Steakhouse in D.C. open on a July Sunday Night

My brothers and I go to a different city every year to see the Cubs. The tradition has evolved to having a steak dinner at a place unique to the city (Metropolitan Grill in Seattle, Hereford House in K.C.).

Not being the most sophisticated, we have used the ads in airline magazines as references for the most part.

This year, we are going to Washington, D.C., and the only time we can go for dinner is Sunday night.

Any suggestions? We like to go casual, as we will likely be coming from the ballpark, but are open to more formal suggestions.

Thanks.

Joe Blough wrote:My brothers and I go to a different city every year to see the Cubs. The tradition has evolved to having a steak dinner at a place unique to the city (Metropolitan Grill in Seattle, Hereford House in K.C.).

Not being the most sophisiticated, we have used the ads in airline magazines as references for the most part.

This year, we are going to Washington, D.C., and the only time we can go for dinner is Sunday night.

Any suggestions? We like to go casual, as we will ikely be coming from the ballpark, but are open to more formal suggestions.

Thanks.

(Just a few caveats - - I haven't been to all of these spots and moved from D.C. to Chicago in late '07. I haven't checked if these spots are open on Sundays. I'll leave it to you to check on the restaurants of interest . . .)

With so many diners on expense accounts, D.C. has plenty of steak spots for a smallish city.

Rays the Steaks in nearby Arlington is supposed to be awesome. I think it's pretty casual, but am not sure if baseball attire is acceptable. That's where I'd go.

The most old-school steak spot is D.C. is the Prime Rib. They used to require jackets for men - - Don't know if they still do. Definitely stuffy. It was known as a place men could go to meet women of a certain type.

I enjoyed a few meals at Charlie Palmer Steak, even though it's not a local D.C. spot. Elegant, modern, great service. It's right near the Capitol Building and offers some nice nighttime views. You wouldn't need a jacket, but it's definitely at least business casual. I wouldn't wear jeans.

Another non-local, but good, spot downtown is BLT Steak. It's a bit more casual than Charlie Palmer. I think you could get away with jeans and a nice shirt.

And, another non-local is Bobby Van's. I went once, but didn't love it.

Sam & Harry's, a D.C. institution, is pretty good, but I haven't been in many years. Lots of expense account types. Great apple pie.

There are the usual big chains, too - - Morton's, Capitol Grille, the Palm, Ruth's Chris, Smith & Wollensky, etc.

Have a safe trip,
Ronna

Ray's the Steaks is the best priced, most casual, and frankly the best food out of all of those. I feel like I've eaten at every single steakhouse in DC at some point in time for work when we lived there. Ray's was always my go to. You'll be fine in baseball attire on Sunday. Be prepared for a wait, however. (It's worth it). Bonus- it's right off the orange line metro. Take the green line from the park to L'enfent Plaza (that's heading the direction of Green Belt) then take the Orange line to Courthouse (that's towards Vienna) and walk to Ray's.

jpschust wrote:Ray's the Steaks is the best priced, most casual, and frankly the best food out of all of those. I feel like I've eaten at every single steakhouse in DC at some point in time for work when we lived there. Ray's was always my go to. You'll be fine in baseball attire on Sunday. Be prepared for a wait, however. (It's worth it). Bonus- it's right off the orange line metro. Take the green line from the park to L'enfent Plaza (that's heading the direction of Green Belt) then take the Orange line to Courthouse (that's towards Vienna) and walk to Ray's.

Don't know how up-to-date your info is, but I understand that at some point Ray's both moved and started taking reservations.

Ronna

REB wrote:

jpschust wrote:Ray's the Steaks is the best priced, most casual, and frankly the best food out of all of those. I feel like I've eaten at every single steakhouse in DC at some point in time for work when we lived there. Ray's was always my go to. You'll be fine in baseball attire on Sunday. Be prepared for a wait, however. (It's worth it). Bonus- it's right off the orange line metro. Take the green line from the park to L'enfent Plaza (that's heading the direction of Green Belt) then take the Orange line to Courthouse (that's towards Vienna) and walk to Ray's.

Don't know how up-to-date your info is, but I understand that at some point Ray's both moved and started taking reservations.

Ronna

The move is represented here, not entirely sure about reservations.

You may also want to visit the Don Rockwell forum. It's sort of a DC version of LTH. I found the site helpful when planning my trip to DC a few years ago.

I had dinner at Ray's the Steaks (the new Arlington location) which impressed me with the excellence of everything but the steak and the rather generic decor. Mind you the steaks (or stakes: Raise the Steaks) were quite good, but at $29 couldn't compare with the truly astonishing cuts at Luger's or the other top (pricey) establishment with their richness and complexity of taste. However, the rolls were fantastic, the creamed spinach was astonishing, and the mashed potatoes were real. I didn't care for the room (although I gather the old roadhouse was something else again). And at the price point, the steaks were great, but often you pay twice as much for steaks that are 125% as good.

GAF wrote:I had dinner at Ray's the Steaks (the new Arlington location) which impressed me with the excellence of everything but the steak and the rather generic decor. Mind you the steaks (or stakes: Raise the Steaks) were quite good, but at $29 couldn't compare with the truly astonishing cuts at Luger's or the other top (pricey) establishment with their richness and complexity of taste. However, the rolls were fantastic, the creamed spinach was astonishing, and the mashed potatoes were real. I didn't care for the room (although I gather the old roadhouse was something else again). And at the price point, the steaks were great, but often you pay twice as much for steaks that are 125% as good.

For those following- keep in mind that $29 includes your sides and whatnot which is pretty unusual for a steak place. FWIW, I find the meat on par with Luger's, but I don't consider Luger's the end all and be all of steak.

jpschust wrote:For those following- keep in mind that $29 includes your sides and whatnot which is pretty unusual for a steak place.

That is exactly right. So when you realize that you are getting rolls, potatoes, and spinach for that $29, you can figure what the wholesale price of that steak will be. They do a great job of sourcing (and cooking) a very good quality steak, but the restaurant is not a charity, and they are going to miss out on the very best steaks there are available. That's the way of the world. But it is a terrific deal for very fine - if not transformative - steak.

GAF wrote:

jpschust wrote:For those following- keep in mind that $29 includes your sides and whatnot which is pretty unusual for a steak place.

That is exactly right. So when you realize that you are getting rolls, potatoes, and spinach for that $29, you can figure what the wholesale price of that steak will be. They do a great job of sourcing (and cooking) a very good quality steak, but the restaurant is not a charity, and they are going to miss out on the very best steaks there are available. That's the way of the world. But it is a terrific deal for very fine - if not transformative - steak.

I'm not sure they miss out on much of anything- look at the other steakhouses in dc- there are just tons operating at the higher price point with insanely great prime steaks, but there's not much in DC that caters to those on a relatively smaller budget.