Where in DC should I eat before moving back to CA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't want to highjack the thread but I had the same question (also relocating) and now have an 'add on' : For those who've been to the Inn at Little Washington, is it worth staying overnight at the Inn and/or has anyone hired a car/driver for the trip? We'd like to be able to have wine with dinner and don't want to drive (obviously) afterwards.

My in-laws stayed there and loved it. That said, it is $$$$. There are some less expensive inns (some within walking distance, I believe) and some (budget, I think) hotels nearby. I also heard that there is a new service that provides luxury service to the Inn. I did a quick search and think it might not still be running. It may have been called the Champagne Shuttle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For upper end, City Zen, Volt, Restaurant Eve, Komi, Inn at Little Washington, and Sushi Taro Chef's counter. These are the places that have the rep beyond DC that people are going to recognize as among the best in the country. Jaleo is good, but I think Jose Andres is expanding his empire out west so not so special for DC only.

Then you get into things like previously mentioned Ethiopian food, crabs which I personally prefer Cantler's, and of course Ben's Chili, which I think the chili actually sucks, but it is famous and won't bust your budget just to say you ate there and you might see Bill Cosby. The half smokes are OK, but nothing great either.

Finally, there are the places that are great for DC, and likely only going to be known by someone who is local, but are great restaurants such as Little Serow, Seki Izakaya, Mintwood to name a few, some of which have already been mentioned. They're more niche restaurants that you could probably actually get same quality back in California since they're ethnic or in Mintwood's case, actually similar to what many think of as California/Napa style cooking. So they are great restaurants, but not so much in context of what you might be accustomed to in CA.

+1

And would add mini bar to the first list. Agree with the poster to focus on the places that are either very unique or are known beyond DC. They are also spot on about the DC niche restaurants in that you find same -if not better- quality in CA.