Bistro Italian is simply the best. Their pizza is wonderfully thin and the sauce is rich and zesty. It’s a traditional pie, not one of the new “fad” pizzas that are throughout the city. The kind that offer prosciutto and arugula as topping choices.  Sure, sure, they are good pizzas, don’t get me wrong, but which one holds up best in a NYC / DC Pizza contest? Hmm?

Now, just slow down there. I’m not comparing any pizza joints in DC to NYC. There is no comparison. It’s friggin New York. The home place of the great pizza trees that grow mythical pizza fruit that can be unfolded, cooked, and topped to make the best pizza in the world. Americanized of course.

What I am saying is that if you are stuck in DC and want a solid pizza that delivers, you aren’t going to find something better than Bistro Italiano. In fact, even if you go and pick it up, you’re still going to be hard pressed to find something better.

What are your thoughts readers? What is your favorite pizza place in DC? And that is IN DC. The Italian Store is off limits. I happen to think they are better anyway.

The code above is for Empire Avenue, a cool new site. Expect to see more blogs posts here as we eat our way through the city and beyond!

I ordered this because a few weeks earlier my fellow diner, and hopefully future blogger here, Jon, ordered a special at the Vic that was made with the Gnocchi. I tried it, it was delicious, so I was determined to have an entire plate of it on my next visit.

The special that Jon had included cheese and I believe lamb. The regular version just has squash as a major ingredient. Both the gnocchi and the squash were cooked perfectly. There was also a fantastic amount of garlic in the dish, I happen to love garlic, and it complimented the dish very well.

I’ve never been a big fan of squash but after my wife recently introduced spaghetti squash to our menu lineup and the Vic served that delicious dinner, I’m becoming a convert.

I’ve been to the vic many times and have had many dishes there. I plan on going back and posting about each one, as well as from other places around the city. As a quick plug, if you’re the type that likes them, the Vic also makes a fantastic chicken livers dish. I ordered it twice once. Give it a try.

Happy Eating!

I happen to really like Taylors. When they opened, we were there, living only 2 blocks away, on the day they opened. I have heard how some feel their bread is a bit chewy, but not I. Well, it is chewy, but in a good way. I love this Sarcone and his bread. It’s both soft and hard all rolled into one and is the hallmark of Taylors. You really can’t get a better sub bread in the city.

Favorite sandwich? Have to say so far it’s the Callowhill, a Meatball Parmesan cheese sub. But, honestly, how can you go wrong with meatballs and cheese on bread? It’s like a dream. The meatballs are nice and fat and the cheese matches with it nicely.

The one thing that stands out for me with Taylors, when I compare them to other Italian sub places that come to mind, such as A Litteri’s and, of course, The Italian Store, is what goes into their subs. First of all, when you get a sub at the Italian store, it’s LOADED.  A capri on a hard roll hits the spot with layers of meats, cheese, sweet peppers, onions, its a dream. The sweet peppers are to die for and you really need to dedicate some time to eat one of their sandwiches. With Taylors, you generally get two or three items of high quality and taste. A walnut street, for instance, is a roasted red peppers and grilled chicken, both of which you can really taste and it tastes good. As complex as the subs at the Italian store are, Taylors are that simple.

That said, I do have to say that the bread at Taylors beats the Italian store, for me, every time. There’s just something about how it’s made that makes it both chewy and not soggy and very good. The hard roll at The Italian store is ok, just not as good as what you get at Taylors.

As for A Litteri’s, which really deserves it’s own post and will get one soon, its really more of a market that makes subs than a sub shop that has a small market. The sandwiches are good, but they don’t have any sweet peppers, last time I was there, and you should bring a PSP with you when you go. The wait times are really nuts. I haven’t been in a while and they may be less now that there are more options around the area but when the wait times are bad, they are really bad.

The ingredients at Taylors also make them standout a bit. They are always fresh and I haven’t been disappointed yet with what i’ve gotten. I’ve heard from a few unnamed sources how the subs aren’t as stuffed as you could ask for, which brings us back to the simplistic method,  and its true they aren’t as stuffed as something you’d get at the Italian store, but the quality makes up for that for me. Though, if I had to make a choice between Taylors and the Italian store, as if both were next door to each other, I’d have to go with Italian store. No Taylors. No Italian store. Christ, makes me feel like the Fraggle Wembley choosing a Doozer Stick from the legendary Tooth Tower vs a slice of Mossmelon. How can you pick?!?!

I do highly recommend Taylors and its a great local place to get a good sub. For inside of DC Taylors is by far the best place to get a sub, yes even better than A Litteri’s when you add up all the points, including wait time.

Now, about their website. Fuck me, it sucks. I have been doing web development for a very long time. It just sucks. When I go to a retail or restaurants website, I don’t want to see flashy nifty cool effects that take time to load and give me a headache. I want to see a fucking menu on one page without having to scroll in some weird counter-intuitive manner. I want to find a phone number quickly, ya know, so I can order something and give you money, as fast as possible. I want to be able to create an account and order by your website, ya know, so you can make even more money and don’t have to man the phones all the time. Save the flashy bullshit for an artsy website where the main goal is to be artsy and not functional. Taylor’s has a hip new style and they wanted to incorporate that in their website, got it. But you can do that and still be functional. Your goal isn’t to be hip on your website or in your store, its to sell subs. The hipster shit has to bow to the selling of your merchandise.

Simple recipe here. Get a simple website, allow regulars to sign up and place orders, get the orders to your location so they are ready to go. For the money you spent on this flashy POC (That’s piece of crap) you could have gotten an iPhone app. Which would you have preferred? Do I even have to ask?

In closing. Taylors, great subs, lousy website. But who cares, I’m fat, I go there to eat, not be hip.

This great little tavern opened up this summer on H and I’ve been there many times since it did. The inside is nice, really nice. It’s a big open space, unlike other places on H it’s not just a thin row house style, and the bar wraps around in the middle.

They have a good selection of beers on tap, including of course Guinness. The staff is very cool and friendly and this is quickly becoming one of my favorite drinking spots on H. How about the food you ask? Well this is a food blog, so read on.

The food is, in a word, good. They have a solid selection of sandwich, Reubens, Chicken Livers, Hot Pastrami and roasted turkey. They also have a pickle as an add on, nice! I normally get the Turkey #2 with a side of fries or onion rings. One thing, if you order either one expect to get a ton of them. They don’t come with the sandwich on the menu but you get so much of them they could be a meal in and of themselves. My wife loves the Reuben with Turkey, called a Rachel (would be cool if they added it to the menu) and often sends me over to pick one up.

Another nice thing they are very kid friendly and have a kids menu. They can also give you some crayons and paper for the little ones to doodle on while you wait for dinner. Perhaps the best thing about them they are open for lunch during the week. I can’t tell you how nice it is to have a lunch time spot on H street when you are working in the area. Its heaven.

Not everything is rosy colored. Don’t expect to eat very healthy here. Like I said, though they are quite good, the fries and onion rings come in a big basket. Best to share them with a friend if you can. The sandwichs are good but again, don’t expect to stay on your diet. The Turkey 2 is loaded with mayo, bacon, muenster cheese on sourdough bread. Not exactly health club turkey.  Delicious but makes my waist line increase every time. They even have a sandwich called The Clogger. Again, good, but damn I can feel my arteries hardening.

The appetizers are not much better. Everything is fried, except the pickle, and though it tastes good it’s not something to eat regularly. Would be awesome if the added some kind of smoked salmon bagel or even salmon wrapped in cream cheese. Yum!

Bottom line this is a great addition to H street. The interior is fantastic and the food is really good. I would love to see just a few healthier choices. How about a salad of some kind? Smoked salmon anything? Not like i’m not going to go just not as frequently as I would like.

Star and Shamrock is located at 1341 H street NE. http://starandshamrock.com/

That said, on to Granville’s. Let me say that I live about 3 blocks from Granville’s. I ate there the first week it was open, we’re talking pre-Teddy Folkman days, and that pub is the reason why I’m still living in DC. I have never been disappointed with the food, beer, atmosphere or service. Granville’s is by far the best pub, measured by quality, consistency and atmosphere, in DC. Keep in mind, I’m not comparing it to BLT, the steak house, as that’s a different experience. But for your local pub to grab some food, some beer, and relax, nothing beats it.

My wife and I decided to stop by tonight to grab a quick night out. A quick three block walk and we’re fortunate enough to grab a table and find a new fall menu. What does yours truly order? Shocker, buffalo burger. Only been on the menu since the place opened but what I can do, it’s delicious. Frites, of course, were great as well.

My wife was more adventurous. She got the Vegetariènne sandwich and tomato soup, which I tried. Result? Goddamn can that place cook some food. The soup was delicious and so was the sandwich. Though I don’t regret the burger, it was equally good, my wife was well pleased with her choice as well.

I’ve eaten here many times before, had all the Moules, bison burger, bison hot dog, bison steak and cheese, and all of it is fantastic. If you are looking for a place to go and haven’t been there, give it a try. I recommend getting there early as it does fill up fast, even with all the other restaurants opening up on H street. And check out their new blog, they just posted the fall menu.

http://www.granvillemoores.com/blogs/

Happy Eating!

This day though I decided to not suffer through another Subway Jared special and track down a good Gyro. I love Gyro’s even if my wife yells at me for pronouncing them “JI-RO” and not “Geer Ho” or “Heer Ho” or however the hell you phonetically spell it. So it was on this day that my eyes leaped and my stomach lurched when I saw a review from colleagues at work for a nice Greek carry out restaurant about 5-8 blocks away. I ctrl-alt-del’d my computer and head out the door to Dupont Circle area, little west honestly.

When I got there I found a very nice little storefront with some outdoor seating sitting on P street in NW. I walked in and a nice older man, who is I believe is the very proud Greek owner, asked me for my order. I didn’t need to look at the menu and simply ordered a “JI Geer-Ho” with fries. I took a seat inside and played some Uno on the iPhone while I waited.

The inside, as you can see,  was heavily decorated Greek. There is some pride here from the owners. This just so happens to be one of those little places that is owned by someone that is ethnically attached to the food. What I mean is, I like eating food that was prepared by someone that grew up eating it in their native country. Is the best Italian food in NYC or Italy? Though i’ve never eating in either, from numerous sources I’ve encountered over the years, it’s been overwhelmingly Italy. Same is true for Greek as it turns out.

My sandwich came in very quick time, the restaurant was a little empty, and I first noticed how packed it was. The lamb slices were thick and bulged the pita bread out so far it was hard to get a solid bite on it. Of course, that’s not a lot to stop a hungry man who has to be back for a 1pm meeting.

I dug in and was delighted. The lamb tasted as good as it looked. It was a massive bite though and took me sometime to gulp down. I ordered fries with it, which were honestly not so good. But come on, it’s a Greek joint, they didn’t invent the french fry so why should they be good at making it.

For the proximity to work and the deliciousness of the “Geer Ho” I give this place a solid thumbs up. I went back again after that first visit and it was still a solid Gyro. Onions rings on the second visit which were still kinda eh, but whatever, i’m not going there for their side items. If you work in the area and haven’t tried them out they are certainly worth a visit.

Legends is located at

2157 P Street NW

Washington, DC 20037

202.296.2333

URL: http://www.dupontlegends.com/

My friend, Jon,  called me a few nights ago and said simply “We’re going to dinner at Rays the Steaks”.

“No way!”, I said, “I’m not driving all the way down to Arlington from the Hill during the week. The traffic will kill us”.

“We’re not going to Arlington, we’re going down Benning road to the new location” Jon so smugly said.

Aghast! Could it be true? Could a quality steak house move just minutes from me? I quickly said yes and off we went to an adventure of food. What did we find? One hell of a good dinner!

We climbed into the Jeep Liberty, headed down H street, can’t wait for the construction to end, and crossed over the bridge into what Google Maps calls “Fort Dupont/Lower Central NE”. Never heard of it? Mostly because not much is there. It’s a poorer area of DC that honestly doesn’t have much to pull people in. Until now.

Once we found Dix street we pulled into the parking lot and headed inside. The restaurant had a nice big open space. We were greeted instantly and shown right to a table. There weren’t many other patrons but, hey, it just opened. The menu was pretty straightforward, steak, pulled pork, crab cake, pretty much what we expected. The beer list was, well, not so good. Budweiser, Heineken, and one specialty beer all in the bottle, nothing on draft. Oh and Michelob Ultra too. Fun times. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting a blockbuster at this point. Location wasn’t great, tucked behind a shopping center and a little awkward to find, but there was parking which is nice for DC. Crappy beer menu but, again, they just opened.

The waiter, extremely nice, greeted us and told us about the specials. A sliced beef sandwich with choice of two sides for 12 bucks, which I ordered. Jon ordered the prime rib, 16 oz, for 20 bucks, and we sampled, well not sampled as we’ve had it many times before,  the one good beer on the menu, Delirum.

Very soon after, like 10 minutes, the food arrived. First, let me say, both our eyes bulged as we saw the size of the prime rib. Ever see John Candy eat the big steak in The Great Outdoors? Was kinda like that. That beasty had to be 22oz+. My sliced beef sandwich oozed sauce and smelled of heaven.

We both dug in and after one bite we realized the enormity of what was happening. The sliced beef sandwich was dreamingly good. The sauce danced on my tastes buds and demanded I eat more. The slaw that came with was good too, and fit perfectly on top of the beef. How was the prime rib you ask? Cooked perfectly and perhaps the most tender meat I’ve had at a steak house in a long time. Jon said, and I quote, “This is one of the best steaks i’ve had in DC in a long time”. He was right.

Ok, so the french fries were eh, the beer menu was eh, maybe worse than eh, but this isn’t a frites and beer kinda place. The steak/meat? Ten out of ten stars. Really freakin good. Jon mentioned that the owner of Rays opened this store in a more impoverished neighborhood and hired only local folks to run it. Good move. Everyone that worked there was super nice and super on the ball. We didn’t wait for anything, though admittedly the place wasn’t that full.

So, if you want a nice solid steak head on over. The place isn’t so busy yet, which if you live off H street is a blessing, but the food is really really good. Super high quality local steak house only minutes across Benning road. The staff is very nice and the prices are dirt cheap for this good of a meal.

Oh and the enormity that I said earlier? That’s our waist line increasing as we’re sure to go back. Again. And again.

Ray’s The Steaks East River‎

Located at: 3905 Dix Street Northeast, Washington, DC 20019-1401

(202) 396-7297‎

My wife and I entered the fray of Dim Sum in the DC metro area recently. We tried Oriental East located in Silver Spring Maryland. This little restaurant was located in a shopping center. From the outside, nothing jumped out as anything more than a strip mall Chinese restaurant. The line that greeted us, however, seemed to change our minds.

Now, my wife is a foodie from San Francisco. She firmly believes that Dim Sum from DC does not even come close to the Dim Sum in California. The east coast vs west coast food debate is one that runs very deep. Many people on both sides argue that the other side is dead wrong. I’m not going to get into that deep debate, suffice to say, it is said that local DC Dim Sum can’t compare to whats offered on the west coast.

Well, one of these days I’ll get out to California and have a look for myself. Until then, I will be sampling as much Dim Sum locally as I can. Oriental East was our first stop on our new Dim Sum adventures.

First, as I said, the line was crazy. We went on the weekend and had to wait a good twenty minutes for a seat. This was not a small restaurant either just packed with people. Reviews on yelp and other sites show that this is one of the better Dim Sum places there are.

Once we got a seat and found the first cart, I immediately looked for and grabbed my all time Dim Sum favorite, Meat Donut. Yes, I know that is not what it is really called, but come on, meat stuffed into a glazed pastry dough? That’s what it should be called. And it was good. If you are new to dim sum look out for the small piece of paper on the bottom of the donut. My first experience, some five to six years ago, ended up me with wondering why this tasted so much like paper. Well, it’s not supposed to. Suffice to say, this one dish as very good. It was very fresh as well. All the carts rolled out of the kitchen and by the time they were halfway around they were empty.

Next up, sticky rice.Very tasty and very sticky. We also had an egg roll, that you can see in the upper right of the picture. It was good as well. Nothing that blows you away mind you. Rice and egg rolls aren’t your most adventurous items on the menu but they were good nonetheless.

Though I am not a favorite of the next dish, my wife loves it. Similar to my favorite meat donut but in a different type of dough. Not my favorite taste wise but still quite good quality of meat and dough. The main thing that surprised me was the freshness of the food. Perhaps it was because the restaurant was so full and the carts were always being emptied but everything came out hot and fresh as if we had ordered it from the menu.

My wife loves the eggplant. She was looking for it constantly since we walked in. She finally found it and said it was delicious. I wasn’t a big favorite but it was still tasty and fresh.

Dumpling were next. Again, fresh, right off the oven. Nothing particularly spectacular about them. Just high quality and good tasting.

Overall the experience was very good. The quality of the food, frequency of the carts and freshness were all great. There were more risky things on the menu that we didn’t try. Clearly my Dim Sum level of knowledge is not top bar here. One thing is sure. When you have a crowded restaurant odds are there is a reason for it. Have to wait 20 minutes? Don’t sweat it. The wait is worth it.

Next up will be Tony Cheng’s in Chinatown, DC. Much closer to us but not as high reviews on the many food sites out there.

Oriental East is located at 1312 East West highway in Silver Spring MD.

URL: http://www.orientaleast.com/