3236 M St. NW (202) 333-9180 Hours of Operation and Prices Lunch: M-F 11:30-4, Sat 10-4; Entrees: $5.50-$11 Dinner: M-Th 4:30-10:30, F-Sat 4:30-11:30, Sun 4:30-10; Entrees: $5.50-$16 Pre-Theater: M-F 4-6, 20 percent discount Late Nite: F-Sat 11:30-1 am, Sun 10-2 am, $7-$13 Brunch: Sun 9-4, $6-$14 Other Information • All major credit cards • Dress: casual • Reservations recommended • Receipt for parking validation • Handicapped accessible

Burgers are still featured - beef or turkey. And Clyde's chili is, too - though that is also available in cans from your neighborhood fancy food shop. Yet the mainstays are not beef but those contemporary, light, protein hits, chicken and salmon, appearing as appetizers, salads, sandwiches and entrees with an abundance of local vegetables to accompany them.

The menu changes daily, giving the chef a chance to react to the market. But sometimes I wonder whether the chef changes from minute to minute. Rarely have I found such wide swings in a restaurant's food. The service is at least as erratic. Clyde's still makes a fine burger, and it has mastered rotisserie chicken. If I had to bet blindly, though, I'd put my money on appetizers: Chicken tenderloin strips sauteed with aromatic vegetables. A succulent eggplant terrine. Or the hidden gem of the menu, rings of tender white squid served in a hot iron skillet with sliced green olives, chunks of Roma tomatoes and tangles of well caramelized onion. It puts even good fried squid to shame. Clyde's has a nifty draft-beer list, as one would expect, and a wine list that's value-conscious. It even boasts of serving filtered water in its pitchers.