Four restaurants along the Route 1 corridor made a list of “best casual” eateries, once again showing how the area has become a foodie haven.
In a wide-ranging list of the 25 best mom-and-pop restaurants in the greater D.C. area — critic Tim Carman asks that you not call them “cheap eats” — the Washington Post listed four local favorites:
Chez Dior: The Senegalese restaurant at 5124 Baltimore Ave. in Hyattsville was praised as the area’s “best West African restaurant,” with dishes such as yassa chicken, chargrilled drumsticks with a lemon-scented onion sauce.
Taqueria Habanero: The College Park outpost of the D.C. restaurant at 8145 Baltimore Ave., Suite A & B, was praised for tableside guacamole, ceviches and molcajete mixto, “a family-style dish that will turn heads from across the dining room.”
Northwest Chinese: The popular College Park restaurant at 7313 Baltimore Ave. gets props for its “full-throated interpretations of Xi’an and Liaoning dishes,” including appetizers such as black vinegar peanuts and spicy shredded potatoes.
Momo Yakitori: The Woodridge yakitori hangout at 2214 Rhode Island Ave., in D.C., was recognized for its grilled chicken as well as new vegetable dishes like binchotan-blackened corn served with tamari corn butter and, of course, the toasted marshmallows.
If you’re willing to drive a little, Carman also gave a shoutout to Pho 75 in Langley Park, a surprising entry given Northern Virginia’s dominance of Vietnamese cuisine.
