clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Where NOT to go in Washington D.C.

RFK Stadium may not be avoidable if you are in D.C. to see the Dynamo play, but here are some places that you can avoid.

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Brian Kersey/Getty Images

Hungry?

I'm sure there are a lot of great restaurants in D.C. in fact I know there are. I know that there are even great Chinese restaurants in D.C. However, according to Yelp! these places are not among them.

Good Danny's

This place has some pretty mixed reviews. Some good, some not so good, and some with images that you can never erase from you mind. Overall, the place has 2.5 stars and has bulletproof glass which is cool I guess. It also seems to behold some sort of power to get you to order their food when you are drunk.

"My relationship with Good Danny's has been a tumultuous one indeed. We began last July and I quickly became obsessed, to the point that the lady who answers the phone (Amy) recognized my voice and we became fast friends. I'd get the sweet and sour chicken each time, every time.

Everything was great for a while -- Good Danny's and I were in the "honeymoon" stage of our relationship where nothing could go wrong. Everything was great. But then things got rocky.

On Halloween night, we had some muncha (still not 100% sure what it is, but it was good at the time). My friend got violently ill. Things changed between us. The food seemed to get more and more disgusting each time we ordered it, until eventually we broke it off. I thought I'd never see Amy or that sweet and sour chicken ever again.

Then I got drunk.

In what may have been an attempt to rekindle what we once had, I got the chicken a few weeks ago. It was even grosser than the last time I had it. They've been going downhill for a year, and I think this is where Amy and I part ways forever.

Also: If you order delivery from there, please go to the restaurant at least once and see the "kitchen" where they make your food. Yuck. It was the beginning of the end for me. Barring some unfortunate turn of events when I'm blackout on H Street, I think I've tasted my last muncha."-Daniel B

Golden China

Another Chinese restruant with questionable reviews. Some people say that it is what it is meant to be - crappy Chinese food. Other people found ranch dressing on their cheese steak.

"Who doesn't love cheap Chinese food?

Normally I would say nobody, because what's not to like? But this is not the case with Golden China. This place is just gross.

I ordered carry out a few nights ago, with some high expectations of some good, fatty Chinese food. But what I got.. well.. I'm still not even sure how to classify it.

I ordered an egg roll, soup and a spicy shrimp entree with rice. The msg-filled soup was pretty good, and the egg roll wasn't too bad either. But when it came to the main course, I'm not sure what was up. The shrimp was a bit slimy for starters. But what made the endeavor even more bizarre was that cooked with it were canned peas and carrots.

Oh, and they were definitely canned. Canned vegetables always have that certain textures. A bit too soft and too brightly colored. But more than my complaint about them being canned, why would those be the only vegetables cooked with my shrimp? I was expecting some baby corns, bok choy, cabbage, or something. Just not that.

But hey, this could all be masked if the sauce was right. And it wasn't. It seemed like they just took some of the duck sauce they use for the egg rolls, put a little bit of spice in it and called it a day. It really was just all wrong.

But to ensure I wasn't the only one complaining, my man ordered some sort of chicken dish and had complaints that were near identical.

This didn't taste like Chinese food but... some sort of meal that could be prepared when all you have in your house is a couple of cans of vegetables and some random leftovers.

They offer a weird variety of fried food (including "popey's chicken"), subs among the sprawling menu, maybe some of that hits it out of the park.

Additionally, about a week after I ate there, I left my house at about 8pm and returned at around 10, on a Saturday. At some point during this time period, they came by and dropped off 2 calendars on my porch. But not just any calendars (see photo) they were bizarre calendars with Asian women standing next to landmarks and fancy cars. I am still puzzled by this, but the randomness of it all forced me to hang one of the calendars proudly on my wall."-Chris S.

Who wants bed bugs?

Some people go to games and come back with selfies. Why not go to a game and come back with bed bugs? I googled worst hotel in D.C. and Quality Inn is what I got back. According to trip advior it might be the bed buggiest of places in DC.

Quality Inn

Shady neighborhood. Yellow stuff in the bathtub. Did I mention bed bugs?

"The rooms are run down, the breakfast is pathetic, there are insects infesting the rooms, the cable TV doesn't work well and the wireless internet is slow.

The area is horrible and the price is extortionate for the terrible quality.

Do yourself a massive favour and stay at the CourtYard Marriott next to Noma station, it is everything this place is not."-Tom M.

"My friend and I ended up staying here because of the good price. We're both college girls who were there for the Powershift conference. Needless to say, this place was not the best choice. Arriving in the cab we could see the neighborhood was definitely not the greatest. The bulletproof glass separating the staff from us was our second clue. However the room was clean and tidy and the deadbolt worked so we stayed. We didn't feel safe walking so we took cabs at roughly $10 a ride. On our last ride back the cab driver asked us why we were staying there and told us to be careful. He then proceeded to tell us of people he knew who were shot in the parking lot, how muggers will watch you for a few days to learn your habits and then attack you and the scar on his wrist where he was shot when he was mugged in front of this motel. He also told us of the prostitution and the drug dealing going on. This was particularly unnerving considering we had someone knocking on our door several times during the night the night before. Upon arriving at the motel, we packed our bags and returned the key. While waiting for a taxi we saw numerous cars with pimps and prostitutes arrive and leave. Moral of the story: If you don't mind dangerous neighborhoods and not being close to the national mall and other tourist attractions, then this will be OK for you. Even though I'm a martial artist and have been for twelve years, I would not stay here again. If you do, make sure you can handle yourself should the need arise, use common sense and travel with at least one other person, preferably a guy if you're female. otherwise, it's not worth the risk."