@vtgrad and anyone else looking for food.
I ate at Ceiba before the last DT show and ordered from the pre-event menu. It was something like $30 (just myself), but it was a real nice treat, especially if you've never had South American food. I would highly recommend this day of show.
Ella's Wood Fired Pizza does really good rustic Italian. They're near the Verizon Center, got food there before a Wizards game with friends.
I'll give Chinatown it's own section since it is near the convention center and I've been to a few conventions there so I'm familiar with the area. Chinatown is a pretty cool place to spend half your day and there are lots of cool shops if you just look around. Also, the smaller places in Chinatown tend to be a little cheaper without sacrificing the quality. You can get a good lunch for under $8 at most of the small shops.
In Chinatown:
Fado Irish Pub has really good corned beef and cabbage if you're into that sort of thing.
If you like Thai, I'll vouch for Absolute Thai and Royal Thai
The Chinese guys I was with took me to Full Kee and that was pretty good.
Cuba Libre does Cuban right, but a little on the pricy side IMO.
There is a lot in the Adams Morgan section of town as well. Unfortuantely I've only been to one place there, an Ethiopian restaurant and the name is escaping me right now...it was across the street from basketball and tennis courts. That probably doesn't help you much, and neither will this, but it was on par with the Ethiopian restaurant in Blacksburg (they opened 4 years ago, so probably after your time there). Pretty average for Ethiopian I guess, I've had better in other places.
Lastly, I have usually get a major jones for Fine French when I travel to cities, and I'm willing to drop a nice dime for it. Bistro Lepic over by Georgetown U. has never disappointed me. Pricy, but they don't have anything like that in SW Va.