The Townhouse
Prices
Average main course: $18.
AmEx, DC, MC, V.
Description
Think of an all-gay 1950s country-club dining room: A narrow space with stone-colored walls, skinny beige chairs and full-length mirrors. The reflections make for prime eyeballing, but most of the deep-pocketed, silver-haired dan-dies in crisp Oxfords seem to already know each other. The menu is prim and predictable. The shrimp cocktail was a little wilted. Entrées like pan-seared filet mignon in a spicy green-peppercorn sauce had some flavor, but a roasted lamb shank was rubbery. If the Townhouses secret is its shockingly reasonable express-lunch deal, its claim to fame is its bar (down the street), where the gentlemen gather around the piano for drinks and show tunes, and perhaps some risqué stories.
Hours
Mon–Thu noon–3:30pm, 5–11pm; Fri, Sat noon–3:30pm, 5pm–midnight; Sun noon–4pm, 5–11pm.