A recent trip out to H street left me and some friends eating at Smith Commons for brunch.  I had heard about Smith Commons a couple of times, but it wasn’t finished the last time I was at Sticky Rice. Smith Commons brings another interesting idea to the H street area.  The name comes from the words  “smith” or main dining room on the first floor and “the commons” or public house on levels two and three.  The whole place has a modern and rustic feel and by that I mean that they use wood and modern textures.   One of my favorite features is their garage like doors on the upper floors,  these provide a cool feel, but are also useful during nice weather.

On to the dining experience and overall it was really good. When we arrived we were seated on the second floor, our seat had a great view out their huge window. This made the brunch experience even more enjoyable. They had bottomless mimosas which the girls decided on right away and my guy friend and I ended up drinking one of my favorite beers Delirium.  We were all pretty hungry, so we ordered pretty quickly.  I ordered the grilled focaccia flat bread which included mozzarella, tomatoes, olives, roasted peppers, and arugula.  It was quite good, the crunchy crust and fresh grilled vegetables made for a really refreshing and filling flatbread.  The girls and my friend ended up ordering the shrimp & Anson mills grits, the Cointreau Noir orange liqueur french toast, and the Smith biscuits.  I got a chance to try all of their dishes and they were all really good.  My favorite however was the shrimp & anson mills grits, it included avacado, cilantro, sundried tomatos, pomegranate, osua irati grits.  I am quite the grits fanatic and these were some of the best I have had, the addition of the fresh vegetables and fruits brought out some wonderful flavors.  My flatbread was great, but next time I am definitely going with the grits. The food was pretty reasonable as well all the items on the brunch menu were less than 16, which is pretty decent for quality food.

Overall I was really impressed with Smith Commons, the original space and great food make this a must visit.  If you never had a reason to visit H street now you do!

Smith Commons
1245 H St NE
Washington, DC 20002
www.smithcommonsdc.com