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You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Meetups / D.C. Area Meet-Up — This Saturday, 9/15

D.C. Area Meet-Up — This Saturday, 9/15

by Anne Laurie|  September 14, 20186:17 pm| 21 Comments

This post is in: Meetups, Readership Capture

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Update from intrepid commentor Elizabelle:

DC Meetup folks: we have a venue: two of them, actually. Saturday, September 15: 7:00ish (or earlier) to …? Drinks, and then trouping further up Rockville Pike to a tasty Chinese dinner.

Meeting for drinks at 7:00 at City Perch Kitchen and Bar in the Pike and Rose complex (11830 Grand Park Ave, North Bethesda, phone: 301-231-2310), near the White Flint Metro.

Daily happy hour from 4:00 to 7:00, if you want to arrive earlier. Has its own menu. Matt F and I will probably get there around 7:30. (We are walking over from the SPX comics expo at the Bethesda North Marriott, 2 blocks away.) City Perch might be a little yuppified and pricey, but it got good reviews and is rated for “average” noise level. Selling point is location and validated parking.

City Perch offers 3.5 hours free parking (near the complex), with validated ticket. The garages are at:
OLD GEORGETOWN ROAD GARAGE
11580 Old Georgetown Rd, North Bethesda, MD 20852
TRADE STREET GARAGE
11860 Trade Street, North Bethesda, MD 20852

I’ve reserved a table for six people from 7:00 to 9:00 or later, for drinks and appetizers. Please give me a head count; we can revise that up or down.

Wondering if we can get this menu (early birds and night owls, aka bar food.)

[And I have to say: the appetizers menu at City Perch is kinda pricey and limited. If anyone would rather try our luck at the Marriott hotel bar — called On the Rocks — let me know. It might be quieter and have more bar snacks. Will definitely have more tattooed and artistic looking folks flocking around, if the comics/graphic novel crowd is in there.]

Following: we can head to Xi’an Gourmet in main Rockville, maybe around 8:30 to 9:00-ish, for Northern Chinese/Sichuan dinner. Plenty of free parking, it seems. About half a mile from the Rockville Metro Station. Beer and wine available; no bitcoin (LOL). Yelp review: https://www.yelp.com/biz/xian-gourmet-rockville

316 N Washington St
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone number(301) 875-5144

Tyler Cowen gave Xi’an Gourmet a good review on his blog.

Wow. Word is this is from the people who brought you Panda Gourmet in DC. As a Sichuan place, it would be one of the region’s five best, but that is not even their real strength. For Xian food it is a clear first in the region. Get their soups, most of all the beef with chili and noodle soup (contrary to the name it is not spicy) and the lamb soup with bread. The Dan Dan noodles I found to be a slight disappointment, but overall this is one of the very best Chinese places around plus it has many dishes you won’t find elsewhere. Pleasant service, great prices, no downside here that I can see.

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Reader Interactions

21Comments

  1. 1.

    The Midnight Lurker

    September 14, 2018 at 6:25 pm

    But there’s never a Dallas/Ft. Worth meet-up. Why? That’s okay cause this weekend I’m going to be with Beto!

  2. 2.

    The Midnight Lurker

    September 14, 2018 at 6:32 pm

    Ya’ll are too jealous to comment, I see.

  3. 3.

    zhena gogolia

    September 14, 2018 at 6:44 pm

    @The Midnight Lurker:

    Good for you! What are you doing with him?

  4. 4.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    September 14, 2018 at 6:56 pm

    I’m going to come. I’ll try to bring Mrs. Prunebanks.

  5. 5.

    The Midnight Lurker

    September 14, 2018 at 7:17 pm

    @zhena gogolia: There’s a bunch of meet-n-greets in the area that we helped set up, so we get to tag along with his team. I might get another picture! I’m going to take photos anyway, so maybe I’ll post a few.

  6. 6.

    Redshift

    September 14, 2018 at 7:37 pm

    Unfortunately, I think it’s a little too far afield for me on a busy Saturday, unless my other plans fall through for some reason. Have a great time, though!

  7. 7.

    Uncle Cosmo

    September 14, 2018 at 7:51 pm

    Googled the menu. =8^0 (i.e., yikes) Full lunch today with about a dozen HS classmates up in Baltimore was cheaper than anything listed. Including the cocktails all by themselves.

    I would be happy to try the Marriott bar. What’s the parking sitchyashun there?

    Will probably be bringing a friend along, both of us en route to Glen Echo for a swing dance, needing to leave around 9 PM, so supper is probably out.

  8. 8.

    Mnemosyne

    September 14, 2018 at 8:46 pm

    Having a two-location meetup made me flash on my all-time favorite line from “30 Rock”:

    “Never go with a hippie to a second location!”

    It makes it even funnier when you know that the “hippie” in question is played by the inimitable Carrie Fisher.

  9. 9.

    Anne Laurie

    September 14, 2018 at 9:15 pm

    @The Midnight Lurker:

    But there’s never a Dallas/Ft. Worth meet-up. Why?

    Do like Elizabelle: Propose a date, and general area, and see how many others can join you. Really, that’s all it takes!

  10. 10.

    tobie

    September 14, 2018 at 10:00 pm

    Mr. tobie and I will come for the drinks part tomorrow. I need to see when I’m supposed to canvass on Sunday before committing to the dinner. See you tomorrow!

  11. 11.

    frostys

    September 14, 2018 at 11:00 pm

    Can’t make it this weekend but interested in another opportunity, even if it’s a bit far from South PA.

  12. 12.

    Elizabelle

    September 15, 2018 at 12:18 am

    Really look forward to seeing you all! And Uncle Cosmo is not wrong — City Bar is rather egregiously priced. There’s a reason the Yelpers were praising its Happy Hour, with reduced prices..

    Are you guys good with On the Rocks at the Marriott? Let me know. They don’t really take reservations, but I will call them in the morning and see about a table for 8-10. Also, if the weather is nice (and it might be!), we could hang out outside, which is always good.

    I am good with having two sets of plans as long as we decide by, like, early to mid-afternoon. Here’s yelp about Marriott’s On the Rocks.

    I chose City Bar mainly for the free parking — which is a big deal, I think. Marriott is maybe 2 blocks from the White Flint Metro station, and I believe there is parking there. There’s also garage parking behind the Marriott for 2.50/hour — I will find out more for you in the morning.

    And — Pike and Rose offers 2 hours free parking in their garages, listed above. How bad can the third hour be (famous last words …)?

    So: we have Mr. and Mrs. Mumphrey Prunebanks
    Uncle Cosmo and dancing friend
    Mr. and Mrs. tobie — yea!
    Rekoob — hope so!**
    Matt F
    Elizabelle (and I will have a bright pink flamingo hat, which might be wearing an Abigail Spanberger pin — easier than green balloons)

    I am secretly hoping Redshift’s plans fall through and he and Mrs. Redshift make it over too.

    Let’s have some more jackals join, too! Keep me posted.

    **

    rekoob’s message, from Thursday: @Elizabelle: As it turns out, I’m planning to be in Annapolis Saturday afternoon and could possibly swing by on my way back to Richmond. Perhaps we can keep the discussion going.

  13. 13.

    Elizabelle

    September 15, 2018 at 12:20 am

    @frostys: We will do another meetup with more notice. Maybe to celebrate our victorious midterms, after the fact! I think it’s cool you were thinking of wandering down from PA at all.

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    September 15, 2018 at 12:25 am

    MattF has been charged with photography for the evening. This greatly improves our chances of actually sharing some photos!

    Also: if you arrive early, maybe SPX will let you into their exhibit hall, with all the publishers and artists. It’s fascinating, and you could pick up some wonderful art. I will ask about that when I get there tomorrow and see what they say.

  15. 15.

    Elizabelle

    September 15, 2018 at 12:28 am

    And boatboy! Hopes to be there too. Hope so!

  16. 16.

    MattF

    September 15, 2018 at 7:14 am

    Hi all. I guess I’m the assistant organizer– my duties are to show up and take pictures. I’ll have my iPhone and the magic of WiFi at home, so I expect that any snapshots I take will show up eventually in all the usual walled-garden electronic places. And that’s the plan, at this point.

    I’ll be going to SPX on Saturday– sign-in is at 11, and I’ve done this once before, so I’m sure I can get to the expo from the White Flint metro station. Should be entertaining. Seems the drinks location is still unsettled, so we shall see about that.

    See ya.

  17. 17.

    rekoob

    September 15, 2018 at 9:47 am

    @Elizabelle: Although I had hoped to swing by on my way back from Annapolis to Richmond this afternoon, I think the timing, and the fact that I’ll have my 15-year-old dog in tow (he’s a slightly older version of John Cole’s Lily), won’t work.

    I vote for a biergarten in Scott’s Addition (Richmond) for a meetup at some point. Go Abigail! (I live in Don McEachin’s district.)

  18. 18.

    tobie

    September 15, 2018 at 9:57 am

    @Elizabelle: I’m happy with either City Bar or On the Rocks at the Marriot. It sounds like it may be too late to change venue, so I’ll assume we’re meeting at City Bar unless I hear otherwise. Looking forward to meeting all of you! Do stop by, BJers from DC and environs!

  19. 19.

    Elizabelle

    September 15, 2018 at 12:47 pm

    Definitely City Perch. Marriott OTR cannot give us a table, and says they will be “slammed.” Also, I think you can get into the sales hall to see comics. See you at City Perch !

  20. 20.

    Elizabelle

    September 15, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    @rekoob: Let’s do beer and writing postcards for Abigail! Good to find some fellow jackals in the RVA!

  21. 21.

    Uncle Cosmo

    September 15, 2018 at 6:14 pm

    If anyone’s still reading this, look for an old coot w/ short white beard & a white summer fedora coming in the door & shout out to c’mon down.

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