Photo by Mr T. In D.C.
By DCist Contributor Travis Mitchell
Dish of the Week: Premade picnic meals
Where: The Fainting Goat, Art & Soul, Cork Market
Sprawling out in a park with a picnic spread is one of summer’s great pleasures. But shopping for food and supplies can be a job in and of itself. So if spending a weekend traipsing around Trader Joe’s or your local farmer’s market isn’t your idea of fun (if it is, DCist has you covered), consider turning to a restaurant for assistance.
Cork Market (1805 14th Street NW) is an excellent place to start, especially given it’s proximity to Meridian Hill Park. For $30 you can choose two sandwiches such as chicken salad or prosciutto with fontina cheese. The meal comes with chips, fruit salad and cookies and you can add wine for $10 extra.
Art and Soul (415 New Jersey Avenue NW) is another good option for an upscale summer picnic, and it gets bonus points for being close to the National Mall and monuments. The $40 lunch is sized for two people and includes fried chicken, biscuits, and sides and sodas.
Each Monday during the summer, The Fainting Goat (1330 U Street NW) is offering special family-style picnic meals. The July menu is fried chicken with macaroni and cheese, biscuits, coleslaw, and strawberry shortcake. August will feature Maryland blue crabs with corn, sausage and, potatoes, and berry cobbler. The chicken dinner is priced at $25 per person with a two person minimum, and the crab picnic will range between $30 and $40 depending on size and availability.
Do you have a go-to restaurant or café for picking up picnic provisions in D.C.? Drop a tip in the comments.
Small bites:
Celebrate national tequila day
Food holidays are definitely overdone, but they’re OK when they involve an excuse for cocktail discounts. Friday July 24th is national tequila day, and several area restaurants are running specials. El Rey (919 U Street NW) is offering extended happy hour until 9 p.m. on Friday with specials including $5 margaritas and shots. Over at Agua 301 (301 Water Street NW), there will be $6 margaritas and $8 Patron silver.
Get ready to eat all the oysters
Make a point to visit Black Jack (1612 14th Street NW) on Saturday, July 25 for the Shuck & Chug party. Admission is $50 and includes unlimited Barren Island oysters and bottomless beer provided by Lagunitas. There will also be some passed small bites. The event runs from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and advanced tickets are recommended.
Craft beer to pop up in Farragut square
A temporary liquor license means that Pizzeria Paradiso’s sister restaurant Veloce (1828 L Street NW) will be pouring craft beer from July 28 through the 31st. Drafts will range in price from $6 to $8 and will be half off each day from 5 p.m to 7 p.m. The two rotating taps will include beers like Three Stars citra & lemon peel saison, Ballast Point grapefruit sculpin and Stone ruination 2.0.
