Photos by Joseph Franco

Words by Kaylee Dugan

After two years of construction, there is finally a restaurant on the corner of Georgia & Upshur. It’s not like most of the restaurants you’ll find in the city. It’s not like Ted’s Bulletin. There are no $20 milkshakes on the menu, but it’s also not quite like the classic Diners of the District we highlighted yesterday. Maybe it will be in 20 years, but right now, it’s somewhere in between.

Slim’s smaller than I thought it would be, mainly because almost every square inch is packed with vintage inspired red leather booths. There are coat hooks attached to every table (which is truly a blessing) and the counter looks like the kind of place where I could spend all day eating. What stands out the most is the mixture of vintage and modern interior design. The exposed brick makes it feel slightly fancy. The dark navy paint, intricate wallpaper, and clean tiling make it seem that much more trendy, but the booths, the counter, the sign are all straight vintage. It’s a good mix of old a new. There’s even one of those fancy touch screen jukebox.

But the real gem here is the menu. Almost nothing is over $10. Let that sink in. You can come in here and get a club sandwich for $7. You can get two eggs with toast and potatoes for $6. Or French toast for $8. If you feel like going hard, the Slim’s Breakfast (with two eggs, meat, toast, potatoes, and three pancakes) is $12. There aren’t many places with reasonable menu prices left in D.C. and while I am willing to get wild at Barmini once a year, sometimes it’s nice to go somewhere and not feel like you’re apart of some cosmic scam.

D.C. needs more restaurants like Slim’s and it needs them sooner rather than later.

Slim’s Diner is located at 4201 Georgia Ave NW. Hours are 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday through Saturday.