"In a city where West African food can be hard to come by, Gold Coast Ghal Kitchen is a pop-up-turned-restaurant that serves excellent traditional dishes from Liberia and Ghana. Dishes like the handpies and nuggets of ripe caramelized plantains are pure comfort, particularly when followed by a smoky goat peanut soup that should always be ordered with fufu. Take advantage of the small cozy space with just a few hungry friends. You can always keep the night going by grabbing drinks on Capitol Hill afterwards—or use Gold Coast as an impromptu date night if sharing the last bites of a hand pie is your version of fairytale romance, like it is ours." - aimee rizzo, kayla sager riley