Live Oak in Del Ray looks like a good option!

Thank you! For Clarendon restaurants, parking won't be a problem; I was only worried about that if we go to DC (most Alexandria places have parking), so I clarified my initial post. I've heard really good things about Ambar's service and food, and we've been planning to go, but it didn't seem like a brunchy place to me (the menu didn't pique my interest as much as their dinner menu). Lyon Hall and Green Pig are possibilities - their brunch menus didn't look that exciting to me, but I could give my mom the links for those and Cava and let her pick. Hadn't thought of Columbia Firehouse, thanks! I'll take a look at Requin.

I always forget Cava Mezze is in Clarendon because they're not on OpenTable (and I go to the Cava Grill in DC at lunch a lot but not the sit-down place). That's a very likely option!

Hi all - looking for a brunch place for a group for my mom's birthday in a couple weeks. I was looking at Kafe Leopold because she's expressed interest in trying them and we could walk there, but they don't take reservations, and after reading the thread it sounds like service is bad (still) and food is just OK, which won't make up for bad service. Any recommendations for Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, or maybe somewhere in DC (though if in DC, it has to have easy parking - valet or a lot)? Would definitely prefer a place that takes reservations, and a little bit nice in atmosphere (doesn't have to be fancy). Virginia would be preferable to DC, but I'm not seeing wonderful options. Willow was her favorite Arlington place before they closed, and she liked Water and Wall for dinner a couple years ago, but I went for brunch last year and was disappointed (also, don't know about the new chef yet). We've been to Tupelo Honey and had iffy service there, she's not a fan of Liberty Tavern or Kapnos (though she loves Zaytinya), I'd like to go to Ambar for dinner soon but don't think their brunch menu looks like what she'd like. She doesn't like Japanese food, or I'd try Yona. Fiola Mare is fancier than I was thinking. Bastille is 3 courses prix fixe, and some of us are likely to want 1 or 2 courses only (same is true of Ser). Not loving Jaleo's brunch menu, though she loves Jaleo generally (hasn't been to Crystal City, just DC). The Majestic and Chart House (she likes the caviar on the salad bar, among other things) are the best that have come to mind so far. Thanks for any ideas!

The website you have listed for Marrakech Restaurant is the right one, not the one for Marrakech P Street. We went last night - a relative wanted to revisit Marrakech on New York Ave. where we'd been together decades ago, and we didn't realize that the one on P Street was not the same one having moved. It is apparently an entirely different one and was quite a disappointment, though not because of the food (I can only speak as far as the appetizers). We went at 8 so we'd have dinner during the 8:30 belly dancing show, remembering a very well done performance at the former Marrakech. This one started out normally, but turned into the proprietor pulling boys and men from the diners (and literally pulling one, who did not want to go) to have them dance with the dancer. Then it turned into the proprietor tying the dancer's scarf around men's hips, and men stuffing dollar bills into the dancer's straps. It was extremely uncomfortable, as we were there as a family (albeit no small children, but two teens) and had not expected or wanted this. Then the people at the table next to us jumped up and it turned out a mouse had jumped into one of their laps. We were sitting on the same wall-length couch as they were. We left. One waiter argued with one of us, but I said to the proprietor that I absolutely had to get out of there (being phobic about mice) and he said that's fine. Service was a combination of neglectful (not telling us that prix fixe was the only option in the back room, or telling us what was included in the prix fixe - I only knew because a couple of us had been seated in the other room first and had read the menus there) and pushy (asking one guest whether she hadn't liked the soup, and not giving up when she said she hadn't wanted it, but continuing the conversation). I don't know how to describe pulling the chair of an unwilling young patron onto the dance floor, when the patron was saying 'no, I don't want to,' other than way beyond obnoxious and inappropriate. And a belly dance performance that turns into the kind of behavior you see in a strip club (no stripping, but encouraging/demanding patrons put dollar bills into the straps of her bikini top and straps at the top of her skirt) is not what we expected (having seen other belly dance performances) and was quite unwelcome. Foodwise, I don't have much to say - in the front room, there were menus (we were seated there at first) with a la carte and prix fixe options, but in the back room where the dancing is and where they moved us, they did not bring any menus and just began bringing us the food from the $35 prix fixe menu without saying so. That was all right with us as a group, but a couple people in the group might have preferred a la carte, and the waiter certainly should have told us that it was prix fixe and what that included. The first appetizer was a cup of soup they said was vegetarian. Not particularly flavorful, rather muddy, with some chickpeas in it along with mushy vegetables. Then there was a cold vegetable salad: very tasty cooked carrots cut into coins, with a bright flavor (we guessed lemon and cilantro), mashed or pureed eggplant with a good flavor and sliced olives on top, and spinach that was clearly frozen spinach (which I hate, though I like fresh). There was also warm bread with olive oil that had some pureed kalamatas in it with good flavor. Then they brought bisteeya, slices of pastry with chicken in it and sugar on top. I am fond of bisteeya and this was a nice version. When we had nearly finished the bisteeya, the mouse incident occurred. We left before the 3 main courses, the dessert (which I think was just orange slices), and the mint tea. The rest of the food could have been amazing or terrible, I don't care, because we are not staying to eat while a mouse is jumping from the couch onto a guest's lap. Nor will we be returning.

Oh! Thank you.

What is Reserve? (It's hard to google a generic name like that.) Thanks.

Thanks all - I will keep this list in mind for future use (and would love to go to Drift, though it didn't work this time). We ended up at Grillfish this time (location was easiest for this particular evening) and it was surprisingly good, actually. They had a softshell crab special so that made me happy, and the softshells were plump and lightly sauteed (my favorite way - I don't like them battered) and in a nice zingy sauce, very nice. Dining partner had the mixed grill of fish, the sauce that accompanies it is a dipping sauce so he could easily skip it, and he was quite happy with his fish.

My dining partner would like to go have plain grilled fish, no sauce (olive oil/lemon etc. is OK), and not as a special request to the chef, but on the menu. Where should we go for that? (Doubly good if they have softshell crab for me, but absolutely not required, more important is the plain fish.) Looks like they have that at Grillfish. Blacksalt's menu used to list that you could get any fish with any sauce or just plain, but I don't see that on their website now. Anywhere else in DC or close-in NoVa? Thanks! Edit: is Drift's "Daily Catch" served plain? looks like it since there's no mention of any sauce.

Terrific! Thanks so much. And I see from pictures that the bar seats have backs (a key feature!) and are nicely padded. Perfect.

At Zaytinya, for example, I agree that getting falafel there is not a good value. I only order the more creative items there, which I wouldn't be able to get in a smaller Greek/middle Eastern, and for those, I feel they're a good value (plus yes, the value for the attractive venue, good location for meeting people handy to the Metro and the sights, etc.). I haven't gone to Momofuku yet, even though I enjoyed the one in Toronto very much, because I haven't heard great reviews of the food. If people were saying it was really excellent food, I would go at least once and pay the additional price. I was interested originally (even though there are many other places around town I'd rather eat at for the price point), but the reviews have made it seem not worth it. I was never planning on going for the ramen (Daikaya's all I need there), but I was interested the shrimp buns or shiitake buns. But the menu doesn't seem as interesting as the Toronto outpost, and I liked the Milk Bar desserts there very much but have yet to hear much good about the ones at Momofuku. If it's going to be that pricey, it needs to be good.

Great, thank you everyone who responded about length of dinner. Question: does anyone know how easy it is to get seats at the bar, especially 2 seats together? (I know date and time would factor into that - something came up where tonight might work, and it's too late for a reservation, but we could try for the bar. I'm assuming that early would be better in that case.)