Washington, DC New Menu Report: 08/26/15
This week's food and drink menus have a couple of things in common—they're either mobile, or offer good food and drink for a great value. In a city where $15 cocktails and $20 burgers have sadly become the norm, it's a welcome relief to find places that offer value without stinting on quality or quantity. You have your choice of craft beer, mojitos, tacos, St. Louis smoked ribs, seafood, and more. Linger over a drink or over dinner while the last hurrah of summer is still here because the madness of fall schedules is just around the corner.
City Tap House
If you loved National Lampoon's vacation movies, try out City Tap House's three month-long European Vacation Series. August, September, and October, they will feature beers from different regions in Europe. On August 11 they hosted "If King George Won" and focused on beer from the British Isles, "Mussels and Waffles and Beer, Oh My!" celebrates Belgian beer on Thursday, September 3, followed by Germanic beer with "City Tap Haus" from Thursday, October 1 to Sunday, October 4.
Johnny Pistolas
For easy summer snacking on a shoestring budget, Johnny Pistolas in Adams Morgan is the place to go. They have two cool summer happy hours that run Monday to Sunday—the first is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and then they do it all over again at 10 p.m. This has to be the only place in town where you can get suitably stuffed on booze and food for less than $10, thanks to a special menu that includes $1 tacos, $3 tamales, and $4 mojitos and frozen margaritas.
Lebanese Taverna
One bite of kibbeh or shawarma and we're sure you'll utter, ktiir tayyib, which is Lebanese for very delicious, when you sample Lebanese Taverna's special mezze happy hour menu. It's available Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at all of their DMV locations and includes a range of special food and drink priced $4, $5, $6, and $7. There are domestic beers, wine by the glass and cocktails as well as baked meat and cheese pies, shawarma sliders, an endless humus bar, baba ghanoush, kibbeh, and more.
Villain & Saint
If you're a bona fide groupie for Villain & Saint's rockabilly music and food, you now can order it whenever the mood strikes because they've taken their menu on the road with a new food truck. Conveniently parked just outside the restaurant, the food truck's crew will serve favorites from chef Tom Meyer's menu from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. Taking center stage are crowd favorites like pulled pork burritos, Black Angus cheeseburgers, and St. Louis slow smoked pork ribs. Order your food to go for lunch or for your next tailgate party because they also do parties and can bring the food to you.
Summer Whitford is the D.C. City Guide Editor at The Daily Meal and the DC Wine Examiner. You can follow her on Twitter @FoodandWineDiva.