Restaurants Near the Washington National Zoo
Family-Friendly Dining Abounds in Nearby Neighborhoods
Oct 29, 2009
Families heading home from the National Zoo don’t have to drag cranky kids through the golden arches. Neighborhoods near the Zoo offer interesting places to eat that both parents and children will enjoy.
Restaurants in Cleveland Park
Cleveland Park is where many zoo-goers hop on Metro’s Red Line. The neighborhood offers good choices for families within a few steps of the Metro entrance.
Alero, at the corner of Connecticut and Ordway, serves up Mexican food in a cheerful setting. Directly downstairs is Yanni’s Greek Taverna, offering kid-pleasing platters of kebabs and fries.
Across the street, Nam-Viet Pho-79 has big bowls of noodles and other Vietnamese fare (though the best Vietnamese food in the area is found in the Virginia suburbs). Those who like spicy flavors should head to Indique, a moderately priced Indian restaurant.
For more upscale dining with a nice wine list, the locally owned Dino features Italian cuisine, with a focus on Venice and southern Tuscany.
Venturing west to Wisconsin Avenue, you’ll find Cactus Cantina, a cavernous restaurant that draws crowds of tourists and local families for Tex-Mex fare. Kids love watching the tortilla machine, a Rube Goldberg–like contraption in the middle of the dining room. The puffy tortillas exit the oven on a conveyor belt, to be scooped up by waiters and brought in baskets to diners’ tables.
Restaurants in Woodley Park
To the south of the Zoo, a number of possibilities cluster around the Woodley Park–Zoo Metro station. Try Open City coffeehouse/diner for comfort foods like sandwiches, burgers, and pastries baked in-house.
For more adventurous palates, Lebanese Taverna and Medaterra are popular bistros serving Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fare. iPOH Asian Cuisine offers Asian fusion, including satays, spring rolls, and curries. A little pricier but highly recommended for ethnic food lovers is Afghan Grill.
DC Pizza Restaurants
So the kids are demanding pizza—again. Luckily, there are two pizza restaurants in the vicinity that parents will like a lot, too.
The hugely popular Two Amys, on Macomb Street off Wisconsin Avenue, offers familiar tomato-and-cheese pies for traditionalists (you may want to get it with fresh buffalo mozzarella). But it would be a shame to pass up the more intriguing choices, such as a pizza with garlic, capers, parsley, hot pepper, and cockles in their shells.
Comet Ping Pong, on Connecticut Avenue about two miles north of the Zoo, offers designer pizzas from a wood-burning oven and a good beer list. Best of all are the ping pong tables in back, where children can work off their energy before you head to your hotel.
 |
 |
 |
