El Khartoum

I was just at the former location of El Khartoum earlier today. It is closed and has been replaced by an Italian pizza place called «Pizzeria Trattoria Restaurant» although the sign «El Khartoum» still remains on the stilt billboard above the actual restaurant. I did not try the Italian pizza place but instead went to Dahlak across the street which is an Eritrean-​Ethiopian restaurant at around 5:30pm but they were not ready to serve people for dinner as they were doing repairs to the interior of the restaurant with a ladder. So I ended up going to this Turkish restaurant called Café Divan nearby which had pretty good food. I joined Unilocal today to report that this location is closed just in case anyone like me was thinking it would be a good idea to travel half an hour away from home for the sole purpose of going to this restaurant or just to go to the restaurant in general.

Good stuff! Got the chicken shawrma plate… Pretty good. Great portions!

I just ate here and loved it. The chicken schwarma platter was delicious, I’d recommend it to anybody. I was thinking about giving this place 4 stars originally, but the guy working behind the counter (might be the owner/​family?) was such a homie, I decided 5 was more appropriate.
Also, whoever accused these people of being on the wrong side of the Darfur genocide is completely baseless. Just because someone is Sudanese does not automatically mean that they’re affiliated to the atrocity. These people are hard working, first generation immigrants, with peace signs on the walls of their restaurant. Don’t be so judgmental.

I just ate here last night. I thought the food was really good. I got the chicken shawarma platter. There isn’t much of a variety of food. They do serve pizza though. The wait for the food was relatively long for a restaurant without any customers. It took probably 20 – 30 minutes but the food was delicious and well worth it.

I decided to try this place out after reading some of the reviews. First, the place looks like a rat hole. It was freezing cold waiting for my order. I think they’re on a tight budget (no heat). I ordered the chicken shawarma. It had no taste at all. (bland). I had way better from street vendors. This place is one violation away from being shutdown.

I’m always craving falafel. Since I was working at the Hilton about two blocks away, I figured I would check this spot out since the other reviews on Unilocal seem to make this place seem like some sort of diamond in the rough which is DC.
WRONG.
More like a lump of coal.
The falafel was awful.
I have to say…
…eating food from this place is just as bad as watching Entourage.
You all take that how you will… remember. it’s just an opinion.

Went here with a friend who has raved about the place. Got a huge slice of cheese pizza for 3.50 and it was pretty good. The place definitely isn’t kept well, but the food is worth it. Pretty good place, I’ll come here again.

Really really good chicken shawarma. I have no idea if that’s spelled right, but as with El Khartoum, those kinds of frilly details are of no importance. It’s all content, i.e. tasty food. As you’ve probably gathered from all the other reviews, the actual space is a little divey, but don’t be deterred. If you are somehow deterred anyway, no problem: they recently started delivering! Other positives are the guy who I think is the owner is always super friendly, and they even have outdoor seating now (one table for two, so go early/​often to snag it!)

I am a fan of this place cause it is cheap and pretty damn tasty. As for the actual atmosphere of the place, I wouldn’t suggest taking to hard of a look around. This place looks like it could be straight up out of Sudan. Aside from the awful atmosphere the food was good. I can’t speak to the authenticity of the food because I myself have not been to Sudan, nor do I have any plans in the near future to visit. The food was pretty similar to your typical Middle Eastern fair. I had a chicken Shawarma platter which came with copious amounts of chicken and a whole lot of flavor. So if you can overlook the terrible ambiance and just eat the food you are in for a cheap treat.

There are two things keeping me from vegetarianism: the prospect of an iron deficiency, and El Khartoum.
Oh boy is this stuff good. «Stuff» = chicken shawarma and gyro. Particularly the latter. It is really the meat equivalent of butter… that might make more sense in my head than in this review… no matter you understand that it is DELICIOUS. Also, this is the best deal around anywhere! The hubs and I always just split a platter and once or twice we’ve even had leftovers (it seems that depending on who’s scooping you end up with a lot of food or a ridiculous amount of food). Lastly, if you are stronger than I and have gone all the way on the veg path, there are lots of options for you as well which I’m sure are awesome since the beans that come on the meat platters are delish.
To all of those doubters scared off by the appearance: I am a pretty big wuss when it comes to «dives,» but this place is absolutely legit.

Simply the best, cheapest, tastiest hole-​in-​the-​wall eating you’ll find in DC (aside from Moby Dick in Georgetown). The place could certainly use a good renovation and scrubdown, but if you’re not bothered by these kinds of things then I highly recommend El Khartoum. You’ll probably have enough food for two meals.
The chicken is roasted on a rotating spit of deliciousness, the line moves rather quickly, and every now and again you may understand whatever it is they’re playing on the huge television parked over the beverage fridge.

As big as a Chipotle burrito, El Khartoum’s shwarmas certainly do provide value for money… if quanitity is what you’re looking for, but in my opinion, bigger is not always better. Maybe I’m spoiled or maybe it’s just how they make them in Sudan, but I found El Khartoum’s chicken shwarma to be sadly underwhelming. I suppose the steam table should have been a warning; who makes shwarmas from something out of a steam table?!? And removing the meat and frying it is not going to produce anything remotely similar to the real deal sliced off of a rotating spit. They did seem to have a large Middle Eastern clientele, but that could have been due to the soccer match that everyone seemed to be watching. And what’s up with the addition of the pizza? Have we reached a new low where everyone wants to take advantage of Adams Morgan’s drunks and get a piece of the jumbo slice market?

Negatives
1 — I have deep suspicions that they’re on the wrong side of the Darfur conflict.
2 — They once gave me a chicken wrap, and the chicken had not been deboned.
3 — The atmosphere is somewhat gross.
4 — Sometimes it takes an unconscionably long time.
Positives
1 — Delicious.
2 — Cheap.
3 — Open super late.
4 — The cheese slices are as big as Steve-O’s Steve-​O tattoo.

As others have stated, don’t be scared off by the appearance. The food is fresh and very tasty. The shawarma is flavorful and they actually have a beef and chicken shawarma pit, not some frozen meat that is thawed out.
Their jumbo slices are average, and $ 3.50. Not alot of sauce but hits the spot. I haven’t order an entire pizza so I can’t talk about the freshness of the jumbo slice.
Nice atmosphere, relaxing and about a 10 minute walk from my place. I’ll be coming back. I’ll be trying the food from the cafeteria-​style bins next time.

The first time I walked into this shack I knew when I was in for a treat… either a delicious meal or a meal followed up with a bottle of pepto. Quite a tasty establishment! The chicken shawarma is really good. Particularly the patter version (the portions are huge for $ 9) and if you want it spicy go with the jalapeño sauce on the side. Ummmm.
The gyro sandwiches and patters are solid too. I’ve pretty much had the whole menu by now. A nice surprise was the fava bean plate… beans, feta, veggies, oil, and a hard boiled egg.
I crave this place on the regular. It’s pretty good for soaking up beverages from the night before too. Just don’t bring you’re parents or grandparents, it’s not the cleanest place.

El Khartoum is the bomb. It’s not pleasant on the eyes, but the consistently delicious Sudanese food sooo makes up for it. For just a little bit of money (5 – 7 bucks for a sandwich, 6 – 9 for a platter), you get a lot of fresh, flavorful food. Their falafel is good, just not very hot temperature-​wise. I had the vegetable falafel sandwich, which had falafel, babaghanoosh, hummus, lots of raw red onions, and eggplant. The combo of flavors was excellent. Their chicken is wonderful! They put lots of red onions in everything (cooked and raw). Definitely try the chicken shwarma platter (7.99), which includes lots of tasty chicken and cooked onion, tahini sauce (which tastes sooo good with it), rice (get the yellow rice), and salad with fresh red onions. Gotta remove one star cuz I came back recently and the falafel wasn’t so hot (literally)…go for the chix tho and you should be good!

The first time I walked in here the guy behind the counter instantly involved me in conversation, and I immediately regretted coming in when I saw that they ladle their food out of cafeteria-​style vats and stick it into a heater before serving. But I was dead wrong — it’s delicious.
I always find myself craving El Khartoum at lunchtime — the vegetable platter, the falafel and oh my GOD the okra. I admit I’ve actually sacked the lunch I brought to work in favor of walking the 10 blocks over there.
A lot of people I’ve talked to are aware this place is there, given its great location smack between Dupont and Adams Morgan, but have never gone in because of its somewhat dumpy appearance. If you ask me, they should invest in a big fancy sign to differentiate themselves from the other hole-​in-​the-​wall establishments on either side.
Please go, you will not regret it!

Recently El Khartoum added some new dishes to the menu and it includes some very authentic Sudanese dishes.
We tried a dish called Gousara yesterday. It’s a whole wheat pancake the size of a regular dinner plate and is topped with your choice of sauce. The sauces include chicken, lamb, spinach and okra. The pancake tastes like an Ethiopian injera, but thinner and not as spongy or sour. We chose the lamb sauce yesterday and along with the generous ladle of sauce two big pieces of lamb chop were also put on the top of the pancake. It didn’t look like a lot of food, but just like Ethiopian food, all the sauce and the pancake really fills you up. It was delicious.
The owner told us that back in Sudan they eat Gousara every Friday. When Friday rolls around, all the family members would gather at one person’s home, they would make the pancake as big as those injera pans, and each week they make a different sauce. Now that’s my kinda party!

Tried this place last night after all the stellar Unilocal reviews. It is a great little local place, a hidden secret from all the tourist haunts in DC. When I saw it I was a bit worried about the lack of people in there on a Thursday night, but when I saw that the few people that were in there were Sudanese, I knew I was in for a treat. Most of the food is pre-​made and sitting in warming bins. This may seem worrisome, but I actually liked it for two reasons: 1) You can see what they have available, and this is always helpful when trying new things, and 2) It is quite obvious that everything is homemade. I can just see an old Sudanese woman toiling away each morning to make the hummous from scratch.
We tried the chicken schwarma platter and the falafel platter. Very inexpensive, and you seem to get a little bit of everything with your plate: rice, green beans, stewed beans, hummous, salad and pita. The falafel was flavorful, but a little dry. The chicken schwarma was very good, ask for it spicy and they add a delicious red sauce on top.
They have some very cool drinks as well; my boyfriend got probably the best ginger ale I’ve ever had in a bottle and I tried the hibiscus drink they had swirling around the machine. It was fragrant with a slight sweetness that was very refreshing.
If I was considering moving to Dupont/​Adams Morgan, this would be on my list of pluses!

Sometimes I sit back, mouth full of falafel with hummus on my chin, and wonder what I ever did to deserve a place this ridiculously delicious in walking distance of my place. It is close enough that getting my favorite Washingtonian to fetch me fattoush salad and a falafel platter is a snap!
To get maximum taste satisfaction, be sure to order one or more of the following:
Fava Beans (this one’s not on the written menu but ask for it!) smashed falafel in fava beans with tomato, onions, feta cheese, lemon juice and oil, served with warm french bread for dipping
Fattoush Salad lettuce, parsley, tomato, green onion, cucumber, olive oil and lemon juice, topped with toasted pita bits
Beef Sharwama Plate fresh beef cutlet marinated with garlic and mixed spices
FALAFEL (all caps for emphasis, in case that was not clear) Sandwich and/​or Plate, either way you cannot go wrong! The sandwich comes in a pita with lettuce, tomato, onion, tahini sauce and hot sauce. All plates come with salad, pita bread and your choice of rice or beans.
El Khartoum is a popular haunt for DC cabbies and a perfect place to get your daily dose of Al Jazeera while you wait for your falafel. This ethnically authentic gem never fails to please my taste buds!