Foggy Bottom/West End
Aquarelle
Here's your chance to get inside the infamous Watergate Hotel and see how the other half lives or eats. If you're going to the Kennedy Center, this is actually a good place to go for an exquisite pretheater meal (prix fixe $42, which is a bargain at this upscale restaurant) and some fabulous views of the Potomac. (Call ahead for a reservation if you want a good table with a view.)
The menu includes such upper-crust entrees as quail, rack of lamb, squab, and sweetbreads, all wonderfully prepared. Entrees run $24 to $33. Free valet parking is available. Men are requested to wear business casual at dinner. Major credit cards are accepted.
Dish
Dish is located in the River Inn, near the Kennedy Center and Georgetown. At this casual and friendly restaurant, the attention to detail — whether it's the playful sizes and shapes of the Crate & Barrel dishes or the eight-foot diptych of a Weimaraner dog photograph by William Wegman — sets the tone. During the winter months, a gaslit fireplace warms the guests.
Menu favorites include crispy fried chicken, blackened pork chops, and a New England clambake. At lunch, hearty sandwiches such as meatloaf and Colorado turkey melt are big enough to share. The brown cow ice-cream float is a perfect ending. Dinner entrees run between $19 and $28. Breakfast is served daily. Major credit cards are accepted.
A growing number of restaurants have Web sites, and it's a good place to start in helping to decide if a menu would be appropriate for your family. If you are a micro-planner, you can even make reservations online ahead of time and get to eat in some of the most popular places in town.
Galileo
This was one of the most talked-about restaurants of the late 1980s, because it was the first restaurant in chef Roberto Donna's Italian eatery empire (others include the Il Radicchio chain and Pesce). Executive chef Amy Brandwein has taken it to new levels. It's so popular you cannot get in for dinner without a reservation, and some book weeks in advance. The food is mind-blowingly rich, complex, and inventive. Pasta dishes start at $24, and entrees run from $25 to $35, but it's worth it. Major credit cards are accepted.
Teatro Goldoni
This place is a trip. It's theatrical to say the least, with exuberant designs and colors and lighting effects and graphics. You'll have a hard time concentrating on the food … until you take your first bite. It's complex and wonderful — lots of light sauces and intricate food layering. The desserts are supreme. Pasta is $23.50 to $26.50, and entrees run from $29.50 to $43.50. Major credit cards accepted. Valet parking is available.
If there's a restaurant you're dying to try, but you think the food's too highfalutin for the kids, call ahead and explain your situation. Most real chefs welcome the opportunity to strut their stuff and prepare something not on the menu. They'll do that for you too.
Kinkead's
This is a popular American brasserie just a few blocks west of the White House. It is known for its seafood entrees, such as the grilled squid and polenta appetizer, and the signature dish of a pepitacrusted salmon with shellfish and chili ragout, but there is always at least one meat and poultry entree on the menu. There is live jazz every night of the week. Dinner entrees run $19 to $36; lunch is less expensive. Major credit cards are accepted.
Roof Terrace Restaurant/KC Café
This is an excellent restaurant with fabulous panoramic Potomac views located at Rock Creek Parkway in the Kennedy Center. It requires a reservation — but the lighter-fare KC Café doesn't. Let's make it easy — everything is recommended, and there's always a daily special. The bounteous Country Kitchen Sunday brunch beggars the imagination and costs $33.95. It always attracts a crowd.
Hours of operation are really geared around performances, so call to make sure that the restaurant is open. The recently renovated KC Café on the roof terrace level is a better bet for families. It has a quick service line that offers gourmet sandwiches, a salad bar, vegetables, and antipasto. The Chef's Table has daily specials of pasta, fish, and meat, all prepared to order. Major credit cards are accepted. There is garage parking, but you have to pay for it.
