Grandma pizza, flautas and a huge Philly cheesesteak: My day of trying way too many Takoma Park restaurants

Forget bar crawls. Restaurant crawls are the best way to get a real taste of all the amazing food Montgomery County has to offer.

The Takoma Park restaurant crawl I recently embarked on was a crash course in local culinary excellence. Now, I’m passing along the CliffsNotes for fellow foodies in the area.

A few weeks ago, I offhandedly mentioned to a group of food reporters that I had a huge list of Takoma Park restaurants still to visit. (Seoul Food and Sticky Fingers are among my favorites, but that only begins to scratch the surface.)

Nevin Martell, a food and travel writer based in the area, had the solution: A one-day Takoma Park restaurant tour, trying as much great food as we possibly could in both the Montgomery County city and its sister neighborhood across the D.C. line.

Challenge accepted.

Armed with my walking shoes, an empty stomach and a backpack for souvenirs and to-go containers, I joined eight fellow food reporters, social media creators and cookbook store staffers for a day of sampling some of Takoma Park’s finest.

Stop 1: Lost Sock Roasters

6833 4th St. NW, Washington, D.C.

Our first stop of the morning was just over the border in Takoma, D.C., at Lost Sock Roasters, a cafe offering small-batch coffee.

I went for the horchata, which was perfect on its own, but some of my fellow crawlers opted to add a shot of espresso for an extra jolt of energy as we began our excursion.

The pastry selection, including beautiful black-and-white sesame tahini cookies, tempted. But the restaurant crawl was a marathon, not a sprint.

Stop 2: Donut Run

6904 4th St. NW, Washington, D.C.

Just down the street was the first actual food spot: Donut Run, an all-vegan doughnut shop with a crowd-pleasing selection even for the most carnivorous of customers.

I went with a hefty Boston cream doughnut — you’d never be able to tell it was void of dairy. The apple fritter and strawberry sprinkle doughnut (made with fresh, homemade strawberry frosting) were winners among our group, too.

Stop 3: Takoma Beverage Co.

6917 Laurel Ave., Takoma Park

Again, the name of the game was pacing ourselves. So though Takoma Beverage Co. has a wide variety of breakfast and all-day menu items, I opted for their seasonal Earl Grey iced tea, which was the perfect sipping companion for our next stop.

A shopping interlude

Laurel Leaf: 6919 Laurel Ave., Takoma Park; Tabletop: 6927 Laurel Ave., Takoma Park; Takoma Park Farmers Market: 6931 Laurel Ave., Takoma Park

That horchata and giant doughnut were already starting to slow me down. Thankfully, we took a little detour to walk through some of Takoma Park’s boutiques and its weekly farmers market. We also accidentally stumbled across a separate Takoma Park festival, the Crossroads Community Food Fair. Festival season in Montgomery County is in full swing.

Laurel Leaf had a fun collection of vintage decor, records and matchboxes. Tabletop is great for home and kitchen goods. And the farmers market was a great excuse to sneak in a few free vegetable samples in a decidedly non-vegetable-centric day.

Stop 4: Red Hound Pizza

7050 Carroll Ave., Takoma Park

No two visits are exactly alike at Red Hound Pizza, where the menu changes every two weeks to account for the best in-season local ingredients for both the pizza toppings and the dough itself. Husband-and-wife team Charbel Abrache and Andrea Alvarez serve up grandma-style rectangular pies. I loved the veggie one with salsa verde, roasted broccoli rabe and roasted spring onion; the shellfish lovers in my group praised the offering with smoked mussels, roasted cherry tomatoes and a spring garlic aioli.

Do not miss out on their soft serve: The selection included creative and complex flavors such as roasted strawberry with cocoa crumble and a dairy-free rhubarb and coconut. (Abrache also teased a roasted corn cob soft serve with blueberry jam coming later this summer, which I will absolutely be returning for.)

Stop 5: San Pancho

7056 Carroll Ave., Takoma Park

San Pancho recently went viral after an influencer claimed it had the best breakfast burritos in the DMV. Argue about that superlative all you want, but the line out the door and down the block spoke for itself.

Thankfully, the San Francisco-style carne asada burritos stuffed with french fries and the barbacoa quesadillas — both featuring tortillas imported from Mexico — were well worth the wait.

Stop 6: Cielo Rojo

7211 Carroll Ave., Takoma Park

With the same owners as San Pancho — wife-and-husband duo Carolina McCandless and David Perez — Cielo Rojo is the restaurant’s slightly more upscale cousin.

My stomach had reached capacity. The plan was to just try drinks before moving on to our final stop (I had a nonalcoholic version of the jalapeño basil margarita).

But out came the tuna tostadas. Then flautas stuffed with slow-cooked duck confit. Then heirloom savory corn waffles topped with local smoked ham, melted Oaxaca cheese, a jalapeño vinaigrette and local maple syrup.

I had officially reached a level of fullness previously only experienced on Thanksgiving. That had to be it for the day. (Maybe for the week?)

Stop 7: Soko Butcher

7306 Carroll Ave., Takoma Park

And yet, there was still one stop on our list: Soko Butcher, a butcher shop and market from Brad Feickert, who plans to open new Appalachian restaurant Phia in the neighborhood later this year.

Soko is also in the running for best sandwiches at the RAMMYS Awards this summer, which honor the best of the Washington metropolitan restaurant industry.

How could I not order one?

I was advised to go with The Philly, a two-pound behemoth of prime rib, caramelized onions, house-made cheese wiz and mayo in a gooey concoction inside a French roll. Fellow restaurant crawler Emily Venezky of Eater DC and I bravely ventured to take a bite each, in the name of journalism.

That melty, savory bite was the perfect way to end the day. Packing up the rest of my gigantic sandwich to go, I headed home for the best Sunday nap of my life — and to dream about ideas for the next local restaurant crawl.