Etete

Every Friday, we feature four weekend restaurant picks from the TBD staff. Here are this weekend's picks...

Breakfast
Tortilla Café
“A lot of visitors to Eastern Market know Tortilla Café, but did you know they have awesome (and cheap) breakfast? I’m a fan of the breakfast burrito, which is huge and comes with two sides for less than $5. If you haven’t had their side of fried plantains GET IT. So delicious.

They also do omelets and huevos rancheros, if you’re into that sort of thing.”
— Mandy Jenkins, Social Media Editor

Brunch
Le Pain Quotidian
“My brunch pick is Le Pain Quotidien. There are seven locations in our area. I like their communal table philosophy and everything in their bakery. It's all really fresh. There's plenty of breakfast food to order and they serve their coffee in huge mugs.”
— Sara Kenigsberg, Segment Producer

Lunch
Etete
“Etete gets pretty hectic in the evening, but for lunch it's a great spot for a relaxed Ethiopian meal. The thing most people order, doro wat, isn't spectacular – I think the best rendition of the dish on Ninth Street disappeared when Sodere did – but the kitfo is amazing. Raw steak dripping with spiced butter is like a shotgun blast of raw gustatory pleasure. The vegetarian sampler is also great, with slightly bitter collard greens, carrots and potatoes stewed in that same spiced butter, and mounds of red and yellow lentils. For a couple bucks more, you can get a whole tilapia with it, fried in oil until its skin gets cracker-crisp and the flesh becomes moist and steaming.”
— John Metcalfe, Reporter

Dinner
The Parthenon Restaurant
“This is the place I go when I’m looking for traditional Greek food with no twists or chef’s embellishments on recipes from the home country. The Parthenon features authentic Greek dishes prepared just like my parents and grandparents made them – and made better than anywhere else I’ve tried in the region. I’ll go so far as to say that The Parthenon is on par with the Greek restaurants in Astoria, Queens (home to the largest Greek population outside of Greece itself), Chicago’s Greektown, and Tarpon Springs, Fla. (home to the largest percentage, per capita, of Greek-Americans of any city in America).

Must-have appetizers: Saganaki (flaming cheese), Tyropita (cheese pie), Kolokithakia Tiganita (pan fried zucchini) and the Avgolemono (egg lemon) soup.

Favorite entrees: the Lamb w/Orzo special, Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), Chicken Souvlaki and the broiled swordfish.

For dessert, the baklava is to die for.”
— Steve Chaggaris, VP of Cable Television