Tim Carman Gets Mesmerized By Taqueria Habanero's Tortillas

Tyler Cowen turns to Ris after being disappointed the night before at Le Diplomate. He ends up giving Ris a "thumbs up, sort of, kind of" — here's part of his backhanded compliment of a review:

I tried to get a reservation in a half dozen other places I preferred over this one, but all of them were full up for Friday night at 6:30. Finally, I settled for this place, in spite of its OK but uninspiring reviews. And when I showed up, the interior – yikes – it reminded me of a Holiday Inn dining room in Akron, Ohio. The clientele – don’t ask. And yet . . . the food here was quite good. [TC]

For the Washington Post's $20 Diner column, Tim Carman is enamored with the house-made tortillas at Taqueria Habanero in Columbia Heights.

I know, I know: I’ve been harping about a lack of house-made tortillas in Washington for years, sounding like a crazed street preacher with a bullhorn cranked to 10. But one taste of these tacos and you’ll understand. My zeal is not just about the fragrance of the tortilla, with its ephemeral aroma of hard field corn, but also about its texture, which is closer to polenta than to those woody rounds from a bag. [WaPo]

THE BLOGS: DMV Dining samples a holiday feast at The Grill Room at Georgetown's Capella Hotel...Capitol Cooking is psyched for Thanksgiving at Medium Rare...Girl Meets Food gets an everything bagel from Bullfrog Bagels.