2 DC Restaurants Among America's Best For Eating-On-The-Cheap

Forget the rain, Washington, D.C., has two casual restaurants where you can go – right now! – to take the kids and get cheap food, and you don't even have to dress up.

Or maybe you can take a date, because you don't have to worry about making a reservation. And you don't have to pay too much to enjoy yourself. These places are so good that the popular food-and-drink website, The Daily Meal, named them among the 101 best casual restaurants in America.

These places are so good that the popular food-and-drink website, The Daily Meal, named them among the 101 best casual restaurants in America. The District of Columbia landed two eateries in the top 101.

The Daily Meal says that, since its 2011 founding, its set out to compile a comprehensive ranking of the 101 Best Restaurants in America. "However, we've been hit with a dilemma: Does a restaurant like, say, the venerable Frank Pepe Pizzeria in New Haven, Connecticut, as stellar as it is for what it does, really belong in the same ranking as a place like Manhattan's Eleven Madison Park, with its three Michelin stars?"

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"That's why four years ago we decided to separate out the casual from the fancy with an initial ranking of 50 casual restaurants, expanded to 101 in 2015," the website says. "From hot dog shacks to taco joints, from neighborhood hangouts to legendary barbecue spots, these are amazing restaurants where price is no barrier to entry and you'll feel right at home in jeans.

The Daily Meal's criteria:

• "Can two people fill themselves up and get out for less than $50, excluding tip and alcohol?"
• Is there "an overall comfortable and relaxed ambiance"
• Does it have "a 'destination' status (that is, is the place worth traveling for?), and a proven reputation and longevity?"

The Daily Meal compiled a list of America's best purveyors of pizza, burgers, hot dogs, tacos, and more, ending up with more than 500 restaurants that the website believes represent a vast cross-section of America and the casual restaurants that make them great.

"From there we assembled a survey, and sent it out to a panel of hundreds of America's leading culinary authorities. We asked them to vote for their favorites, but only ones that they'd dined at within the past two years."

Here are the two DC restaurants on the list:

#26 Ben’s Chili Bowl, Washington, D.C.

As bagels and pizza are iconic to New York, so the half-smoke is to the capital. The celebrity (and presidential) photos on the wall are clear indications of Ben's Chili Bowl's city landmark status, and the continuous lines out the door are evidence that the restaurant's chili cheese dogs are some of the best in the country. But those in the know don’t just order "dogs;" they get the half-smokes, a half-pork, half-beef smoked sausage which is a native D.C. specialty supposedly invented by Ben Ali, the original proprietor, whose sons took over the restaurant after his death. As the U Street Corridor/Shaw neighborhood around it has gentrified, Ben’s remains a more-than-50-year-old bastion of downhome D.C. where college kids, old-timers, and celebrities are all welcome as long as they're willing to stand in line like everybody else — though the president eats for free.

#73 2Amy’s, Washington, D.C.

Once upon a time, the District of Columbia was a pizza desert, a land where khaki-wearers bided their time until the fortunes tied to two-, four-, or six-year cycles became clear, resigning themselves to late-night calls to Domino’s and hoping Manny & Olga’s wouldn’t turn them off pizza for good. They suffered locals’ misplaced love for Ledo’s and watched with frustration as Adams Morgan’s jumbo slices edged increasingly close to the half-smoke as one of the city’s signature dishes. Thankfully, those days are over. Thanks, 2Amys. 2Amys’ membership in the D.O.C (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) means its pizzaiolos adhere to the guidelines of what the Italian government deems a pizza should be. When you take a bite, you know you are getting a quintessential, traditional pie. Their menu is broken into D.O.C pizza offerings, stuffed pizzas, and more traditional but uncertified options, but panelists voted the namesake pie (with tomato sauce and mozzarella) the best.

>>>You can view the entire 101 locations here, including more details on the DC locations.

Written by Tom Davis, Patch Staff

Image courtesy of Stepanek Photography via Shutterstock