Things to Do

Readers’ Choice: Best of Washington

For July's Best of Washington issue, on stands now, we surveyed more than 2,500 readers about their favorite restaurants, celebrities, nightlife, and more—plus the people and places they don’t like. Here are the results.

Don't see your best and worst picks? Think your fellow readers got it all wrong? Sound off in the comments. 

Food | Fashion | Things to Do | People | Worst

Food

Barbecue
1. Red Hot & Blue
2. Famous Dave’s
3. Rocklands

Crab cakes
1. Legal Sea Foods
2. Clyde’s
3. Coastal Flats

Bar menu
1. Clyde’s
2. Tie: Artie’s, Cafe Deluxe
3. McCormick & Schmick’s

Delivery pizza
1. Z Pizza
2. Papa John’s
3. Vocelli Pizza

Place for a great burger
1. Five Guys
2. Artie’s
3. Elevation Burger

Place for great French fries
1. Five Guys
2. Cheeburger Cheeburger
3. Poste Moderne Brasserie

Place for great seafood
1. Legal Sea Foods
2. Oceanaire
3. McCormick & Schmick’s

Place for great vegetarian food
1. California Tortilla
2. Sunflower
3. Lebanese Taverna

Place for great cupcakes
1. CakeLove
2. Georgetown Cupcake
3. Baked ’n Wired

Place for a great birthday cake
1. CakeLove
2. Costco
3. Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe

Place for pasta
1. Pasta Mia
2. Filomena
3. Maggiano’s

Place for sushi
1. Sushi Taro
2. Sushi-Ko
3. Kaz Sushi

Place for brunch
1. Tabard Inn
2. Georgia Brown's
3. Whitlow's on Wilson

Restaurant to take out-of-towners
1. Old Ebbitt Grill
2. Clyde’s
3. Central Michel Richard

Upscale restaurant for kids
1. Clyde’s
2. Cafe Deluxe
3. Carlyle

Casual restaurant for kids
1. California Tortilla
2. Red Robin
3. 2 Amys

Dive bar
1. Dan’s Cafe
2. Tune Inn
3. The Big Hunt

Wine bar
1. Proof
2. Cork
3. Sonoma

Bar for beer lovers
1. Brickskeller
2. Brasserie Beck
3. RFD

Hotel bar
1. Ritz-Carlton
2. Poste
3. Renaissance Mayflower

Fashion

Store for jeans
1. Denim Bar
2. Nordstrom
3. Lucky Brand Jeans

Store for jewelry
1. Princess Jewelers
2. Tiny Jewel Box
3. Tiffany & Co.

Store for vintage
1. Annie Creamcheese
2. Mustard Seed
3. Meeps

Sports-gear store
1. Dick’s Sporting Goods
2. City Sports
3. REI

Hip menswear store
1. Nordstrom
2. Sakes Fifth Avenue
3. Universal Gear

Hip boutique
1. Urban Chic
2. Terra
3. Upstairs on 7th

Things to Do

Place for a massage
1. Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa
2. Fountains Day Spa
3. Rejuvenations

Place for a manicure/pedicure
1. Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa
2. Aveda
3. Aqua Nails

Place to get wireless Internet
1. Panera Bread
2. Starbucks
3. Tryst

Place to hear live music
1. 9:30 Club
2. Birchmere
3. Black Cat

Great beach getaway
1. Rehoboth
2. Outer Banks
3. Dewey Beach

Great mountain getaway
1. Shenandoah
2. Deep Creek Lake
3. Wintergreen

People

Local hero/heroine
1. Mayor Adrian Fenty
2. Michelle Rhee
3. Hillary Clinton

Local athlete
1. Alex Ovechkin
2. Gilbert Arenas
3. Ryan Zimmerman

Local sports coach
1. Joe Gibbs
2. Bruce Boudreau
3. John Thompson III

Local sports venue
1. Nationals Park
2. Verizon Center
3. RFK stadium

Local news anchor
1. Jim Vance
2. Doreen Gentzler
3. Alison Starling

Local TV sportscaster
1. Lindsay Czarniak
2. George Michael
3. Brett Haber

Local TV weather forecaster
1. Bob Ryan
2. Doug Hill
3. Topper Shutt

Local radio personality
1. Elliot in the Morning
2. Kane
3. Jack Diamond

Local government official
1. Mayor Adrian Fenty
2. Jim Graham
3. Eleanor Holmes Norton

Local member of Congress
1. Eleanor Holmes Norton
2. Chris Van Hollen
3. Tom Davis

Presidential candidiate
1. Barack Obama
2. John McCain
3. Hillary Clinton

Worst

Restaurant not worth the wait
1. Cheesecake Factory
2. Lauriol Plaza
3. Tie: Matchbox, Outback Steakhouse

Noisiest restaurant
1. Lauriol Plaza
2. Cheesecake Factory
3. Zaytinya

Overrated bar/nightspot
1. Smith Point
2. Local 16
3. 1223

Overrated pizza
1. Papa John’s
2. Domino’s
3. 2 Amys

Traffic bottleneck
1. Springfield mixing bowl
2. I-66
3. I-270 spur of Beltway

Airport security lines
1. Dulles
2. BWI
3. Reagan National

Metro line
1. Red
2. Orange
3. Green

Sports venue
1. FedEx Field
2. RFK Stadium
3. Verizon Center

Most annoying political pundit
1. Ann Coulter
2. Bill O’Reilly
3. Chris Matthews

Local member of Congress
1. Jim Moran
2. Al Wynn
3. Eleanor Holmes Norton

Presidential candidate
1. Hillary Rodham Clinton
2. John McCain
3. Barack Obama

Local villain
1. Marion Barry
2. Dan Snyder
3. George W. Bush

Local celebrity I'd like to hear less about
1. Marion Barry
2. George W. Bush
3. Dan Snyder

Overrated local athlete
1. Gilbert Arenas
2. Clinton Portis
3. Jason Campbell

Related:
Best of Washington 2007