Dining near Landmark

[Ericandblueboy]

I have to drop one of my daughters off for a birthday party at 291 S. Van Dorn St., near the intersection with Duke St., at 6 p.m. this Saturday.  I need to find myself some decent grub.  Any suggestions?  I'll need some place that sells booze.

[ktmoomau]

Sorry, I normally avoid that part of town, so not sure.  Do you need to stay really close? Could you hop on 395?

[Ericandblueboy]

A short drive is fine. 

[dracisk]

What about Afghan Bistro? It looks like it's about 15 minutes away so maybe too far. But it's delicious and they have a full bar.

[JimCo]

You'll be right near Makeda, a fantastic Ethiopian restaurant. My wife and I had lunch there this summer. There's a lengthy bar with some good Ethiopian beer.

Tom Sietsema gave the place a favorable review. Like him, we found the kategna and quanta firfir to be excellent. 

[StarStraf]

Sorry I didn't see this in time - but will answer anyway.

Los Tios van dorn - good tex-mex good margaritas and tequila selection

Yamazato sushi (Duke and Beauregard)

Scooter McGees -neighborhood sports pub

City Kitchen (Pickett) good food, decent bar

[DonRocks]

I've been to Thai Lemongrass several times, but not in several years - it's good, neighborhood Thai. Does anyone remember Pichan from Corduroy? This was his favorite restaurant, and he always told me to order Crying Tiger (that's the spicy steak appetizer - called Yum Nua here). If you don't expect miracles, you can eat decently, and have a couple beers with your meal. 

Afghan Bistro is better than anything around here, but it's a solid fifteen-minute drive.

I'm intrigued by JimCo's recommendation of Makeda - it's right there, and its website does look interesting, plus you have Jim's and Tom's backing.

I have a note in the Dining Guide that Robb Duncan (from Dolcezza Gelato) thinks Yamazoto has sashimi equal to Sushi Taro - I must have seen him write that somewhere, or it wouldn't be in there.

Note: Shooter McGee's goes on the Oldest Restaurants in DC list.

We have an entire thread for Restaurants on Duke Street (between I-395 and Old Town).

Food Matters was the King of this Area, but sadly, it turned out that food didn't matter - if it did, this place would have been crowded every night.

[StarStraf]

we tried Makeda - food was good but we prefer Enat - but they do a great job of lowering the intimidation factor of Ethiopian food which can be high for some folks. 

Thai lemongrass is good but I wasn't sure they had booze

Pho Factory is also quite good but again not sure have booze. 

Yamazato is quite good though not consistently sushi taro level but consistently quite good. 

and the new Van Dorn diner is well a diner