A little café, nestled between Lounge 201 and Drinkworld (not sure the real name of Drinkworld, my amazing office calls it that for its wide selection of beverages). It is a quick and delicious way to cure the hunger of any Senate staffer, or in my case consultant working on the Senate side.

I’ve been there a handful of times now and have always switched back and forth between the Tomato, Mozarella, Basil Panini or the Southwestern Chicken Wrap.  The Panini is warm and gooey, but be prepared with mints because the basil will not make you the most desierable person to talk to.  The wrap has a bit of a kick to it, and is pretty greasy.  Both will run you about $8.75 for a sandwich, chips, and a can of soda.

I also head over there for a quick pick-me-up with their amazing fruit smoothies.

There isn’t much seating, except for outside, so if you’re there during the lunch hour rush you may need to take it to go.

What I’m making now: Hoecakes.

1. I like recipes that call for using rendered bacon grease.

2. Easy and cheap. Flour, eggs, corn meal (like $2 for an 8 pack of Jiffy), and I added a 60 cent can of corn to Paula Deen’s recipe.

FYI: Hoecake is notably the namesake of the cakewalk dance form. During the 19th century, slaveholders would hold dance competitions for their slaves, offering hoecake as a reward to the winner. Then known as the chalk line dance, the form became known as the cakewalk when it rose to prominence with the advent of ragtime music.^[4]

Click for The Washingtonian’s Favorite Brunches.

But perhaps more importantly, the brunches with bottomless mimosas and bloody marys.. (although not exactly thrift friendly) http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/diningguides/11895.html

Rainbow Cake - because you can have your own lil greasy spoon in the comfort of your home.

Recently at Safeway, Duncan Hines cake mix was buy 2 get 3 free! This recipe took one box of the almost free cake mix, gel food coloring, and 1 can of chocolate frosting. In total, it cost about $6 to make, was fun in the process, and earns you miles of street cred among fellow bakers.

Make your boxed cake mix as normal. Split into 6 even portions and add food coloring slowly until it reaches the desired color. I chose to do rainbow order, red, orange, yellow, blue, blue-green, and bright green.

Pour into two pans. I divided it by warm and cool colors. Pour all of your first color into the pan, then pour slightly less of the second and third colors so they form concentric circles in the pans. Follow the usual baking instructions, allow to cool, frost and enjoy!

Grand Central DC, 247 18th St. NW: Maybe they should stick to the bar scene.

Amanda: I had the blue burger - good, big and juicy. Loved the waffle fries because they were crispy without being burnt. $9 for a pretty generous sized burger and fresh blue cheese! Lived up to the anticipation of 2 hungover hours worth of Food Network before venturing out.

Erica: 2 eggs however you want with toast, choice of bacon or sausage, and grits or home fries for $7? This thrifty girl says count me in. But I give it a resounding “meh.” The bacon was crisp, but the three slices were pretty small. My scrambled eggs were moist and fluffy to my liking, but I prefer mine a bit runnier than most other folks. My main complaint with my meal would be too much going on in the home fries. Smaller potatoes with chopped red pepper and onions - if you’re looking to carbo-load post drinky-drink, these aren’t the chunky, salty, greasy home fries you’re craving.

Service was certainly lacking. Maybe lost in the transition from bar to restaurant, our server was like the bartender who is always at the complete other end and can neither see nor hear you. Taste - 3; Value - 4; vibe - eh, 2? I’m a sucker for the trompe l’oeil work and the photo booth, even if our waitress sucked.

Ryan: Like a victim returning to the scene of a crime, I thought it would be interesting to see Grand Central in broad daylight. Let’s just say I’m only going back to Grand Central at night. I had the scrambled eggs, toast, bacon and home fries. The food was mediocre only to be outdone by shitty service. What would’ve been the standard 3-cup breakfast became a one cup because I’m pretty sure our waitress forgot she was a waitress. The eggs were runny and like Erica said, there was too much going on with the potatoes. While it may have only been $7, I would rather be a dollar menuaire at McDonald’s than spend it at Grand Central. Taste - 2; Value - 2; Vibe - 2.

Average Rating:

Taste - 2.5

Value - 3

Vibe - 2

Good Stuff Eatery, owned by Chef Spike of Oprah & Top Chef fame, will be the first stop for the entire crew on the greasyspoondiningclub tour. Lookout for reviews from the Famished Foursome this weekend. If it’s good enough for the FLOTUS, it’d better be good enough for us.