In a city filled with history and great food, Lincoln has managed to masterfully combine both into one. Located on Vermont Avenue and L Street, the restaurant owners have turned their tapas style restaurant into an homage to the 16th president of the United States, all while producing great food that keeps people coming back for more.
The interior is decorated with hundreds of lights in a private room, and a million pennies cover the bar’s countertop. Yes, that’s right, $10,000 in the bar alone. Portraits of Lincoln adorn the wall, and if you’re lucky enough, you’ll be able to sit in a booth with a high white back that may make you feel almost as tall as Honest Abe himself.
But what really shines in this restaurant isn’t the decor or the million pennies, or the stocked bar. It’s the tapas-style menu that puts a twist on traditional Spanish style food. Here, you’ll find anything from deviled eggs to gnocchi, all in perfect portion sizes that make this restaurant a hip place to catch up with great friends over equally great food.
Here a few of my favorites—seriously only a few, because I think the entire menu should be devoured in one sitting. Note: This is based off tastings on the fall menu, subject to change come spring.
1. BBQ Pork and Buttermilk Biscuits
As one of the few starters that I have tried, these biscuits are bite sized and certainly would not have been able to provide Lincoln himself with a full meal. However, the pork is tender and coated with a generous helping of barbecue sauce, and the biscuits are melt-in-your-mouth Southern style cooking. Definitely worth ordering—and don’t try to share.
Other starters worth trying are the calamari fries, buttermilk and pumpkin tater tots, and their famous deviled eggs.
2. Crispy Chicken
Served with mascarpone grits, wilted greens, and a fig balsamic reduction, this is an upgraded take on the classic fried chicken dish. With Lincoln’s elegant twists on the dish, you can imagine this being served in the White House at a state dinner.
3. Root Beer Braised Shortrib
Alright, I won’t lie, this dish tastes nothing like the bottled Stewart’s Root Beer that I loved so much as a kid. What it does taste like, however, is the ribs you’d find your dad barbecuing in your backyard on a summer day, mixed with the creamy cheese sauce from your mom’s mac and cheese, with just a hint of spice from a sophisticated horseradish-applesauce. Yum.
4. Apple Mousse Dome
Whoever said that dessert is the best part of the meal was right. Absolutely, 100%, ALWAYS right. This dessert is a spin on the classic American apple pie, with sour apple sorbet topping a vanilla bean ice cream, covered in a crumble representative of a crust. I applaud you, Lincoln. I’ll never look at apple pie the same way again.
5. Dark Chocolate and Chili Soufflé
Have you ever had one of those dark chocolate bars that tries to mix spice with chocolate but it just doesn’t come out right? Here, it’s as if Lincoln himself smiled down from the heavens to produce the perfect recipe for combination. Chocolate, spice, and everything nice, including meringue. You may not be able to eat a chocolate bar again, but I promise, it’s totally worth it.
If you’re looking for other great food in D.C., check out these hot spots.