Food

Cheap Eats 2011: El Pike (Pike Pizza)

Ignore the pizza part of the name–this colorful cafe specializes in hearty portions of Bolivian cooking. That means that meat and potatoes play lead roles in many dishes, including the comforting lomo, a thin steak with eggs, fries, and mashed potatoes, and asado en olla, sliced beef with a spicy, tomato-based sauce and boiled potatoes. But the true stars of the menu are the salteñas, pouches of dough stuffed with a salty-sweet mix of chicken or beef, olives, and hard-boiled egg.

Adventurous eaters will have lots to choose from, including soups with beef kidney (called riñón) and beef tripe (ranga), both available Saturday and Sunday, and escabeche, pork feet cooked in vinegar.

Also good: Huminitas, sweet corn cakes filled with cheese; sopa de mani, a beef-and-peanut soup; chorizo sandwich.

Open daily for lunch and dinner.

Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.

Senior editor

Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.