Washington DC

Whoops, I really waited until the last minute to post this! I'm taking my son to Virginia for a couple of campus visits, and we will be spending Sunday and Monday in Washington DC. On Monday our itinerary has us spending all day around the Mall- visiting the Capitol, a couple of the Smithsonian museums, and of course the numerous memorials. Can anyone recommend some places in that area to stop for lunch and dinner, since we'll be on foot? Not looking for anything fancy or pricey, just don't want chains or fast food (or Italian, since I don't like it).

[Robin Garr]

Alanna, this may be dubious, as I used to spend a lot of time in DC during the '90s when I worked for a national non-profit, but not much since then. At that time, though, and I believe still, Washington's mini-Chinatown was clusterd on H Street, mostly between 5th and 6th, near the Gallery Square Metro station. That's very convenient to the Mall, just a block or two north of the Smithsonian. Lots of good places there then. The names may have changed, but I expect it's still worth a try.

Great, thank you, Robin!

[Robin Garr]

Also back in that day, "The Old Post Office Building" in the same general neighborhood used to have a really good food court, large and with a lot of interesting local shops, not just the Mickey D's and their kin.

I hope some folks with more recent experience than the '90s will jump in, though!