2Fifty BBQ, Era Wine Bar Win D.C. Restaurant Awards

Two Route 1 businesses won prestigious D.C. area restaurant awards.

At an annual gala earlier this week, the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington recognized Mount Rainier’s Era Wine Bar with its Wine Program of the Year award and Riverdale Park’s 2Fifty Texas BBQ with its Casual Restaurant of the Year award, one of its most competitive categories.

In a post on their website, 2Fifty owners Debby Portillo and Fernando González credited their hard-working staff and said winning the award as a barbecue restaurant was particularly meaningful:

Barbecue is slow. It’s quiet. It’s not about plating tricks or fancy reductions. It’s about fire, wood, and time. It’s about knowing when to wrap a brisket by the bend, not the clock. And most of all, it’s about respect: for the process, the ingredient, and the people you serve.

That’s what makes this recognition powerful. It tells us that what we do, with no gas assist, no shortcuts, just smoke and soul, has a place in the story of this city’s food scene.

Earlier this year, González was honored with a Congressional Citation and was a semifinalist for a James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic.

The Rammy award ceremony was also notable for spotlighting many of D.C.’s immigrant chefs, and Portillo and Gonzalez were among those who talked about their immigrant roots when accepting the award.