Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Because of nostalgia is the primary reason to end up there.
I used to go to Filomena pretty routinely about 5-15 years ago and then stopped going entirely as the food started being really inconsistent sometimes. (It used to be Helmut Kohl's favorite restaurant in DC too .... even after he had retired; also, Clinton doesn't end up there like he used to, and not with Helmut Kohl any longer.)
What kind of food do you want and what kind of environment? Whatever you do don't end up eating in the Harbor at Sequoia's.
Originally Posted by
dhammer53
I'm open to just about any type of food. My budget is $100-$125 for both of us.
Trendy is ok. Down and dirty with outstanding food would be better.
No steak places. No pub food.
FYI, I spent time researching just about most of the places listed in this thread. I also read tripadvisor. The only general opinion I can make is that everyone seems to like poorly rated restaurants.
Or, maybe it's Zagats problem.
Also, I'm not married to dinner in Georgetown. And just as an FYI, we're staying in Alexandria's Old Town.
Thanks.
It seems like Zagat's DC 2005 edition used words submitted by me in regard to Filomena.
(It wouldn't be the first time.)
DC restaurants' food ratings in Zagat seem to me more tied to perception about the crowd that goes there and the perception of professional service than necessarily tied to quality of the food as far as I can tell. (Fortunately, that only yields somewhat higher ratings than deserved.) People seem to bounce up the food ratings as price rises too up to a point too.
I'd go with
gleff's recommendation ..... or end up at the typical DC places with sufficiently edible food but more an emphasis on "atmosphere" (of some sort or another) than on food and service.
I've been eating a lamb steak of some sort at Peacock Cafe in Georgetown quite a bit as of late. I don't know exactly why -- it's certainly not the service, nor is it my scene, nor is lamb usually my kind of meat -- but an associate got me hooked to it.