Union Market DC Food

I have mentioned before that Union Market DC is a must visit.  Since our first time we have been back for coffee, a drive-in movie, dinner, lunch, and dessert.  This market has everything in a fun/up-scale-ish venue.

Red Apron Butcher is a new-ish local chain that first opened at Union Market in January of 2013 and then opened at Mosaic in Merrifield/Dunn Loring in March, and will soon be followed with a spot at D St NW.  They are known for their antibiotics or hormones free meat, but what I have come to love them for is their sandwich menu.   Their beef and cheddar with beer cheese whiz on a Brioche bun beats an Arby’s roast beef out of the park any day.

If you are looking for a spot to grab a Saturday morning coffee and people watch, Peregrine Espresso is the spot to do it.  I loved my beautiful mocha.

I had walked by Neopol Savory Smokery and actually once stopped the foot-traffic flow on accident because I was distracted by the delicious sandwiches being created.  On a Sunday late-morning I decided I was not going to visit Union Market one more time without trying something from Neopol.

I ordered the smoked salmon with cream cheese, capers, red onion, and tomato on a whole wheat everything bagel.  It was huge and delicious!!  I want one right now.

I had heard about Trickling Springs Creamery but had never actually been by one of their retail locations, so I was excited to see they were a venue at Union Market.  Trickling Springs is a local producer of organic and all-natural ice cream, milk, butter, and cheese located in Chambersburg, PA.  I ordered the cookies and cream and felt just like a little kid as I enjoyed it.

So basically if you haven’t been to Union Market, it is certainly worth a visit!!

Details:

Union Market DC
1309 5th St NE
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 543-5459

Market Hours:
Tues – Fri 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Sat – Sun 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM

Union Market DC

For the last year I have had people telling me about this Union Market north of Florida Ave and driving by the area I saw the old Union Market building and thought these people giving the recommendation to visit must be delusional or an urban pioneer… But finally a coworker set me straight and told m how to find the actual new-ish Union Market which just happens to be set a block back from the area I could see at New York Ave and Florida Ave.

One nice fall Saturday morning I just had to go check this place out. I pulled into the massive parking lot and I was already impressed.

Inside was even more surprising. Everything is modern warehouse like. The restaurants and eateries are of a high tier and everything is clean. It is a different experience from what you would have at Philly’s Reading Terminal or even our beloved Eastern Market.

When you walk in the middle door, a sandwich board shows you what the latest round up of vendors that are populating the market.  The vendors vary from Red Apron Butcher to Peregrine coffee.

Union Market also has events such as drive-in movies and farmers markets.  Check out their website for the latest and greatest.

There is a lot of change to come to this area and Union Market DC is just the beginning of it!

Details:

Union Market DC
1309 5th St NE
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 543-5459

Market Hours:
Wed – Fri 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Sat – Sun 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM

Grand Re-Opening at J&G Steakhouse

J&G Steakhouse at the W Hotel near the White House has certainly been around but they recently had a fabulous face-lift and re-opened with a fresh look at their two story space.

We attended the grand re-opening and I was impressed by the decor. The red, gray, and black is fun but classy, much like the W Hotel.

The food we tried was absolutely delicious…

…and their drink list features many of their J&G’s traditional favorites like their ginger margarita, but also has specials like their French 515, named after their 515 address. (P.S. If you order it call it a French five-one-five.)

Whether you are visiting the area or looking for a drink J&G Steakhouse is worth a visit.  Plus, if you want to go more casual they have a great bar bites menu as well.

Details:

J&G Steakhouse
515 15th St NW
Washington, DC
202.661.2440
Serve: Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, Bar
Price Range: $11.00 – $38.00 (Lunch)   $10.00 – $54.00 (Dinner)   $10.00 – $28.00 (Bar Bites)

Brewery Tour at DC Brau

DC Brau Brewing Company first started pouring in April 2011, and was “Washington DC’s first packing brewery since 1956.”  For my father’s 60^th birthday we decided to take him on a brewery tour at DC Brau’s brewery in NE.  City Dogs Rescue was doing an event at the brewery too, so I was even more excited to go help support.

They usually do tours at 1:00, 2:00, & 3:00 on most Saturdays so we opted to show up just before 2:00 and we were greeted at the door and handed our tasting tickets and pointed to the tasting lines at the front and told there were more beers around the corner.

The first tour ran over a little bit so we enjoyed our free tastings and then were joined by Brandon Skall, one of the founders and CEO at DC Brau.

     

If you are a beer guru then this tour is for you.  Skall takes the entire hour and walks you through the entire process of brewing and packaging their beer.  I was excited to see the pallets and pallets full of cans ready to be filled!

Overall even though the brewery became extremely packed I would say this was a fun, memorable experience.  *Note, the brewery is on the DC/Maryland line in NE and is kind of hard to find.  It is behind the Post Office (which is in a small strip mall) so you will drive down the hill and park.

Details:

DC Brau Brewing Company
3178 Bladensburg Rd NE, Washington, DC 20018 (behind the Post Office)
Serve: Beer & Tours
Price Range:  Free tours & tastings on most Saturdays

 

DC Summer Restaurant Week

It’s that time again! The DC Metro Area’s Restaurant Week starts August 19th and ends the 25th.

So if you are looking to try out some new restaurants you better hurry and make your reservations!  They have 12 pages of restaurants that are available for lunch/dinner, but I try to choose a restaurant we would not typically splurge on, since restaurant week gives such a great deal of 3 lunch courses for $20.13 and 3 dinner courses for $35.13.

Also, if you want to branch out further, Alexandria will have their restaurant week starting August 23rd through September 1st.

They have around 35 restaurants participating from Old Town to our favorite “small town” of Del Ray.

Enjoy!

Drinks at The Graham

I love rooftop anything…patios, bars, restaurants, so when I saw that The Graham Hotel in Georgetown had opened AND they had a rooftop bar it immediately went on our list to visit!  So one Saturday evening (which actually ended up being a little overcast, boohoo) I headed up to check out the surroundings.  First off, I loved the décor of the lobby so it was just a hint that I would probably like the rooftop.  We exited out of the elevator and were greeted by bright furniture and an open bar area.

They have a short list of drinks available, but that evening they did not have the menus available.  Of course I was indecisive on what to get to drink so the bartender offered to make me surprise.  It was delicious!  A strawberry champagne spritzer kind of concoction which was delicious and went down too quickly. But while sipping on my new found addition, we enjoyed all the views that looks over all the rooftops of Georgetown and M Street. (I spy Sprinkles!)

Just a heads up though, the prices of drinks here are certainly at a premium, so unless you won the lottery it’s a great place to go for one or two drinks 🙂

Details:

The Graham Georgetown-Rooftop bar & lounge
1075 Thomas Jefferson St. NW
Washington, DC 20007
202.337.0900
Serve: Drinks
Price Range:  $13.00 – $20.00

Falls Church Restaurant Week

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Restaurant Week seems to be the latest fad…like the cupcakes…the food trucks…the brunch places… but I’m not complaining!  Falls Church, Virginia, is debuting their Restaurant Week starting on Monday, March 18 through Sunday, March 24!  Falls Church is just outside of Arlington for those DC snobs who aren’t as familiar with NoVA 😉  (you know I’m … Continue reading →

Coffee at 7-Eleven

Yes, you might have scoffed at the title of this post, and I wouldn’t normally say to stop by 7-Eleven for coffee, but every Wednesday (through Feb 27) it is a $1 for any size coffee at participating stores.  So if you pass one on the way at work, it might be worth popping in and grabbing a one of their new Brazilian Dark Roast Coffee or a sip of their Hazelnut Coffee.  Plus, I add a splash of their skinny french vanilla on top to make it a treat.  In the very least it is a lot cheaper to get an Extra-Large 7-Eleven coffee than it is to get a tall drip at some of those other coffee shops… 😉

DC Winter Restaurant Week

If you haven’t heard about Restaurant Week, the DC/NOVA area does it twice a year… once in the winter and once in late summer.  It is a great way to try out some high-end restaurants that you wouldn’t normally visit.  Today starts the Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Week Winter 2013 and it runs through February 10th (Sunday).  Awfully tricky of them to stop it just before Valentine’s Day 😉

 

The meals are usually a three-course meal with an appetizer, entree, and dessert.  Lunches are priced at $20.13 and dinners are $35.15 (this does not include drinks or taxes/gratuity).  This winter nearly 240 restaurants around the area are participating from 2941 Restaurant in Falls Church to The Palm in Downtown.  I am planning on doing Chima (a fabulous Brazilian steakhouse)  & Charlie Palmer steakhouse this go around!  So I will be sure to come back with some thoughts and recommendations.

Enjoy the seven days of dining!!

Details:

Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Week (Feb 4-10, 2013)
240 Participating Restaurants
Additional Info: http://www.ramw.org/restaurantweek/
Serve: Lunch & Dinner
Price Range:  $20.13 & $35.13