I’ve been slacking off with blogging due to a busy schedule, but I’m finally getting around to reviews of places I visited more than a month ago. I’m starting off with a cool spot from my trip to Washington, DC.
Located right down the street from my hotel, the Marriott Wardman Park, Open City is a “jack of all trades” type of restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the late night crowd. They’re part coffee shop, diner, sandwich shop, bakery, and casual dinner restaurant. Owned by the same group as Tryst, the Diner, and the Coupe, they seem to target both locals and tourists. The common theme here is that they want to be everything to everyone.
I just wish I had an opportunity to sample more of their menu. Their mussels and their gnocchi dish would have definitely found their way to my table. Unfortunately, I was in and out quickly, picking up a hot chocolate, chocolate chip cookie, and pecan pie to go.
The pie was a large portion with a thick buttery crust, lots of finely chopped pecans and a minimal amount of corn syrup. The bottom layer — between the crust and the filling — was chocolate, which added a good bit of sweetness to the pie. For a choco-holic like me, it was more than welcome. The pie would have been much better warm, but I didn’t have the benefit of being able to do that. Still, it was worth the calories and possibly the future diabetes.
I only got to snag a small portion of the chocolate chip cookie before my kid devoured it. It was a little on the crunchy side, but still decent. And their hot chocolate was good — it’s hard to screw that up. Much better than getting it from a large national coffee shop chain.
Next time I’m in the area I’ll gladly come back. It’s good to know they’ll be open for any meal of the day or night.
3 Stars
2331 Calvert St NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 332-2331
