Barry Svrluga's Capitol Hill Dining Guide

[Joe Riley]

As a resident of Capitol Hill, Barry Svrluga has taken an interest in pointing out the best dining spots between (roughly) Capitol South Metro station and Eastern Market.

He admits that he doesn't mention the places over by Union Station, as he's concentrating on the Blue/Orange line-accessible spots.

The comments after the article could be useful and interesting: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjo...e_dining_g.html

[ohstate]

Thanks. This is very timely, as I'm going to head in that direction for dinner before heading to the stadium in the hopes of scalping a pair of tickets to tonights game.

[Al Dente]

I see that he mentions Park Cafe's artsy quirkiness and proximity to the ballpark, but no mention of the food. That's certainly a blessing for the owners.

[Spiral Stairs]

I see that he mentions Park Cafe's artsy quirkiness and proximity to the ballpark, but no mention of the food. That's certainly a blessing for the owners.

I know Park Cafe gets dumped on all the time, and my only visit was an unremarkable one 3 or 4 years ago. But is it possible it's improved? I know there's been some shuffling in the kitchen (and possibly ownership?).

His comments on the Ugly Mug caused me to check the date of the blog post. To wit:

Of these, I'm most intrigued by the Ugly Mug, which reportedly landed the chef from Matchbox, the pizza-and-mini-burger place down near Verizon Center/Gallery Place. I haven't been since that supposedly happened a couple months ago, but if that dude's making his brick-oven pizzas there, it'd be worth a stop.

My understanding is that it was OPENED by the Matchbox guy (two years ago, or whatever), but he left a while back. This is consistent with my impression of the mini-burgers, which started out great but became pretty average. However, St. Barry (as some Nationals bloggers call him) seems to believe that the Matchbox guy has RECENTLY come to the Ugly Mug. Which one of us is confused?

[TedE]

He missed Trusty's at the Potomac Ave stop, one of the best divey places for a beer pre- or post-game beer.

[MeMc]

Oh, damn. I just wrote up a pre and post-game happy hour specials piece for the Express that's for this Thursday. My question about dinner is, don't alot of folks just get a ball park sausage or hot dog at the game? It's not like RFK is the theater and you need a prix fixe. But what do I know? I'm willing to eat RFK fast food and call it dinner.

[ohstate]

Oh, damn. I just wrote up a pre and post-game happy hour specials piece for the Express that's for this Thursday. My question about dinner is, don't alot of folks just get a ball park sausage or hot dog at the game? It's not like RFK is the theater and you need a prix fixe. But what do I know? I'm willing to eat RFK fast food and call it dinner.

We generally avoid RFK food - we either pack a cooler and eat in the parking lot or grab a bite on the hill. We keep trying different places in the hopes of finding something decent. I don't need a prix fixe, but I do want decent grub. RFK does not have decent grub that I can find. We usually head home after the game as we only go on week nights and are too wimpy to stay out late in the face of an early work day.

[Joe Riley]

We generally avoid RFK food - we either pack a cooler and eat in the parking lot or grab a bite on the hill. We keep trying different places in the hopes of finding something decent. I don't need a prix fixe, but I do want decent grub. RFK does not have decent grub that I can find. We usually head home after the game as we only go on week nights and are too wimpy to stay out late in the face of an early work day.

I blog about the R.F.K. food all the time (see my blog listed below). Generally, I keep going back to the Attman's stand, or Capitol Q Barbecue for the brisket. I rarely feel hungry for a hot dog, but the smoked sausages are good. I still haven't had the guts to try the seafood offerings. I don't really enjoy the Red, Hot & Blue fare - it's okay, but not my favorite.

[ohstate]

I blog about the R.F.K. food all the time (see my blog listed below). Generally, I keep going back to the Attman's stand, or Capitol Q Barbecue for the brisket. I rarely feel hungry for a hot dog, but the smoked sausages are good. I still haven't had the guts to try the seafood offerings. I don't really enjoy the Red, Hot & Blue fare - it's okay, but not my favorite.

Thanks, I'll check it out. We usually don't get into the stadium until the first pitch, as we never have tickets in hand when we arrive. Where are the Attman stand and Capitol Q stand located? We tried the Ugly Mug again, but it was worse than ever, if possible. Exactly zero servers. We bussed our own table (ok, this should have been the clue we needed to walk down the block and go somewhere else. In retrospect, what was I thinking at that point?) We ordered food/beer at the bar, but half of our order never made it to us (they didn't put it in). They never fixed the problem either, even after we went to the bar to talk to the bartender. They were seriously understaffed. Two guys were working behind the bar with a 6 p.m. shift change when only one guy was actually working for a good 10 minutes while the other guy was checking out. His replacement walked in, and having no idea of who had been waiting the longest to get served, just started where he could. The food we did get was not good, even for bar food. (Mini burgers). Everything bad a burger could be. Too much bun, too overcooked, dried out, served cold. This place didn't even put out minimal effort. They bartenders that were working were so overwhelmed, it was all bad attitude as well. Never again.

[Roger Troutman]

I've also noticed how the Ugly Mug has gone way downhill over the past year or so. The miniburgers and pizzas used to be worth going out of your way for. Not so much, these days.

[Joe Riley]

Capital Q Barbecue is on the Terrace Café (directly over the Main Gate).

Attman's is on the lower concourse, right about where Gate "F" is.