DCist is, collectively, having one of those Fridays. You know, one of those Fridays when your boss dumps a bunch of work on your desk and wants it done before you leave for the weekend (the sweet, sweet weekend) and your Internet keeps crapping out so you can’t even check your email. The weekend is quickly approaching and we haven’t yet had time to scour the best of the city’s offerings. But, we think…

By DCist contributor Celeste Dawn Mitchell Mexican food in Washington tends to be either a very bland affair or an unnecessarily fussy affair. Either we need six cups of salsa to impart any sense of flavor to it, or the cooks are too busy making Alaskan scallop enchiladas with toasted pine nuts to put together a decent steak taco. Even the so-called premier Mexican restaurants leave much to be desired. Though the tableside guac is…

By DCist contributor Celeste Dawn Mitchell Any time’s a good time for barbecue — it’s one of the few foods I have a perpetual hankerin’ for. And the saving grace in working in the outer reaches of Northeast is my proximity to Hogs on the Hill, home of “DC’s Best Hickory Smoked Pit B-B-Q.” The venerable “Hogs” is nowhere near the Hill, and the number “3” on the storefront is a holdover from its franchise…

By DCist contributor Celeste Dawn Mitchell Two thousand of the khaki crowd’s finest came out to party Thursday at Friends of the National Zoo’s Young Professionals’ (or FONZ YP’s, if you will) sold-out Brew at the Zoo. Proceeds went toward its Asian elephant conservation project. Just in case patrons forgot they were partying for a cause, four-ounce fill-lines on souvenir mugs intimated that this was a classy tasting affair, not a frat kegger. Though…

By DCist Contributor, Celeste Dawn Mitchell I never would have noticed Brown’s Caribbean Bakery if I hadn’t seen parade-goers piling in during the D.C. Caribbean Carnival earlier this summer. After a couple of failed attempts to stop by on a whim, a quick phone call called confirmed the sinfully early closing time — 6 or 7 p.m., depending on the day. Once inside, I watched customers stream in for the same grab-and-go dinner: oven-fresh patties…

By DCist contributor Celeste Dawn Mitchell In May, we bemoaned D.C.’s lack of street meat and wondered if it damaged our credibility as a legit city. While New York has enough food carts to command a dedicated blog, we stagger consumption of our precious half-smokes so as not to burn out on them. With another alternative on the scene, we can be a little less whiny about our predicament — at least on weekends. When…