Two cable TV comedians are coming to town to stage a rally on the National Mall, and the political establishment isn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, or declare its own irrelevancy in the presence of fake pundits who have the drawing power of Sarah Palin at an NRA swimsuit contest. Y&H doesn’t have the bona [...]

Sometimes, if I've enjoyed way, way too many calories for breakfast, lunch, or whatever that meal is that I occasionally eat in the middle of the afternoon, I will partake of a liquid dinner. You know what I'm talking about. So where can one enjoy a little liquid refreshment and perhaps some snackage, should the urge [...]

The Old Ebbitt Grill doesn't care much for hard-and-fast policies, which may seem strange for a restaurant located across the way from the White House and owned by the Clyde's Restaurant Group. When celebrities visit the city's oldest restaurant, for instance, the staff is not required by management to act all cool. Servers, bussers, bartenders, whoever can [...]

The cold prep team, which is sequestered in the basement at Old Ebbitt Grill, is bringing up clear plastic containers into the kitchen. Four of them are filled with these beautiful discs of freshly made crab cakes, more crab cakes than you've ever seen at one time in your life. By General Manager Kyle Gaffney's count, those containers hold [...]

The 225 University of Florida athletes who lunched today at Old Ebbitt Grill arrived 15 minutes late, which meant that the cooks and servers had 15 fewer minutes to get this massive crew in and out the door. It was a damn impressive performance in the kitchen and on the dining room floor. Along the main, two-tier stainless-steel counter [...]

The daily menu meeting at Old Ebbitt Grill is held in the back bar, where naked nymphs dance on clouds painted on the ceiling above the wooden stools and leather booths. The wait staff and bartenders are gathered here, dressed in their signature red bow ties and suspenders. It looks like an accountants' convention. Chef Robert McGowan [...]