by “The Smith” is an appropriate name for this restaurant. Like the last name “Smith” it is familiar, almost comforting, but easily indistiguishable from many others. It is a smallish chain based out of New York City that now has two outposts in the DC area.
Food
The most memorable thing about The Smith is the skillet roasted mac and cheese. This stuff is baller. Where it succeeds is in two major categories. The noodles are properly cooked, and there is enough of the cheddar gruyere blend to make it creamy and gooey without becoming cheese soup with noodles. Roasting under the broiler gave it a nice crispy top to texturally balance the cheese and al dente pasta. My only ding is that it is listed as an “appetizer”. This monster comes out of the kitchen tipping the scales at least at a solid two pounds and that is not counting the cast iron skillet. If you are going to order it, get it as a main, and bring a friend.
As for the other food, it was mostly a success. One of my two dining companions got the pastrami seasoned salmon and loved it. Another got the kale salad and wings. The kale salad, great. The wings….not so much. They were an odd combo of too sweet and too spicy. I got the skirt steak. It was cooked a solid medium rare, and I could cut it with a butterknife. However, some of the bites were really salty, almost too salty for a steak. Other bites, no seasoning at all. It was strange. The mashed potatoes with my steak were competent, but unspectacular.
Mac and Cheese at The Smith 
Wings at The Smith 
Skirt Steak and Mashed Potatoes at The Smith
Service and Ambience
Again, The Smith provided a solid experience, but nothing particularly indistinguishable. The host that sat us was able to find a table to accomodate my injured foot and knee scooter, but another host almost sat a party so close that my toes could have held their flatwear for them. Fortunately for them and my toes, the couple chose another table. Our server was friendly, efficient, knowledgeable. Food came out appropriately. The only real ding other than the foot avoidance issues was the restaurant was really loud. Floor to ceiling subway tile certainly looks slick, but it echoes every noise in the place.
Final Thoughts
The Smith is a good restaurant. It’s name is a little too appropriate though. There isn’t much to distinguish it from a number of other slightly higher end dinner houses in DC. That being said, it is a slightly pricey but safe choice. If you find yourself with some less than adventurous dining companions. Just tell them to order that kilogram of mac and cheese and see how much they can finish in one sitting.
