Looking for interesting and unique restaurant in dc

[kristenm]

A group of college friends and I are planning a trip to DC and am looking for a unique and fun restaurant for dinner on a Saturday night. Are there any recommendations for a moderately priced, fun place to go?

[DCDOLL]

One really good/fun restaurant neighborhood is Cleveland Park, on the red line, one stop north of dupont circle. If you were planning on doing any 'scavenging' at the zoo, it's only about 3 blocks north of there. There are many good places to eat...and all different ethnicities...and most are reasonable. You might consider wine and cheese at Bardeo or Dino, entrees at either Yanni (greek) or Indique (indian) and dessert in the front room at Palena. Or ice cream right near Indique. You could have after dinner drinks at any number of spots -- there are 2 irish bars right across from each other on CT ave. Have fun!

[KGinDC]

there's a crabshack in Bethesda on Bethesda Avenue that's metro accessible--its also near Louisiana Express--and the other side of Bethesda is a fun night out...

[elegantelliot]

please dont go for crabs in bethesda. they are overpriced and not very good. you are better off going somewhere else, anywhere else! and LA express is no longer.

[DanielK]

Crabs are expensive, but I don't think they're any more expensive at Bethesda Crab House than they are at other places in the area. And I've never had bad crabs there.

FYI - you don't reserve a table there, but you DO reserve crabs. Call day of for availability and pricing, and then reserve your quantity, size, and time.

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Bethesda Crab House
4958 Bethesda Ave, Bethesda, MD 20814

[arugulafilesdc]

What about Zatinya. There's a belly dancer on Saturday nights (the last time I was there a few years ago, so call and check). The food is tasty, but it can get expensive, depending on what you order.

[Elyssa]

How big is your group? And is there any type of cuisine in particular you like (or don't like)?

[kristenm]

There will be 6 of us and we like Indian, Thai, French, and Greek. We're pretty adventurous though, and just want to try something fun.

[chaofun]

If you want something adventurous I think you should try either Vietnamese, Ethiopian.. DC Metro has strong representations here of all of them. On the metro off the top of my head would be:

Nam Viet (Clarendon), Minhs (Courthouse) - Vietnamese
Etete (U st) - Ethiopian

Both areas (U st, Courthouse/Clarendon) happen to be in good places to go out as well.

[flavrmeistr]

Nam Viet is also in Cleveland Park near the metro. A few doors down is Vace, which has one of the best pizzas in town. It has to be eaten on the run, as they have no tables.

[MikeR]

Few things are (for me) as fun as eating with your hands. Around here, you have:

Crabs, which are really expensive and you need some training. The best places are difficult to impossible to get to without a car.

Ethiopian. Plenty of choices, easy Metro access. Queen Makeda is probably the best choice for a group. Call ahead, be sure to get a table upstairs, and you'll be treated like you're a guest in the hostess' house (probably).

Moroccan. Downtown you have Marakesh, which serves a fixed price dinner that's reasonably tasty, and a great show. There'll be a break in your dinner for a belly dancing show.

[mselectra]

Why do you say to be sure to get a table upstairs at Queen Makeda? Just wondering -- I thought downstairs was nicer, but I haven't been in a while.

[MikeR]

OK, I've never had a table downstairs, but the upstairs is kind of homey, but I haven't been there in a while either.

I guess it really doesn't matter.

[mselectra]

Thanks Mike -- I really was just wondering your thoughts. I sat downstairs once in the winter and about froze to death, even though they kept trying to move the space heaters closer to us (talk about homey ;), and there is the fireplace down there. They often have an Ethiopian jazz band upstairs, too (I guess they still do). It's just a great place.

[Doh]

I'd suggest Jaleo, although if it's a large group it might take a while to get a table (I'd consider it fun and not too expensive, but I'm not sure tapas counts as "unique" these days).

[kristenm]

We are doing a scavenger hunt around dc, md, and va that day. It starts off by dupont circle, but I'm not sure where the finish line is. The area the restaurant is in doesn't matter so much, as we have plans to go out later. Have metro card, will travel!!

[Dennis S]

You know, I'd build a card of places then. Search for the usual deal of visiting DC.

Get places for Cap Hill, Adams Morgan, DuPont, Cleveland Park, Georgetown. Have one or two places scoped out for each and you're done.

[elegantelliot]

where in DC?