Lunch at Lincoln in DC

I suppose you have to wonder why there isn’t already a restaurant in DC named ‘Lincoln.’ I sure don’t know why. But there is now, and I had a lunch meeting there with my DC staff person on my most recent trip.

The décor is certainly appealing. The main dining room is open and airy. There are attractive, stylish pictures on the wall. Probably the main attention-getter is the floor. It’s ‘paved’ with Lincoln pennies.

The theme of the menu is small plates. I guess they actually prefer to say ‘seasonal’ small plates. By that, I assume they mean that the menu changes seasonally.

I thought the lunch menu was interesting. They have a bunch of sides or appetizers that you could share or have as part of your meal. They have a limited number of entrées. They look interesting, but neither of us chose one.

Our server described a soup of the day. It was a corn chowder with shrimp. We both ordered it. Jen thought it was bland. I agree that it didn’t have a lot of intense flavor, but I thought the flavors were well blended and subtle. A difference in perspective, I guess.

The lunch menu offers a nice selection of creative sandwiches and salads. Jen ordered the peach grilled cheese. It featured peach jam, fried green tomatoes and camembert cheese. It looked very appealing, and she liked it.

I was tempted by a couple of the salads. The chopped salad sounded intriguing, with avocado, peas, corn, feta cheese, and diced tomatoes. I also thought the Nicoise sounded good, with tuna, lima beans, capers, purple potatoes, tomatoes, and quail eggs.

But in the end, I also opted for a sandwich. I had a barbecued short rib sandwich. The meat was very tender. I also liked the barbecue sauce, though I guess it was fairly salty. The only thing I would say is that it was a little messy for a business lunch. I also opted for fries instead of chips ($3 upcharge). The fries were very good and were dressed with a drizzle of truffle oil. Like the sandwich, however, also very salty.

That was it. We didn’t have any dessert. I guess the big question is – would I go back? Well, I wouldn’t make a special trip downtown to eat there. But if I were staying downtown, or if I had a lunch meeting downtown, I’d definitely go again.