Salad lovers get ready: Free salad for hungry aides

So it’s not a 16-oz. sirloin, but it is a good deal. And it may even be healthy.

The Chop’t Creative Salad Company will open its doors on Nov. 14. To introduce Washingtonians to their designer salads and salad sandwiches — salads wrapped in warmed flatbread — Chop’t is offering lunch “on the house” on opening day to everyone who visits the store from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., or until the last bit of lettuce is gone.

This is a one meal per customer offering.

Co-founders/owners Tony Shure and Colin McCabe began this opening day tradition with their first Chop’t in Manhattan a few years ago. Faced with a malfunctioning computer and a line of customers trailing out the door, they decided to make the best of a potentially disastrous situation and offered everything free for the entire day. The good will created by this gesture was so powerful that Tony and Colin decided to make it a tradition every time they open a new location.

Another incentive: Chop’t claims to have a loyal following that includes celebrities Matt Damon, Hillary Swank and Sheryl Crow.

Chop’t Salad is located in Penn Quarter at 730 7th St N.W., Washington, D.C. Phone: (202) 347-3225.

Charlie Palmer Steak celebrates the holiday with a three-course feast. Highlights from the Thanksgiving Day menu include: Sweet Curried Cheese Pumpkin Soup with Maine Lobster Dumplings, Maple Glazed Pumpkin Seeds and Pumpkin Seed Oil; Roasted Red Bourbon Turkey, Braised Leg Meat with Confit Giblet Gravy and Traditional Bread Stuffing; Spiced Venison Loin with Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Roasted Porcini and Sage-Infused Venison Natural; and a selection of fall desserts.  

Charlie Palmer Steak will be open on Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov. 22) starting at 2 p.m. The special three-course prix fixe menu is $68 per person. To make a reservation, please call (202) 547-8100.

Southern Holiday Tips Cooking Class at Acadiana  
 
The chefs at Acadiana, a contemporary take on a Louisiana fish house, are sharing their secrets for Thanksgiving dinner. On Nov. 17, the D.C. restaurant is offering its Southern Holiday Tips Cooking Class.  

Attendees will learn to prepare six Louisiana-inspired dishes to share with family and friends. Some of the dishes: Cajun Turducken Roll, Creole Cornbread Stuffing, Southern Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato, Eggplant Gravy, Smoked Bacon Collard Greens and New Orleans-Style Bananas Foster.

Acadiana’s Southern Holiday Tips Cooking Class will be held Saturday, Nov. 17, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost is $75 per student. To register, contact Darnell Howell at 202-222-0987 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it Acadiana is located at 901 New York Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C.