Hot dogs and beyond

I’ve often wondered why DC, a city with dense districts of office workers and a good restaurant scene, has such a lackluster selection of food carts. Turns out there’s an obvious reason: it’s the government, stupid! The city council suspended new food cart licenses in 1998, leaving the existing hot dog vendors to hawk their wares without much competition for nearly a decade.

Fortunately, the city is starting to see the light and has authorized 21 new licenses. One of them belongs to L Street Catering, a new Korean barbecue cart located at 14th and L. I read about it in Tom Sietsema’s review and checked it out on Monday, then followed it up with repeat visits on Tuesday and Wednesday because it’s just that good. The specialty is bulgogi, beef marinated in soy sauce and other spices and served over rice. They also offer teriyaki chicken and will spice things up with chili powder and sriracha if you ask them to. Everything is served up fresh from two woks handled non-stop to keep up with demand. At just $6.75 with salad and kimchee, it’s one of the most affordable and tastiest lunches around my office right now .

Most of the other carts aren’t open yet, but I’m looking forward to trying out the city’s new diversity. “Wings and Waffles,” anyone?

Speaking of DC hot dogs, I’m also really excited by PS7. The year-old restaurant at the edge of Chinatown offers a gourmet take on the district staple, making them in house with high quality, fresh ingredients. They’re incredibly juicy and taste fantastic, available both as standard dogs or as slightly spicier half-smokes.

PS7 also has a great bar with a new manager who’s rolling out some very cool new cocktails this month. Among them is a beet infused vodka cocktail that’s perfect. Even if you don’t like beets, it’s worth ordering. The drinks are on the pricey side, but during happy hour you can get them for $7 — a great deal for drinks this good.

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