Everyone loves eating food, and it’s about to be February, so why not combine the two for an extravaganza?
The annual “Fooduary” returns to National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, for a 10-day food and entertainment celebration running Feb. 2 to Feb. 11 with prix fixe menus at more than 25 participating locations, including BurgerFi, Harbor Social at Gaylord National, Rosa Mexicano, Brother Jimmy’s BBQ, Fogo de Chao and more.
“We started it with Restaurant Week probably 10 or 11 years ago, but we have so much here at National Harbor that we decided that it’s not just about the restaurants, so we expanded it to call it ‘Fooduary,'” National Harbor Director of Marketing Deborah Topcik told WTOP. “We’re celebrating food whether it’s a high-end restaurant like Bond 45 or whether it’s a sandwich shop like PrimoHoagies. There’s something for every price point.”
You can start your day with affordable lunch specials for $25.
“For $25 for lunch, Mason’s Lobster Rolls, it’s not quite summer yet, but you get a lobster roll and you also get a cup of soup, so it’ll warm you and feel like summer,” Topcik said. “Silver Diner is doing a special brunch with new entrées. Your brunch entrée comes with a cocktail, so if you haven’t been to our brand new Silver Diner, I suggest you come out and try a great location right at the entrance of National Harbor. Can’t go wrong with Silver Diner.”
For dinner, you can enjoy prix fixe menus for just $40.
“You can never go wrong with Succotash with celebrity chef Edward Lee as culinary director, but for $40 you get a starter, a main, a side and a dessert — if you’re not needing to be rolled out or in an immediate food coma, I’m impressed,” Topcik said. “There’s Sauciety at the Westin — great waterfront views [of] the Potomac River at that angle looking at the Capital Wheel. I suggest you go for dinner for $40 and check out the best sunsets in the DMV.”
If you’d like to spend a little more, there are high-end places offering $55 dinners.
“You can never go wrong with Bond 45, it’s been a staple at National Harbor, always quality, always consistent,” Topcik said. “Something else that I love is Bombay Street Food, they’re doing two for $55. We have a couple of restaurants that are doing two for $55, including Public House and Bombay. That is where you share an appetizer, you share a dessert, then each of you get your own entrée. … This is a great way for everyone to enjoy it.”
There are also two special one-night-only dining events: Fiorella Italian Kitchen & Pizzeria will host a five-course dinner and wine pairing on Feb. 8, while the Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council will host the “Taste of Ghana” at Arts’tination on Feb. 9.
Be sure to hold onto your restaurant receipts for discounts on National Harbor entertainment.
“You can’t think of National Harbor without thinking of entertainment and The Capital Wheel, so show your Fooduary receipt at the ticket gondola and you’ll get a discounted price,” Topcik said. “Bobby McKeys is doing free admission, always a fun night at Bobby McKeys. Then we also have something called Sip & Development, which is actually opening Feb. 2. This is an experience where you go take pictures and they teach you how to develop it.”
In between it all, you can do some shopping to find discounts at select retailers.
“We are celebrating food, and when you think of food, you think of cookbooks,” Topcik said. “MahoganyBooks has a plethora of cookbooks and those are 15% off during Fooduary.”
Listen to our full conversation here.
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