No recommendations but Menupages gives you a chance to see restaurant menus with prices in advance of your trip. Here's a link to their site and they also have a mobile phone app.

Here is a link that might be useful: Washington DC menu pages

May be you can join DC Groupon. You may get some great restaurant deals.

dcarch

If you like tapas, one of my favorite places is Bodega on M Street in Georgetown. Great atmosphere, really good food - lots of fun. Gets crowded so make a reservation if you're there over the weekend. Also love Bistrot du Coin in Dupont Circle, on Connecticut Ave. Big and loud, great Belgian bistro. Lots of mussels, steaks, etc. But very loud - so if you're looking for quiet, you won't like it. I think both places have websites if you want to check out their menus.

Groupon is a great idea. We loved Johnny Rockets in Georgetown if you don't mind chains.

But even better for burgers and shakes is Good Stuff Eatery in thr capital district. Owned by Spike from Top Chef...

I've only had breakfast at the Old Ebbitt Grill but they have an extensive lunch and dinner menu. Not real expensive for DC but it was good.

Here is a link that might be useful: Old Ebbitt Grill

I lived in DC in the early eighties, so I have no current recommendations; however, the strong point about DC dining is that nearly every country in the world has an embassy there, with an embassy staff; that means there's a nucleus of knowledgable diners who know what their native cuisine is supposed to taste like. So if you wanted to try some ethnic food, you're more likely than not to have authentic versions.

If you're adventurous, try Ethiopian. I used to live a few blocks from the best Thai restaurant in the city, so I got really experienced with Thai cuisine. (Sadly, it's now closed.)

That menupages link looks helpful, especially since it has some reviews of the restaurants. A similar service is TripAdvisor--see the link.

If you find yourself around Union Station and have a need for a restorative beverage, Dubliners is a fine Irish pub.

As far as things to do, have you ever been to DC before? If not, you can spend a week on the Mall and not cover everything. From some of the finest art in the world to some of the coolest museums (The Air & Space Museum is the most visited museum in the world), you won't run out of things to do. Plus, the majority of the museums are free. What are your interests?

Here is a link that might be useful: TripAdvisor on DC restaurants

This post was edited by arley on Fri, Apr 19, 13 at 9:00

I second the Menupages suggestion. I'll be in Bethesda in mid-June, and I'm killing myself trying to decide between the various ethnic places I simply don't have access to here in Mississippi. From past experiences, I know that there's a fast turnover in restaurants, so I'm lining up first, second and third choices. Problem is, I'll only be there about three days, so there's no way I can cover everywhere I want to go :P

I know we'll have one lunch at Whole Foods--might be silly, but we love that we can have a better meal at a grocery store food bar than almost anywhere in our home state!

I don't want to highjack this thread, but since Bethesda is so close to DC, if ya'll have any good suggestions for me while you're at it, I'd appreciate it.

I'm about 25 miles from DC. In what area are you staying? If you like Indian, I would recommend Bombay Club. (DH is Indian and it's his favorite DC restaurant for Indian.) Rasika is also good, I've been to the West End Rasika, which is close to Georgetown.

Georgetown has a Carmines for good NYC Italian (though not sure why you'd want NYC Italian in DC). Right across the street from it is Jaleo for excellent Tapas. The Georgetown Clydes is classic (same group owns Old Ebbitt Grill, also classic). Mr. Smith's of Georgetown is fun.

I know you said you didn't want to do anything too expensive, but if you do decide to splurge, Nora in Dupont Circle is very good local/organic.

Check out the Washington Post Dining Out Guide It's pretty reliable. Also, Washingtonian magazine has an annual Cheap Eats feature.

I like Yelp!, too. You can make reservations through Open Table. A lot of times, DH and I will go out for late lunch, as it's usually cheaper than the dinner menu. I guess we are getting old(er)!

Do the Hop On Hop Off Bus - good value and goes almost everywhere.

Speaking of the Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy museum near Dulles airport is also part of Air and Space - has the Concorde andspace shuttle Discovery, I believe you can get a bus there from Air and Space downtown.

Hey - nothing shabby about Whole Foods for lunch. You might try Wegmans, too. I bet there's one in the Bethesda/Rockville area. There's a Penzey's in Rockville.

Smithsonian Museum is a must.

I think you just missed the Cherry Blossom event. May be not. Not sure.

dcarch

Where are you staying? After a long day of sight seeing you may not feel like driving across town for dinner. Location will help narrow down your choices too.

Tripadvisor has a nice function where you can sort all 1550+ restaurants in DC by budget, location, cuisine, etc.

We stay in Foggy Bottom when we go and like Bread and Chocolate for breakfast.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tripadvisor DC reviews

This post was edited by deee on Sat, Apr 20, 13 at 8:58

I was just there for a few days - blessed to see the cherry blossom peak. Don't know if you have a smartphone but I ended up using my phone a lot looking for nearby restaurants in TripAdvisor and then picked some with good reviews - wasn't disappointed with any of the choices. Didn't go to any real high end spots but dining out in DC is not cheap under any circumstances. We rented a VRBO so at least ate in for breakfast.

The Bottom Line DC - great burgers and sandwiches for lunch and outdoor seating

Elephant and Castle - big, busy place with outdoor seating, had lunch here when visiting Smithsonian museums; had to wait a bit for a table

Old Ebbitt Grill - early dinner here one night on our way home from Capitol, etc; busy place where you need reservations for dinner

Logan Tavern - dinner here; this is between DuPont Circle and Logan Circle which is the neighborhood where we were staying

Commissary - dinner here; also in the 'hood

Chadwicks - lunch here in Alexandria; there is also one in Georgetown

I was there in March for DH's aunts burial service. The cemetery was just a few blocks from the White House and so beautiful. His cousins had made reservations for all of us for lunch after the service at Filamino, an italian restaurant. Neither of us are huge fans of italian, other than pizza, spaghetti or lasagna. But this place was awesome. It was a buffet and everything on it was delicious. Next time I am there, I will go back.
The desserts were also wonderful. I don't know about the price as they already had that arranged.

Several years ago we went for a week when the kids were still home. We enjoyed everything, but especially the Smithsonian, Arlington National Cemetary, the Whitehouse tour, Vietnam Memorial and the Holocaust Museum.

Have a great time!

Thanks for all the suggestions!

First off we stayed in Ballston jusr outside DC in Arlington.
Very hip, very chic and beaitiful!

To say there were tons of restaurants within walking distance would be a huge understatement.

Friday night was my choice and i picked the El Paso Cafe off Glebe Ave.
It was great! Yummy TexMex vittles. My combo came with grilled chicken tacos....omg, prob the best tacos Ive ever had!

Nighy two was Franks pick and true to form he wanted wings so barfood it was. There was a WildWings right.next to our hotel.
Pretty good....wings are wings.

Sunday we went to the Silver Diner.
We also have a Silver Diner here in South Jersey which Frank and I love.
Great farm to table place!

While we were in Smithsonian, we ate lunch at the cafe....had the best carrot cake ever there....if you go, def get yourself some!

Planning another trip really soon!

Sounds great. Looks like you had nice sunny weather.