J. Wellington Wimpy would be proud: word is that Z-Burger will be handing out free hamburgers to customers on days after the Dow Jones Industrial Average loses 500 points or more. more ›

This afternoon, President Barack Obama rewarded his staff for their hard work during the recent debt ceiling negotiations by treating them to lunch at Spike Mendelsohn's Good Stuff Eatery. more ›

Tough news for those of you who were hoping to do a little bit of gambling while you wandered outside to pick up a truck lunch this afternoon: the D.C. Lottery's Lucky Lottery Mobile, slated to have its first run at Farragut Square today, has some "technical difficulties" and won't be appearing as scheduled. more ›

Have you ever been out to lunch at one of the various food trucks which roam around the city and thought that the one thing which would make your midday meal complete is a scratch-off lottery ticket? Yeah, me neither. But that's not stopping the D.C. Lottery from hopping on the mobile retail bandwagon. more ›

UPDATE: After some confusion about the deal among Ben's staff, it appears as if they are indeed giving out totally free half-smokes to those who donate blood today. more ›

You know those people who take the entire week off before Christmas? Yeah, we hate them too. But you know what those people miss out on? Free stuff, like lunches from Chop't. Take that, vacationeers! more ›

Ready? Go! Here, we'll even get it started. "Vince, we've been here 20 minutes and you're still deliberating over what you want for lunch. With Adrian, he just showed up and blurted out 'CHILI DOG' and next thing you know we're at Ben's Chili Bowl. He didn't even ask what I wanted or if I cared." more ›

D.C. Mayor-elect Vince Gray, fresh off an invigorating 15-hour legislative hearing, is scheduled to start eating lunch with President Barack Obama any second now. The President, who last met with Gray at a Washington Mystics game in August, invited the District's executive-to-be to the White House last month. The meeting is in a private dining room and closed to the press, so we're left curious what the two will discuss. more ›

President Barack Obama, who is no doubt hurting after Republicans grabbed control of the House of Representatives last night, will apparently grab lunch with D.C. Mayor-elect Vince Gray on December 1. Obama remained mum on the District's mayoral election throughout the heated campaign, refusing to endorse Mayor Adrian Fenty. Some pundits had been curious as to what kind of relationship the President would have with Gray -- the Mayor-elect reached out to Obama shortly after he won the Democratic primary. Let the speculation over whether Gray will be able to coax support for D.C. voting rights out of the Commander-in-Chief begin! more ›

Look, I'm not going to lie to you: today has been one of the slowest days of the summer, news-wise. There hasn't been nearly enough to satiate the news itch of a city of people who have spent the better part of the last two weeks wondering if a tree would crash through their home or if they'd be incinerated by huge plumes of flame shooting up from underneath the sidewalks. more ›

Happy National Chili Dog Day! more ›

The old saw is true that "there's no such thing as a free lunch." But at least for today, the money you spend can go to a good cause. As part of their opening festivities, Roti Mediterranean Grill (1747 Pennsylvania Ave. NW) is giving away free lunches, but requesting donations be made to D.C. Central Kitchen. The non-profit trains formerly homeless men and women how to cook, using donated surplus food to feed other hungry individuals, as well as providing catering services to some local charter schools. The Roti promotion runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and includes a sandwich, salad or Mediterranean plate plus fountain beverage. Rules stipulate that you must be in line by 2 p.m. to take advantage of the deal. more ›

What does BGR stand for? Though it could easily be booger, in this case it's burger, which is what you'll get for free if you go to a local BGR The Burger Joint today with the letters "inked" on any body part. And yes, they can just be written on your hand with a ballpoint pen. more ›

Another D.C. Restaurant Week is upon us. Three course lunches and dinners are on offer for $20.09 and $35.09, respectively. It’s an event that’s either loved or loathed by dining out enthusiasts. Restaurants cling to the promotion as way to get butts in seats during the peak of the slow season. Some diners are grateful for the bargains and excuse to try somewhere new, while RW haters out there feel rather strongly about their amateur hour complaints. more ›

Last winter, four co-workers canceled on me for Restaurant Week lunch in the course of one morning. Instead of moping and microwaving some soup, I headed to TenPenh’s bar, just steps from my office, for lunch on my own. This Restaurant Week, I’ve reveled in the art of solo midday meals. Reservations, coordination, and flaky friends are not needed. Free seats at the bar are almost always plentiful, though last week, I could have also had my pick of tables. I found several empty seats at most every dining room I visited—perhaps a function of the stumbling economy—regardless of what OpenTable had to say. Show up after 1 or 1:30, especially at a larger dining room, and you’ll likely never have a problem getting seated anywhere you'd like. more ›

We missed this when it happened a couple of weeks ago, but is it really ever too late to point and laugh at New Yorkers? We didn't think so. So, people are probably aware that Five Guys franchises are proliferating across the Eastern U.S. like nuclear weapons in central Asia. The greasy, peanut-laden fingers of our locally born burger stand have spread as far as Delafield, Wisconsin; Nashville, Tennessee; and Miami, Florida. They've even broken... more ›

By DCist contributor Elisabeth Grant D.C. can be an expensive place to eat lunch. A meal from Cosi will set you back $8, any sit-down place is at least twice as much that, and even if you're just going for coffee, a grande pumpkin spice latte (the most delicious beverage on the planet) will put you out over $4. While many of the folks who work on or around the Hill, like those with expense... more ›

Construction of the temporary building at Eastern Market has begun, though somewhat behind schedule. The Examiner reports that the estimated opening date of the temporary building that will house the South Market vendors has been pushed back to mid-August, even though Mayor Fenty promised the vendors they'd have a new home by the end of July. According to the article, delays in construction have been caused by delays in manufacturing of the steel for the... more ›

Post by DCist staff writer Gayle Putrich It’s great to see the paper removed from the huge plate glass window of Old Town’s landmark Majestic Café, and even better to walk through the door and still get that welcoming, neighborhood diner vibe. And while I had a great time at my visit back to the un-fussy institution, I fear I may have jumped the gun a little in showing up so soon after opening. Cathal... more ›

The Capital Fringe Festival gets started in earnest today, with offerings all over town. Highlights include sci-fi dating, middle school antics, Canadian exports, songs for the deaf, a day-long performance piece, and spoonbending. It could be a little overwhelming if DCist weren't here to guide you through it, no? So before we get into it, let us first introduce OUR AWESOME FRINGE FESTIVAL MAP, which details the locations of all Fringe venues, by date. Special thanks to DCist Tom for putting that together. You can go directly to all of DCist's coverage of Fringe here. more ›

If your lunch hour is long enough for you to duck out for a pork shoulder sandwich at a Tuesday Galileo Grill or grab a seat and a crabcake at Market Lunch, you may want to consider booking a reservation at the Warehouse Theater’s Monthly Lunch Program today. Rather than fight the crowds at the Dubliner, Fado, or any other Irish pub for that matter, you can book a seat for the $15 Traditional Irish... more ›

Almost 43 years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. As his commanding stage presence showed, he was a man of boundless energy — enough to foster a national fervor for racial equality. But where exactly did he get all that energy? Was Wheaties the Breakfast of Civil Rights Champions? No, King liked soul food — at the very least, "not something like... more ›

By DCist Music Contributor Justin Kielsgard. The name Greenland refers not only to the world's largest island, which floats around in the North Atlantic, but to arguably the District's most underrated rock band. Like the territory of Greenland, this trio is quite misunderstood. Greenland the island isn't green. It's tundra, covered in ice. And Greenland the band isn't just another three-piece with a gig, but a band on the rise. Blending British Invasion-era pop and... more ›

Labor Day is just around the corner, a time of relaxation, barbecues, final trips to the beach, heavy traffic and...dozens of plays crammed into one weekend? more ›

DCist reported a few weeks ago that Saturday breakfast service at the Market Lunch in Eastern Market was ending--and judging by the reactions of DCist readers and forum members over at eGullet, no one was happy about the decision. Well, good news for all you fans of blueberry pancakes and "The Brick": weekend breakfasts at the Market Lunch are back. Both The Hill (fourth item) and Roll Call report that Tom Glasgow, who runs the Market Lunch, has reversed his earlier decision and decided to bring the service back. He reportedly received a wave of phone calls and emails after the decision, which went into effect Jan. 8. Roll Call reports (subsc.) that:

[Glasgow's] original decision to end the breakfast stemmed from concerns over labor costs and various logistical problems. “It’s very labor intensive so we thought we might try to eliminate it.” In hindsight, Glasgow said, “My immediate remedy was a dumb idea.”

We hope you had a good weekend. This photo was taken at Meridian Hill Park, looking south from a stairway leading to 16th Street. Or should we say Malcolm X Park? (Meridian Hill Park was once rechristened as Malcolm X Park. While that name is still in use, do you think the gentrification and development in the surrounding neighborhoods will eventually cause the Malcolm X name to disappear? Feel free to post your thoughts... more ›

Alert DCist readers pointed us to the news that the Market Lunch, a staple of Eastern Market, has ceased weekend breakfast service. No reason other than possible fatigue has been cited. more ›