I recently started working from home, so I’ve been hitting a lot more neighborhood places for lunch in a quest to get out of the house. And with the Pope’s visit upon us and the government recommending people telework this week due to traffic of potentially biblical proportions (ha) it seems like a good time for a writeup of some of my favorite options so far. And if you have a favorite, please leave it in the comments!
I’ve been to the Coupe once or twice so far, and they have lunch fare plus breakfast all day, in case you want to pretend it’s brunch. There aren’t really any lunch deals, however (which seems like a common theme among local spots that are open for brunch.)
Coffy Cafe at 3310 14th Street NW is open every day starting at 7 am, and they have some delicious crepes, although they are not the quickest. They’re a decent inexpensive option, too.
Lyman’s Tavern starts serving food at 2 pm with a small menu. I really enjoyed their pulled pork sliders with red cabbage for about $8.
Lou’s City Bar is also open for lunch — on Monday they had a 1/2 price burger deal, but that was just because the Redskins won the day before. My buddy was a fan of his veggie burger, too.
Shanghai Tokyo, the new Asian spot at 1376 Park has a pretty decent lunch special too, but avoid the bubble tea if you’ve trying to save money. I wrote about them a few weeks ago.
Room 11 has lunch options as well — tasty but not inexpensive. Maybe good for a special occasion lunch.
DC Reynolds at 3628 Georgia, El Tio at 14th and Monroe and Dulcinea at 2618 Georgia all have lunch open for lunch too, though I haven’t visited any yet during the week. El Tio seems to have periodic deals for lunch, as yesterday I saw a lunch special of a steak for $10.99, though I think I might fall asleep if I ate a steak and then had to work.
There are also pho options, as both Pho Viet and Pho 14 are open for lunch.
As for places that don’t offer lunch, Mama Chuy, Looking Glass, Wonderland, El Chucho, and the Upshur Street spots are all closed.
Stay tuned for more lunch ventures in the coming weeks!
