This list was inspired by Laura Veprek’s list and by the dining advice emails I send out when folks we know move to the area. Thanks to Shawn Chen for introducing me to many of these fine establishments.
Note: This list is heavily weighted towards Arlington and Alexandria since we live in Northern Virginia. We’ve started exploring places further out, since a lot of excellent ethnic restaurants are rumored to be in the ‘burbs.
Also note: This list will likely be updated and fleshed out over time.
- Pizza: Vace (Cleveland Park), Pizzeria Paradiso (Georgetown and Dupont Circle), Faccia Luna (Clarendon, specifically for the La Capra). Vace does the whole “sauce on top” thing, which does wonders for the overall composition of their pizza.
- Kabobs: Kabob Bazaar in Clarendon. This is the closest thing we’ve got to a “third place.” Also good: Moby Dick House of Kabob (multiple locations). But the ambiance at Kabob Bazaar is better, especially with Mohsen the Persian keyboardist working his magic on Friday and Saturday nights. Or so I’m told.
- Dim sum: The best place we’ve found so far is Oriental East in Silver Spring; New Fortune in Gaithersburg is also good, and China Garden in Rosslyn is convenient. (Shui Wah in Chicago’s Chinatown beats all three of these for me, though.)
- A special mention to Cafe Tirolo in Ballston, which serves delicious Austrian-Italian food. We’ve always been pretty happy eating there, but they’re not open on the weekends.
- Indian: Delhi Dhaba (many locations, but we go to the one in Courthouse). Tasty and uncomplicated. Bombay Curry Company (Alexandria) was also pretty good.
- Vietnamese: Nam-Viet Pho 79. I love the vegetable pho there—lots of tofu, wood mushrooms, baby corn, bean sprouts and other veggies.
- Thai: Sawatdee (Courthouse). It has my mom’s stamp of approval, which is saying a lot. The fried rice is just as I remembered it from my childhood.
- Malaysian: I’ve been pretty happy with the stuff I’ve ordered at Malaysia Kopitiam (Dupont Circle).
- Mexican: Guajillo (Rosslyn/Courthouse). Also: Mexicali Cantina in Frederick and El Golfo in Silver Spring (same owners, I believe). Anita’s in Fairfax occasionally works, too. (Yes, Aly has been trying to educate me about the ways of good Mexican cooking. Cut me some slack—I’m from northwest Indiana, for crying out loud.)
- Tapas: Jaleo (Gallery Place and Crystal City). Isabella’s in Frederick is also pretty good.
- Sushi: We just tried Yamazato off Little River Turnpike in Alexandria, and it was pretty good. We’ve also liked Matuba (Columbia Pike) and Akasaka in Alexandria.
- General: Luna Grill and Diner (Shirlington and Dupont Circle), good all-purpose diner. Open City (Woodley Park) is growing on me, mostly because I have such a high opinion of Tryst in Adams Morgan.
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