@muncheez202
As college students, we often find our stomachs craving more flavor amid tedious days of dining hall hot dogs. If you’ve been admiring the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurants around the Georgetown neighborhood but don’t know where to start, then this installment of “The Eat Speak” is for you! Every month, we go to restaurants in and around Georgetown — all from the same cuisine — and provide you with a list of that cuisine’s best restaurants. We rate restaurants on a 5-point scale by taste, for the overall enjoyment factor of the meal; cost, relative to the content, quality and amount of food; and accessibility, based on the distance from campus, seating availability and food wait time. So enjoy this month’s list of Georgetown’s Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food!
Falafel Inc
1210 Potomac St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20007
As one of the first restaurants recommended to us (second only to The Tombs) after setting foot on Georgetown University’s campus, Falafel Inc certainly lives up to its mighty reputation. Walking down Prospect Street, Falafel Inc is an easy gem to overlook. With a space only large enough to comfortably accommodate 10 or so people at a time, the small restaurant functions more as an open-kitchen and quick service restaurant than as a sit-down dining option. For the humble, Palestinian-founded, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area-based chain, this tight space frequently means lines out the door, often consisting mostly of Georgetown students — and for good reason! Despite the kitschy reputation that chain restaurants tend to hold, Falafel Inc feels as friendly and warm as your everyday mom-and-pop. After a surprisingly short wait in the long line of hungry locals, a first-timer might be surprised by the very concise menu. Its entrees consist of only three items: the falafel bowl, the falafel sandwich and the shawarma sandwich. The rest of the menu is a selection of sauces and sides, including their za’atar fries, which alone bring this restaurant’s taste rating to a 5/5. We settled on ordering the most iconic menu item as our entree — the falafel sandwich — priced at a shocking $4. The food arrives quickly and in big portions, with perhaps the highest enjoyment factor of any restaurant on this list. We wholeheartedly recommend Falafel Inc to any and every hungry Georgetown student.
Taste: 5.0 | Cost: 5.0 | Accessibility: 3.8
Muncheez
1071 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20007
Muncheez is a small restaurant in a multicolored building on Wisconsin Avenue that’s definitely worth checking out. It serves a wide range of options, from homemade drinks to manakeesh and Levantine flatbread to sweet crepes. The restaurant usually isn’t too busy and has a quaint feel, with French posters and small tables in the back. We ordered a spread of the falafel sandwich, the Muncheez cheesesteak in a manakeesh, the fries, some jallab — a Middle Eastern drink made with dates and rose water — and three extra sauces to try. Unsurprisingly, the combo of beef, cheese, sumac onions and garlic mayo was insanely good and our favorite part of the order. The fries were also enjoyable, especially dipped in tahini sauce. Opinions were split on jallab, as it has a rather unique flavor, but it was useful to cut through the heavier meal of beef and cheese, and we recommend trying it out if you like sweet, fruity drinks. Though the falafel sandwich was enjoyable, we wouldn’t recommend it as this spot’s strong suit. While Muncheez definitely offers good food, our order for two came out to be roughly $40 — not the kind of money many college students are looking to spend every night. As a once-in-a-while delicacy, Muncheez is definitely worth a try, especially since it closes at 4:30 a.m. on weekends and 2:30 a.m. on weekdays. Whether you need some food after a late night hangout or an intense study session, Muncheez will be there waiting for you.
Taste: 3.4 | Cost: 2.9 | Accessibility: 4.3
Yellow
1524 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20007
As a beautiful bakery on Wisconsin Avenue that almost always has a long line, Yellow might seem overhyped. But even though the food is expensive and employees try to sell you merch while you’re waiting in line, Yellow is absolutely worth it. Though you can go for any meal and get an array of interesting foods, our review focuses on Yellow’s dinner options. We bought two (not) pizzas, the harissa and the burnt eggplant, as well as a smoked dirty chai and a coconut cardamom iced coffee, for a total of $63, with each pizza costing a little over $20. The harissa (not) pizza was our favorite, with burrata, basil, harissa — a hot chili pepper paste — and jibne, a soft, white Middle Eastern cheese. The Burnt Eggplant was also great, with eggplant, smoked feta, roasted peppers, chili crisp and kefta, a seasoned ground meat. Finally, though the drinks weren’t quite to our tastes, we could definitely see the appeal of each. While the price makes it clear it’s not an everyday meal, Yellow is a restaurant that’s absolutely worth trying at least once during your time at Georgetown.
Taste: 4.5 | Cost: 3.3 | Accessibility: 3.4
Green Almond Pantry
3210 Grace St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20007
Located in the rear of the Grace Street Collective, Green Almond Pantry is a picturesque blend of American and Middle Eastern tastes. Reminiscent of a traditional bakery, Green Almond Pantry serves an array of freshly made focaccia, soups and sandwiches. After slight deliberation, we ordered a serving of the lamb kofte in pide, as well as two separate servings of focaccia — the marinara focaccia and the rosemary and garlic focaccia. The marinara focaccia was truly noteworthy — so mouth-wateringly delicious to easily make the 20-minute walk from campus worth it. The rosemary and garlic focaccia, while good, didn’t quite hit the same as the marinara. The lamb kofte in pide was particularly tasty, with a sauce that kept the bread moist. However, the kofte kept falling out of the sandwich, so even though it tasted good, it was a little too difficult to eat. We also tried their traditionally made lemonade, which was both delicious and refreshing. Our total came to around $50, which, similar to Muncheez, is not necessarily the kind of money college students are looking to spend every night. However, one serving of their iconic marinara focaccia only costs around $9 and could easily satisfy a student’s breakfast carb craving. Ultimately, Green Almond Pantry is a great choice if you’re craving something different. We recommend it to any student looking for a taste of something unique.
Taste: 3.7 | Cost: 3.1 | Accessibility: 3.4