By Tricia Barba
Photo Courtesy Fuel Pizza
Coming Soon
From Charlotte, NC comes Fuel Pizza & Wings, a locale set to start serving at 16th and K on January 18th. The opening will even feature free food for one year for the 1st fifty customers and complimentary menu tastings throughout the day. So head over there for New York-style pizza in interesting combinations from the Old Bay Crab Pizza to the favorite Extreme Fuel, an extensive gluten-free pizza menu and smokin’ wings.
Cena courtesy of Daquella manera
So you are one week into your New Years resolutions of getting fit, eating healthy and exercising more… Good for you! Now get over it, because starting January 9th restaurants across the District will be offering killer deals for Winter Restaurant Week. From January 9-15, select restaurants across the city will offer a three-course lunch for $20.12 and three-course dinners for $35.12. Best part is, no mass daily-deal purchase necessary, all you need is a reservation. Now, who doesn’t love a delicious bargain?
Restaurant Week is a week to go big rather than stay home, as some of the pricier dining options in DC become immediately accessible. It is a chance for you to cross out some of those places you’ve had on your list for a while, instead of waiting for the next birthday/anniversary/you-name-it special occasion, you’re excused to dine with the big boys and save a pretty penny too. While some haters (I was indeed one of them) worry that the lower price point comes at the expense of quality, the restaurants below are quality-driven and promise a memorable dining experience regardless of the end bill. And let’s remember, it is their reputation on the line after all and consistency is key. So stop drinking the hate-orade and embrace the feast week.
Here are some suggestions:
Art and Soul– Art Smith will offer an extensive menu that includes some of his signature dishes, as well as a specially priced wine list for the week. Now that’s being a Southern Gentleman. Menu highlights include shrimp and grits, charcuterie of the day, Yorkshire pig and cabbage, pan fried flounder, and sweet offerings like chocolate bread pudding and apple tart. Update: Art and Soul will be extending their restaurant week menu through January 22nd.
701 – Chef Ed Witt has developed an extensive and exciting menu, mouth-watering options include lemongrass lobster bisque, bourbon caramel apple salad with mustard greens, veal sweetbreads, red wine beef short-ribs, cider braised rabbit leg and desserts including an upscale s’more- chocolate bar with vanilla bean gelato, marshmallow and graham crackers. Need I say more?
Rasika– Reservations at Chef Vikram Sunderam’s Indian mecca are near impossible to snag, so book now if you want to dine here during Restaurant Week. The Penn Quarter powerhouse is consistently delicious and will undoubtedly be offering some of its best dishes.
Art & Soul courtesy of angela n.
Fiola– Everything here from the classic antipastis to the homemade pastas and innovative fish and meat offerings is spot on delicious. As Fiola’s first Winter Restaurant Week, chef Fabio Trabocchi is sure to deliver. I also recommend you spend the money you would have on the meal and try many a drinks by Fiola’s resident mixologist, Jeff Faile. These men know what they are doing. Continue reading
‘Watershed- Washington, DC’
courtesy of ‘Plantains & Kimchi’
It’s that time of year again: restaurant week. For those in need of a quick refresher, restaurant week this summer runs from August 15 to 21, and at restaurants across the city, you get three-course lunches for $20.11 per person and three-course dinners for $35.11 per person. So dial-up that OpenTable app, expand your stomach and click through for some tips on what to do and where to eat for summer 2011’s restaurant week.
Continue reading
By Rebecca
‘Bethesda Lane’ courtesy of ‘Payton Chung’
Bethesda Row’s Spring Restaurant Week kicks off this Monday, April 11 and runs through Sunday, April 17. Participating restaurants include: American Tap Room, Café Deluxe, Jaleo, Lebanese Taverna, Mamma Lucia, Mon Ami Gabi, Parker’s American Bistro, Raku, and Redwood Restaurant and Bar, who will offer two course lunches for $15 and three course dinners for $30.
Standouts in these pre-fixes include American Tap Room’s Open Faced Meatloaf Sandwich, Raku’s Green Tea Crème Brulée, Redwood’s Crispy Salt Cod Croquette and Jaleo’s Ensalada Verde con Queso Idiazábal (mixed greens with Idiazábal cheese, spanish anchovies and garlic anchovy dressing). Diners can preview the restaurant week menus before making reservations at the Bethesda Row website.
By Tricia Barba
“These days at a restaurant you have plates, tables, food and Twitter.”
-Barcode owner Antonis Karagounis
“People regularly ask for restaurant suggestions from other Tweeps on Twitter. When we are able to find those requests and immediately welcome them to our restaurant, they are floored by the quick response and personalized welcome. We’ve been lucky enough to gain many new diners this way.”
–Bourbon Steak Publicist Sangeetha Sarma
A recent Restaurant Week experience reminded me that you can’t always expect restaurants to be on 100% all the time, but if someone or something fails, speak up.
Like many patrons, I had an issue, vented about it on Twitter, and received a very satisfying response. SO I decided that every Friday I will write a small piece about The Week’s Winning Food Tweet. This could be a restaurant itself, a food truck, a chef, a manager, etc. The winner will be someone (something?) who puts a smile on my face for a different or interesting perspective.
The free, 140 character service has revolutionized the restaurant industry. It’s necessary for restaurants to actually engage their followers in order to create loyalty and really make patrons & potential patrons feel like friends.
I wanted to take a look at the Top 5 ways that restaurants use Twitter effectively. That means they aren’t just tweeting the daily specials, but following my rules to inform, satisfy, calm and entertain!
‘back to business’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’
Did you wait too long to snag a reservation at a coveted restaurant last week? Fear not! There are still plenty of restaurants in the District that have decided to extend the good deals that only comes twice a year. Below you can find an exhaustive list, but if you’re craving some more guidance on where you should go, here are my top five picks.
My first pick: 701, because I had a fantastic meal there during last year’s restaurant week, the ambience was great and there was live jazz. Second pick: Kellari, because their seafood is fresh and what they’re offering on their RW menu is a good deal. Third pick: Zaytinya, because I love Jose Andres and they’re offering four courses which would normally cost you more than $35.11. Fourth pick: Smith Commons, because I’m curious to try their food after Ashley’s First Look. And my fifth pick: Coco Sala, because so often RW desserts can be rather lacking, so I would sincerely hope a restaurant built on chocolate would dispel that notion!
‘leave the gun…………’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’
I used to go blindly into Restaurant Week. All willy-nilly about where I wanted to eat, randomly picking places that had open reservations and were on my list of restaurants to try. And while this strategy served me well, I feel compelled to advise you all to form a calculated and informed plan for this upcoming winter 2011 DC Restaurant Week. Continue reading
By Katie
‘Indigo Landing Sunset’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’
Summer Restaurant Week came and went this year without much fanfare. Some of my friends said they hadn’t even heard about it. I’m usually uber-competitive about it, but this year I barely blinked. I don’t know what it was. Maybe it was the extra five dollars tacked on to the normal price, but mostly, I feel like it was the fact that in the middle of this recession you can get better deals all year round for the same or less than the $35 price tag that comes with Restaurant Week. To prove my point, I checked out a selection of Restaurant Week favorites, and came up with a hefty list of regular all-the-time prixe fixe menus at some of the area’s best eateries. You can eat at some of a DC’s foodies favorites if you’re willing to do a little leg work, or eat a bit on the early side.
Most of my favorite places in Chinatown and Penn Quarter, especially, do pre-theater menus. You usually have to arrive before 7 p.m., but that’s perfect for an after-work dinner date. Or, alternately, head to some of these places for lunch, where you can grab otherwise super pricey food for cheap. The other option is to saunter up to the bar at some of the city’s best, where you snag some of the same dining room meals for less.
When compiling this post, I wanted to stick with full meals here (for happy hours, refer to my fried happy hour food and healthy happy hour food posts) and so I only feature full meals offered at the bar for less than $35. So, foodie, there are ways to eat your way through the city for less all year long, you just have to be smart about it! Continue reading
By Katie
‘matchbox sliders’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’
People who regularly follow my posts here on WLDC may be wondering why I haven’t posted on Restaurant Week yet. Well, it’s because I’m selfish.
There, at least I admitted it. I wanted to make sure my mouth got to feast on deliciousness before I made my recommendations to you, blogosphere so ya’ll wouldn’t take my reservations. Get it? I’m competitive when it comes to MY FAVORITE WEEK(S) OF THE YEAR. I live for RW. I do.
I don’t listen to the haters who say places serve nasty food or you get bad service. Sure, I’ve had my share of that, namely the blah meal I got at Bistro Bis one time, or the crap service at the late Restaurant K by Alison Swope where the waiter actually told my table to eat their greens. But when you hit gold, you REALLY hit gold with RW. You can get more bang for your buck than Spitzer at the Mayflower. So where am I dining this RW? I’ll tell you… now that I’ve got all my reservations secured. Continue reading
By Ben H. Rome
Vela, courtesy of daquella manera
Back during Restaurant Week, my lovely wife hit two dining spots in Dupont Circle. Due to me first losing her review, then forgetting about it, it’s only now just appearing for your reviewing pleasure. I suspect I’ll be taking her out again this weekend to make up for my faux pas…
So, here it is – better late than never!
By 
By 