Oh the places you'll eat in DC!

When I emailed Yandary and asked her for a list of fun things to do and good places to eat, she graciously sent me a list.

The list consisted mostly of places we needed to eat at. I must say, she is our kind of girl, because we ate our way through DC and we ate well.

I mentioned earlier that our first night out, we got hand-made noodles and dumplings at the Chinatown Express. Delish!

Nom nom nom!

The next night before going out to see the monuments at night, we headed to We, The Pizza near the Capitol Building.  Apparently, Michelle Obama likes to eat there and I can see why!

Putting on a spicy sauce

We tried pieces of the Forest Shroomin' Pie, Buffalo Chicken Pie, Colletti's Notorious BBQ Pie, and the daily special that had roasted butternut squash, a soft cheese (chevre, I think), and caramelized balsamic onions--all were amazing!

Lee just wants to eat his pizza

We then met up with Yandary and her roommate for dinner at The Shake Shack the next evening. This place actually started up in New York City and it was a little pricier, but it was dang good food and amazing custard concretes (shakes). I got the Pumpkin Pie Oh My Concrete--it had a whole piece of pie mixed in!

Plus, I just loved the typography and branding of the place.

Another night, we went and grabbed a bite at Pho DC, a Vietnamese restaurant. It wasn't the best service (maybe because it was typical Asian restaurant service), but the food was mighty tasty.

Can't wait to start!

We went walking around DC and finally ended up at Pitango Gelato. We wanted to bring some gelato to Yandary and her roommates for letting us stay at their place. While there, I got the highly recommended hot sipping chocolate. I was a little disappointed in the portion size at first, but realized that it was the perfect size because it was almost too rich.

Such dark chocolate at Pitango!

And the next afternoon for lunch as we were heading to the airport, we stopped by this El Salvadoran restaurant, Dona Azucena, for pupusas (meat, bean, and cheese encased in a corn dough and flattened and fried). According to Yandary, they make the best pupusas here. We'd never had them before, but I can believe it. They were hot and savory and flavorful.

Pupusas with pickled cabbage and tomato sauce

Okay, have I made you hungry yet? Because I am just writing about all the good food we had. I've heard of a few other places that we missed:

• CoCo Sala: I've heard that every dish has chocolate in it and is "exquisite".
• Baked and Wired: Apparently the best cupcakes in town
• Ben's Chili Bowl: A DC institution
• American City Diner: They old movies every night at 8 pm.
• Mike's: Heard good things, but don't know which Mike's this is. Anyone?
• Serendipity: Like the one in New York City
• Good Stuff Eatery: Two people recommended this place to me. One of them said she had the best shake she's had in her entire life. Her entire life!
• Rasika Restaurant: Heard a lot of good things about their modern Indian cuisine, but we couldn't get in without a reservation on a busy Friday night.

We are starting a list for next time we're in area. What are your favorite places to eat in or around Washington DC?