Sandwich Bored
If bologna's fat Italian father can't save lunch, who can?
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Hard Times Cafe
News Bites from dining around town
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Family Style
Hank's Oyster Bar expands, but not at the cost of employees' home lives
Young & Hungry By Melissa McCart
Formaggio Meets Function
Hyattsville's Italian Inn still gets the magic of a well-made meatball.
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Wake Up Crawl
Does anyone eat breakfast anymore?
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Comida Central
Why are Salvadoran and Mexican cuisines forever entwined?
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Forsake the Dockside
Marina restaurant owners split; in Silver Sring, fine foods without a Whole lotta hassle
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
The Right Stuff
If you want to learn how sausage gets made, you've pretty much got to teach yourself.
Young & Hungry By Melissa McCart
Teach Schnapps
Moe Harris instructs in the art of the drink.
Show & Tell By Amanda Hess
Seoul Meets Body
Dishing Expedition: Pages from a food critic's notebook
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Swiss Missed
How can miniature marshmallows hold their own against gourmet hot chocolate?
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Skull's Out
Done right, brains are the class of the head.
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Honor Thy Fava
In Alexandria, food from a real old town
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Restaurant Finder
Restaurants, Briefly
Mosaic Cuisine and Cafe
American
Rockville: 186 Halpine Road, Rockville, MD
$$$$
If you like waffles, then you should make Mosaic your second home. “Mosaic makes great waffles and waffle sandwiches.” That’s right. Waffle sandwiches. “My companion tried the paprika parmesan chicken breast waffle sandwich, and the waffle was nice and light, but held together well, and the chicken was well-seasoned and fresh.” “Try the savory waffle with nova lox!” “I would definitely stick with the sandwich, soup, and breakfast side of things at this restaurant—it's more suited to brunch and lunch fare than to a dinner out.” “Great place for brunch!” There’s an occasional miss on service at this Rockville restaurant: “Other than the waiter, the rest of the wait staff seemed very pleasant and attentive.” But Mosaic usually delivers: “Good food and great service.”
Café La Ruche
French
Georgetown: 1039 31st St. NW, Washington, DC
$$$$
The bee-themed Café La Ruche (“la ruche” means beehive in French) in Georgetown wins people over as much with its atmosphere as its food. “Charming cafe in Georgetown.” “Sitting outside under the warm autumn sun, sipping coffee with friends, and eating some fruit and chocolate tarts. There is nothing better than that.” “The atmosphere is great….Quite a few unhappy looking middle-aged couples seemed to brighten up after they were there a while.” Café La Ruche offers a brunch on both Saturday and Sunday. “I had a very enjoyable brunch. Food was excellent, croissants melted in your mouth. Excellent value for the money.” “Excellent quiche.” Service varies from “the wait staff needs a little work” to “it's a pretty large room and one waitress did it all without service delays. How does she do it!?” Ultimately, the telltale sign that this café is worth a visit: “Yes, it must be good because French-speaking people were patronizing it.”
The Liberty Tavern
American
Clarendon: 3195 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA
$$$$
In a historic building in the quaint Clarendon, the aptly named Liberty Tavern is serving up some Modern American cuisine, including a Sunday brunch. “The brunch table was diverse; pizza to salmon, French toast to pasta. Lots of meat but also big bowls of salad and fruit. I thought the haddock was especially tasty; girl friend liked the eggs and pizza. We both loved the mulled cider.” “The mimosa was made with fresh squeezed OJ, and a respectable Champagne. We all had coffee, and we all enjoyed the French-pressed high quality brew.” If you can’t get yourself out of bed for brunch, it’s also worth visiting Liberty Tavern for dinner. “Had the calamari to start and it was a good-sized portion and very tasty. The bread basket was awesome, with three different kinds of bread and fresh butter topped with fleur de sel - a nice touch!” “We shared the chicken pizza. The only downside to the meal was that the chicken was way overcooked and therefore tough.” Overall, “we enjoyed our visit. They let us sit outside with our dog, which was great.” “The service was friendly and obliging, even the busboy was smiling and helpful.”
Café Atlántico
Nuevo Latino
Chinatown, Downtown: 405 8th St. NW, Washington, DC
$$$$
Café Atlantico takes a different approach to brunch than your typical upscale restaurant. It offers a dim sum, which is a Chinese family-style brunch, but with a Latin influence. (For example, you can start out with tableside guacamole.) “The dim sum tasting menu for brunch is the best value at this restaurant.” This Nuevo Latino restaurant makes lunch and dinner worthwhile as well, even during Restaurant Week. “My recent celebratory RW lunch at Cafe Atlantico convinced me that both the chef and the restaurant deserve the hype.” “Starters and dessert were the highlights of the meal—sumptuous sweet potato soup and a raw tuna-avocado dish, cleverly complemented with crushed corn nuts, were both out of this world. The mango sorbet was as good as chocolate-free dessert gets, and the chocolate banana cake was pure pleasure. Our entrees, a salmon sandwich and mushroom quesadilla, were good but not transcendent.” “Outstanding food—high quality and creative preparation.” “The dining room is quirky, adorned in bright tropical colors, which glowed awash in mid-day light. I can't imagine the ambience after dark, but it created a festive yet intimate setting for our lunch.” After dark: “The dining area is crowded, and the décor is drab.” But at least there are good drinks. “The cocktails, though expensive, took the meal over the top.”
Tastee Diner
Diner
Silver Spring: 8601 Cameron St., Silver Spring, MD
$$$$
The scrambled eggs are not fluffy; more than anything, they look like flat, ragged pieces of torn cloth as they lie there limply on the plate. The butter for the hot stack is the whipped, salted variety—from tiny plastic containers. And the stale, thin coffee tastes like it’s been extracted from yesterday’s grounds. So why do I love the Tastee Diner? Maybe it’s nostalgia for a time when chefs didn’t feel the need to brag about their local, seasonal ingredients. Maybe it’s a need to eat around people who don’t consider dinner at Central Michel Richard a “casual” meal. Maybe it’s just that sometimes I want to down a meal—and read a newspaper—without having to ponder every damn detail about it. It’s easy to do that in a place where Sysco serves as a main supplier. But the Tastee Diner also has history (the stainless-steel dining cab has been around since 1946 and the restaurant itself since 1935) and charm (the hon-heavy waitresses, the cheesy tchotchke collection) on its side, too. These things seem to make everything taste better, even burgers and fish plates and crab-cake platters that can’t even begin to compare with the best in town.
