Mini neighborhoods like Eastern Market and Barracks Row comprise Capitol Hill. Capitol Hill is filled with fantastic activities, stores, and, of course, places to eat. If you are in the area, Download City Walker for free to explore the area like a local. Otherwise here are some of the best places to Eat, Drink and Shop in the neighborhood.
Where to eat
Boxcar Tavern
Acqua Al 2
The original Acqua Al 2 came to life in Florence in 1978. Over the past 3 decades, the restaurant has become an intimately loved dining establishment by world travelers, local Florentines, and international celebrities. In 2010, Ari Gejdenson, after being a part of Acqua al 2 in Florence, decided to move home and open in Washington DC. He opened the doors of the Acqua al 2 in Eastern Market, just six blocks from where he grew up. The internationally-loved restaurant uses the same menu as the Florentine original, and brings to the city the same true Italian dining experience as one would encounter on the Piazza della Signoria.
Acqua Al 2 offers a unique selection of Assaggio (literally meaning “taste”) chef’s choice samplers. Guests can try a sampling of three house salads with the Assaggio di Insalata, while the Assaggio di Dolci offers guests a taste of four house-made desserts. But their most popular are the Assaggio di Primi, a chef’s selection of five unique, fresh pastas and the Assaggio di Secondi, which features tasting portions of three of their most popular steaks, ranging from the popular filets to the unique Controfiletto al Pepe Verde, a hand-carved New York steak sautéed and topped with a green peppercorn, Dijon mustard sauce. Whether guests dine a la carte, or choose to customize their own menu for private events, Acqua al 2 prides itself on the execution of an authentic dining experience.
Market Lunch
Since 1978, The Market Lunch has been dishing out hearty breakfast and lunch comfort food inside D.C.’s historic Eastern Market. Serving one of DC’s best Crab Cakes, along with many other local seafood and regional favorites for lunch. The famous Blueberry- Buckwheat pancakes and “The Brick” breakfast sandwich, are standouts among the many breakfast favorites. The Market Lunch has been a staple establishment for locals and their out of town guests along with tourists from all around the world for nearly four decades. Having been featured in The New York Times, Southern Living, The Washington Post, Conde Nast Traveler, Washingtonian Magazine, and Food & Wine Magazine, this cafeteria-style, no frills, D.C. dive is sure to fill your stomach and your soul.
Where to Shop
Dawn Price Baby
One of the more popular baby stores in the area, Dawn Price Baby has been around for over 12 years and has four convenient locations in the DC Metro area. One is in the heart of the nation, Capitol Hill, and the other in quaint Georgetown, the third located at the Reston Town Center and the last in the new Mosaic District shopping center in Fairfax. Each store features a wide, well-edited selection of baby and toddler clothing, gear, toys, books and gifts.
Hills Kitchen
Hill’s Kitchen is an independent gourmet kitchenware store that opened in May 2008 adjacent to the Eastern Market Metro station. The store occupies a renovated and extended townhouse built in 1884 in the historic Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The philosophy of Hill’s Kitchen is to offer everything for the cook in a lively, homelike store atmosphere with knowledgeable staff and extraordinary service. Every product is carefully selected and characterized by excellent design and the highest available quality. Store proprietor Leah Daniels has lived in the area for her entire life. Hill’s Kitchen is proud to be part of the Capitol Hill community.
Capitol Hill Books
Capitol Hill Books is a used bookstore located on historic Capitol Hill in Washington DC, with two cozy floors of quality used books, first editions and rare books. The store was founded by Bill Kerr who had worked at an earlier Capitol Hill bookstore, Wayward Books. He would take his pay in books and when Wayward closed up and moved to Maine, Bill opened Capitol Hill Books in 1991. He lived upstairs and worked downstairs in the store, while also holding down a job at The Washington Post. He died at age 58 from a heart attack in November 1994 and his sister sold the bookstore to the present owner, Jim Toole in February 1995.
Where to drink
Harold Black
The wooden door that leads, eventually, to Harold Black, a new 1920s-style “speakeasy” above Acqua Al 2 in Eastern Market, is unmarked, and the inside reveals nothing but a long empty hall. I would have missed it if I didn’t know it was there. The hallway leads up a set of stairs, then down another corridor to the front of Suna, another new restaurant from the owners of Acqua Al 2. A door for Harold Black is nowhere in sight.
Barrel
Rustic whiskey lounge featuring a modest menu of Southern small plates, Sunday brunch & a cozy feel. Pappy van winkle 23 is one of the hundreds of Whiskey, Bourbon, Scotch and lovely booze at Barrel.
Mr. Henry’s Restaurant
Mr. Henry’s is a Capitol Hill mainstay–a place to relax, meet with friends, soak up the local atmosphere, and enjoy a classic American pub cuisine menu including tasty burgers, sandwiches, entree plates, salads, and soups. During the summer, the patio is the place to be for people-watching and enjoying a perfectly chilled cocktail.
In 1966 founder Henry Yaffe bought the establishment at Pennsylvania Avenue and 6th Street SE, a country-western bar then called The 601 Club, and, without closing, “Mr. Henry,” as he came to be known, remodeled the space to the wood-paneled pub you see today. Two years later Mr. Henry hired a local school teacher to sing in the pub. “She told me that if I could give her work three nights a week, she could quit teaching,” Henry recalled. Before long an upstairs performance area was constructed just for her, with oak paneling rescued from the Dodge Hotel before its demolition. This singer, none other than Roberta Flack, would go on to win 4 Grammys for the songs “Killing Me Softly” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.”
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