10 Places to Eat That You Should Know About

The menu in the downstairs restaurant includes pizzas but concentrates on home cooking -- pulled pork sandwiches, cottage pie, chili, mussels roasted in olive oil and kosher salt, meatloaf and burgers. The upstairs is a bona fide bar, with beers brewed on site. Don't leave either without a stop at the general store.

5123 Baltimore Ave., Hyattsville, 301-927-2740.

Boulevard at the Cap Centre

Chains predominate here, the county's largest shopping center. Stonefish Grill (880 Capital Centre Blvd., Largo, 301-333-1600, http://www.stonefishgrill.net) is the most upscale and largest restaurant in the center, with a menu that emphasizes fish and serves up everything in huge portions.

The homegrown Carolina Kitchen (800-C Shoppers Way, Largo, 301-350-2929, http://www.thecarolinakitchen.com) is long on enthusiasm and hospitality, but the soul food tends to be greasy and sometimes overcooked.

The star here is Gladys Knight and Ron Winans' Chicken and Waffles (860-E Shoppers Way, Largo, 301-808-6402, http://www.gladysandron.com) where even midday Saturday, the wait could be 30 minutes, and twice that at other times. The fried green tomatoes are pleasantly sour, and the accompanying remoulade provides a nice bit of heat. The waffles are better than your mother made, and the fried chicken, though deep-fried rather than cooked in a cast-iron skillet, is tender and moist, with a crisp but not bready crust. Save room for dessert: Even in the dead of winter, the peach cobbler is worth the calories.

2200 to 2400 blocks of University Boulevard East

The original Ledo Restaurant (2420 University Blvd. East, Adelphi, 301-422-8122, http://www.ledorestaurant.com) is an old-style, red-sauce Italian place with the famous rectangular ("We don't cut corners") pizza. The pizza is better than most of the pasta dishes, and the restaurant itself is a trip back to the simpler life of the 1950s.

Irene's Pupusa (2218 University Blvd. E., Hyattsville, 301-431-1550) has a roadhouse atmosphere and great-tasting pupusas -- pork, cheese or a combination. Order them by the bagful.

Little Mexico

Although their addresses are in separate jurisdictions, these three restaurants, all within a mile or so of each other, offer authentic Mexican food: La Sireneta Restaurant (4911 Edmonston Rd., Hyattsville, 301-864-0188), El Tapatio Restaurant (4309 Kenilworth Ave., Bladensburg, 301-403-8882) and Taqueria Tres Reyes (5403 Kenilworth Ave., Riverdale, 301-779-6060). Once you've eaten real tacos (perhaps with goat meat) or tried the chile rellenos, you'll be back.

Rip's Country Inn

This is more than a restaurant, it's a complex, including a well-stocked wine and liquor store and a motel. But the restaurant, modeled after a horse barn with lots of tack around to lend atmosphere, is still a favorite on heavily traveled Route 301. The simpler dishes, such as crab cakes and meatloaf, are often the best. But the homemade pies alone are worth a stop.

3809 North Crain Hwy. (Route 301), Bowie, 301-805-5901, http://www.ripscountryinn.com.

If you have a favorite restaurant that you think deserves attention, please contact Nancy Lewis atlewisn@washpost.com.