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200 Upshur St. NW
(202) 726-1511
Hours of Operation and Prices
Open: T-Sat noon-midnight
Closed: Sun-M
Entrees: $3.75-$20
Other Information
• Cash only
• Reservations accepted
• Dress: casual
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There's no sign in front of this big old house with its glassed-in porch. So the only indication that it's a restaurant might be the steady stream of customers from the Old Soldiers Home across the street. Inside, the focus is on the TV and bar. Everyone seems to know everyone else.
The menu is small: fried seafood, crab cakes in season, gumbo, beans with ham hocks and sandwiches. You'd never guess that the fried seafood was going to be remarkable, yet in important ways it is. The shrimp and scallops themselves are nothing special - the usual frozen stuff. But they're coated with a terrific, light, greaseless batter and have been fried so quickly that they are utterly juicy. And while the gumbo is in need of seasoning, it's packed generously with seafood.
The vegetables are so delicious that you might make a meal of them. The macaroni and cheese is actually pasta shells, clinging to each other in a great cheesy ooze. Home fries are crisp and brown at the edges, soft and moist where they aren't crisp, and veined with caramelized onions. They're sensational. Greens have that essential, basic cooked-greens taste with no bitterness. And if you get the eggy, pickle-spiked potato salad the day it's made, it's memorable.
This is a cozy, homey place that takes its time and can't be rushed. Everything is prepared to order. And there's the TV to keep you entertained while it is.
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
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