18 Feb 2010

Take Out Wars: Who Do You Call When You Are Hungry?

The District is a city filled with transplants and long-time residents, and the only thing we can agree on is that we don’t agree when it comes to the best place to call for take out.

Being from the suburbs of Philly, my first choice for take out on a cold Friday night is my local pizza place for a pie or a sandwich, but down here in DC, the options can be hit or miss. When I want a pie on the Hill, I call New York Pizza. New York Pizza is nothing like my favorite pizza place back home—Mama Nuccio’s in Somerdale, NJ—but it is an acceptable, south-of-the-Mason-Dixon-Line solution. Love them or hate them, they satisfy my need for pizza until I can get back home.

When it comes to Chinese food, nothing could replace my beloved Chinese place tucked in the corner of a shopping center in Lawnside, NJ. Well nothing could replace it until I moved to the District’s Cleveland Park neighborhood, where I fell in love with the offerings at Mr. Chen’s. Mr. Chen’s is the only place that I know of in the city that offers fried brown rice. And the dumplings? Oh, the dumplings. Even though I moved to the Hill five years ago, it was only in the past year that I started to sample our local Chinese food offerings. Most recently, I tried Szechuan House on 8th Street SE, which is also known as Fusion Grill. I found happiness in the house specialty: crispy shredded beef. I also found a delivery place that could take the place of Mr. Chen’s.

With the weather causing so many of us to reach for the phone instead of the frying pan at dinnertime, I ask you this: who do you call for delivery?

Tags: , , ,


What's trending

17 responses to “Take Out Wars: Who Do You Call When You Are Hungry?”

  1. Sonya says:

    If you’re from Philly, surely you’ve tried Taylor on H St, yeah? They even deliver! (Nothing vegan on the menu, but they’ve special-made something for me before and it was great.)

  2. Sarah says:

    My takeout place of choice is Old Siam, the Thai restaurant on 8th St SE.

  3. ET says:

    Pizza it is Al’s
    Thai it is either Thai Roma or Talay Thai on 1st SE Chinese it is Young Chow on Penn
    Burgers by default (and for the fries) it is Good Stuff (burger is still not as good as my benchmark Port of Call in New Orleans)

  4. This list applies to delivery only (so you’re all spared my list of grievances re Good Stuff, which I want to love, but never will as long as I am paying that much for a burger that I don’t get to determine to what degree it is cooked)

    Sanphan blows every other thai place on the Hill out of the water. It’s the best thai I’ve had within the city limits. It’s more expensive, but it is so worth it. It’s really the only delivery place on the Hill that I can rave about.

    Pizza delivery on the Hill is terrible. Al’s is meh; NY Pizza tastes like sauce on the box; Bistro Italiano is okay, but always soggy. I used to really like Armand’s, but it’s only just fine.

    I like Hunan Dynasty for Chinese.

    Of the two Indian options (Cap Hill Tandoor and Aatish), Aatish is better. Cap Hill Tandoor is super greasy.

    I’ve had consistent good luck w/ Taylor, but as evidenced by recent heated discussions on this blog and Frozen Tropics, that’s not always the case. I finally got the pork and broccoli rabe recently and it really was fantastic.

  5. DH says:

    Al’s Pizzeria at 1382 E Capitol Street. Good pizza, arrives on time

  6. Sharee Lawler Sharee Lawler says:

    We did a head-to-head competition with our neighbors one night: veggie pizzas from Al’s (their favorite) and NY Pizza (our favorite). NY Pizza arrived first, but both tasted equally good.

    Of course, if I don’t care how long it takes to deliver, nobody beats Bistro Italiano.

  7. PB says:

    Best pizza delivery, hands down Bistro Italiano. For those concerned about the pizza arriving soggy, I recommend ordering it well done/extra crispy. Never fails…

  8. LJ says:

    Hey, I’m from S. Jersey too, Voorhees. I just fell in love with Taylor’s though I’m not sure they deliver. I like NY Pizza, their thin crust is much better than the regular crust, but not like good old Guisepe’s Pizza on the Black Horse Pike! Of course for awhile I was doing NY pizza so much at my old place on the HOuse side of the Hill that when I recently ordered some NY Pizza in my new place on the Senate side was like, “I know you, you lived on N. Carolina Ave before!”

    I also like Bistro Italiano, I had to check them out after I went to dinner there with my Mom and saw lots of hungry looking pregnant women coming in to get pizza take-out and figured it must be pretty good and there delivery doesn’t take too long. NY Pizza also does some decent sandwiches. I used to like Armands but they just don’t do the Deep Dish right (from someone whose only been to Chi-town 3 times). Sometimes if I’m feeling really decadent I’ll do takeout taxi and get an Uno’s to deliver b/c even though it isn’t great deep dish it is better than Armands.

  9. Kricker says:

    Pizza- definitely New Citipizza at 5th and H NE. It’s pretty decent for take-out/delivery, way better than Al’s which is too greasy.

    Toscana- excellent Italian take out (no delivery). Cheap and fast and most delicious.

    Taylor- awesome sandwiches.

  10. Kyra says:

    LJ,

    If you find yourself back in Jersey, try Richeez on Warwick Road in Somerdale. My dad swears it is some of the best food he has had in a long time–from the salads to the pizza–it also happens to be across the street from Mama Nuccio’s. I’ve not yet been to Richeez, but I trust his opinion.

  11. gwen says:

    LOVE Mr. Chen’s! I fell in love with it in college at AU and now that I live in Arlington I still go to Woodley specifically for it once and a while.

    Thai Roma is terrible!

  12. Rick says:

    Aatish is much better than CH Tandoor (although this is respectable too) and probably one of the best kept secrets of the Hill.

  13. jdsdc says:

    We like Bistro Italiano for pizza delivery — we always order a half-topping on it to ensure that it’s made fresh (one time we ordered a large cheese, and I swear it was old) — and for the most part, they always do a good job.
    For Thai, Sanphan beats Old Siam.

  14. Jon H says:

    Great timing. I moved to the hill from CH/AdMo in November. I still haven’t ordered delivery and don’t have any menus. Good to know that there are some great options out there. I’ve been surprised by the positive reviews of NY Pizza because it always looks empty and sketchy. But I know I have to give it a chance.

    Good Stuff is an incredible burger, but I agree with ET, nothing beats Port of Call.

  15. Eric says:

    When I want Chinese I almost always order from Hunan Dynasty. They also have a very nice restaurant if you’re interested in dine in.

    For pizza I love NY Pizza. They’re only 3 blocks from my house so the order usually gets to us in under 30 minutes.

    If Trusty’s ever delivered the only take out I’d ever order would be their Buffalo Chicken Cheese steak. It’s the best steak sandwich you’ll ever eat. They make a great burger too, but I find myself ordering the Buffalo sandwich every time I’m there.

Social Media Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com
Add to Flipboard Magazine.