JoshW0615

Has anyone been here for brunch? I'm trying to plan a laid back/fun place for my birthday brunch this weekend, and have a kinda big group (8 people) of various tastes. Local 16 seems to fit the needs, but I was curious if anyone had any feedback?

All my friends back in STL say Pappy's Smokehouse is the place to go. I still haven't been, even though it's on my list every time I go back (maybe next month!). My family's favorite is still Bandana's, but that's more of a chain (not that that's a bad thing).

I stopped by last night to have a drink/snack at the bar before meeting a friend at PS7 to use an expiring Rue La La coupon. I was a little sad to see the cocktail list was different from the website. There was no sparkling Negroni or the barrel aged "elixir," so I went with a take on the dark and stormy. It's not on their website, but I do remember it having barrel aged rum, housemade ginger beer and a couple of other ingredients. It was the perfect drink for a warmer day, refreshing, strong, and served with a metal straw! I ordered the tempura artichoke hearts, expecting a snack to graze on but was pleasently surprised with the composed plate that came out. One one side of the plate was a fairly large portion of eggplant caponata salad, topped with three perfectly fried artichoke hearts. The other side was an onioni speared with a cracker (which provided some additional texture to the caponata), and a smear of pesto ran across the plate. If I wasn't so hungry, this probably could've been my dinner for the night. Also worth noting was the small bite offered before the plate came out. Unfortunately, I don't remember the details, but I think there was duck liver involved, and some interesting textures. You +1'd this publicly. Undo

Not that I would know (I can't help it...my friends drag me there!), but their beverage menu is EXACTLY the same as Lauriol Plaza's--right down to the $5.80 price of a shot of Cuervo Gold. Their food menu is also pretty much an exact duplicate, although a couple of items are missing and some of the prices are off by a dollar.

I'm actually writing this from a brand new independent "pop up" coffee shop that just opened up a block from me. Sunday was their official opening, but they did a soft opening all last week and I've gone about 4 times already. The Blind Dog Cafe at Darnell's (no website, but they do have a Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blinddogcafe) is by far my new favorite place to open in the neighborhood since I moved here a year ago. Blind Dog Cafe essentially takes over Darnell's Bar during the day (if you haven't been to Darnell's, I recommend it for the experience and Darnell himself, but the drinks are generally terrible). It's located at the corner of V and Florida in what looks like a house with a chalkboard out front. The people here are very focused on quality. A lot of the items are made in house (turkey and beef roasted in house, hazelnut syrup, housemade sodas) or sourced smartly. They're working with a bakery called Black Strap bakery that is putting out amazing things. As far as the coffee goes, they use a Chemex to do the pour over, which takes about 4 minutes but is totally worth it. They use PT's Coffee from Kansas, and I'll admit that it's nice to have a place not serving Counter Culture. The Washington Post is taking pictures here as I type this, so expect it to get a lot more busy very soon.

Really sad news Gina is leaving PS7... http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/22667.html

I second Vidalia. It's been a couple months, but they have a different menu in the bar with lots of good bar snacks, classic cocktails, friendly bartenders...and there was just a few people on a Friday (mostly out of towners and not a douchebag to be found). After checking their website, it looks like they have a new bar menu coming on February 20th...

I was at the Passenger on Sunday, and did manage to try the deep fried bacon-wrapped peanut butter cups in cola tempura. These were about as indulgant as you can imagine, but the batter wasn't what I was expecting--it reminded me a bit of a corn dog, and I didn't pick up on the cola at all. However, putting bacon and peanut butter cups together (confirmed to be Reeses)--wow, so good! I was a couple drinks in and ended up posting a picture on my Facebook. It got nearly a dozen comments from people asking where I was, so I'm sure they're a popular item. The drinks, as always, were delicious. One of the "chalkboard" drinks that day (you can view that day's drink menu on Facebook or Twitter if you'd like to check before you go), had Aperol, rum, lime, a splash of soda water and some ingredient I'm forgetting. It was the perfect mid-afternoon post-disappointing-brunch drink. It was pretty empty most of the time we were there, which meant we were able to play a round of trivial pursuit with our bartender, Alex, and one of the servers. All in all, a wonderful way to waste away a Sunday, and also a reminder I need to start coming here more often.

After my exhausting trip to LA that involved lots of food (and booze), I'm ready to detox for a few days. We managed to hit up quite a few places, but there were a few that really stood out for me: 1. ink.sack: I read a lot of mixed reviews on ink, Michael Voltaggio's new restaurant in LA, so I wasn't ready to drop $100 on a dinner there. Instead, we decided to hit up ink.sack, his takeout lunch spot next door. Although I was very tempted to get the Jose Andres (Serrano, Chorizo, Lomo, Manchego), I went for something more adventurous. The "Rueben" (Corned Beef Tongue, Appenzeller Cheese, Kraut, Russian Dressing) was good, but the cheese seemed to get lost in the mix. I also had a bite of the Bahn Mi (Pork Butt, Pork Belly, Chicharrí³nes, Pickled Vegetables), and instantly wished I ordered this. The sandwiches are pretty small, but priced to order 2 ($4-$6) or a side. I went with the BBQ Pork Rinds, which were crunchy, airy and just a bit spicy. A very satisfying lunch. 2. Night + Market: You enter this very un-fancy restaurant through a side entrance of a very fancy Thai restaurant. The focus here is Thai street food and I almost wish we came here on another night to try more of the menu. I had read about their everyday happy hour from 6-8pm, and assumed we could go and get some drinks and plates before our 8pm dinner reservation at Picca. Once we arrived, though, we realized it was all tables, and all the tables happened to be reserved. However, we were able to snag a spot after promising to be out by 8. I ordered a couple of their takes on an Mekhong Old Fashioned, priced at $5 during happy hour, which had Mekhong whiskey and lychee and was a little too sweet for my taste. They also had towers of Chang Thai beer for $22 and were projecting "The Godfather" on the wall (to give you an idea of the atmosphere). We ordered off the happy hour food menu, and started with the Pig Ear Fries, which came with a Sriracha-type dipping sauce. These were so good we got two orders (and made me realize something was probably wrong in the preparation of the fried pig ears I had at Bar Pilar, which were chewy and probably turned my sister off offal forever). The other standout was the Pork Toro (grilled fatty hog collar, with "jaew" northeastern chile dip). It was smoky and meaty with an amazing dip. I'd stay away from the chicken wings (basically breaded and fried wings with some more of the siracha sauce on the side) and the coconut rice was exactly what you'd expect. 3. Picca: Wow. This place is small plates/contemporary Peruvian cuisine and I made sure it was on my list since there really isn't an equivilent in DC. Our waitress was super energetic and very excited about pretty much everything ("Pisco Sour?! Great choice!!!"). This is the typical small plates-type place in which you order and food is brought to your table in the order it leaves the kitchen. The menu is a bit overwhelming (seriously, look), but as I mentioned, the staff all seems genuinely excited and have no problem explaining dishes and making recommendations. We started with cocktails: the Pisco Sour, which was exactly what it should be, and also a more floral take on the Pisco Sour. I can't find the details since their drink menu doesn't seem to be online, but this one was a little too sweet for my taste. We then switched to a great red I also can't remember the details on (the wine list here seems to focus on California, South American, and Spanish wines and is reasonably priced). We started off with the Ceviche Mixto (mixed seafood, sweet potato, choclo - $16), Oysters a la Chalaca (pan fried oysters, cherry tomatoes salsa - $9 for 3 oysters), and Chicharron de Costillas (crispy pork ribs crostini, sweet potato puree, feta cheese sauce, salsa criolla - $10). The Ceviche was great, and probably the best I've had. The oysters were good and the flavor was on point, but the breading seemed to be more soggy than crunchy. The pork ribs crostini was one of my favorite dishes. It was served as a flat bread and generously topped with the pork and sweet potato puree, which were balanced out by the sharp feta cheese sauce and spicy salsa. We almost ordered two of these. The next round was the Empanadas (kabocha, roasted pepper-goat cheese dipping sauce - $9 for 3), Chicharron de Pollo (marinated crispy chicken, salsa criolla, rocoto sauce - $9) and of course the Anticucho Corazon (beef heart, rocoto walnut sauce - $8 for 2 skewers with 2 pieces each). The empanadas had a perfect crust, and the filling was so rich we had a debate at the table as to whether there was meat in there (there's not). The fried chicken (yes, I'm calling it that because that's what it is) came with about 6 nuggets of fried breast meat. The breading was crispy, with a lot of pepper and spice, and the chicken was moist. It came with a bowl of the rocoto sauce, which I was almost licking by the end. I can't say I've ever had corazon before, so I don't really have anything to compare this too. Based on my first experience, though, I'll definitely be ordering this the next time I see it on a menu. Picca's version seemed to be marinated/glazed in the rocoto walnut sauce and then grilled to a perfect medium rare. It was slightly chewy, but still pretty tender, and had a great beefy taste. I finished with one of their infused shots (I can't remember the full list, but there was a Coconut Pisco, Pineapple Pisco, and Rocoto Mezcal - $6). Of course, I went with the Rocoto Mezcal. Smoky, spicy, and strong--wow. The total for three cocktails, a bottle of wine, six plates, and the shot came out to $180 after tax and tip, or about $60 each. If I ever end up back in LA, I'll be working my way through the rest of their menu.

Thanks for the mention of the fries! I made it back last night after only having a few bites of some truly awful food at a company event at the American History Museum. The fries were indeed a game changer (my BF commented that he wished there was more rosemary, but I was happy with the generous sprinkling of cheese), and the burger was cooked perfectly, topped with mozzerella (I think), bacon, roasted tomatoes, and lettuce. We also finished with a chocolate hazelnut dessert I can't find online that came with a salty ice cream that I absolutely loved.

This is strictly about their brunch, so don't read much into it. I still plan on going there for dinner sometime. A couple of friends of mine invited me and the +1 to brunch after they had a great dinner here. The service was great, and the atmosphere very laid back, all good signs. However, the food was just bad. No one was happy with their entrees, but I think I had the worst of the table. I got the Brisket and Sweet Potato hash, described as "Espresso rubbed slow smoked brisket, sweet potatoes, onions, and roasted jalapeños griddled with spicy blackening seasoning topped with two fried eggs." It was super dry, overcooked brisket (definitely leftover from the night before), overcooked sweet potato chunks, and no discenernable spice. The yolk had broken on the fried egg and was cooked all the way through, so it resembled more of a scrambled egg. I doused it in BBQ sauce (very good, actually) to make it edible. I've heard great things about the dinner and plan to go back, but I'll be avoiding it on for the Sat/Sun brunch hours.

After enduring a grueling 2 hour Metro commute last Tuesday, I was hungry and looking for a bar I could sit at and relax with some drinks and wine. Although not my favorite restaurant, this usually meant heading to Masa 14. However, I'd already missed their happy hour and decided to walk down 14th to see what I could find. After walking past Bar Pilar (closed), Cork (no seats), Pearl Dive (no seats), going up to Black Jack (no seats), and Estadio (no seats), I trudged back to Masa since I had made mental note of the near empty bar when I walked by earlier (now I understand why I end up here so much). I already knew what I'd order for an entree, so I ordered a margarita and settled in with a menu to pick something new to start with. It had rained early in the day and was a bit chilly, and I ended up with the Hot and Sour Egg Drop Soup ($6). While the broth, mushrooms, and tofu components were all good, the chive shrimp dumplings were a bit doughy for my taste and lacking in shrimp. One quick note about service here: I've always had great service in the dining room, but at the bar it can be hit or miss. There are a couple of friendly-enough bartenders here, but some of them I've never seen crack a smile. For the entree, I went with my standby: Carne Noodles with snow peas, smoked briskit, shrimp, and poached egg ($11). Although billed as a small plate, I could've just eaten this dish and been satisfied. It’s a very healthy portion of noodles, mixed in with some super smokey and tender brisket, then topped with a poached egg. If you're not a fan of smokey foods, stay away, as it's almost overwhelming. The egg, as always, was cooked perfectly, and I broke the yolk, mixed everything together and dug in. Although in my experience the food at this restaurant can be inconsistent, if you know what to order and/or it's a good night, it rivals most of neighbors on the 14th street strip. Plus, if you haven't tried it, the $35 all-you-can-eat-and-drink brunch is one of my favorite restaurant experiences for friends visiting DC (but we're the table that manages to continue eating and drinking from 11am-330pm, which is probably not the norm).

One of my (many) resolutions this New Year is to write more frequently on this site. I figured I’d start with Fiola since this was one of the best dining experiences I’ve had this year. The BF and I decided to have a night out to celebrate Christmas together (after the fact since both of us were in separate parts of the countries on the actual day). I’d originally made reservations at Central, but after remembering how loud the restaurant is, and after hearing some negative reviews from friends, I shifted the plans to Fiola. I’d read the great things about the restaurant on this forum and they also happened to have an open reservation at 7:30. We both ended up off work early, and I figured we could go try their happy hour. After wine and some cocktails (including a very well made Sazerac the bartender prepared after hearing my boyfriend complain about the awful one he had in Las Vegas), we decided just to move the reservation up to 6:30 and get started on dinner. We’d had some calamari at the bar (very lightly fried with tempura basil) but were hungry enough to consider going with the tasting menu. Our server must have been able to tell we were in the mood to try a lot of food, because he steered us towards ordering directly off the full menu (which contained all of the items on the tasting menu.) We also got a great recommendation on the wine (2004 Palladio—I had to look that up). We started with four of the Belon oysters (how could I not try $4 oysters), followed by the foie gras stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto and the pork belly special, which the details escape me. Both dishes were delicious, but the stuffed dates were by far one of the better dishes I had last year and my favorite of the meal. We followed with the lasagna and short ribs. I was glad I was the one that ordered the lasagna because I’m pretty sure a shared bite wouldn’t have been enough. It was creamy, rich, and complex and I don’t think I ever let my fork hit the plate. The bite I got of the short ribs was also good. Although we were both full at this point, we felt compelled to order the Bombolini, which came with gelato and marmalade. I loved these as much as everything else—and the few I snuck home were surprisingly good later that night. While this is a special occasion type restaurant for me (the boyfriend won big in Vegas so we were able to splurge a bit), I have every intention of going back. I did see a burger on the bar menu that looked pretty tempting, especially when paired with a happy hour quartino of wine.

I remember Eatonville always doing brunches on Monday holidays. I just checked and they'll have brunch from 10am-3pm on Jan 2nd.

This is going to be a long post as I just got back from my semi-annual pilgrimage to St. Louis and feel like there are quite a few highlights this thread is missing. Unfortunately since I’m never in town for more than a few days, I’m usually hitting up the big players and won’t be able to provide much detail on the Vietnamese, Mexican, and BBQ places that St. Louis also does so well (but a quick search through the Riverfront Times website should give you all you need). I’m also only going to mention the places I’ve been to in 2010 and 2011, so some of my older favorites are being left out since I can’t vouch for their current level of quality. I’ll start with the Niche family, since I tend to hit up at least one every time I go back to St. Louis Niche is the restaurant that basically reinvigorated the St. Louis food scene. The chef came to St. Louis from Salt Lake City, and not too long after opening Niche was one of Food and Wine’s Best New Chefs. It’s gone through a few changes (tasting menu only, tasting menu and a la carte, and now a la carte only). I’ve gone twice—once in the tasting menu format and once in it’s current state. The menu constantly changes, so I won’t go into much detail on the dishes. However, to give you an idea of the type of cooking Niche puts out, my most memorable dish was a take on the Rueben (and I’m going to forget the details as this was a while back), that involved corned beef tongue and rye gnocchi . They’ve also been known to feature lamb testacies on the menu on occasion. One must-order here, no matter what preparation, is the pork belly and anything pork related. Brasserie by Niche is exactly as the name implies--a more casual, French sister to the Niche family. It’s also the type of restaurant I wish we had more of in St. Louis. It’s comfortable, homey, and bustling at the same time (and unlike most places in DC, you can still hear the person across the table). There’s also a very well thought out cocktail, wine, and beer list, with the prices reflecting the casualness of the restaurant. The food is the star here, though. It’s not pretentious food, but it’s good food prepared with quality ingredients and lots of skill. I haven’t ordered anything that wasn’t delicious, but the roasted chicken, onion soup, and frites are all must-haves. Taste Bar is helmed by Ted Kilgore, who basically brought the craft cocktail back to St. Louis. He also oversees the cocktails at all the Niche restaurants (his wife is actually the bartender at Niche), and it’s hard to go wrong with any of his drinks. Taste used to be a tiny bar (about 15 seats) next to Niche, but has since moved to its current and significantly larger space next to Brasserie by Niche. I’d recommend getting there early and getting a seat at the bar so you can talk to Ted as he makes your drinks, but they do take reservations for the tables. The food here is good, but your focus should be on the cocktails. The classics are all done well here (go for a Daiquiri or Manhattan, as these are Ted’s favorites and there's a lot of thought going into the details/ingredients), and there's also a constantly changing list of specialty cocktails. It’s broken down by taste (“Tart, Bright Citrus,” “Full, Dark, Robust”), as well as a Tiki section, punch section, favorites section, and bartender’s choice. I could probably spend days here just trying to sample everything. Luckily I always go with a group and tend to force everyone to order different drinks so I can sample some of each. On my last trip here, my sister ordered a Tiki drink that involved gin, rum, lime and other ingredients that are fuzzy at the monet, but it was the garnish that truly amazed. It was half a lime with a little sugar pressed into the fruit, which was then topped with two juniper berries. Next came a healthy pour of a high proof rum, followed by some fire. After letting the lime burn for a minute, my sister was instructed to push the lime down into the drink and gently stir to allow the caramelized flavor of the lime to meld into the drink...delicious! I also ordered a drink (“Say Hello To My Little Friend”) that involved jalapeno infused tequila, two kinds of bitters, Yellow Chartreuse, rum, espresso syrup, and a couple of other things. I mostly ordered it just to see how all of these things could possibly work together. Surprisingly (or not considering the guy behind the cocktail) the result was actually good. Now I'm looking for ways to use jalapenos and espresso together (the peppery, bitter and spicy elements really played off each other). The newest restaurant I've been to in town is Salt. It’s in an amazingly gorgeous restored townhouse. There are multiple rooms, and it feels homey and formal at the same time (actually my biggest complaint is probably how formal it felt since the focus seemed to be on sharing food). I think they’re known for their duck fat fries, but I wasn't too impressedsince I’m not a big fan of shoestring fries. If you are, then definitely order these as the flavor was there. One of the top dishes for me was the scallop, which is sealed in a mason jar with a cracked mustard sauce and a puff of cedar smoke. The smoke isn’t too original, but this is more than just a trick as its one of the tastiest scallops I’ve had in a while, and I'm pretty sure I was scooping the sauce out of the jar. The other top dish would be the pork cheeks on a celery root puree . Once again, not the most original, but all the flavors and textures were just so perfect. This is probably a weird way of describing it, but it reminded me of really good BBQ ribs (without the bones of course). The outside was crispy, sticky, sweet, and salty and the inside was tender but still had some chew. The bar also looked like a great place to perch if you’re planning on eating by yourself. If you’re in St. Louis on a weekday around lunchtime, go to Farmhaus. You won’t regret it. It’s by far the best deal in St. Louis, and one of the best I’ve ever come across. At first, it doesn’t really sound like much--$10 gets you iced tea, a salad, and the blue plate special of the day. However, once you’re presented with the salad, you’ll understand. The salad is huge with lots of fresh greens, some sliced hard boiled egg, pickled red onions, and a piece of lavosh. It’s perfectly dressed (seriously!) in a mustard vinagrette, and even though it’s a fairly simple salad, you can tell the amount of effort and technique that went into it. On the day I was there, the blue plate was fried grouper, hushpuppies, and red beans and rice. The fried grouper was one of the best pieces of fried fish I’ve had, and the red beans and rice were oh-my-god good. The chef spent time in New Orleans and it shows. One caveat—if you do go here for lunch, your only choice is the blue plate special of the day, which can be found on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/farmhausstl). They also have a dinner menu that looks great, but reservations are difficult and I haven’t made it yet. I think this post is probably starting to get too long, so here are some other places worth trying: 360 on top of the Hilton Ballpark Hotel – Go for a cocktail or two around sunset on a weeknight—avoid the food and weekend crowds. Rooster – Great breakfast/brunch spot. Go for a crepe and a bloody mary (7 days a week) Sanctuaria – Good food and creative cocktails (also $2 off during happy hour) Local Harvest Café – Another good breakfast spot (with brunch on weekends). They also do farm-to-table dinners, but I haven’t tried one of these. Make sure to go to their market down the street! Pi – There’s one of these in DC (which hasn’t gotten much love from the food crowd), but I think the one in Central West End is gorgeous and I’ll never forget the Christmas Eve when they were the only place that seemed open during the late night snow storm. My brother and I were able to get away from the family and have some delicious cocktails and beer. Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar – Great beer and wine spot, with good small plates Finally, I’ll end with a shout out to a restaurant out in O’Fallon, MO where my parents live. Asian Cafe Bar and Grill has both a Vietnamese and Chinese menu. My parents had only been here once, and of course ordered off the Chinese menu, which I’m guessing most people in O’Fallon tend to do. However, we went and all got dishes off the surprisingly good Vietnamese menu. You can tell it’s family run (the two kids were our servers), and everyone seems generally nice. The food was good all around—I tried the lotus root salad, shakey beef, two of the bahn mi’s, and their special—Vietnamese Beef Stew. I have no idea if this is a real thing, but it was delicious. The broth was so beefy and rich, the beef was slow cooked tender chunks, and the large pieces of carrots were also perfectly cooked (can carrots be al dente, because that’s how I’d describe them). It came with a choice of baguette or rice noodles, though I wish I would’ve gotten both. Anyway, the place hit the spot so well I was back for dinner after my flight got cancelled and my parents promised never to order off the Chinese menu again!