Dupont Circle Food Tour

Christian was a great guide and was full of information! Had a great time and the food was all delicious! It was a great way to see and taste the DuPont area and would definitely recommend!

Learning about the architecture and history of Dupont Circle was interesting. Also, the tour guide Christian, was very informed about the various embassies in the neighborhood.

Our tour guide was Christian. He was able to provide us architectural and a historical perspective on Dupont Circle. Also, we had a nice variety of foods offered.

I said vegetarian when asked at the time of the reservation. However, no vegetarian options were made available at any of the stops. Christian did a great job a guide.

I did this tour with my adult son in April, and we both enjoyed it so much that we’ve booked the Georgetown tour for my next DC visit. We visited 3 restaurants plus 1 specialty shop. There were 2 other couples, plus the guide. The guide was great at pacing the tour and telling us about the buildings, people, and history of Dupont Circle. Even though the amounts of food were fairly small at each place, by the time we finished, we were not hungry for dinner. The tour includes water only, but other drinks can be purchased directly from the restaurants. I did ask the guide about the restaurants, and they do change them based on feedback. We first visited Ankara, which is a Turkish restaurant. We started with naan bread and stuffed zucchini (both delicious). They also served lamb burger patties with arugula. I’m not a fan of lamb at all, but these were really good. A couple of people got their specialty drink, which is some kind of ouzo alcoholic drink that turns cloudy when you pour water into it. This was my 2nd favorite place on the tour. Next, we went to an Italian restaurant whose name escapes me. We had some delicious focaccia bread with olive oil and balsamic, along with an amazing butternut squash ravioli. We shared a $50 bottle of rosé with one of the other couples. We all agreed this was the best meal of the tour. Third, we went to a specialty shop that sold cheese, wine, and gifty items. They also had bulk olive oil and balsamic tastings. It’s not a restaurant. We went upstairs and had a mediocre cheese platter, where some of the cheese was wrapped in salami. They gave us a box of crackers that smelled rancid, so the guide had to get another box. The eating area was strange, with the platter on a coffee table, and all of us kind of hunched around it nibbling the cheese and crackers. It was rather warm and stuffy, and they didn’t even serve us water. Fortunately, we had water bottles. I won’t be surprised if they remove this place from the tour. I don’t think any of us cared for it. It would be a fine place to purchase some specialty food items, but it shouldn’t be included on a tour. The last restaurant was Mari Vanna, which was a Russian restaurant. We had dumplings and 7-layer honey cake. The dumplings were the size of tortellini, and they were stuffed with some kind of meat. I didn’t care for the spices in it, but everyone else at the table seemed to like them. They also had fruit-infused vodkas for $30 for 4 shots. You get to choose which flavors you want. We all agreed that most of the flavors weren’t very good. The décor in the restaurant was like visiting your grandma’s house, with strange, flowered, peeling wallpaper on the walls. The clientele was mostly Russian, and the place was pretty busy for late-afternoon on a Sunday. Even though we didn’t care for the specialty shop, I’d still recommend the tour. If they replace the shop on the tour with a different restaurant, then I’d give it 5 stars.