From @helenvholmes to you 💖
I'm a Northern Virginia native, so you might find that this list is sort of skewed in a way—all the cheap eats are in NOVA, and the district list mostly has fancier places.
There are a lot of places on this list that I've actually never been to—I'm in and out of DC a lot because all of my childhood friends are in that area, so this list is always expanding. Places I can't personally vouch for are marked with a ⛳️.
Get a permanent metro card for $5. If you're living there and commuting every day, make sure to register it. That way if you lose it you won't lose the money you have on the card.
Another metro note: etiquette is to stand on the right on the elevators, walk on the left. People will be passive aggressive a**holes about this. 🙃
The Meetup community is pretty strong generally—there are groups of people learning to code, learning to build robots, going to art museums, the whole nine yards. See what's out there, great way to make new friends.
Makes for a good Saturday wandering around, spending money you shouldn't be spending, walking down by the river, and getting a nice meal. It's actually my favorite this to do solo.
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Georgetown Cupcakes: Of Food Channel fame. They're actually really good.
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Baked & Wired: I know, another cupcake place. If the line's too insane at Georgetown I actually like this one better 💞
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Shear Madness/The Kennedy Center: You can often get tickets to see Shear Madness pretty inexpensively as it's an incredibly long-running play. Pretty fun as every time the ending changes based on the audience suggestions.
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WOD Trail: This runs through NOVA and into the district by the Kennedy Center and open air volleyball courts. Always a beautiful walk and if you enjoy volleyball this is the place in the district to find it.
I used to work up here at Canvas (they sometimes have fun events).
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Kramerbooks & Afterwords Café: I can't tell you how much I love this place 💞 A bookstore/restaurant that stays open into the wee hours of the morning (a rareity in DC) I've many fond memories coming here after dancing or going to a concert and eating cake with friends, and meandering the bookshelves to find interesting things.
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⛳️ Firehook Bakery: Another, "a friend told me it's great". On the list.
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Krispy Kreme: Wow. Ain't nothing like a warm krispy kreme.
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DGS: This place is delicious. If you are craving latkes, bagels with lox, matzo... this is where you should come and eat it.
Colombia Heights has really gotten quite bougie—mostly because a big ol' Target moved in. Also important: there's a 24-hour IHOP here.
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Colony Club: Easily my favorite café around and worth traveling the distance to to hang out in for the day.
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⛳️ The Coupe: My friend tells me this place has really, really good cocktails.
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iStrategyLabs: Their office is up here too. I bring it up because around Halloween Vox Media has done a fun design party called Pixel Punch that is pretty fun.
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The White House: I mean, duh. For a long time after 9/11 tours had been stopped by now that it's possible again you should go go go.
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Founding Farmers: This isn't quite in Downtown but close enough since it's by the metro stop you'd get off at. My experiences here have been hit or miss but it's very popular. My good experience: at 3pm on a Monday. My bad experience(s): at their peak hours. YMMV.
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⛳️ Astro Doughnuts: This place opened with some fanfare. It looks amazing.
Walking around the Mall is gorgeous—Monument on one end, Congress on the other, and a ton of free museums in between. It has almost no shade, though, and in the summer it's wicked hot—don't forget water and sunscreen if you're going to hang out here for the day. There are obviously a ton of things I'm leaving out on this list—The Renwick, Museum of Natural History, Library of Congress, American History Museum—they're all worth visiting and you could spend a lifetime going in and out of free museums, so I've just pulled out my favorite ways to spend a day.
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The National Gallery: My favorite way to spend a day alone is to wander around here and grab lunch down either by the fountain or at the Garden Café, which always feels mildly extravagent.
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The Hirshorn: If you like modern art, this gallery is fabulous. Sitting outside on a beautiful day with a book or your thoughts by the reflection pool makes for a nice afternoon.
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Congress: One of those, "I'm an American, I should check this out" bucket list items.
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⛳️ National Museum of African American History & Culture: Getting in is really, really tough—lines form very early in the morning to see it. I hear it's beautiful.
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⛳️ Jazz in the Garden: On my list of things to do—seems popular and bougie and I think you're allowed to bring closed containers while listening to free music. People say you gotta go early, though, or all the good spots are taken.
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⛳️ Comet Ping Pong: This place was really popular when I was in school as a good joint for pizza and hanging out playing arcade games. I believe this is also the one and the same as the Hillary scandal.
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Le Chat Noir: Good French food.
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⛳️ Congressional Cemetery: I hear they have a $10 wine night and it's also a dog park. 😍
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⛳️ Jazz at the Yards: Free on Fridays, I hear this is an alternative to Jazz in the Garden (and potentially better, as Jazz in the Garden fills up pretty heavily and you have to get there so early for it).
- The Arboretum: You need a car to get out here but it makes for a really pleasant afternoon. They have a walk where you can see every state tree in the country and a beautiful little bonsai garden.
- Shakespeare Free for All: A box-office pick-up scenario but you can get free tickets for Shakespeare plays during the summer if you show up at a certain time. Nosebleed seats, but a fun, free way to spend an afternoon.
Pretty hopping area to party and find drinks, I hear.
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⛳️ The Country Club: Good bar with mini golf inside and cheap drinks.
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Union Market: New indoor market that's full of yuppies and overpriced meats, cheeses, wines, etc. Wonderful place to get a beer or ice cream, but I wouldn't recommend doing any real shopping here.
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NoMa Summer Screen: Free movies outside. Gotta bring your own blankets/chairs, though.
It burned down a few years ago and has been rebuilt to be more than it was even before. Makes for a good afternoon walking around, eating too much, and looking at vintage stuff you don't need. There's also a Ted's Bulletin in this area (see below for me raving about poptarts.)
There isn't a whole ton in this area besides the zoo—it's a little sleepy, bordered by expensive bougie apartments—but the Zoo itself is worth a visit as it's completely free. Night of the Living Zoo has always looked like fun even if a bit pricey.
My side of the river. Once you wander off the Orange Line you need to have a car, realistically, to get to many of these places—but they're still very much worth checking out.
Stuff you should really try and eat because it's good and cheap around here:
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Vietnamese (vietnamese coffee, banh mí, phở, bún, "fish in clay pot"—ugh, can't choose a favorite)
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Korean (BBQ: bulbogi being my fav, bing soo, boba [bubble tea])
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Ethiopian (I don't know what anything is called but it's all good and all served on spongey bread that you use to then eat the food)
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Afghan (kabobs)
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Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe: This is a German bakery and it's glorious. Not really a sit-down place but great for stopping in, getting some pastries and coffee to take home (and some petit fours you don't need for later).
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Honey Pig: This is my favorite Korean BBQ spot (for now). Large tvs play kpop music videos and you eat family style around big hot plates (eat the bulbogi and the seafood pancakes!). Afterward, you can either check out Breeze (see below) or go do karaoke.
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Il Mee: This is the late-night version of Honey Pig. Also good, buffet style, and good for huge groups of people because everyone can pay separately (it's always $12/person).
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Breeze Bakery: a Korean/French fusion café that stays open really late. A lot of my food shortlist items (boba and bing soo) are served here.
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Tiffany's Bakery: A Latin American bakery. Pretty much every quinceanera you will ever go to will have one of the fruit-topped cakes from here. I love their version of a mille-feuille (Napoleon) which is creamier than the French version.
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Tony Moly: A Korean beauty store that sells face masks, really cute packaged makeup, and other stuff you don't need but ugh you want it.
There's a new outdoor mall here that's super bougie, has free yoga and a farmer's market outside in the summer, a super expensive movie theatre where you can buy beer while you watch your movie, an entire store devoted to olive oil... etc. It has also been home to my favorite $13-price-point Vietnamese restaurant for years and that's worth its weight in gold, honestly.
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Ted's Bulletin: Homemade poptarts in a old-timey styled diner. Yessssss.
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Four Sister's: Aforementioned Vietnamese restaurant. Fun fact: one of the four sisters is a florist, so all those beautiful bouquets are done in-family. ORDER THE COCONUT JUICE.
A young area with a lot of bars, a Whole Foods, a Container Store, and an Apple store, so you get the gist.
- Cava Mezze: Unlimited brunch buffet on the weekends and it is really, really good. You can set up shop eating waffles and mimosas here for hours. When it's not American-style brunch this is normally a Greek tapas-style restaurant that is super delicious.
I have this as its own section, as I often bounce between these to check out their upcoming shows and they're all over the place:
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The Black Cat: A small joint that has a more eclectic offering.
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Iota Club and Café: In Clarendon, has smaller bands. Good for a chill night out with a beer and a live band you haven't heard of before.
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9:30 Club: More mainstream bands will come and play here.
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Fillmore: More mainstream bands will come and play here, same as the 9:30 Club.