Best Breakfast/Lunch in D.C.

[mssreatalot]

Been scouring the board for a current "Best Breakfast/Lunch" in D.C.
and couldn't find anything up to the minute. Would love to get all
opinions. Thanks.

[beets4dinner]

Best Breakfast:

Teaism. The one in Dupont is empty in the a.m., and the one in Penn quarter is too. Get the scrambled eggs to start, and go from there.

[midwestfoodie]

I agree on C.F. Folks for lunch - great place for lunch and love their daily specials. Also, I love Best Sandwich Place. You can't go wrong there. Literally the BEST place for sandwiches. It's on L St. between 18th and 19th. There is a sign on the sidewalk, not the building.

I know you said D.C., but I love eating breakfast at the Carlyle in Shirlington. Their complimentary donut holes are to die for, and I've been very happy with every dish I've ever ordered.

[dogfaceboy]

If you're in Baltimore, Miss Shirley's on Cold Spring Lane is the best breakfast, period. PERIOD. You will never have a bland omelet again.

[EricDC]

Yeah, Cf folks is great for a good verbal kick-in-the-pants from the owner while you dine. Plus, unlike Breadline (which does it only sporadically), they are really good at keeping their online specials board up-to-date!

http://www.cffolksrestaurant.com/Dail...

So in addition to Waffle Shop... AND AV Ristorante... today I noticed that Reeve's Bakery on G and 13th is closed!>>!>

[Steve]

Two institutions that are open only for lunch midweek:

cf folks. Sit at the counter and order off the chalkboard. Legendary crabcake. Peach cobbler for dessert if available. A unique experience.

Breadline: Ultimate sandwich shop. My favorites are Italian Sausage, Felafel, Egg Salad, BBQ (order this on a ciabatta), Cubano, Phillly Cheesesteak, and the mediterranean pizza.

[Elyssa]

I second CF Folks! The food is excellent--changes daily--and I still can't find a better crab cake sandwich in DC. Plus the owner cracks me up.

[washdcrealestate]

Logan Tavern is the best brunch in the city.

[Elyssa]

And one of busiest!

[Casey Taylor Patten]

If you want a true diner experiance in DC - only place to go to is the Wafle Shop on 10th and E - only decent breakfast diner food I have found in 4 years

[Hal Laurent]

But go soon...word is that the Waffle Shop will soon be history.

[schulmje]

Logan tavern is adequate for brunch. For best, you might consider Georgia Brown's. Although best brunch in DC is not a very prestigious honor. Overall there aren't even many choices for brunch in DC, let alone best

[Wanda]

I don't live in DC but I go there not infrequently and have some good recs.

I don't know about best, but one bakery-cum-restaurant excellent for breakfast is Bread Line, 1751 Pennsylvania Av betw 17th&18th, nr G & H St, 202-822-8900, one close metro stop is Farragut West. It's open weekdays only, from 7:30 (well, I think maybe it opens for coffee at 7 but the baked goods aren't really ready till about 7:30). You can have lunch here too, they have real lemonade, homemde ketchup, double cooked fries, special hot dogs, Italian sausge sandwiches, felafel/flatbread, egg salad sandwich, philly cheesesteak, pastrami, BBQ on ciabatta, mediterranean pizza, other things you may like.

For lunch there's a zillion choices. I'm a big fan of Jaleo and Zaytinya, 2 tapas places with the same owner in the Penn Quarter (near the newly reopened National Portrait Gallery). Metro is Chinatown/Gallery Place. Also, in Chinatown, Eat First and Chinatown Express are excellent, and you cannot go wrong with the price. Again, Chinatown/Gallery Place Metro. See addresses below.

I also loved the crabcakes at Market Lunch in the Eastern Market, which has burned down recently; don't know if Market Lunch has reopened in the temporary building yet but I hope so!

Jaleo, 480 7th at E, 202-628-5949, Delish tapas, go early or late for L (11:30 or 2ish) or it will be very crowded. They have a bacon & fig or date fritter that is fantabulous. But virtually everything is good including the bread you dip in oil, and the wine. Careful--as with all tapas places, you can run up a big bill if you drink too much of the latter!

Zaytinya, 701 9th St NW at G St, 202-638-0800, www.zaytinya.com. Greek-Turkish mezze dishes like grilled octopus, ground kofta lamb, carrot fritters, also some mushrooms in walnut sauce here or Jaleo (I forget) wa esp delicious. Huge bar. Don’t miss bathrms.

Chinatwn Express, 746 6th near H St, Chinatown 202-638-0424. Metro: Chinatown/Gallery Place. Have noodles with pork (both observable in the window), softshell crab, dumplings. Go early as can get very crowded.

Eat First, 609 H St NW btw 6th & 7th, Chinatown, 202-289-1703. Metro: Chinatown/Gallery Pl. My favorites here are singapore noodles and eggplant and pork claypot, both on the special plastic menu on the tabletop. You can have beer here too.

[mssreatalot]

thanks for the great post! We will try them all!

[Jacey]

I think these are mostly generic responses that are listed in tour books.

Tell us Mssreatalot, what do you like to eat for lunch and breakfast, and we'll be able to tell you the "best" places.

[mssreatalot]

we like to run the gamut from simple diner, sandwiches to ethnic to...mostly what we're after is good solid and simple food for a good solid value. A place where, when hungry, leaps to mind for breakfast and lunch.

[bordeauxfan]

I think there's a big difference between best "breakfast" and best "lunch". Can you be more specific?

[mssreatalot]

Certainly. When I say, "Best breakfast/lunch," what I suppose I should have said was, "Best breakfast OR lunch." Technically, I was hoping for the best places to have breakfast AND the best places to have lunch. Many of the postings on the board are geared more to "Best Dinner" in D.C. I didn't find many current "Best breakfast or lunch" listings. So, I suppose what I was really after was "best breakfast," meaning the first meal of the day, the meal which is usually eaten in the morning after we've slept, the meal with which we "break the fast." I was interested in opinions directly related to that meal, the breakfast meal. I was also interested in opinions directly related to the "best lunch," meaning the meal after breakfast, but before dinner, the meal in the middle of the day, the second meal of the day in a three meal cycle, the midday meal...unless, of course, you're in certain parts of the south, by which, I would mean dinner, which is actually lunch, the middle meal and not supper, which is actually dinner. Dinner, as I'm sure you're aware is the third meal of the day, the evening meal, the last meal in a three meal cycle. Now, as I'm sure you're also aware, this is all different in other parts of the world, I mean, I'm not after a late Italian supper or a post siesta snack. No, I just really was after a current "Best Breakfast...OR...Lunch" in the Washington D.C. area. Um...okay?