Washington, DC is a city that goes to bed early. Most restaurants are open all day and many serve dinner as early as 4 pm. There are even restaurants that close at 9 pm! But if you get here in the middle of the night and need to eat, here are a few places open all day, all night, every day of the year, 24/7. Most of these places are not on the Metro line, but then again, the Metro does not run all night.
Tortas y Tacos Chiquita, 2911 Columbia Pike, Arlington, Virginia. It is a Mexican place located about a mile from the Pentagon.
Mexican place on Columbia Pike.
Kabob Palace, 2315 S. Eads Street, Arlington, VA. This is a well known kabob place near National Airport.
Yechon, 4121 Hummer Road, Annandale, VA. This Korean barbecue restaurant is large and humming at 3 am.
Tosokchon, 7031 Little River Turnpike #21D, Annandale, VA. A Korean restaurant hidden in the strip mall behind Shilla Bakery.
Steak ‘n Egg (24 hour on Saturday only), 4700 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC. Located way above Georgetown, this all day breakfast place is famous. After a renovation, they now have a bit more seating.
Bob and Edith’s is a diner that has various locations.
Ihop is a fast food pancake restaurant. All day breakfast and pancakes piled like cake available all day.
McDonalds. Some are open all day but in the DC area, this tends to be the ones out on the highways.
Denny’s is a breakfast chain that also serves food throughout the day.
Subway is a sandwich chain. Most do not have too much seating.
And a few others on this list from Eater that include Gom Tang E out in Centreville.
Lighthouse Tofu’s seafood stew, with half a mini seafood pancake in the background.
“Hey, do you have a recommendation for a Korean restaurant?” Do I ever! In the service of social media=democracy=sharing information… here’s my list of Korean restaurants I like to go to when in Northern Virginia. I also mentioned Korean food in my list of iconic American eats in the Washington, DC area. All these restaurants are located in Annandale in Fairfax county about ten miles from the Lincoln Memorial. There are buses out to this area but that experience would probably ruin your experience.
Lighthouse Tofu (Vit Goel Tofu) – 4121 Chatelain Rd #100, Annandale, VA 22003: More than tofu, this place specializes in volcanically hot earthenware bowls of stew/soup. This place actually has seafood stew which I love. Plus, they have created a mini seafood pancake which is more like an American appetizer. Most places serve a huge seafood pancake (haemul pajeon) which can be harder to deal with.
Honey Pig – 7220 Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA 22003: Very loud music, steel decor and smoky, this place will make you feel like you are in Korea.
To Sok Jip – 7211 Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA 22003: Across the street from Honey Pig, easy to overlook, this place with the purple awning, is worth finding. It’s got three “rice” options – white, barley, or purple which is a mix of brown rice and beans. This is one of the few hole-in-the-wall places left in this area. The bok choy kimchi is fantastic. They also have a mega-pot “wartime soup” which is a hodgepodge of hot dogs, tofu, pork, kimchi, noodles, etc. thrown into a cauldron. Must not eat alone. Plus, the ladies’ has a fancy Japanese toilet.
Gom Ba Woo – 7133 Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA 22003: This place is next to Giant. I mention it because I’ve had some really delicious home made mandu (dumplings, potstickers) here, and I’ve had wonderful language barrier issues here too, one of which resulted in us receiving a cold bowl of noodles in a lard soup. The lady looked at us approvingly because clearly this was the dish to order in hot weather, but we were not so thrilled.
Nak Won – 7317 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, VA 22003: This place is where I’d take newbies to Korean food. It’s got a nice authentic feel and it’s quiet. The decor reminds me of the decor of the 80’s with wood tables and memorabilia on the walls.
Oegadgib – 7331 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, VA 22003: This place should be called “Mr. Lee’s” but instead I think it is “Gram’s place” or something like that. There is a full menu but the two things that stand out are the all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu (where you cook meat and vegetables in a broth – like hotpot) and the barbecue which includes three kinds of meat. The prices are under $20 per person so a great place to go with big eaters. This place is hard to find and hard to pronounce so look for the Jerry’s Sub sign, make absolutely sure that you do not park in Jerry’s lot, and then go behind the building on Little River Turnpike and you will often find Mr. Lee waving his light saber around to help you find parking in his lot.
Yechon – 4121 Hummer Rd, Annandale, VA 22003: This is a 24-hour standby. It’s big and they do everything well. It’s located a bit away from the other restaurants and many don’t like how generic it feels, but that’s one thing that’s good about it — you can always go there and find acceptable Korean food.
There are two other places to mention – one bakery and one chicken place:
Shilla Bakery – 7039 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, VA 22003: Forget all the weird ideas about not liking Asian desserts… you will like these! They have everything from French bread, puffy pastries, colorful cakes, bingsoo (frozen ice dessert with flavorings, fruit, etc.), Illy coffee, and yes, some of those weird Asian desserts made with beans. This place is always pumping with Korean American youth hanging out and families. The bakery is very generous with its samples so you can try four or five different breads, cookies, pastries, before buying one or none.
Bon Chon Chicken – multiple locations: Really, very few things make me NOT want to share. I have a friend who is a true foodie friend because when we shared a plate of Bon Chon’s wings, he ate the winglets (part that looks like a drumstick) so that I could enjoy the flats (the part with two bones). Sigh, now that’s true understanding. These wings are sweet, crunchy, and lightly coated.
Korean barbecue at Oegabgib.
Maybe once I get to Colombia, I’ll compile a list of the seven best Korean restaurants in Bogota.
