The Best New Eatery In Town - The Good Stuff Eatery
By: Becca Lestner
 
Washington, DC

We may be geographically far from any actual farm while living in urban Washington, DC, but Chef Spike hopes his new restaurant venture can bring you a few steps closer. 

And, with this in mind, Good Stuff Eatery delivers in every way.  The restaurant’s motto, “not far from the farm,” is apparent in everything right down to the cow-like logo on the employee t-shirts.  

This writer gives the food an A+ without question. After a short meeting with Chef Spike himself, my editor and I dove headfirst into our food.  Our burgers and fries were presented to us in paper wrappings on nondescript red circular trays. 

I decided on the “Vegetarians are people too ‘shroom burger” while my editor had the “Colletti’s Smokehouse” burger.  Our burgers were coupled with two orders of the “Spikes Village Fries” and a toasted marshmallow shake for me and the season-inspired pumpkin shake for him. 

Yes, even as I recount our food choices I know it sounds like way too much food. My suggestion to others is to share one order of fries. But, do yourself a favor and don’t (I repeat DON’T) share your milkshake. 

The ‘shroom burger was extremely flavorful (just as promised), but be careful how you hold onto it as the burger’s contents wanted to slide off the bun at first bite. The organic mushroom tops flash fried in pancko bread crumbs meshed easily with the Muenster and cheddar cheese, tomato, lettuce and Good Stuff sauce. The unique flavor combination was well worth the few extra napkins it so appropriately required. 

Other notable burgers include the “Blazin’ Barn (Vietnamese influenced), the “Spike’s 5 Napkin (fried egg on top) and the “Good Stuff Melt” (melted cheddar and Muenster, caramelized onions and mushrooms with Good Stuff sauce). 

When it comes to “Spikes Village Fries” the thyme, rosemary and cracked pepper flavors didn’t overwhelm me. Ordinarily this would be a bad thing. But, Good Stuff Eatery also boosts a very unique dipping bar including flavors like mango mayo, Old Bay mayo and chipotle mayo.  Chef Spike joked with us that most people are put off initially by the idea of a mango salsa (I have to admit I pretty much wrote it off at first mention), but after some convincing, we tried it and it became our favorite, just as promised. 

Then, it was on to the milkshakes.  Let me just say. . . WOW! 

Chef Spike smiled as he took our order for the toasted marshmallow shake, saying it has become a sort of trademark of the restaurant. I can see why. The handspun shake with its frothy texture to the two toasted marshmallows on top, the shake hit on all cylinders. The cool, smooth shake was a perfect way to end the overly filling meal. 

With so many burger joins popping up all across the DC area, you make ask – ‘why chose Good Stuff Eatery?’ This writer believes that all to often a join simply serving burgers and fries tries too hard to deliver in other arenas such as décor or atmosphere. And, although, I didn’t personally connect with the “no frills” décor of Good Stuff Eatery, I think it achieves exactly what it should – force customers to focus on the food and enjoy the good stuff! 

For more information on Good Stuff Eatery, check out: www.goodstuffeatery.com