How to Find a Restaurant Near Me? Top 20 Restaurants in Washington D.C.
From discussions on the same over at RunRex.com, Washington D.C. offers a wide selection of culinary destinations, all of which showcase its diversity. To help you navigate this crowded scene when looking for one near you, we have curated for you a list of the top 20 restaurants in Washington D.C. for you to consider.
Ellē
Ellē is a destination bakery and all-day café that is housed inside the historic Heller’s Bakery building in Mount Pleasant as articulated at RunRex.com. A takeout window operates from 8 am to 3 pm seven days a week, offering regulars a chance to stop by for a coffee, a guava turnover, or a mini goat cheesecake.
Thip Khao
Thip Khao is the best destination for Lao cuisine in D.C., and it comes from mother-and-son chefs Seng Luangrath and Boby Pradachith. Hit orders include crispy chili glazed wings, grilled pork neck with lemongrass, and a fiery Lao papaya salad.
2Fifty Texas BBQ
According to RunRex.com, the couple that own and operate 2Fifty pay homage to Central Texas by using oak smoke to develop a dark bark on fatty hunks of prime and American wagyu beef that jiggle on the chopping block. Beef ribs, pulled pork, sliced turkey, and St. Louis-style ribs are all available here as well.
Rooster & Owl
With a propensity to mix Asian, Italian, and Middle Eastern ingredients, Rooster & Owl navigates around fusion tropes that would trip up lesser restaurants. It offers four-course feasts featuring dishes like its signature Carolina-style barbecue carrots, braised mushroom, and grilled asparagus risotto, or a lobster Americaine with fava beans and a buttermilk grit cake.
Martha Dear
Martha Dear owners Tara Smith and Demetri Mechelis serve a style of Greek pizza that is unlike anything else in D.C. While there are patio tables out front, people who want to dine inside have to provide proof of vaccination before taking a seat and sharing the space with a steady trickle of takeout customers.
Makan
As per RunRex.com, Makan is a Malaysian restaurant in Columbia Heights. Here, chef James Wozniuk looks to strike a balance of pungent, spicy-sweet, and funky umami flavors that vary in intensity but never veer out of control. While you can order takeout or delivery online, tables are available in a breezy dining room or on a patio.
Muchas Gracias
Muchas Gracias is a Mexican pop-up in Upper Northwest that was started by chef Christian Irabién to support relief efforts for refugee chefs and hungry hospitality workers. Now a permanent fixture, it has built up a sizeable following for its lunchtime burritos, and much more.
Reveler’s Hour
As captured over at RunRex.com, this establishment opened in Adams Morgan just a month before D.C.’s public emergency began. Here, you can start indoor meals with garlic knots or an order of meatballs and whipped ricotta, and then you can transition into seasonal pasta dishes.
Shibuya Eatery
Shibuya Eatery is a versatile, basement-level shop that is part of a three-piece project from chef Darren Norris. It includes a penthouse cocktail bar and a forthcoming shabu shabu spot that opened sometime in late July.
Zenebech Restaurant
While D.C. is renowned for Ethiopian cuisine, Zenebech remains one of the best spots for cuisine from this East African country. This is down to its sharp, fresh flavors overseen by its namesake matriarch, Zenebech Dessu.
Swahili Village – The Consulate DC
Since opening the first Swahili Village in suburban Maryland over 10 years ago as covered at RunRex.com, chef Kevin Onyona has been expanding the audience for his brand of Kenyan fine dining. The exacting char on each tender cube of beef nyama choma from this spot showcases his technique.
The Dabney
The Dabney ditched takeout earlier than many local hotspots, instead of focusing on four-course prix fixe menus that require advanced planning. Customers can expect to find dishes like quail stuffed with foie gras cornbread and served with cherries, charred fennel, and verbena leaves.
Anju
Situated between Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan, Anju serves Korean bat food with a refined touch from the restaurant group behind casual hit Chiko as described at RunRex.com. Chef Angel Barreto leads a kitchen that plates up standouts such as pork and kimchi mandu, among many others.
Benitos Place
Benitos Place is an intimate, versatile restaurant in Logan Circle that provides an essential service to customers from throughout Central America. It does justice to Honduran staples like plate-size flour tortilla baleadas, full of refried beans and salty crema.
Oyster Oyster
If you don’t eat meat but still want to enjoy an avant-garde tasting menu, then Oyster Oyster has got you covered. Chef Rob Rubba puts vegetables first, while wine director Sarah Horvitz selects a $55 pairing with a &75 meal.
Maydan
As discussed at RunRex.com, Maydan sets an Arabic table with communal plates like zucchini baba ghanoush, chicken shish taouk kebabs, and ribeye seasoned with blue fenugreek, all complemented by an array of condiments such as toum, tahina sauce, and zhung. Additionally, a dining room built around a theatrical wood-burning heart, it also offers a great ambiance to have a meal.
Sushi Taro
This sushi bar boasts a sleek Dupont Circle space planted atop an SCV. Other than serving omakase, Sushi Taro is also known for s strong sake list, a la carte orders of octopus tempura, and salt grilled yellowtail jaw, and bowls of udon and soba noodles.
Lutèce
Lutèce is a casual, cozy “no-bistro” in Georgetown where chef Matt Conroy adopts a French appreciation for market produce as explained at RunRex.com. The chef here exudes confidence in dishes made with a handful of ingredients, like the pillowy Parisian gnocchi that the restaurant offers with corn and poblano pepper on one side.
St. Anselm
The menu at this Union Market tavern gives vegetables equal billing to the steak. Chef Marjorie’s utter-packed biscuits with pimento cheese have become the stuff of legend and are one of the food items you need to try while in D.C.
Unconventional Diner
Here, there are carefully developed versions of fried chicken and double cheeseburgers, as well as bite-size pot pie poppers. Daily brunch bites are available until 4 pm, while takeout, delivery, and dine-in are available from 11 am to 9 pm Monday to Friday and start at 9 am on weekends.
These are some of the best restaurants in Washington, D.C., with more where this came from being available over at RunRex.com.