Dinner at Hank's

I have this mental block where i'll drive past a restaurant in DC and think to myself "Oh! I'd really like to try that!" Then a week goes by and a friend asks me to pick a place for dinner and i'm like a deer in headlights. My mind goes blank - the only thing I can think of is Ollie's Trolley or Ben's Chili Bowl.

DC's recent restaurant week reminded me of many of the restaurants that i've wanted to try, but blanked on when the time came to get up and go. I was fortunate enough to be able to snag reservations at Georgetown's Filomena with two of my friends. I thought the meal was excellent, and I was happy with the Restaurant Week items they served. I'll admit, Filomena wasn't my first choice; looking through the Restaurant Week participants, I really wanted to try out Dupont's Hanks Oyster Bar.

After reading a couple of online reviews, it sounded like Hank's was more of a neighborhood spot, catering to a need for a nice(er) dining establishment than those in the immediate area. Honestly, I love seafood - especially oysters, so I was dead set on remembering Hank's the next time the dinner bell rang.

My friend Maria offered to take me out to dinner in exchange for helping her pick her car up from the mechanic - a dinner at Hank's in exchange for a half hour detour on my way home from work...good deal in my book. We headed over to Dupont in the midst of the tail end of rush hour, which means traffic...and parking nightmares. After circling the area for about 15 minutes, we finally located the perfect spot (the hunt for parking would later offer some prime dining entertainment...more on that later).

At first glance, Hank's looked exactly as it had been described - a little neighborhood spot, sandwiched next to a pizza place right off 16th Street. Restuarant reviews had warned of wait times because of the limited seating at Hank's, but we were lucky enough to snag a curbside table right away. Although Hank's has been open since mid-May, we had a couple people stroll by who had never seen the restaurant and since we were sitting by the entrance, we were asked what we thought about our meals which I found quaint rather than annoying.

I had the oyster po' boy which came with a side of fresh coleslaw and Maria had the lobster roll with fries. We agreed that both were pretty good...although not amazing. The waitstaff was attentive, consistently refilling our drinks and checking on "us." I say "us" because our waitress would not make eye contact with me or address me at all throughout our meal. This bothered me. A lot. All inquiries were directed at Maria, which I didn't notice until she pointed it out. Maybe she thought Maria was my interpreter? Maybe looking at me directly would cause the waitress to implode? I just don't know...

So while I was being ignored I passed the time by watching three seperate cars attempt to squeeze into a spot right in front of the restaurant and listened to the hilarious commentary of my fellow diners as car after car failed to get into the space. This was the highlight of the evening. Finally, a BMW got it after three tries and everyone outside cheered. Hooray for knowing how to park when you live in a freaking city...

Hank's doesn't have a desert menu which was a little dissapointing, although the waitress was nice enough to suggest that Maria take advantage of the warm evening and enjoy some ice cream in the neighborhood. Had I asked, she probably would have suggested that I walk off a cliff or maybe she would just continue to ignore me.

Would I go back to Hank's? Eh, I wasn't dazzled - I had real high hopes going in...maybe that was the problem. But hey, they're a pretty recent addition to the restaurant scene so maybe they'll figure it out in time. I'm optimistic.