hopsing

Ditto. But even without getting housed, for us it is just plain easier to set aside or add in to the calculation an extra 40 bucks for the cab rides from and to Arlington. From the Pike it is about 20 bucks to anywhere in the city and that is usually with a generous tip to your friendly envirocab driver (save the air for the same fare!). I just consider it the opportunity cost for being more relaxed, not worrying about parking, and not risking it even if you only have one or two drinks.

All that being said, the big lot where the convention center used to be is only like 5 bucks. That gives you access to all the restaurants around Verizon. Whatever you do, don't park in the one attached to the center. I think it is like $18 even on non-game nights. There is generally sufficient street parking around the west end restaurants (Blue Duck, Ris, Marcel's) if you look up and down 24th, 26th or closer to N but I think the meters run until 8.

My budget doesn't permit cab rides to or from the city unless it is for a super-splurge. Dinner with a bottle of wine for two already costs a lot (~$125) and I don't want to regularly add $20-$40 on top of that. However, the convention center lot sounds reasonable and good to know about street parking around RIS, which I would love to go to someday.

I never have a problem parking on the street in the Logan Circle - U Street area, especially if you arrive on the early side for some drinks. There are plenty of good restaurants from which to choose. It helps if you do not mind walking a few blocks. If you can adjust to not finding a spot right in front of your restuarant, parking is really not an issue.

Walking a few blocks is no issue (unless it is arctic like it was last night)! Thx.

Parking in DC is not usually easy or cheap. The garages are on the expensive side. Street parking is usually your best bet if you time your outing right.

My favorite spot is the huge open air lot at 8th and I Sts., NW. It is within walking distance of Acadiana, PS7, Proof, and most of the Verizon Center restaurants. I believe up to 2 hours is about $8.

Then there are the places that do valet and cost you a tip, like Capital Grille and just about all of the high end steak houses. Parking at J&G Steakhouse, for example, cost me a $5 tip. If I were you, check the restaurant's web site. If they offer valet, it costs you a tip.

I guess if it is under $10 (for lot or for valet tip), I'm willing to give it a try. For budgetary reasons, that may make me go into DC less often (unlike the free parking at Bistro Bis), but at least I will go sometimes for special occasions. Unfortunatey, my husband is not very flexibe in terms of when we go for dinner: it is always Saturday around 7pm (primetime). So unless it is somewhere like the Palisades, where it looked like it had good street parking, I will pay something.

I live in Arlington and hardly ever venture out to DC anymore for my Saturday dining due to the tough parking situation. That and the fact that there are tons of great restaurants in Northern Virginia which is closer to me and easy to park. However, for RW, I wanted to try Bistro Bis so decided to overcome my parking phobia. What a pleasant surprise! You can get free parking at the garage across the street from the restaurant. Wow! How easy and stress-free.

So now, I wonder, what other good restaurants in DC also have a good parking situation. I’d be happy to dine at DC restaurants if I knew parking wasn’t a hassle. The only reason I found out about the validated parking at Bistro Bis was because I called up. I guess I can do that for any DC restaurant I’m interested in, but was wondering if you foodies knew of any offhand. Places that have free or cheap parking garage/lot or there is plenty of street parking. I was at BlackSalt (also for RW) and noticed they seemed to have plentiful street parking.

Thanks.

I had been meaning to try one of these burgers and got my chance in Old Town, the weekend before Christmas. The place was mobbed. Took forever to get through the line and then a half-hour more to actually receive my burger.It was worth it however. Delicious juicy burger and brioche bun. Bacon was hard as a rock however and inedible. Turns out the reason for the crowds was that everybody (except me) had a free coupon only good that day. Apparently the night before at a Wizards-Heat game, some guy ate the 9lb. burger. As a result, the entire stadium got a free coupon only good the next day--the day I was there. I heard the chain didn't think the guy had a chance so made no special preparations (like bringing in more staff or food). Hence the big long lines and wait.

I haven't been there in a few years. I used to do carryout: rice crepe with shrimp (love the sauce), turnip cake (sometimes great, sometimes old), and the best dimsum of all--roast pork croissants. I'm going back there this weekend--hope all the items are still on the menu.

We were there last week and had a very good meal. My husband had the charred octopus which he loved. My risotto balls were outstanding. We both had the kingklip fish (whatever that is). I liked it a lot, but my husband thought it was boring. Our friend had gnocchi and he liked it very much. We liked the energy of the place (we were there Saturday night for 7pm reservation) and will return soon. We live in Arlington and we rarely venture out of our own restaurant cocoon. Ardeo is worth the venturing.

I've had a love-hate relationship with them for years but in the last 6 months, it was love. Their spaghetti alla scoglio was terrific as was their fried calamari. We will miss them as they were on our regular rotation list. I guess I will be spending more time at Argia's and A la Lucia.

This is good news. I used to be a regular over there years ago but stopped after the new ownership which resulted in the firing of all waiters and cooks. The food was bad after that, but that was about 5 years ago. Sounds like they now have their act together and maybe we should give them another try.

the need to sit somewhere while my car was being repaired

That is so funny because I stopped by there after dropping my car off to get inspected and get the oil changed. Were you at the Japanese Auto place on Wilson Blvd?

As if baking fantastic pizzas isn't enough, I discovered yesterday that they sell Coke in a bottle that is made with sugar and not corn syrup! It is imported from Mexico. I just got back from Turkey and was enjoying the sugar coke there, which is the way they made it here when I was a kid. Now I don't have to go to Europe to have sugar Coke. Thank you, Pupatella.

I happened by this place by chance at the end of August. I wanted some breakfast and the Illy sign drew me in. Their egg sandwich on croissant seemed pricey (something like $7), but I was already inside the cafe, so ordered it with some Illy coffee and waited outside in one of their little sidewalk tables. Anyway, the chef brings out this delightful plate of a perfect croissant stuffed with egg and cheese. On the side was a really nice fruit salad with bananas, pineapples, strawberries, etc. No wonder they charged so much. The croissant sandwich was terrific and I hope more people will check them out. My only disappointment was the Illy coffee--it didn't taste as good as the only other time I had Illy coffee, which was brunch at Tallula's a couple of years ago.

BTW, are the owners Turkish? I hope so since I just returned from Turkey and am now craving Turkish food.

Pupatella's is now my favorite pizza place!

My friend and I came for the first time. Wow! The crust was wonderful. The toppings were fresh and delicious. They are going to see a lot of me at this place. Everything was reasonably priced. I am so lucky there are so many good pizza places in Arlington these days. It's my favorite food.

Where will the lobster truck be located? I'm very excited to have lobster rolls.

My husband and I celebrated our anniversary at Palena last night. A big thank you to this forum for helping me pick the restaurant: my original request for advice.

It was everything I had hoped it would be: interesting, exotic food combinations that merited the cost and didn't alienate my meat-and-potatoes husband. He was completely won over by the restaurant. The restaurant also gave us a free glass of prosecco and cookie platter to celebrate our anniversary. My one gripe, and I hope it was a fluke and it won't prevent me from visiting again if I ever get some extra money, is the long wait between courses. We were in the restaurant for 3 hours! That is a long time. Perhaps I added to the wait by changing from a 3-course to a 4-course after finishing the 1st course, but I identified what I wanted for the extra course right away.

Nonetheless, I have happy memories of cucumber bavaroise, fish cakes, goose egg ravioli, and the excellent blueberry tart. Magnificent!

Also the service was friendly and relaxing. Not snooty at all. We liked the cosy-ness of the dining room and the strange Escher-like paintings. And they also let my husband in with jeans and a golf shirt.

Their food has been up and down over the years but recently they have swung up although my husband thinks they have swung down. Last month, we both had spaghetti scoglio with mussels and clams. I thought it was good and my husband thought it was not so good. We both liked the fried calamari and the salad with ricotta and pears. Our friend had some eggplant dish with pasta and raved about it.

I just got off the phone with Palena. We will be dining there on June 26th, the first Saturday 7pm reservation I could get. I am really looking forward to it. Thanks to everybody for the expert input. I'll save the other suggestions for when I win my next award.

Can't speak from personal experience with any of those places -- oh, I need to get out more -- but hopsing mentioned her husband wasn't a huge meat guy (or so I perhaps mistakenly interpreted from the comment about lack of interest in Fogo) so maybe that put the kibosh on suggestions of the latter three?

He likes steak in general but we both would prefer non-steakhouses for the "special meal". Thx!

I'd say if it's not worth it to put on a jacket, it's not worth it to spend the money. Blow it on something else that your husband is interested enough in to go out of his way to enjoy -- a ballgame or a play or a bottle of excellent Scotch.

It is a deep-seated aversion dating back to 12 years of religious school in the 60s (don't mean to offend anybody so won't mention what religion). No, he really likes food and wants a good meal. Pls don't give up on him. I'm researching all the suggestions from this thread. Thx!

Palena and Bistro Bis would also be good choices, but are you thinking of the dining room for Palena ($$$$$$<--don't know how many to use ) or the more inexpensive cafe?

I was thinking the dining room because it takes reservations.

I'm going to throw out the one phrase everybody hates but is true in every case*: "It depends."

a ) Feeling like "royalty" for the evening; service that spoils (but sans pretension)

b ) Trying new-to-me ingredients

c ) Trying new-to-me methods of culinary preparation

d ) Exceptional wine and beverage options to complement the meal

e ) Ambiance and acoustical considerations

f ) Interaction with the chef(s)

*because "true in every case" + "it depends" in the same idea = funny

b ) Trying new-to-me ingredients

c ) Trying new-to-me methods of culinary preparation

e ) Ambiance and acoustical considerations

I guess these are the things important to me. The most important thing is that the food tastes great -- could even be something simple but just tastes spectacular. We remember having fried calamari at a simple restaurant in LA which was the best we had ever had because they had fresh, fresh calamari and they dipped in flour and then lightly fried it. Best calamari we had ever had. Thx!

I read this forum all the time, but I usually skip reading about the pricey restaurants because I don’t have the money. Well, I recently won a monetary award so I am taking my husband out to dinner to celebrate that and our anniversary. So my question is: what pricey restaurant is worth the extra price? I don’t want to spend a lot of money and feel like I could have gotten the same or better food at one of my bargain haunts. I am familiar with the top shelf restaurants, but which ones are worth the price? My friends tell me 2941, Palena, Bistro Bis. Those are good possibilities. Inn at Little Washington is still out of my reach. I suggested Fogo de Chao but my husband wasn’t interested in all that meat. We are interested in American, French, Italian, continental for the big meal. DC and northern VA preferred. Oh, and my husband doesn't want to wear a suit jacket. Sorry about all the restrictions.

What do you expert foodies think?

Had my first Rebel Hero today and it was very good It was the Pork Meatball Banh Mi with the meatball spices and the relishes intermingling magically. On Mondays, they can be at any location, but as far as I am concerned, they should park themselves in front of Ballston Cosi every Monday. Looking forward to trying the other heroes, esp. the tofu banh mi.

Just for starters.

No pun intended.

I clicked on the link and most of the hits were on potstickers or pot or lobster. The only ones that had lobster potstickers (at least on the first 2 pages) were a place in Baltimore and one in Fairfax. Thanks for looking.