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The coffee is very well done here, but the brown butter chocolate chip cookies here are dangerously good.

Dined with a group of 6 last week and I would say our experience was similar to what has been posted above. We had several of the starters and an antipasto plate. Vegetables and cheeses are very strong here, and I can see myself coming to the bar and nibbling on those with a glass of wine. It is bizarre to be served an antipasto plate without bread, but it appeared that an order of cheese bread was coming to every table 'compliments of the chef', so that might be something that is being taken care of. Pastas were hit or miss at the table, with under seasoning being the biggest issue (in particular with the campanelle). I had the crepe, and I think whether you love this dish is going to come down to how you feel about smoked ricotta. Personally, I love it but it is the dominant note of the plate - maybe too much so but that's an ingredient I could eat a ton of all by itself. We ran out of time to try dessert because we had a show to catch. Happy hour has very good drink deals ($5 wines and a few select cocktails, $4 DC Brau) and marginal discounts on meats and cheeses. I had a hard time straying from campari ice though. To be honest this is why I usually don't go to restaurants when they first open because there are always kinks to work out. There were definitely more hits than misses on the table though and I will absolutely be returning soon.

Mr. Furtstenberg was and remains a welcome voice in the slow, steady march of DC's food culture towards something everyone can celebrate and treasure. He could stand a better editor, though. The goalposts shift in this piece almost by the paragraph. So LA is to be celebrated for making people travel all over in search of good cuisine, but in DC that's a bad thing? And must a city be judged by their downtown, touristy options? Oh wait I guess not because there is lip service paid to other parts of DC here, but not by name? I don't judge New York by what I can eat in Times Square. To be honest, the real points worth discussing in his article (local markets, butchers/fishmongers, DC's proliferation of multi-restaurant fiefdoms) are drowned out in the real estate bitching - which strikes me as the frustrations of someone who has been trying for a long time to open his own place only to not want to pay the market rate for downtown square footage. Oh, and the "CAN YOU GUYS BELIEVE WHAT PEOPLE PAY FOR COCKTAILS AND THEY CALL THEMSELVES MIXOLOGISTS" aside was done years ago. Please, everyone just stop. That carries as much weight as when people make up Starbucks drink names to mock coffee culture ("I bet he drinks a mochachocofrappamisto LOL LOL LOL").

Pretty sure it is Baby Wale (singular)

Maybe Clash spinoff lyric joints could freshen things up. Personally I'd rush for a change of atmosphere.

Graeter's started popping up at Whole Foods and Safeway locations around DC about a month ago. They don't seem to be getting restocked steadily though - my closest Safeway has only had Vanilla (with Graeter's? what's the point?) for weeks, and my last trip to the 14/P Whole Foods found only Black Raspberry Chip and one single pint of Mocha Chip. Still, it is now here in the district. My gut is proof.

I was just there last Friday with my fiance and we were both in jeans. Most of the other bar diners were in jeans as well. We entered the bar at 7:30 and there were 4 empty spots at the bar, all of the seats behind the bar were open, and two of the people at the bar left almost immediately because their table was ready. I don't know how you make a bar dining experience that is so elegant, relaxing, well-managed, and absolutely freaking delicious garner buzz after being in existence for as long as Corduroy has. All I know is that it's taken me years to simply walk a few blocks and have it, and I've been kicking myself for a week over how many crap meals I've had on nights I could have strolled in there. $30 for three courses isn't just a steal - it is frankly ridiculous for the quantity and quality of the food and service you receive. Beats, shiso, tuna, faux ribeye - looks like they've all been covered above. We had a pistachio bread pudding for dessert that actually made me enjoy bread pudding instead of look down on it as a clearance dessert. Baby Wale will "at the very least be doing soft opening" before the end of July, btw.

To clarify (because for some reason I can't seem to edit above) if you take some already purchased $1 hot dogs to another kiosk and ask REAL nice, you will likely be able to get those dogs smothered in the chili and cheese of your liking. Offering a 'donation' to the counter kid will increase your chance of success.

I always knew I'd make the Post someday. My parents would be so proud if they could navigate the paywall.

Tonight's lesson: on dollar hot dog night, a well placed $5 bill can get those dogs smothered and covered from the otherwise empty Hard Times or Ben's kiosk across the way. Obviously your milelage may vary.

Whoa - so now that shopping center has a Mad For Chicken and KBQ? I am envisioning an epic chicken and ribs combo come football season.

Compared to all the other price points on the menu, the draft beer prices are oddly low. $6 for a draft Delirium vs. $8 for a bottle of Two Hearted? Maybe it is (another) typo?

Good to see this place getting some (much deserved) love. Don't sleep on the eggplant dip - Don is dead on and it's the sleeper on the menu. That and the Istanbul (a lamb/beef blend cooked on giant metal skewers) are my go to's here, but I don't think I've had any total misses here. Only quibble is to echo the comments on the Kingston - the ingredients are out of proportion on this sandwich. I have gone in and just got tzatziki, eggplant dip, and not felt like I made a mistake by being the fat kid eating all the dips for a meal. Pretty sure there are so many Iranian cities on the menu because that's where Ali is from.

"you always want seconds on dessert" best spelling memory trick my mom ever gave me

A few years ago I'm not sure I had heard of soft openings that weren't comped at least partially. They were either super small friends and family affairs, or slightly larger affairs designed to spread out positive words from locals, work out kinks in service, and solicit feedback on dishes. Those bigger soft openings seem to be the exception to the rule at this point. If there is anything it tends to be a closed friends/famliy event that might have some media invites. So to answer the original question - yes I'd expect a bill but I'd be pretty damn surprised if it came in full. One piece of information I was curious about was that the author of the question did not disclose the degree of comping he's given in the past to the owner of this new joint though...

Just spent the week in New Orleans, staying the quarter (Monteleone: still awesome) for the first time in years. That got me to a few places I haven't been to in a long time. Sylvain has really settled into its role as a fantastic little local bar/bistro that just happens to be in the middle of the biggest tourist shitshow this side of the Las Vegas strip. The Crystal Ammunition cocktail - a new drink on the menu that week with white whiskey, port, and a few supporting players, was the best cocktail I had all week. A plate of perfectly cooked gulf fish in red eye gravy and homemade sausage was fantastic. Good pickles. Reminds me how bereft of neighborhood joints DC really is. Even the french quarter beats us there. Killer Poboys is a couple of kids in the back of Erin Rose bar that has taken over their kitchen. The dive bar in front does their thing, and you walk past a video poker room into the back where you can order separately from their kitchen. The coriander lime shrimp po boy had a ton of grilled gulf shrimp on a banh mi-ish pile of marinated radish/carrot/onion. A special of homemade hot sausage was on a horseradish kicked purple cabbage slaw and secret sauce. Both were very very good sandwiches. This spot is to po boys what a korean taco is to a taco traditionalist. Everything on the menu has just enough cheffy twists to them (for better or worse - looking at you, black bean salad) to make it hard to consider it a real po boy shop, but I'll be damned if it isn't the best sandwich in the quarter proper. On the flip side, Mahoney's on Magazine remains a strong contender for the best traditional overstuffed seafood poboy in the city. Just be ready to pay up for it. You'll get a couple dozen gulf shrimp in your sandwich but at around $30 for the large (God only knows what they wanted for the soft shell). I think my new go-to sandwich there is the root beer glazed ham and cheese. It's a Stachowski sized pile of glazed ham with more root beer glaze on it. We nibbled at Bacchanal on a slow Thursday night. I hadn't been since they put in a legit licensed kitchen in the place. The shaved sprout salad on top of smoked potato, feta, and ciabatta with pickled onion on top backed up all the hype. Unfortunately the meaty small plates we had did not. We saw other tables sticking to the cheese plates (you can pick wedges from the cooler inside and for $5 extra they toss em on a plate with grilled bread and accoutrements. I think that's probably the way to go here - and on a nice night it is still a great way to relax outdoors. Dinner one night at La Boca with friends and it randomly happened to be service industry night (Thursday). That meant it was $17 for a 10 oz hanger steak (or a 12 oz outside skirt or flank) and cheap wine too. Really good steaks. Really good blood sausage. Mediocre chorizo and sides. They had deep fried brussel sprouts that were actually quartered, battered, and fried. Please don't let this become a thing. Band together, America. Still managed to get over to Cochon (and Butcher afterwards). Butcher still has the best muffaletta in the city and I will fight you if you disagree. Not really sure what to say about Cochon because we were having a tasting there for our wedding so we were hovered over and had many things not on the normal menu. That shrimp and eggplant dressing though. I'm always tempted to just order 2 sides of it, a couple beers, and call it a day. The beer. Bayou Teche Boucanee. It's a cherry wood smoked wheat ale. It won't be for everyone, but if you like saisons and you like smoked ales (and I do) this will freak you out a little bit. I'd imagine some people would take a sip and feel no need to go back for more. I smuggled a six pack home in my luggage. Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt remains essential, as does the Swizzle Stick, but I'm not sure that's breaking news. I'm eating salads for a week.

Sriracha mayo and bacon are perfect foils to cover up otherwise lazy cooking with fat, heat and/or salt. If they're all over the menu, more than anything I consider that a red flag that it's quite likely a sloppy kitchen.

I was thinking the same thing. Although I did think it interesting that people would happily wait in the traffic jam rather than take the first available exit at Eatonville or Masa 14.

I've heard the items are much better midweek but the only time I'm ever in that neighborhood around lunch is on Fridays. The Friday buffet menu is very pedestrian. Lentils and butter chicken. Damn.

La Petite Grocery is very very good. Root is also very very good. Look at the La Petite menu though - if you're out a lot in DC, you'll find much of the LPG experience to be a little... familiar (although still great). LPG is the kind of place you'll walk out of wishing it was your neighborhood restaurant. Root is more risk/reward. I liked it but went early in their existence - the momentum of buzz/hype only seems to be growing.

Guys, considering that Rogue owns and operates Louis' Rogue strip club right down the street, can you blame them? Wait, that's not them either?

I don't think Lost Dog Cafe is the best example here.

This list circulated a few weeks ago on the Shaw Dog Park message board. I'm hesitant to add any of the restaurants above since they're from a few years ago at this point. If people want to add other spots they take their dogs I'll update it though. It would be great to have a comprehensive list of where I can take my dog. 2013: Summer of dog bars! Allows dogs inside The Pug Wonderland Union Pub Maple (limited dog-friendly happy hours) Allows dogs on patio Veranda Shaw’s Tavern Blind Dog/Darnell's Bar Big Bear RedRocks Rustik Tavern Brasserie Beck The Heights Boundary Stone Union Pub (providers water bowl) Art and Soul (dog menu) Cantina Marina (dog happy hour, summer Mondays 5-9) 15 Ria (Doggie Happy Hour Thursdays 6-8, weather permitting) Hotel Helix DC Bread & Brew Acadiana (certain happy hours) Argonaut (only on Saturdays 12-5, outside fence other times) Allows dogs outside fencing Standard (provides water bowl) Rice Commissary

I didn't get it straight out of the fryer or anything, but the apple fritter I paid $3 for tonight was not anything I'd go running back for. Or even walking back. It was fluffy enough but there was little apple flavor and no cinnamon to speak of. Are they aware they can season the inside of the dough? Just glazing isn't enough. That tap list they have is awesome though.

Randomly in there last weekend as well. Gotta co-sign on the al pastor. Had high hopes but it was pretty off balance. I liked the mixto but thought the chorizo was the best of the three - that being said it's definitely not destination worthy. I wouldn't veto a return trip if someone else really wanted to go there but nothing I had was particularly inspiring. Weird how the hype for this place was so strong when they first opened. Did something change?