Piggybacking off the success of Tryst and The Diner, Open City is the latest venue brought to DC by Constantine Stavropoulis who has obviously figured out a great formula for success in the Nation’s Capital. His most recent concoction doesn’t have the same loungey feel as Tryst but then again, he probably got sick of people coming and sitting in his place for three hours and ordering one Chai Latte.

Cost – $

Service – A-
I dig the service at Open City. It’s far better than Tryst, which makes sense given the fact that servers can actually turn tables over in under two hours at the venue. Even though they seem constantly in a rush, they are prompt and polite.

Food – B
Think “comfort food.” The food is clean, simple and although there is nothing really special about it, it certainly doesn’t disappoint. It’s easy…like a Sunday morning.

Decor – B
It has that Stavropoulis aesthetic, which is sort of a combination between “indie-hip” and :whatever they could find at an estate sale in Mount Pleasant.” Like it’s moniker, the space is quite open and doesn’t leave a lot of room for privacy, which is bad if you’re into the person you are eating with but good if you are bored by the person you are eating with.

Feel – A-
I get a good feeling every time I go there. If it weren’t for the crowd on Sunday afternoons (excluding Winter) I would probably go there more often for brunch. In general though, Open City is the type of place you go when you are passing by and want to grab a quick bite to eat somewhere fun and simple.

Open City is located at 2331 Calvert St. They can be reached at (202) 3312-2331.

admin