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Oyster po' boy with coleslaw and fries. (Photo by jjgardner3, used under a Creative Commons license.)
The restaurant is named after Eatonville, FL, one of the first all African-American towns to be incorporated following the Emancipation Proclamation, and childhood home of Harlem Renaissance author Zora Neale Hurston. The town was immortalized in her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston has her own connections to D.C., having attended Howard University in the 1920s. Eatonville the restaurant manages to marry the vibrant spirit of U Street while simultaneously channeling its namesake's southern roots.
The atmosphere is decidedly eclectic -- the walls are covered in eye-popping murals of Hurston, rendered in a funky mix of graffiti and bold, folk art styles. Antique chandeliers hang from a pressed tin ceiling, and corner of the bar features a picket fence and rocking chairs. The clientele is equally mixed -- a tourist couple, a birthday party of twenty-something girls, an older gentleman dining by himself. It doesn't seem like all these dissimilar elements should work, but somehow they do.
What is even more exciting is the food. In the past, I have been overwhelmed by the crowds and underwhelmed by the food at Busboys and Poets, so I approached my meal at Eatonville with some skepticism. However, I was delighted by excellent quality of the meal and the smooth, friendly service. Chef Rusty Holman has crafted a menu that features elevated Southern and Cajun classics at reasonable prices, including hush puppies, fried green tomatoes, gumbo, and po' boys. Sides include collard greens, mac and cheese, and Andouille sausage and sweet potato hash.
The highlight of our meal was the cheese tart appetizer ($7), a juxtaposition of gooey aged cheddar and sweet Vidalia onions and roasted tomatoes. A pile of microgreens, cilantro, and parsley oil cut through the richness of the cheese, creating a mouthful of flavors as bright as the paintings on the wall.
The oyster po' boy ($9) comes stuffed with fat, cornmeal-crusted oysters, lettuce, tomatoes, and a "spicy" remoulade. Unfortunately, the soft bread sucked most of the kick out of the remoulade, a problem that I tried to remedy with some extra Tabasco sauce. The po' boy is served with creamy coleslaw and super crispy, skin-on fries.
We also sampled the fish and grits ($16), made that day with catfish. Like the oysters, the fish had a light cornmeal breading and was moist and mild. It was accompanied by creamy, cheesy jalapeño grits, tender collard greens, and a creamy tomato sauce. Jalapeño fans may be disappointed that the grits are not spicy; if you like the heat, you'll have to add it yourself. On the upside, you can add heat either Tabasco or Texas Pete hot sauces.
We closed out the meal with a classic blackberry peach cobbler that was just a little too sugary, but still altogether enjoyable: juicy, warm fruit and cinnamon topped with ultra-buttery biscuits and vanilla ice cream. Overall, the kitchen does an excellent job balancing well-executed soul food with a few modern twists. Eatonville also gets high marks in the front of the house, from the warm reception by the hostesses to our waiter remembering exactly how much sweetener we liked in our iced tea. You'd never guess this was a restaurant that opened less than a month ago.
In this economy, it is refreshing to find a restaurant that is a great value, not just in terms of the food, but for the service and atmosphere as well. Eatonville manages to marry history and tradition with cool and modern, in a gracious, unpretentious manner.
Eatonville
2121 14th Street
Washington, DC 20009
202-387-9672
Metro: U Street
Hours:
Lunch - 11:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Dinner - 5 p.m. - 12 a.m.
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You've got to try the Crab Burger ($12) too. In my opinion, it's the best crab sandwich in the city. I've got to go back and try that cheese tart. Sounds delicious!
I would rather have soft bread that sucked up some of the remoulade, than stale rock-hard $h!tcake bread that leaves me spitting blood and shreds of upper mouth skin. The latter seems to be more prevalent in DC, courtesy bakers who don't know WTF they're doing.
And while the po' boy sounds like a good deal, if that photo is any indication, thse portions look about the size of the iPhone next to it. When it comes to po' boys, I tend to want them the size of an old-timey brick cellphone, if not my forearm.
Actually, the photo just makes the fries look enormous; the sandwich is actually quite big.
You sure that isn't a plate of fries with a po' boy on the side?
(Note to photographer: composition. A shot that makes the sides look like the mains is not good marketing.)
I don't think the photographer's goal was to market the dish, but yeah, I would've turned that dish around for that pic. The effect of fries-as-main-course is further enhanced 'cause of the narrow depth of field with sharpest focus on the fries.
I concur with the write-up of the bread - not so much. It is THE most important aspect of the sandwich behind the meat. Don't use subway-type rolls, use something (1) thin, (2) crusty on the top, (3) soft in the middle, and (4) thin thin thin. The meat should be thicker than the bread!!!! A minor point though - the food is overall quite good.
I'm excited about this! Although a-fearin' that it'll become as popular as Busboys & Poets, which I love but stay away from because it's always crowded.
Them french fried potaters are making me hungry. Hmmmm.
The photographer got it right. Those french fries look awesome.
Yes, I have a strange hankering for fries right now.
And Hooters.
I just hope that the service is better than the Busboys across the street and at CityVista. But why would it be if they can't get it right at those two establishments?
I stopped by the see the murals while they were in process. Good looking stuff. http://www.juxtaexposed.com/2009/03/12/murals-to-zora-albus-cavus-eatonville/
So do they have at least thirty televisions behind the bar? Because nothing helps my digestion quite like watching a bunch of millionaires in uniforms fighting over a ball. At least at Hooters I can do bong hits.
This place is...ok. Brightwood Bistro up on Georgia Ave. & Missouri Ave they have a similar menu, and the atmosphere is just chill. Eatonville just doesn't have it all. The fish & grits at Brightood bistro is done with fried tilapia, and gumbo with creamy grits, shrimp and crawdads. Yes, please!!