Washington area restaurants will offer what amounts to a November restaurant week from November 17-21. The promotion, restaurant reservation website OpenTable.com’s Appetite Stimulus Plan, includes 3-course fixed price menus—$24 for lunch and $35 for dinner—from over 75 Washington area restaurants. The concept and cost is for the most part in line with the standard biannual DC Restaurant Week promotion. In August’s RW, dinner prices cost $35.08, up from a $30 price point. RW lunches were......

Not ever having had the luxury of taking anyone to an expense account meal at Taberna Del Alabardero—and having failed on more than one occasion to convince my boss that he should take our staff there for a holiday party or birthday celebration—I chose the Old-World Spanish cuisine restaurant for last week's Restaurant Week pilgrimage. Taking almuerzo there Sunday was a decision that proved delightful at nearly every turn, from the grinning, attentive service to......

Three or five? This is the question you'll be asking yourself if you have reservations at Vidalia this week. In addition to the standard three course dinner for $35.08, Vidalia is also offering five courses for $50.08--and no upcharges. That is a mere $10 a course for a restaurant that normally charges $15 for starters and $30 for entrees. However, a Restaurant Week deal is only as good as the menu the restaurant elects to......

Restaurant Week at Oyamel is a loud, crowded, and chaotic affair. On Tuesday night, the tables were full and the waitstaff already looked haggard at 7 p.m. Our waitress's explanation of the Restaurant Week menu was barely audible over the din; luckily, the instructions are also printed at the top of the menu. For $35.08, diners can choose three "antojito" (Mexican-style tapas) courses, one taco, and dessert. The selection is decent - each antojito course......

Restaurant Week is risky business. In order to secure a spot at the best restaurants during the prime 7 p.m. dinner hour, you'll have to book two to three weeks in advance. But even the most careful planning and meticulous research will not guarantee a perfect meal. Like the best things in life, Restaurant Week is high risk, high reward. Which is to say, when it's good, it's really good; and when it's bad, it's......

Dish of the Week: Street sweets Where: Columbia Heights If you can't get to the fair for fried treats, there are plenty of unique city options to satisfy a sweet tooth. The D.C. food cart scene hasn't really picked up as much as everyone had been hoping. But if you head to Columbia Heights, you might stumble upon some more interesting street food. Wander around, and you're likely to find a fruit/vegetable vendor, and not......

As of yet, we haven’t heard of any last minute reprieves for Dr. Dremo’s, which plans to close its doors in the early hours Sunday morning. So come 2 a.m, you’re done downing your last ale in your favorite chair or stool next to that weird kitschy decoration you’ve always liked. But you can come back one last time, on Monday night at 7 p.m., for a chance to take your own piece of Dr.......

Restaurant Week or Restaurant Weak? It happens twice a year. Whether you love it or hate it, it's the Restaurant Week breakdown. Who brought it out like a champ, and who deserves the title of chump? Some DCist staffers hit up a few spots: Spezie I just had a pretty good RW lunch at Spezie. The raddichio salad had a nice balance between the bitter greens and walnuts and cheese. Braised lamb with fennel was......

Another D.C. Restaurant Week has come and gone. As much as we like to complain about over-crowded restaurants with “dumbed down” menus, there is still a part of us that finds it alluring, so we still take the opportunity to see what restaurants have to offer. Among the places we ventured out to, there were some hits and a few misses. One place that really hit the right notes with us was Viridian in Logan......

Written by DCist contributor Claire Compton Like the classic summer fling, Restaurant Week has officially left us, leaving us with a bittersweet mix of emotions. The lucky ones are gushing about that new restaurant they discovered and how they were wooed with an impossibly fantastic meal that didn't drain their wallet. Others weren't so lucky. They began the week with a wide-eyed idealism, believing this meal was going to be the one, only to be......

We DCists and our readers have tested a pretty wide selection of this summer's Restaurant Week participants, and we've come to a conclusion: Restaurant Week is at once awesome and disappointing. In sum, Washington's Restaurant Week is a two-faced Janus bastard. In order to have a good restaurant week experience, one must put in a little work. There are restaurants who do RW that are worth a visit, those that completely phone it in, and......

As far as I know, I am the only DCist Food and Drink staffer who does not have Restaurant Week reservations. It wasn't because I forgot or because I signed up too late to score a reservation to my preferred destinations. Unlike Adam, I am not a big fan of Restaurant Week, and it was a conscious decision to skip out on what might be considered prime time dining for a cheapskate like me. First......

As we've told you already, it's Restaurant Week here in Washington, which means those of us left in town can eat three course meals at some of the best restaurants around for $20.07 at lunch and $30.07 at dinner. As a Restaurant Week proponent, I view this unofficial dining holiday as a chance to try out places I've never been, and think restaurateurs should use the time as an opportunity to reach out to people......

Last Chance for A.V. Sad, we know. Get it before it becomes a half-empty office building. Restaurant Week Starts August 6 There are a few good things about Washington in August. First, it's so damned hot and soupy that there are about 100 times fewer tourists. Second, Congress leaves town and tons of governmental types take vacation, so town slows down considerably, leaving rush hour slightly less enraging. Third, it's when the summer version of......

By Amanda and Ben Page We were on a budget last time, but that got tiresome quickly. Besides, how could we resist the allure of Restaurant Week? So, we gathered up some friends and checked out crowd-favorite Mie N Yu in Georgetown. Of course, the great thing about dining out with multiple people is that we're able to try a number of items off the menu. Hands down, our favorite protein item was the Miso......

Restaurant Week is becoming the must have fashion accessory for the D.C. area this winter. Everyone’s got to have one. Case in point: Silver Spring, a long-suffering suburban “edge city” that has been on the upswing for the last few years is officially entering the fray to show off its shiny new dining scene February 5-11. THIS JUST IN: The price for a 2-course lunch will be just $12, while a 3-course dinner will be......

We here at DCist wonder why they schedule Restaurant Week immediately after the Thanksgiving-Hanukah- Christmas-Kwanzaa season of fat-assedness. It's like D.C.'s restaurant community is our collective grandma: "Washington! My God, you look so gaunt! What in the world are they feeding you? It's high time you started having three course dinners after three course lunches. I mean you're rail thin! Look, your pants are hanging off of you." No Grandma, the pants are saggy because......

With Restaurant Week over, we need another excuse to celebrate. And why not Clinton’s big 6-0? Since he's not too keen on turning the "new 40," we have a duty to live it up for him. DCist proposes a Bill Clinton restaurant crawl on which we'll visit his regular D.C. haunts. Lucky for us, his taste for greasy, down-home grub means we won't need to book many reservations through Open Table. Of course there's......

Unless you've been living under the ground next to an aromatic truffle, you know that Restaurant Week is in full swing across the Washington area. If you have been living next to that truffle, Restaurant Week comes twice a year during traditionally quiet dining seasons and lures potential diners into restaurants with $20.06 three-course meals for lunch and $30.06 three-course meals for dinner. According to the word on the street, this Restaurant Week is a......

Inside the House is a DCist feature offering an insider's view of fine dining issues by the hostess at a D.C. restaurant. Her views are strictly her own and do not in any way represent her employer. Monday kicks off Restaurant Week, the biannual promotion when participating restaurants offer three-course lunch and dinner menus for $20 and $30, respectively. Is it a good deal, considering that most participating eateries normally charge around $30 for an......

If Washington seems a little more chatty today, it might be that the results of yesterday's primaries are finally starting to sink in. In the day's biggest race, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), lost to novice Ned Lamont, while Rep. Cynthia McKinney again lost her seat in a runoff election in Georgia. We're of varying opinions on the Lieberman loss, but we can say this much -- please Cynthia, don't go. Pull a Tom DeLay......

I want to love Charlie Palmer Steak. The restaurant's absolutely genial namesake chef is responsible for several outstanding restaurants around the country -- among them the Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg, Calif. and Aureole in New York City and Las Vegas. Young executive chef Bryan Voltaggio is a tremendous talent whose kitchen turns out consistently tasty, season-conscious, non-traditional steakhouse fare. The main dining room offers a stunning view of the Capitol. Not only is its......

Just when we need encouragement to brave the oppressive evening air and go out among the living this summer, instead of ordering bad Chinese takeout again from the comfort of our air-conditioned sofas, along comes the Restaurant Week parade. There is not one, not two, but three chances to get out there in the next month or so and test drive that swanky new place you’ve always wanted to try or the neighborhood favorite you......

We of DCist Food are taking it easy (or at least easier) on the extra-rich, cream-laden, beautifully presented food over the next several days. It seems our epicurean slutiness has come to an end. Let's face it: a week of three-coursing it at D.C.'s best restaurants is a high-speed merge onto the fat-ass freeway. But reminiscing about the best and worst is calorie-free, so here's our chance (and yours) to give a rundown. As far......

Rogue If You Want To, Rogue Around the World Rogue is one of DCist's favorite breweries. Growing up in the part of the country where Rogue is brewed, taking jet boat rides in the brew's namesake river, and searching for agates along the beach where the river meets the Pacific endears the beer to this DCist even more. This is why we're psyched to learn that Tallula is pairing six of the Oregon beers with......

Restaurant Week may be long gone, but memories of Zola's Lobster with Fontina Macaroni and Cheese and Asparagus still linger, for good reason. While a few DCists thought the dish a bit bland, the flavors worked so well together that the dish begged for a second look. For DCist's lobster mac, we decided to increase the content of Fontina in the dish for a more oozy texture and fuller flavor. Rather than cook the lobster......

Restaurant week, Restaurant Week, Restaurant Week. Love it or hate it you’ll likely hear recaps told like war stories for weeks to come. One thing is for certain though; Restaurant Week makes it hard to stay at home and sit on the couch. Multiple trips to D.C.’s finer dining establishments can put a hurting on anyone’s wallet regardless of the fixed $30 dollar price tag (damn wine), making it time to think about cooking a......

Thanks to all the readers who sent us their experiences from Restaurant Week. Your comments -- and others culled from various local contacts -- showed surprising uniformity. It seems that in D.C. there are restaurants that do Restaurant Week right, and some that don't -- with little space in between. A loud chorus of voices, both from e-mail and on DonRockwell's forum, were pleased with the Restaurant Week offerings of Corduroy (memo to the staff......

Tell Us about Your Meals! During a DCist restaurant week dinner last night (yes, we interact in real life as well) we realized that our views and reviews on the food world come from a self-selected group of food watchers both on and offline. But since Restaurant Week offers the opportunity for many more people to check out restaurants they can't normally afford, we thought it would be a good idea to hear the voices......

Writing this column has given us wonderful satisfaction. For the past eight months we’ve been scoping out good eats in top-notch seafood restaurants, swanky wine bars, and even hole in the wall late night dives. These dining experiences have inspired homey simple fare, impressive evening canapés, romantic dinners for two, and even a morning cure for the night that went on too long. Hunting for inspirations, however, has been only half the fun. The......