3) Nando’s Peri-Peri
Nando’s Peri-Peri is the best chicken I have ever had. Originating from a style of cooking pioneered by Portuguese settlers in Mozambique during the late fifteenth century and perfected during the gold rush in South Africa during the late nineteenth century, Peri-Peri (Swahili for peppers) style cooking combines the flame grilled chicken traditions of Latin Europe with the flavor and punch of African spices. Nando’s sells all the usual fare for a chicken restaurant; ¼’s ½’s, breasts, wraps, wings, etc. But what makes Nando’s special is that they put a secret dry rub on each piece of chicken a full day before it hits their custom and old fashioned open flame grill. The dry rub serves to flavor and dry the chicken skin making it one of the crispiest and most flavorful chars I have ever had on a piece of meat. Nando’s also has a variety special hot sauces that you can choose to have grilled directly onto your chicken. All this preparation combines to create a juicy piece of hearty fowl bursting at the seams with spicy flavor. Combined with extra sauces at the table (I recommend mixing the garlic and lemon pepper and herb sauces together) and unbelievable sides such as Portuguese seasoned saffron rice with bell peppers, French fries seasoned with the chicken rub, fresh grilled garlic bread, and creamy redskin mashed potatoes; Nando’s creates one of the most unique and THE best tasting grilled chicken experiences you can imagine. If nobody takes this place national soon: I WILL!
2) Shophouse Asian Kitchen
Ok. Shophouse is technically owned by Chipotle so they can’t be an upstart food empire in their own right, maybe the Scotland in their parent company’s British Empire but I still can’t get it anywhere but DuPont Circle so it counts! From the national success of Chipotle and KFC famous bowls and the enormous local successes of Piada, (Italian Chipotle) J. Gumbos, (Cajun Chipotle) and Pera (Turkish Chipotle) in Columbus, it can be seen that the concept of ethnic meats, veggies, and sauces served on top of a starch bed is both easily exportable and extremely delicious. Shophouse takes this young concept, sends it on a study abroad semester, and sells one of the most authentic and unique fast foods in the city. Inspired by fast food noodle houses in Southeast Asia, Shophouse allows customers to choose a base of either jasmine rice, chilled rice noodles, or arugula salad and one of each of a variety of Asian meats, vegetables, slaws, curries, and crispy toppings. From the moment the seasoned meat hits your taste buds the explosion of pure ecstasy is only matched by the flavorful heat from the curry. Luckily, the noodles and rice do a create job of curbing the heat while blending with the veggies to create a flavor profile all their own. Since the moment I first tried Shophouse, I have been fighting the urge to go back for every other meal. It is truly a fantastic concept that needs to be given to the whole nation!
1) Devon and Blakely
According to legend, when Romulus drank the milk of the she-wolf, Rome was destined to become the greatest city the world would ever know. As I sunk my teeth into the freshly baked French bread made on site at D&B and took my first bite of the pressed rare roast beef sandwich with creamy melted Swiss cheese and cranberry coleslaw, the angelic choir and bright light that filled my senses could only have been Mars himself ordaining another empire for greatness! Devon and Blakely is the renaissance given to mankind to deliver us from the dark age of bland soup/sandwich cafes that have plagued our lunch hours for decades. With their freshly baked breads caressing gourmet sandwiches will all manner of high end ingredients from prosciutto to buffalo mozzarella, blackened chicken to BBQ pulled pork. The sandwiches at Devon and Blakely are THE ALL TIME BEST SANDWHICHES I HAVE EVER HAD! Accompanying the sandwiches are soups so delicious you need to be sitting down because your legs will literally give out from under you. The quality of their white bean turkey chili, Thai chicken, and tomato and feta soups are so fantastic that you would believe that the “Soup Nazi” episode of Seinfeld was just a humble and modest review of D&B. Devon and Blakely is already a chain with several restaurants in Washington and New York but for the good of mankind, this place needs to be sent to all corners of the globe!
Honorable Mentions:
Good Stuff Eatery: Great burgers, love the slight grilled crisp they include on the buttered buns but between Five Guys, Red Robin, Johnny Rockets, and other large gourmet fast food burger joints; there is nothing really new and different enough about good stuff warrant expansion. The two notable exceptions to this are the fries and shakes. The fries seasoned with thyme, sage, rosemary, and sea salt are unlike anything anyone else has and are illegal narcotics level addictive. But at $4.95 a pop, the market probably would reject the concept. The toasted marshmallow milkshake however is beyond tasty, recreating s’mores in one of the most delicious ways I have ever seen. 
Burger Tap and Shake: Another burger place with the same issues as Good Stuff. While BTS doesn’t have special fries, they do have specialty milkshakes spiked with Kahlua, Malibu, Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey, and other desert liquors. The concept of alcoholic milkshakes literally blew my mind and needs to be expanded and sampled by everyone ASAP!
We the Pizza: The best pizza in D.C. the inventive toppings such as the “White Pie” with 5 kinds of gourmet cheese, the “Oktoberfest” with bratwurst, fennel, and sauerkraut on a pretzel crust, and the best buffalo chicken pizza I have ever had, We the Pizza is definitely worth a shot but doesn’t really do anything I have never seen before.
I've been to Shophouse a couple of times. Yeah, it's great. Taking these delicacies national, would be a public service in my book.
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