Tortilla Cafe in Washington DC is the Capitol Hill 7th Street Salvadoran-Mexican counter across from Eastern Market, with pupusas, tacos and Salvadoran tamales served from a tight kitchen.
Tip: Outdoor sidewalk seats are the move at lunch; the pupusas come three to a plate with curtido for $11.
Address: 210 7th St SE, Washington, DC 20003, Washington DC
Pizza Mart Adams Morgan in Washington DC is the 18th Street late-night pizza counter, one of two rooms claiming to have invented the jumbo slice in the late 1990s for the bar crowd.
Try: 18-inch jumbo slice
Tip: Cash is fastest after midnight; one folded jumbo slice walks two people home from the Adams Morgan strip.
Duccini's Pizza Adams Morgan in Washington DC is the 18th Street jumbo-slice counter facing Pizza Mart, the other Adams Morgan claim to the jumbo-slice late-night format invention.
Try: Jumbo slice and stromboli
Tip: The mushroom-and-pepperoni jumbo slice is the favourite; the stromboli is the under-ordered second pick.
Jumbo Slice Pizza in Washington DC is the third 18th Street late-night pizza counter on the Adams Morgan strip, holding the same 04:00 weekend close as the Pizza Mart and Duccini's neighbours.
Try: 18-inch jumbo slice
Tip: The cheese-slice with hot honey is the closing-time editorial pick; sit on the sidewalk bench facing the strip.
Weenie Beenie is the Arlington half-smoke counter at 2680 South Shirlington Road, a 1950s walk-up window that claims a Northern Virginia hold on the half-smoke that predates Ben's Chili Bowl.
Try: Half-smoke chili dog (Arlington)
Tip: The Weenie Beenie half-smoke is leaner than Ben's; the chili-and-cheese order is the editorial point of comparison.
Maine Avenue Fish Market in Washington DC is the Southwest Waterfront open-air seafood market on Maine Avenue, the oldest continuously-operating open-air fish market in the United States.
Try: Boiled blue crabs and shrimp by the pound
Tip: Pre-cooked seafood is sold by the pound; carry the brown bag to a Wharf bench for a $30 lunch for two.
Florida Avenue Grill in Washington DC is the LeDroit Park diner at the corner of Florida and 11th since 1944, the city's oldest soul food counter with the half-smoke breakfast plate.
Try: Half-smoke breakfast plate
Tip: Breakfast runs all day; the half-smoke plate with grits and eggs is the editorial morning order.
