Good Stuff Eatery

Good Stuff Eatery was founded by Spike Mendelsohn, a DC-based chef who appeared on Season 4 of Bravo’s Top Chef in 2008 and who used the television visibility to launch his restaurant concept on Capitol Hill before expanding to Georgetown and other locations. The Georgetown address at 3291 M Street NW is among the locations that has developed the M Street burger market alongside the 7th Street Burger at the other end of the commercial block.

Mendelsohn’s approach to the burger in the Good Stuff format combines the craft sensibility that his culinary training provides with the accessibility that the fast casual price point and ordering format requires. The hand-formed patties, which are pressed from freshly ground beef rather than the pre-formed frozen patties that the quick-service industry relies on, produce a different texture from the smash burger flat-top method: the hand-formed patty maintains a looser interior texture that the high-heat sear on the exterior contrasts. The topping combinations at Good Stuff are more inventive than the standard fast-casual burger allows: the President Obama Burger, which was developed when the former President visited the original Capitol Hill location, is the most famous item in the inventory.

The milkshake program at Good Stuff Eatery is treated with the same seriousness as the burger program, which is not the norm in the fast-casual format where milkshakes are often an afterthought to the food service. The thick shakes in the flavor rotations that the kitchen develops give the customer a full dessert experience alongside the burger.

The M Street address at 3291 is in the upper M Street commercial block, accessible from the Georgetown University direction and from the main Georgetown shopping area.

Hours run from 11am daily with late closing on Friday and Saturday. The Obama White House connection that Good Stuff Eatery established when former President Obama visited the Capitol Hill location and ordered the burger that now bears his name is a piece of Washington restaurant folklore that the brand has appropriately maintained as part of its identity. For a DC restaurant, the presidential connection is the highest form of local endorsement, and the former President’s burger order at a Spike Mendelsohn restaurant is part of the Georgetown dining neighborhood’s story. The Georgetown M Street address at 3291 extends the brand from its Capitol Hill origin to the neighborhood that is Georgetown’s equivalent dining destination. Hours run from 11am daily, with late closing to 11pm on Friday and Saturday. Full menu at goodstuffeatery.com. The craft fast casual category that Good Stuff Eatery occupies is the segment of the quick-service market that applies the culinary training and the ingredient quality of fine dining to the burger and quick meal format. For the Georgetown customer who wants a chef-driven burger at a fast casual price point rather than the chain fast food alternative, Spike Mendelsohn’s Georgetown address at 3291 M Street is the specific answer. The milkshake program, which rivals the burger in terms of creative investment, makes Good Stuff Eatery a dessert destination as much as a burger restaurant.