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In today’s review… we’ll cover an everyday comfort food delight located in the heart of the District, Mt Vernon Square.

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The Ratings

Our simple & honest checklist covers a restaurant’s key ingredients:
Ambiance, Service, and Food.

8/10

Unconventional Diner blends modern aesthetics with a hint at relics of a traditional American diner. The restaurant features a spacious and lively atmosphere with an open layout and lots of natural light, giving a calming air. The color scheme is vibrant, but in style. Color palettes match well and aren’t boring. In fact, the green and red accents allow booths and stool seats, respectively, to pop out and bring attention to some of the wall’s abstract paintings. If the weather is nice out, Unconventional Diner features many outdoor spots too. Overall, Unconventional Diner offers its customers a stylish, creative, modern venue for your everyday meal.

7.5/10

Despite Unconventional Diner’s notoriety, finding a table at this restaurant is not as difficult as you might think. If you don’t have a reservation, your host can usually still find a table for your group — making this spot an easy go-to if you want a straightforward meal. Not to mention, the waitstaff and hosts are kind and go a good job taking care of you.

9/10

Unconventional Diner absolutely rocks on consistency!

Rather than relying on typical, common-place recipes that everyone knows and has tried a million times at hundreds of other restaurants, Unconventional Diner takes those familiar and well-liked concepts and then brings them up a notch with creative flairs and accentuations. The result? So many deliciously interesting dishes!

Since the restaurant is open every day from 9AM to 10PM and even offers brunch every day as long as its before 3:45PM, you can pretty much order your favorites any time. Yet, we truly recommend you check out different items on the menu because we have yet to find a dish that isn’t tasty. Kudos to the team!

If you’re coming in the morning for breakfast, check out the French Toast, served with the season’s fresh fruits, granola, and vanilla ice cream.

For brunch or lunch, check out the Sweet Potato Shakshuka — the sweet potato curry has a beautiful spice to it and you can opt to add chicken, shrimp, or even miso salmon to the dish; but the regular shakshuka is just delicious.

For dinner, check out the Moroccan Taquitos — a play on Italian grissini breadsticks… but a taco? Honestly, it’s a fun way to start off your meal and dip the chicken and pine nut sticks into the harissa aioli.

The Peking Duck Confit is quite the fun experience as you build each bite independently from your dishes of duck leg meat, bao buns, hoisin sauce, and accoutrements.

The Meatloaf is another fantastic option that folks will rave about. It might be a bit heavier of a meal, but goodness the mixture of veal, pork, and beef, covered in a sriracha glaze and an inspiring morel gravy will leave you saying ‘wow.’ The toasted earthiness of the morels make for such a deeply pleasant flavor, especially with the light sriracha kick from the glaze. This beautifully executed creative play on traditional recipes is what makes Unconventional Diner a spot you can’t go wrong with. Comfort, delight, and playfulness are the motto.

Reservation & Menu: