Until recently, we’d been avoiding popcorn-based confectionery ever since we grazed too hard on one of those tripartite barrels of popcorn at our last office gig. But Kingsbury Chocolates has proved that caramel glazed popcorn can aspire to more than just a supporting role to its orange and yellow dusted peers. They’ve taken the lowly popcorn ball and transformed it into very nearly the equal of their other higher brow sweets, such as their small…

The Berger Cookie is undoubtedly Baltimore’s greatest contribution to world confectionery. The product of German immigrants to Baltimore in 1835, it’s also easily the single most decadent cookie we’ve ever had. The ultra-soft cookie layer of each Berger “chocolate creme” is dominated by the rich fudge drapery that tops it. In fact, as soon as you back the plastic from the charmingly vintage packaging, the enticing aroma of fudge beckons. In addition to packaging that…

It’s easy to roll past Henry’s Delicatessen and Carry-out and assume that it’s just another bodega. But a double take of their vintage signage touting “home made sweet potato pie” was enough to entice us to investigate further. Once inside, we discovered that Henry’s is a classic soul food joint with a menu covering all of the great country food standards. Henry’s has been around since 1968, and the weathered interior, replete with ancient duct…

Until a couple of years ago, Adams Morgan’s tired Mixtec was the best approximation of authentic Mexican food that D.C. could muster up. Indeed, much of what still passes for Mexican food around here is actually a Salvadoran interpretation that is occasionally inspired, but more often than not disappointing. While Taqueria Distrito Federal has deservedly garnered accolades, Adams Morgan’s Tacos Pepito’s Bakery II comes closest to offering the full range of beverages and antojitos that…

Until recently, we felt lukewarm about Bistro Bulgari, a Bulgarian joint that resides at the foot of Crystal City’s restaurant row. Perhaps it was the fact that, in the numerous times we’ve been to Bulgari, the dining room was never more than at half capacity, which lent itself to the gloomy atmosphere of a restaurant’s probable demise. Or maybe it was the fact that no matter how good the food was, we somehow found ourselves…

We’ve heard your calls for doner kebab coverage, so we postponed our dreams of a weekend of Sudanese moulokhia and Bulgarian meatballs just to set forth in search of Turkish delights (but not Turkish Delight). Instead of hitting the more obvious Cafe Divan, which many of you likely know about already, we decided to take a chance on newcomer Rumi. Rumi occupies an unlikely location for a Turkish restaurant and carry-out, tucked away on the…

We know that many of you are skeptical that worthwhile culture could somehow bloom amidst the barren asphalt expanse of suburbia. But for those of you willing to maintain an open mind about such matters, we propose an evening raid of three of Annandale’s cultural gems in a series of lightning strikes that will enable you to get in, get out, and be back in your Mt. Pleasant basement apartment just in time for Charlie…

Over the years, we’ve come to think of Peruvian-style chicken, or pollo a la brasa, as the unofficial fast food of the D.C. area. Sure, we’re big fans of all the Afghan and Persian kebab joints, the numerous Vietnamese pho parlors, and the ever proliferating pupuserias, but Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken has the sort of broad cross-cultural appeal that these other equally worthy cheap eats lack. When it comes to pollo a la brasa, Crisp &…

Though much of D.C.’s ever-diminishing Chinatown can now be found over in Rockville, a few stalwarts remain to pacify the tourist set with beef and broccoli, while delighting locals with more obscure fare. Eat First, along with Full Kee and Chinatown Express, is part of what we consider the trifecta of D.C.’s great Chinatown dining. The tiny vestibule that leads into the restaurant is festooned with all manner of coloful photocopies of local food media…

It’s hard to believe, but we actually know a handful of people who are somehow so enraptured by the smoky allure of Southside 815’s bar scene that they’ve never once bothered to sample anything beyond its libation. While we’re normally all about compelling such folks to chase their pints of Dogfish with Southside’s excellent “drunken” pot roast or vinegary housemade “state fair” pickles, we’d just as soon they remain sequestered at the bar on Thursday…