Dine Out For Life On March 8
If you’ve been feeling guilty about all your meals out lately, get ready to wash that all away next week. The annual Dining Out For Life benefit will take place next Thursday, March 8. If you’re unfamiliar with the charity affair, it’s one day each year when dozens of area restaurants donate at least 25% of their profits to local charity Food and Friends. The event, which takes no more effort on your part than making a reservation and then keeping it, will help individuals suffering from diseases like HIV/AIDS and cancer by enabling Food and Friends to deliver specialized meals or healthy groceries to them that they would otherwise be unable to prepare or procure for themselves.

For you restaurant goers with little time on your hands, this benefit should appeal to you. Not only will you reap the rewards of donating to charity, but you’ll also have the chance to win two round-trip tickets on American Airlines to any domestic destination. Just think, you can have a delicious meal and get a chance to win a much needed vacation at the same time.

You can find a list of participating restaurants at Dining Out For Life’s site. Some restaurants like Addie’s in Rockville, Freddie’s Beach Bar in Crystal City, and Tosca in Chinatown are going above and beyond by donating 100% of their proceeds on Thursday. Carlyle in Shirlington has stepped it up even farther by sponsoring the entire event. Way to go, Great American Restaurants! If you want our advice, we think you should check these spots for tables first. We here at DCist hope to see you out on Thursday!

Please Do Not Allow Your Child To Throw The Cod Ball At Me
We came across news this morning that made our day a little brighter than it already is. According to local blogger layzeesusan (and thanks to Metrocurean for the link) 2 Amys in Cleveland Park is planning to expand. “Great,” you’re thinking, “new tables full of howling children.” But no! Evidently the restaurant has purchased the upstairs, where they’ll construct a new bar and 30 additional spaces for adults-only seating. Now, we’d prefer they keep the one bar and relocate the children’s area upstairs (They can have a ball pit, crayon safe walls, and name it “The Klaxon.”), but we’ll take what we can get. Construction begins soon, and the restaurant is looking to open the space in three months but, like layzeesusan, we are really skeptical of such a time frame.

Photo by easement.