Category: Washington, D.C.

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Hill Country BBQ

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410 7th Street NW
202.556.2050
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown, Archives/Navy Memorial

Hours:
Sunday – Tuesday: 11:30 a.m.-1 a.m.
Wednesday – Saturday: 11:30 a.m. – 2 a.m.

It takes a lot for me to be blown away by a restaurant, but I think for the first time in D.C. this new establishment has done just that.  Hill Country BBQ just opened up last Saturday, and I took to opportunity to check it out tonight along with a buddy of mine.  I had heard earlier in the day from a couple of co-workers that the original location (which is located in New York City) was pretty damn good, so my expectations going in were high.  Not only were my expectations met, but Hill Country was everything I imagined and much, much more.

Having had BBQ down in Austin, TX, I can say that I can make this comparison with a certain degree of reliability.  Hill Country is the closest thing to a BBQ joint in Austin that’s not in Texas that I’ve seen so far.  The setup and feel reminded me a lot of Rudy’s BBQ.  When we first walked in, you could already tell the the place was going to be lively.  Looking like a typical country bar/restaurant, the venue was mainly wood with black and white photos of blue collar workers on the walls, Texas flags hanging from the ceiling, and chalkboard menus all around.  We waited at the bar (45 minute wait – but perfectly reasonable since it’s a new place in the heart of Penn Quarter) and had a beer.  The beers I’d like to quickly point out are served in honey jars, which warmed us up to the atmosphere right away.

Once our name was called, we were escorted to our table (by one of several gorgeous hostesses – that tidbit is for the guys) and were instructed on how to proceed.  Much like Vapiano’s, you’re given a “passport” and get whatever items in the cafeteria style line you’d like and then pay as you leave the restaurant after you’re done eating.  The first stop in the line is for the meat.   The brisket, chicken, pork ribs (and shoulder) are all priced by weight, and you pay for individual sausages.  Trying to figure out what to get was a daunting task, but there is an employee in line ready to answer questions and give advice on what to mix and match.  Once you get up to order (there were 6 stations to order meat), they measure out your requested order and then wrap it up in brown paper with a generous helping of white bread.  I ordered 1/4 lbs. of moist brisket (you can get lean as well which isn’t as fatty, but has less flavor in my opinion), 1/4 lbs. pork ribs (which ends up being one giant effing rib, Flintstones style) and one Kreuz sausage (I got the plain, but my friend ordered the Jalepeno style).

Moving on after that, you get to the Sides Station where you can order any number of sides from collared greens, to beans, to Mac and Cheese.   I went for the 8 oz. Mac and Cheese, and an order of cornbread (comes in 2 large pieces and Ancho Honey Butter).

We brought our food back to our table and our server, who looked like Ludacris (seriously, I’m not being racist – the guy looked like Luda), was super on top of getting us our drinks and checking in often to make sure everything was okay.  As for the food, I don’t even know where to begin.  IT. WAS. AMAZING.   The brisket was moist, flavorful, melted in your mouth, and was that perfect amount of juicy meat with bits of fat.  The rib didn’t fall off the bone, but the tenderness of the meat was there and was perfectly seasoned.  The sausage had a nice little spice, and when you bit into it it had a little crunch as you broke through the outer skin, and a deliciously soft and juicy interior.  There was a tasty Hill Country BBQ sauce on the table as well.

The Mac and Cheese; oh man, the Mac and Cheese could have been a meal itself.   The pasta was a penne style, and the cheese practically oozed everywhere (in a good way).   I think I tasted a bit of Worcestershire sauce and pepper in the cheese mix as well – it was heavenly.  The cornbread and honey butter were good, and probably better than normal because it was literally fresh out of the oven when I got my pieces.  Although the cornbread and honey butter were just okay on their own (it’s kinda hard to make cornbread really good or really bad), they complimented the meats and Mac and Cheese quite well.

The food already made the place worth going to, but then a woman came up to us and told us about the karaoke.  So I went downstairs to scout it out.  Downstairs is a whole other hall, with tables, a bar, and a stage.  I’m assuming that they normally have live music on some nights, but on karaoke night the patrons can go up and do their best Dolly Parton, Britney Spears, or Bruce Springsteen impression.  One great little thing is that the restaurant will give the singer a complimentary whiskey shot before or after they go up on stage.  And the karaoke isn’t just some video machine with the words and bouncing little ball on it; there’s a live band playing along with you (far cooler).  Now I’m not sure how many songs the musicians know, but when I went down there the woman was singing a song from “Mamma Mia” so I imagine they probably know quite a bit.

Bottom line: This is hands down the most fun place you could go to eat in D.C. right now.  It’s laid-back, the workers are super-friendly, the food is phenomenal (since it’s by weight, you don’t have to pay for any more than you have to) and the price is actually pretty good.  I got a total of probably around 3/4 lbs. of meat (w/ white bread), 2 pieces of corn bread, a cup of Mac and Cheese and a Miller Lite for a grand total of $19 (and I took most of the sausage home with me because I was so full after the brisket and the rest).  Bring a group of friends and you’ll have a great time.  Grade: A-

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Kafe Leopold’s

3318 M Street Northwest
Washington D.C., DC 20007
(202) 965-6005

Open Mon-Wed,Sun 8am-10:30pm; Thu-Sat 8am-12am

Now that the spring weather is starting to slowly come upon us, I like to try and take advantage of any restaurants with outdoor seating.  So on the first comfortable Sunday of March, my buddies and I tried to find a place to have brunch in Washington, D.C. and decided on Kafe Leopold‘s.

Located off the main drag of M Street in Georgetown, Kafe Leopold’s is a yuppi-ish, European joint with clientele that falls under the category of either having western European decent and/or upper middle class Georgetowner.  Needless to say my friends and I don’t really fit into either one of those categories, so we were sort of out of place (but not uncomfortably so).

With the goal of trying to get one of the tables outside, we came upon Kafe Leopold’s and the couple dozen other people trying to do the same thing.  There are about twelve tables on their patio, however only about five of them can accommodate more than two people.   And by the way, the outdoor section is dog friendly if you decide you want to bring your pooch along.

My party was hungry enough that we decided to pass on waiting for outdoor seating and signed up for first available.  The wait was long; we were told 30 minutes and it ended up being more like an hour.  The host was apologetic and checked in on us several times, which softened the irritation a little, but still an hour wait was a pretty long time.  We couldn’t really blame anyone however.  Sunday brunch is a time to lounge around and enjoy the company of the table you’re at, so we couldn’t really fault the current patrons who were enjoying their meals slowly.  Like I said, the clientele was very European.

When we did get seated, we were taken indoors.  The interior will remind you of a IKEA dining room, with a lot of white space all around and the solid, modern looking furniture.  The only hint of color was a curious orange couch in the middle of the room which reminded us of Gaudi’s bench in Park Guell in Barcelona.  There was also a fairly large display case of mouth watering pastries and cakes sitting there and teasing our rumbling stomachs.

Once seated, we ordered a few appetizers and bunch items.  I had a Mrs. Palmer cocktail (Sweet Tea Vodka, Lemonade, and Ginger Beer I think) which was the best part of the meal (sadly).  The croissant I ordered (I succumbed to the temptation of the pastry display) was buttery, flakey, and quite good, but nothing special.  We ordered a prosciutto platter as an appetizer as well, which was alright as well, except for the fact that it annoyingly showed up with our main dishes.

My $15 chive and cheese omlette however was pretty boring and I probably could have made a much better one myself at home.  The omlette came with a small green salad and three small pieces of toast (which added up to maybe one piece of white bread), and those didn’t really pair that well with the eggs.  One of my friends ordered the same thing and had the same reaction.  Our third friend had the Belgian waffle with chocolate and he too was underwhelmed by his meal because the waffle itself was no larger than a frozen Eggo waffle (probably better to get your brunch waffles at Belga Cafe in Eastern Market).

Bottom line: All in all, the experience wasn’t horrible, but it’s not worth it unless you get the outdoor seating on a nice day.  But I’m always willing to give a restaurant a second chance and I might go back to try their regular lunch/dinner because those menu items did look much better on other customers’ tables.  C+

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Ted’s Bulletin

505 8th Street Southeast
Washington D.C., DC 20003-2835
(202) 544-8337

Open Daily 7am-10:30pm

Some of you may or may not know, but I’ve been living in Washington, D.C. these past few years.  Recently this town has becoming quite the go-to place because of the recent presidential election, various reality television shows (e.g. The Real World, Housewives, Top Chef, and much to the annoyance of the 33rd St. residents in Georgetown, that cupcake shop show on TLC), and of course the food.  D.C. has become quite the foodie town with high end restaurants popping up all over the place, along with competing burger joints left and right.  And I think it’s safe to say that most everyone in this city is a foodie.  My theory is it’s because of the size of Washington.  It’s not huge like NYC or L.A. where because there are thousands of places to eat, you don’t have to be picky because you’re overwhelmed by the choices around.  You’ll probably find a place within a block that will have what you’re in the mood for.  But it’s also not so small that there are only a few good restaurants worth trying.  Cities like D.C. and Boston are that right city size where the people tend to be more foodish because it’s still a growing restaurant environment, but the standard local places are still around.   So you’ll hear a lot of “I like this burger place more than that, I think the seafood here at this new place is better than there.”   And believe me, the folks in Washington have their opinions.

So as a resident D.C. foodie, I’ve banded together with a group of friends and we’ve been affectionately calling ourselves Team Dinner Out (TDO).  For the past year, every week or so the seven of us try out a new place to eat in the D.C. Metro area.  Choices have ranged from the swankiest of French bistros to literally hole in the wall, no table service BBQ joints (which “the hole in the wall” part was unbeknown to the member of the group who chose that particular venue for that week and tried to call for reservations).

This past week, to celebrate the one year anniversary of our group we had dinner at Ted’s Bulletin.  The restaurant is located south of the U.S. Capitol in an area called Barrack’s Row (named as such because at the end of the street is a Marine Corps barracks).  Ted’s just opened up recently and is the product of the owners of another popular restaurant chain called Matchbox.  Unlike Matchbox, which is quite good, but almost a little too fancy and shi-shi for the simple American food that they serve (think of a yuppie T.G.I.Friday’s), Ted’s has more of the home style feel.  The restaurant itself looks like something out of the 1930’s, with several wooden booths and tables, and a giant chalkboard with the day’s deserts and children’s menu written on the wall.

When we sit we’re greeted by our waiter who pours us water out of old milk bottles and we’re given what looks like newspapers that you would find in your grandma’s basement.  When you open the newspapers, on the inside are the actual food choices.  The menu itself isn’t anything remarkable (burgers, pastas, breakfast food, diner food essentially), but don’t let the simplicity of the choices fool you.  All the food we had was excellent.  Ted’s Bulletin hits that comfort food bulls-eye.

For starters, we ordered french fries covered in gravy (the white kind since there are two vegetarians in the group, and the staff was kind enough to bring us our special request) and it pretty much foreshadowed how good our meals would be.  Several of us, including myself, ordered the breakfast food (served all day) for dinner.  The hash browns were that perfectly brown shredded potato kind and the homemade pop tarts were delectable.  The bacon was crispy and wasn’t fatty, just the way I like it.  The eggs were just okay, I would have liked to have them a tad bit less dry.  However, to go along with my eggs and bacon, I had to try the Mac and Cheese, and I’m glad I did.  The side order I got came in a little iron cast dish, and the Mac and Cheese was savory, warm, and had a nice little bread crumb crunch on top.  Other members of our group ordered regular dinner type food.  The herb roasted 1/2 chicken probably could have been a little bit juicier, but it was still bursting with flavor. And of course, I can’t forget the milkshakes that two members of the group ordered.  These milkshakes were meals themselves, coming out in a full, large pint glass along with the still half-full shaker it was mixed in.  We tried the Cherry Vanilla and S’more shakes; both were heaven.  They also offer “Adult” milkshakes such as Bailey’s Caramel Macchiato and Spiked Thai Coffee that I need to go back and try sometime. If there was one flaw in an otherwise excellent meal, it would be the Peanut Chocolate cake.  To be fair, I was already pretty damn full when we started eating it, but it really wasn’t that impressive.  The cake itself was chocolate, but dry.  And the peanut part was literally peanuts on the back of the cake, with peanut butter acting as the frosting.  For how much it cost ($7.00) it wasn’t worth the extra calories.  I did hear however that the Blueberry Pie a la mode was quite good, so maybe I’ll give that a shot next time around.

All in all though, I would highly recommend this joint.  The price is right, the atmosphere is warm and inviting, and the food will leave you satisfied.  But be warned; the restaurant is extremely popular for brunch on the weekends, so don’t try to stop in at 11 on a Saturday and expected to be seated without a 30-45 minute wait.  Grade: B+