Eatonville restaurant located on 14th Street in DC is a great place to visit for Sunday brunch. Named after Black author Zora Neale Hurston’s hometown in Florida, Eatonville is filled with art, quotes and pictures that tastefully pay homage to Hurston and her life’s work. The restaurant’s decor has an upscale down home country feel. The atmosphere immediately makes you feel like you are in a nice restaurant without making you feel it’s too stuffy or uncomfortable. The decor also provides a variety of ways to stimulate the eyes and mind. Every wall is covered with some sort of artwork or quote depicting scenes from Zora’s life or work. If you didn’t know anything about Hurston before you visited Eatonville, you will definitely have a good feel for her as a person and artist after one visit to this restaurant.
The service at Eatonville was swift and friendly. We were immediately seated as soon as we arrived without a reservation. Our server was very knowledgeable about the menu and made some very helpful suggestions about the appetizers, entrees & desserts that we should try. The restaurant’s menu offers southern cuisine with a classy twist. The chef’s interpretations of some classic southern dishes creates a menu that most would enjoy.
For our meal, we chose the following items from the menu:
1. Appetizer – Biscuits & Jam
2. Drinks – Ice Tea, Ginger Lemonade & Lavender Lemonade
3. Main Entrees – The Callahan and Eggs & Fixings
4. Dessert – Pecan Pie & Bread Pudding
Overall, most of the items we ordered from the menu were simply scrumptious. The biscuits and jam were a great way to start the meal. They were moist, fluffy and truly southern. The Callahan was a delightful trio of greens, macaroni and cheese, and chicken. The greens were braised and seasoned to perfection with a hint of vinegar. The boneless piece of chicken was fried and topped with a tasty jalapeno sausage gravy. The mac-n-cheese was smooth and creamy. My mother truly enjoyed her eggs and fixings. The heirloom grits were the highlight of her plate. However, the lavender lemonade was the surprise hit of the table. The hint of lavender that was added to the lemonade was just enough to give you the flavor of lavender without it being overwhelming. Who knew that lavender and lemon would be a great combination?
So, in summary, we enjoyed our visit to this lovely establishment and highly recommend it to anyone looking for southern cuisine, great atmosphere and good service in the area. Eatonville is definitely going on our growing list of good eats in the DMV. However, be forewarned that parking is a serious problem in the area. Try to get there early enough to beat the traffic, find a parking space and be seated. If you go there after 11, parking is terrible, the restaurant is crowded, and you may not enjoy your visit.
Stay tuned for more of our culinary adventures.
