Why go: Seeing owner and chef Raul Claros in his white chef’s jacket bearing plates to tables with a flourish, you’d think you were in a hip new bistro, not a nine-table restaurant attached to a motel. The detail-conscious cooking, featuring dishes of Venezuela, Bolivia, and Chile, is just as impressive.
What to get: Sopa de mani, a rich and complex peanut soup; black-bean soup; arepas, fried corn cakes stuffed with ground beef, scrambled egg, and cheese or with beans; the area’s best salteñas; corn-and-avocado salad; diputado, a sandwich of thin-sliced steak topped with a fried egg, tomatoes, and sautéed onions.
Best for: An interesting changeup from tacos, quesadillas, and burritos—the holy trinity of the area’s many Latin American restaurants.
Insider tip: Starters are better than main courses; you can construct a good meal around orders of salteñas and arepas as well as the marvelous soups.
Open Wednesday through Monday for lunch and dinner.
>> See all 2009 Cheap Eats restaurants here
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.
