• 19Mar

    Bargain Hunter’s Guide to Dining and Drinking in Dupont

    From Rakuya’s HH last Fall.

    This topic reminds me of my recurring column from many years ago about eating in Arlington when nearly broke. Here are some Dupont Circle specials:

    Dawson’s Market free beer tastings on Thursdays (City State are DC Brau are the next two events). Photos of some previous tastings and their event calendar were covered in a previous article. They also have one Friday wine tasting a month at the DuPont location.

    Ala has an online discount code for online orders, “ALA30” and they also have a 25% off (entire menu, food and drinks) HH Mon-Friday 2-5pm. Keep in mind that they are a bit pricy to start with, and are also on the Too Good To Go app (café stuff).

    Duffy’s Irish pub (which opened on P Street during the pandemic) has dine in 1/2 price burgers Mondays with the purchase of a beverage all night and dine in all day/night 1/2 price wings Wednesdays with purchase of a beverage. Every Thursday from 4pm-7pm kids eat free from the kids menu with the purchase of an adult entrée and drink.

    Rakuya has Happy Hour (HH) food and drink specials including $3 shishito peppers or edamame, $5 yakitori, $5.50 gyoza, green beans tempura, shumai, crunchy spice salmon rolls, or spicy tuna rolls. They also have $4-8 beer, $7 glasses of wine, and a few $8-9 cocktails on HH.

    Firehook Bakery has Buy One Get One pastries M-F 5-6pm, but not cookies, or cupcakes; it’s items like scones and cinnamon rolls.

    Across the Pond has a special on Mondays 4-8pm: $6 hamburger and fries ($1 additional per topping).

    The Admiral HH features 3 cheeseburger siders for $10.

    Specials from our neighbors:

    Chef Geoff’s West end (a few blocks from DuPont) has a number of food on their HH menu like $4 mahi tacos, $6 white truffle popcorn, $12 pasta Bolognese, $5 off of burgers, etc. And, a few $8 cocktails and $10 supermug drafts.

    Ted’s Bulletin in Logan Circle during their HH Monday – Friday 3 PM – 6:30 PM has $3 drafts, $5 wines, $7 cocktails, and food specials like $6 fried pickles, $6 French onion dip with truffle potato chips, and $7 chicken parm sliders, $7 bacon cheeseburger empanadas, or Rueben tacos.

    -JAY

    Permalink Filed under: Drinks, Events, Kids, Restaurants, Stores, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment
  • 28Jan

    Are Ghost Kitchens a Possible Way Forward for the Restaurant Industry During the Pandemic?

    • Chef Big Rube (L) & Aaron Anderson (R)

    The COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic has been especially hard on the restaurant industry, since traffic and seating has been reduced across the country. The use of ghost kitchens may be one way for entrepreneurs to expand their businesses and minimize losses during this difficult time.

    Philadelphia entrepreneur Aaron Anderson operates several Original Hot Dog Factory restaurants in Philadelphia. He has partnered with Chef Big Rube, who is known for his immensely popular chicken, to open several ghost kitchen concepts (chicken shack, halal burgers, cheesesteaks, and breakfast bars) through Cloud Kitchens, and a brick and mortar restaurant (steak and shrimp) in Philadelphia. Ghost kitchens like Cloud allow for Anderson to invest in innovation because he can open new food concepts without raising funds for the expenses of a full new restaurant.

    “Back in the DC area, ghost concepts are allowing for interesting experiments. Although Foster’s Grill in Vienna is known for its Charburgers, they recently launched a delivery-only ghost concept called Chicken Frenzy from their own restaurant’s kitchen. Chicken Frenzy’s menu includes chicken sandwiches, chicken salads, chicken fingers, and wings, as well as onion rings, plant-based chicken sandwiches, shakes, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. Some of Chicken Frenzy’s menu items have been added to Foster’s Grill.

    On a larger scale, Ghostline DC opened in August in Glover Park. Ghostline DC is a multiple-restaurant professional kitchen (delivery and takeout). Some of the items flowing out of Ghostline DC include ramen, pizza, fried chicken sandwiches, cupcakes, breakfast sandwiches, and pastries.

    Hopefully, food entrepreneurs here and throughout the country will continue to find ways to stay in business and possibly even thrive during this pandemic. Don’t be surprised if you see more chicken sandwiches (a recent trend) coming through ghost kitchens in the near future.

    -JAY

    Permalink Filed under: Etc, Restaurants Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment
  • 25Feb

    A Welcome Change to Endless Burger Chains

    Step into Melt Gourmet Cheeseburgers and step into a restaurant that cares about the food it serves and the community it feeds. Debbie and Steve Hancotte have created an amazing mom and pop gourmet burger shop in Leesburg. Not do they put good food in the bellies of the two-legged Leesburg residents- they’ve also helped feed the four-legged through donations benefiting the Loudoun County Animal Shelter (over $5,000 since April 2012.)

    The décor of Melt is a throwback to an old fashioned diner- red and white tile walls with an open kitchen no smoke and mirrors or microwaves here. I’ve never visited without seeing the owners: Steve runs the kitchen and Debbie greets you at the register to take your order. Lining the walls are giant posters of animals up for adoption at local shelters (let them MELT your heart.) I personally love restaurants that know what they do well and stick to it. Melt does burgers well- they do 100% Angus beef burgers ground daily really well. The Hancottes use local produce and beef- at my last visit they were offering a Dry Aged Prime Beef Burger from Cox Family Farms in Centreville but you can also get lamb, turkey, seafood and vegetable patties. Melt makes their buns fresh daily- because putting prime ingredients on store bought buns would be a crime against nature. When you get to the counter you can select one of the gourmet combinations on the menu- or try your hand at selecting your own ingredients, be careful- there’s no limit to how many you can select, but there is a limit to how wide your jaw will open. You can also select from a number of side dishes with their own toppings (the balsamic drizzle on the onion rings is BANGING,) retro cream sodas, RC Cola, malts, and milkshakes. I normally stick with a cream soda because I can’t imagine finishing a milkshake with the sheer size of the burgers.

    If you want a burger done right and you’re on my side of the beltway- come check out Melt, you won’t be disappointed.

    -Missy Isaacs (MKI)

    Editor’s Note: Missy has also written this DCFüd article about Johnnie Walker.

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