Also if anyone can suggest good restaurants with good vegetarian fare and any good bars near where I'm staying I'd appreciate it.
Don't miss the Bodleian's presentation on their collection of feet pictures.
Right. What kind of asshole donates feet pictures to Cambridge?
Long time lurker, but as a vegetarian librarian in DC I had to chime in. I probably can't meet up (recently moved to Arlington and have two kids under 4), and am not going to ALA (cf previous comment). Restaurant recs I can do.
Fancy Radish: fancy. everyone will recommend it, it is amazing, get the fondue and the dan dan noodles but I didn't love the (chermoulada?) tofu
Pow Pow: hit or miss, fast casual "Asian fusion", but get the trolley fries if you end up here
Bubbies Plant Burger, Slash Run: great veggie burgers
Hip City Veg is nearby but I've actually never been. Ditto for Chaia Tacos and Laos in Town
Barry, do you generally get good Ethiopian on Arrakis? There should still be several Ethiopian restaurants on 18th St NW in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood. Vegetarian options on their menus will abound.
Thanks Libratrix! Sorry we won't meet IRL now but it's good to have some other librarians on the blog.
Thanks Doug, there is good Ethiopian there, a kind of mini-neighborhood but I really have to go out of my way for it (even harder these days with all the construction around.)
BTW, I saw your question about jackmormon on another thread. I usually see her at my annual summer NYC meetups and hoping to again when I get back from DC. She's doing well last I'd heard.
There's a Busboys and Poets (I think it's one with a bookstore) on K Street that you might like--I believe I went to a meet-up there when Thorn, her girls, and I visited for the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Comet Ping Pong Pizza (infamously invaded by a Q-Anon idiot) has decent pizza, and while it's about 5 miles NW of the Convention Center it's also conveniently next door to Politics and Prose, another DC area bookstore worth visiting.
I still haven't managed to make it down to the Smithsonian Museum of African American History, but it's supposed to be pretty great if you're near the Mall and have the chance. The American Indian museum nearby has a cafeteria with frybread.
FWIW, Mr. Robot was just at the Convention Center and said he had never seen as many rats as he did in that general area (actual rats, not politicians or lobbyists). I didn't remember DC having a rat problem, but it's been 20 years since I lived there and I spend much time in that particular area.
I hope you have a great ALA!
8: Anecdotally the rat problem has exploded in recent years. Our exterminator's theory is that when all the restaurants closed due to covid, the rats had to stop eating out of their trash (or even worse possibilities) and start eating in peoples' houses, and they've been there ever since. I know I've been noticing them more lately. I have no idea how that compares to other cities, though.
Another vegetarian restaurant recommendation: Sticky Fingers, at 4th and H St. NE. Not far from Fancy Radish and there are lots of nice bars around there too. CopyCat, Hill Prince, and Pursuit, to name three. To get there from the convention center, the X2 bus is infamous but realistically you'll probably be fine. Then there's the Union Market area. Bidwell's, St. Anselm's, and a few other places near there are nice.
Sorry I can't recommend anything outside the northeast, but I was a homebody 2 years ago and it's only got worse since then.
Pho 88 on H maybe for vegetarian options-- more choice there if shrimp.
Both fancy mexican places nearby, Espita and Dlena, have some vegetarian options; good food but not a bargain Mexican bite. Taqueria Xochi is kind of a haul on foot, U street, but if you're into it is good and has some veggie choices. Dukem ethiopian is up that way too, also Lalibela in Shaw is OK Ethiopian. Competition here is tough, Silver Spring has a big Ethiopian population. You'll pass by a bunch of places to eat and drink as you head north on 9th from the CC, including pizza, most places that area are what they seem to be.
Maybe aim to meet Friday or Saturday ?
Oh yes, Union Market will have choices-- there's a place that serves huge dosas there.
I don't know that there's much to recommend in Chinatown, most good Chinese is in Rockville. There's a place in 14th by R that has first-rate mapo tofu.
Welcome Libratrix!
Thanks Cyrus and lw!
Friday or Saturday are fine by me. Anyone else?
Is potchkeh around?
(email at the link)
7: Thank you for indulging my idle curiosity, and glad to hear she is doing well!
For reference, when I came to DC the area around the new convention centered featured numerous burned-out shells of buildings, and rats were probably the least of the problems in the area.
Honestly, I'd not recommend hunting for specifically vegetarian places unless you want to have every dish as a possible option. When we lived there, nearly everywhere had solid vegetarian options, not afterthoughts. Thai Xing was beloved and had solid meatless options in a very cute converted house. Zaytinya has this smoked mushroom date dish that is dreamy, and their cocktails are lovely and seasonal. Jack Rose for whiskey and bourbon. Maybe some food to wash it down. Rasika is the one on everyone's list for Indian, but the trick there is to steer clear of classics and go for modern twists like the crispy spinach. Not as many of the veg options are in that category, unfortunately. Estadio is fantastic for Spanish tapas brunch (alcoholic slushees!), but I'm less enthusiastic about their dinner menu.
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I feel like this is a very nerdy DC thing that I do: when presidents I don't loathe are in office, I request official greetings from them to send out to mark births, graduations, etc. The request is functionally anonymous, so it comes as a nice surprise to the recipient. I just now requested one for a former student who defended her dissertation yesterday & it gave me a rare moment of politics-adjacent happiness.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-greeting/
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The thread title keeps making me hum Barry's in Reno with the vitamin DC...
Welcome to DC, Barry! I'll try my best to make whatever shapes up, though there's some chance filial piety will have me out of town this weekend. Doesn't look like anybody's suggested a venue yet? I really don't know the bars near the Convention Center these days if that's where you're aiming for, but I feel like Blagden Alley and 9th St between L and O have a bunch with a decent amount of outdoor space, assuming that's a factor (I had covid last month so am feeling pretty reckless on indoor socializing right now, but imagine others are not).
Re restaurants, 15.first is right, vegetarians can eat well just about anywhere. If you are looking for Ethiopian/Eritrean, there's plenty in Shaw (the neighborhood stretching north from the Convention Center). Family Ethiopian and Chercher are a few blocks north on 9th St. and both are terrific; Ambassador another few blocks further up also very good. Chaia (vegetarian tacos) is a couple blocks south, have not been myself but have heard it's worthwhile. If you want something more elaborate, take a look at Oyster Oyster, which is also maybe 2-3 blocks north of the CC. For bars, there are lots as you go north on 7th/8th/9th/11th, though nothing I can think of to recommend in particular. (Plenty in the other direction too, south of Mt. Vernon Square, but the vibe there is a little more touristy/corporate.)
No burned-out shells around the convention center these days, the area's been solidly gentrified for some time now. But yeah, lots of rats everywhere.
How about the patio at The Dabney Friday, 7ish? 9th between M and N, patio out back onto Blagden Alley. Limited veg selection, fish was OK last time I was there a while back.
If we wish to initially meet someplace with an acceptable kitchen, then maybe Zaytinya's bar, 9th and G. Neither are cheap, both probably crowded Fri, but I don't see a way to avoid that near there....
20 sounds good, I'd like to start at Zaytinya just to get something decent to eat
I probably can't make the meetup tonight due to family visiting (it's not completely impossible but looks difficult), but after today's news I want to get my drink on. I don't suppose anyone will be free Monday as well? No hard feelings if not but I might as well ask...
I should be free Monday. Happy to meet up. Email at the link.
24 spoke too soon, Monday evening is out, I'm free other days
I'm flexible for a different day, but if this inchoate plan for Zaytinya this evening is still on, let me know what time. Got to admit, today doesn't feel very meetup-y, may need to go shake my fist in impotent rage in front of the Court/Capitol; on the other hand, drinking also appeals. Barry, I'll email you shortly.
7, I'll aim to get there a little early. No tables to reserve there, so I made a placeholder reservation at Farmers and Distillers for 7:30 in case improvising a spot to eat at Zaytinya fails.
I'll get there early too (when?). I'm definitely up for some fist shaking too
Not especially early as it turns out, 6:55ETA
I should be there a little before that. If we have a rough headcount let me know, I'll see what I can do about a table.
Glasses, black man bag, black Cramps t-shirt with an open plaid button down over it.
Have fun at Zaytinya's! It's a great place, I haven't been there in a while, but it didn't work out right now. Maybe Sunday.
Great time though Zaytinya's was packed so we are elsewhere.
Many thanks to lw and gf and potchkeh for coming out.
Cyrus I'm definitely up for something Sunday.
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Do we have any Chicago commenters? Tim is going to ACS in late August this year, and I might tag along. I'd love to meet up for lunch, especially since I'd be on my own during the day (Mon/Tues/Wed). Suggestions of places to go as well as places to grab a cheap breakfast/lunch on my own, since I'd prefer not to pay for hotel breakfast. The conference rooms are at the Intercontinental.
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You never tried the intercontinental breakfast?
39: Why on earth did I imagine you might have useful advice, Mobes?
Imagination is what separates us from animals and accountants.
38: Eat lunch at Xoco and at Noodlebird. Intelligentsia or Dark Matter for coffee or tea and maybe a little baked good. If you want a large and fabulous breakfast a bit later in the morning (or for lunch), Au Cheval. The duck hash is fantastic, and if they offer to have anything "griddled," the answer is yes. Not meals: If you like beer, Revolution brewing gives fun tours and makes nice beer. There's a Vosges chocolatier in Lincoln Park that has lots of free samples and is a fun place.
Hey, I just remembered something. I had a very nice breakfast thing at a place called Goddess and the Baker. It was near one of those elevated rail things. This was back about six years ago.
Also, the Sears Tower is still there, but some tool renamed it after his company. That doesn't happen in Pittsburgh where everyone calls things by what they were called in 1962.