After Last Call: Food, Glorious Food

Alberto's has the jumbo slices that even foodies can grudgingly respect, because if a stone-oven-baked pizza has chicken and pesto on a crispy crust, it must be good, right? The pies sell out and are replaced fairly rapidly, and the pumping dance music will keep anyone from falling asleep while they're waiting.

ANNIE'S PARAMOUNT STEAK HOUSE 1609 17th St. NW. 202-232-0395. Open Sundays until 1:30 a.m., Mondays until 11 p.m., Tuesday-Wednesday until midnight, Thursdays until 1:30 a.m., Friday-Saturday 24 hours.

KRAMERBOOKS & AFTERWORDS CAFE 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW. 202-387-3825. Open Sunday-Thursday until 1 a.m., Friday-Saturday 24 hours.

ALBERTO'S 2010 P St. NW. 202-986-2121. Open Monday-Wednesday until midnight, Thursday-Saturday until 5 a.m., Sundays until 1 a.m.

Downtown

In Paris, I can't get through a late night without a visit to my favorite crepe stand. Crepeaway, a cheery shop on L Street NW near Foggy Bottom, is the easiest way to flash back, especially when I'm munching on the Dino (cheese, tomato, bacon, egg and ham). Crepes are available until the wee hours, all cooked from scratch. The Daisy (Nutella spread with slices of banana) seems to be popular with the college students sitting in the restaurant's 20 marigold-colored egg-cup chairs.

For convenience, you can't beat Julia's Empanadas, just steps from Lucky Bar, Play and Eighteenth Street Lounge. The line for the stuffed pastries moves pretty quickly; it's a shame there are no seats.

CREPEAWAY 2001 L St. NW. 202-973-0404. Open Monday-Saturday until 9 p.m., Thursday-Saturday reopens at midnight until 4 a.m.

JULIA'S EMPANADAS 1221 Connecticut Ave. NW. 202-861-8828. Open Sunday until 7 p.m., Monday-Tuesday until 2 a.m., Wednesday-Saturday until 4 a.m.

Arlington

At Mario's Pizza House, a decades-old institution, the thing to order is not the pizza, which can resemble a piece of cardboard. Instead, order one of the subs or cheesesteaks. Lefty's Special is my favorite: chopped meat with cheese, pickles, mayo, mustard and the house slaw. There's no indoor seating for customers, though you can play the old-school Galaga arcade game while you wait for your order.

Bob & Edith's Diner is a classic, from the home fries and eggs cooking on the griddle to the Willie Nelson on the jukebox. The walls are covered with Dallas Cowboys memorabilia and faded photos, but once your two-eggs-and-scrapple is front of you, you won't notice anything else. Parking is limited to just a dozen spaces, though you can find a spot in the supermarket parking lot across the street.

The antithesis of Bob & Edith's is the Silver Diner, a chain of gleaming, '50s-ish diners with jukeboxes in every booth (not working) and a menu full of burgers and milkshakes. It's open for a few hours after the bars close, though, and they have more seats than the other two Arlington spots combined.

MARIO'S PIZZA HOUSE 3322 Wilson Blvd. 703-525-0200. Open daily until 3 a.m.

BOB AND EDITH'S 2310 Columbia Pike. 703-920-6103. Open 24 hours daily.

SILVER DINER 3200 Wilson Blvd. 703-812-8600. Open Sunday-Thursday until 2 a.m., Friday-Saturday until 4 a.m.

Bethesda and Silver Spring

Bethesda is a city packed with restaurants, but I'm willing to bet there's only one with chipped beef on the menu and waitresses who call you "Hon." Looking at the classic interior of the Tastee Diner, you'd never know the place suffered a devastating fire in 2002, and perusing the menu, from hot cakes and corned beef hash to the blue plate special, you know you're in a very special place.

The historic Silver Spring location retains much of the original greasy spoon's charm. Although the buzz is that Silver Spring has sprung, this is the only place where people can dine on chipped beef, tuna melts and egg breakfasts around the clock.

TASTEE DINER 7731 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda; 301-652-3970. 8601 Cameron St., Silver Spring; 301-589-8171. Open 24 hours.