Washington DC

scottreiner

scott reiner
I have a question for a friend. Please advise as to where to buy good wine retail in DC. Also, where to drink the stuff in restaurants, both good food and wine. Caveat, the person in question is younger with limited finds, so no fancy addresses.

Thanks.
 
Weygandt and Macarthur would be my two first choices. Calvert Woodley also has a very large selection of wines. If you can get across the river to VA, Arrowine also has stuff to get.

There are lots of restaurants with reasonable corkage policies. The Weygandt wine site has a list of restaurant corkage policies. It's here: http://www.weygandtwines.com/dc-corkage-list.
Dino's grotto is probably the most wine friendly restaurant around, though YMMV.
 
Dino's in Cleveland Park closed; Dino's Grotto then opened in Shaw. Same owner, slightly different concept, still wine friendly. However, I don't find myself going there very often even though I live in the neighborhood.

For restaurants, Ripple probably has the best list in DC for someone with a disorderly palate (or really for anyone, in my opinion). I believe (but your friend should confirm in advance) that there is also some kind of corkage arrangement for bottles purchased at Weygandt, which is just a block away.

Other restaurants I would suggest that are at least pretty good on both the food and wine list fronts without being insanely expensive include Etto, Red Hen, and Cork. A call in advance might result in some sort of corkage arrangement at these places, but it is unlikely to be free.

If your friend has any interest in a casual but relatively authentic Thai feast and would bring a bottle or two of wine that does not clash with Thai food (I usually choose off-dry Riesling), he/she should check out Thai X-ing, which is very reasonably priced for the amount of food you get and has a corkage policy that is extremely friendly. Two notes of caution. First, if you don't bring your own wine glass, you will be drinking wine out of a water glass (which, given the casual setting, is totally fine). Second, while they try to accommodate allergies, there is no menu - you eat what they are serving to everyone that day. The food is usually good though, and plentiful.

If your friend is looking for something specific food-wise, let me know, but given the discussion so far, this is what came to mind.

For retail, I would recommend Weygandt and MacArthurs first and foremost. Cork Market/Wine Shop and Arrowine (there is now an Arrowine location in DC proper in addition to the one in VA; however, only the one in VA sells the famous cheeses and charcuterie) next. Schneiders and Calvert Woodley also have some good selections.

ETA: There are now two Thai X-ing locations, and I think you can BYO at only one of them. So if going that route, make sure your friend books the right one.
 
9th street is the new location and the only location where you can BYO. They now have wine glasses; be it cheap, caterer types but they have them.

The food is good to very good, the last time it was not too spicy. Other times it has been quite spicy
 
I was very underwhelmed by thai crossing. I much prefer Little Serow. Different concepts I know but about equally difficult to dine at.
 
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