Brasserie Beck, web site, 1101 K Street NW, Washington, DC, 202-408-1717 (Metro Trip Planner - opens in new window) [Washingtonian | WaPo | City Paper | Don Rockwell | Yelp | Gayot]
Good French fries, mussels, and comfort food dishes. It can get crowded and noisy but go early for what can be quite a good meal. The beers here are very popular, I would say stick with the weirder, more Belgian entrees to avoid being stuck with the boring dishes on the menu.
Marcel's, web site, 2401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 202-296-1166, dinner only (Metro Trip Planner - opens in new window) [Economist | Washingtonian | WaPo | City Paper | food-plan | Don Rockwell | flyertalk | openlist | Yelp | Gayot]
Belgian, mostly, more classic than nouvelle. All the reviews are good, but hard to see it beating a trip to Europe.
Belga Café, web site, 514 Eighth Street SE, Washington, DC, 202-544-0100, the hours are currently in flux (Metro Trip Planner - opens in new window) [Washingtonian | WaPo | City Paper | Don Rockwell | openlist | Gayot]
Of course Belgian food is grossly underrated. This is supposed to be the best place on Capitol Hill, I will bet it is.
Le Mannequin Pis, web site, 18064 Georgia Avenue, Olney, MD, 301-570-4800, dinner only (Metro Trip Planner - opens in new window) [Washingtonian | WaPo | City Paper | openlist | Citysearch | Gayot]
Yes, Belgian. Gets rave reviews. Belgian food is great in Belgium, but in Olney? Everyone raves about the mussels and the beer. Not cheap. I now hear it has a new owner, circa 2006, but the same cooks.
