We might live in a town bursting with fancy new restaurants and haute takes on classic fare, but deep down, there is no type of eatery as uniquely American as the diner. Every pocket of the United States has its own variations on what makes for a good diner. New Englanders hunch over lunch counters installed in rehabilitated boxcars; in the New York area, you can find sprawling menus with special emphasis on the Greek dishes cooked up with love by the Hellenic families that have been in business for generations (pro tip: avoid the swordfish special); Chicago’s diners are immortalized in Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks.” So what about the diners in the D.C. area? We’ve got some good ones, and some pesky chains that claim to serve up the real thing. Sorry, Silver Diner, but when one of your premier locations is in the food court at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, that’s just not going to cut it.
Unlike the Wolf Road Diner I frequented as a kid growing up in Albany, N.Y.—one of those sprawling places with 1960s-era carpeting, a bakery display up front, and encyclopedic menus that almost always led back to the western omelette—the diners around here are more greasy spoon. But that’s OK. They get the job done with eggs, sandwiches, and endless cups of so-so coffee. What more do you want in a diner?
Photo by anokarina
OSMAN & JOE’S STEAK ‘N EGG KITCHEN: The Steak ‘N Egg Kitchen may not look like a traditional diner, and it’s located in a neighborhood were you wouldn’t expect to find one—much less a good one. Still, the eatery remains an institution in its own right, serving up massive portions of protein at reasonable prices; an eight-ounce steak cooked to order, two eggs, hash browns and eggs will only set you back $8.99, and they’re sure to soak up whatever you put in your body the morning before. It’s even got the Marion Barry Seal of Approval. —Martin Austermuhle
Osman & Joe’s Steak ‘n Egg Kitchen is located at 4700 Wisconsin Ave NW; (202) 686-1201.
Photo by Chris Rief
BOB AND EDITH’S: This tiny place on Columbia Pike in Arlington seats maybe 10 people at its counter and not many more in its seven booths, but it’s always busy, and with good reason. The milkshakes are fantastic, and are served alongside the metal mixing cup (as any good diner should do). Bob and Edith’s also doesn’t force the customer to get a huge meal, which is especially handy for those late-night meals. At 2 a.m., sometimes all you want is one egg and one pancake, and you can totally do that there. There’s always a good vibe in there, with really friendly staff and people happy to be stuffing their faces. —Elisabeth Grant
Bob and Edith’s is located at 2310 Columbia Pike, Arlington; (703) 920-6103.
Photo by Kevin Harber
AMERICAN CITY DINER: The food is decent, and while any place that calls itself a diner should be open a bit earlier than 7 a.m. and close later than 11 p.m., perhaps we can attribute that to its location in family-centric Chevy Chase. Still, it does a good job by way of milkshakes and, most of the year, it shows a different classic movie every night. The film series is on hiatus right now, which is a bit of a bummer, but come spring, the projector will be back in place. —Benjamin R. Freed
American City Diner is located at 5532 Connecticut Avenue, NW; (202) 244-1949.
Photo by Rukasu1
JIMMY T’S PLACE: Part of the appeal of a diner is that unpretentious feel; anyone can walk in and be treated to an inviting atmosphere and greasy spoon food. Jimmy T’s Place, located on the ground floor of a traditional D.C. rowhouse on East Capitol Street SE, fits the bill perfectly. Stocked with the same type of coffee mugs you might have at home and a counter overlooking the griddle, Jimmy T’s serves up the usual diner breakfast favorites—and you can stare out the window onto one of the city’s most scenic streets as you’re enjoying that egg sandwich and grits. —Martin Austermuhle
Jimmy T’s Place is located at 501 East Capitol Street SE.
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THE DINER: It’s true that despite claiming an entire class of restaurants as its very name, The Diner—owned by Constantine Stavropoulos of Open City, Tryst, and, most recently, The Coupe—isn’t actually that good. The breakfasts are bland, the sandwiches nothing special, the milkshakes, once respectable, are now off their game. And even by D.C. standards, the brunch rush is a horror show. So why are we including it here? Well, Andrew Sullivan, until he moved to New York last year, ate at The Diner nearly every day. But now that he’s no longer a regular, you can eat at the counter and tell your Daily Dish-subscribing friends that you eat where Sullivan used to. That’s gotta count for something. —Benjamin R. Freed
The Diner is located at 2453 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan; (202) 232-8800.
Photo by Adam Fagen
TASTEE DINER: It’s cheap, it’s greasy, and it’s open 24 hours a day. What more can one want for in a diner? Well, depending on what night of the week you go, you could order one of the off-menu milkshakes that are boosted by chunks of candy bars and other sweets, but we’re not going to spoil which nights to go and which server you need to ask for. If you know, you know. If not, sorry. —Benjamin R. Freed
Tastee Diner is located at 8601 Cameron Street, Silver Spring; (301) 589-8171.
Photo by wageslaves
CAPITAL CITY DINER (R.I.P.): Matt Ashburn, a government consultant, brought a bit of the Northeast to Northeast D.C. in 2009 when he imported an old boxcar diner from Upstate New York to an abandoned used-car dealership on Bladensburg Road. Not long after, the Capital City Diner was the spot to go to after those long evening of crawling up and down H Street NE, or just a friendly place to get a bite on a weekend morning or lonely night. Any of the dishes were good, but the chicken and waffles were something else. Unfortunately, in 2011, a Denny’s location opened up the road, and Ashburn soon saw his business diminish. He closed the Capital City Diner at the end of January 2012. On its last day in business, a friend of mine and I—still full from a rather generous brunch—biked over there for one last chicken and waffles dish. Ashburn even let us walk out with some of the D.C. Water-branded pint glasses he used for beverage service. The diner itself has since been moved to Union Market, where it might one day be repurposed for some high-concept eatery. As for the Denny’s that displaced it? Well, the city official who helped Denny’s open won’t be eating there any time soon. —Benjamin R. Freed
Capital City Diner was located at 1050 Bladensburg Road NE in Trinidad.
