Banana Cafe is renowned for its Cuban, Mexican and Puerto Rican cuisine. This winter, when you’re trudging around in the snow and your ass is colder than Hilary Clinton, stop by Banana Cafe for a big bowl of comfort.
The seafood soup ($9.99) tastes like they took the ocean and boiled it down to one delicious bowl of perfection. Scallops, clams, mussels and fish in a creamy broth makes me wish the bowl was bigger.
Heads and bones add great flavor to soups and stews. I was surprised to find a whole fish head in my soup, and I can’t guarantee you’ll get one, but do try the seafood soup. It really is terrific.
Also, Banana Cafe has a great happy hour upstairs in the piano bar and $3 margaritas.
Banana Cafe
500 8th Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
202.543.5906
Mary was born and raised in New York City where her family owned restaurants. Instead of eating dirt on the playground, she ate duck blood, beef tripe and pork belly. She cut her teeth at The Mandarin Oriental and The Ritz-Carlton hotels, working with Barbra Streisand, Vanessa Williams, Michael Stipe, LeVar Burton, Jane Krakowski and others. Mary founded Girl Meets Food in 2009 as a cover for her debilitating addiction to fried chicken and was named Washington Post’s “Favorite Local Foodie.” After 13 years in hospitality, she started freelance writing for USA Today, The Washington Post, Eater, Washington City Paper, and more. Today, she provides digital marketing for hospitality clients as a content creator who’s contently creating content.