Underrated Dishes

Look past a restaurant’s signature items for these surprising—and delicious—alternatives

Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab

750 15th St., NW

Known for: Floridian stone crabs and Key-lime pie.

Try: The apple pie.

You won’t find this on the menu at the 111-year-old Miami original that inspired this downtown DC steakhouse. It’s solely the creation of the restaurant group that runs its spinoffs here and in Chicago. Four pounds of Fuji and Pink Lady apples are in each pie, and the tall slices are generously topped with cinnamon streusel.

Boogy & Peel

1 Dupont Cir., NW

Known for: Deliciously creative pizzas.

Try: The sundae.

Chef/owner Rachael Jennings knows the value of doing just a few things very, very well. Here, besides the pies, it’s soft-serve, turned into a seasonally changing sundae. We hope her apple-pie version with Ritz-cracker crumbs returns, but the current offering—a s’mores riff—is pretty great, too.

Bread Furst

4434 Connecticut Ave., NW

Known for: Just-baked baguettes and croissants.

Try: The doughnuts.

We live in a town of bougie doughnut shops. It’s hard to find a round that isn’t sheened in Valrhona chocolate or studded with bacon bits. But when you want something a little more nostalgic? Mark Furstenberg’s Van Ness bread bakery, where the honey-dipped treats channel the flavors of a small-town, stuck-in-time coffee shop.

Afghan Bistro, Bistro Aracosia, and Aracosia McLean

8081 Alban Rd., Springfield; 5100 MacArthur Blvd., NW; 1381 Beverly Rd., McLean

Known for: Creamy Afghan stews and dips.

Try: The burger.

You’d think the burgers at these Afghan spots would be toss-offs, put on the menu to appease unadventurous palates. Not so. The kitchens mix brisket and tenderloin for the patties, paired with ketchup and cilantro chutney.

Caruso’s Grocery

914 14th St., SE; 11820 Trade St., North Bethesda

Known for: Textbook Italian American pastas.

Try: Chicken tenders.

Few people know chicken tenders as well as children—and Caruso’s chef/owner Matt Adler, who’s still a big fan of the deep-fried snack. His wonderfully crunchy version employs the same breaded filets the kitchen uses for chicken parm, just sliced into strips. You’ll find them on—you guessed it—the kids’ menu at the Capitol Hill and North Bethesda restaurants.

Secret Dinning Spots

Forget speakeasies with passwords and disguised doors: The area’s real incognito eateries operate in plain sight at local markets.

Oh, you just go to the grocery store for groceries? You may be missing out on some of the best low-key dining destinations. From the sub counter in the Italian store A. Litteri (517 Morse St., NE) to the sushi spot in the Japanese market Hinata (4947 St. Elmo Ave., Bethesda), many of the region’s food retailers hide unassuming eateries.

This is where big Asian grocery stores in the suburbs–H Mart, Lotte Plaza Market, Good Fortune Supermarket–put your local Safeway to shame. Who wants a sad salad bar when you can stop for dim sum and pho?

Among our favorites of these shop-and-eat hubs is K Market (4239 John Marr Dr., Annandale), which hosts an entire food court. Find stalls devoted to affordable sushi, mochi doughnuts, Korean/Chinese–style skewers, and a variety of Korean comfort fare. Our go-tos: kimbap, noodle soups, and meaty kimchi stews. The seating area has plenty of tables, and a buzzer alerts you when your food is ready. Afterward, hit the aisles to replicate the feast at home.