The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near A&J Restaurant
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Rank 1. A&J Restaurant
Dim Sum Chinese
- Washingtonian 2026 · #52 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #60 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 2. 2941 Restaurant
French
- AAA Four Diamonds
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outsdanding Restaurant
- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · #1 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
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Rank 4. Dolcezza
Italian Dessert
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Rank 5. Dolcezza
Italian Dessert
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- The New York Times 2023 · The Restaurant List
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Pastry Chef or Baker of the Year · Rachel Sherriffe
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, D.C., Right Now
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Rank 7. Rice Paper
Vietnamese
- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
- Washingtonian 2025 · #91 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 8. Mama Chang
Chinese
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, D.C., Right Now
- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.
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Rank 10. Nue
Vietnamese
- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
- Washingtonian 2026 · #79 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #75 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 11. Fava Pot
Egyptian Middle Eastern
- Washingtonian 2026 · #87 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #67 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 13. Padaek
Laotian Thai
- Washingtonian 2026 · #42 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #57 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 15. Thompson Italian
Italian
- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
- Washingtonian 2025 · #90 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 16. Makeda
Ethiopian
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Rank 17. The Falls
Mid-Atlantic
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Rank 18. Feru Bar and Restaurant
Ethiopian
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Rank 20. Birndo Bar and Restaurant
Ethiopian
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Rank 22. Meaza Restaurant
Ethiopian
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Rank 25. La Coop Coffee Company
Guatemalan Coffee
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Rank 26. Nazret Ethiopian Restaurant
Ethiopian
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- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - The Fried Rice Collective
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - Fried Rice Collective
- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
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Rank 31. Joon
Upscale Persian
- The New York Times 2024 · The Restaurant List
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Najmieh Batmanglij and Christopher Morgan
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.
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- Washingtonian 9 Delicious Doughnut Shops Around DC
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Beer Program of the Year
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Rank 35. SER Restaurant
Spanish
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Rank 37. Modan Restaurant
Japanese
- Washingtonian The Hot List: 10 Restaurants Around DC We’re Loving Right Now
- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · #6 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
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- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
- Washingtonian 2026 · #80 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #94 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 43. Samuel Beckett’s
Irish British
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Rank 45. Ometeo
Afghan
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year
- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
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- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
- Washingtonian 2025 · #95 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Matt Hill
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Rank 51. Afghan Bistro
Afghan Middle Eastern
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- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
- Washingtonian 2026 · #42 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
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Rank 53. Ingle Korean Steakhouse
Korean Steakhouse
- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · #7 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
- Washingtonian 2025 · #86 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 54. Agora
Mediterranean
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Rank 55. Call Your Mother
Bakery
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · World’s Best Cocktail Menu
- The Pinnacle Guide 2 Pins
- 50 Best 2026 · Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award 2026 · North America's 50 Best Bars
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- Washingtonian Best Coffee Shops in DC
- Time Out The 20 Best Coffee Shops and Cafés in Washington, DC
- Eater The 15 Best Coffee Shops Around D.C.
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Rank 63. Xiquet
Spanish
Chef Danny Lledó's wood-fired kitchen channels Valencian cooking with dill-cured bonito and rice dishes built over the hearth, their smoke and char cutting through delicate preparations. The sparse third-floor dining room feels like a private conversation, ending with coffee and sweets upstairs.
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Rank 64. minibar by José Andrés
Contemporary
A single door opens onto José Andrés's culinary laboratory, where guests perch at a curved counter to watch small plates arrive as puzzles—chicharron masquerading as something else, cauliflower studded with caviar. Whimsy and surprise drive each course toward a finale of fried ice cream donuts, the kind of playful confidence that makes dinner feel like collaborative theater.
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Rank 66. Fiola
Modern Italian
Stone walls and retro glamour frame Fiola's elegant dining room, where servers guide you through a menu that marries Roman tradition with Venetian flavors and playful modern invention. Duck-filled pasta squares arrive in their own jus; lamb plays against red pepper gel and eggplant caponata. Regional Italian cooking here feels both grounded and restless.
- 50 Top Italy 2025 · #6 · The Best Italian Restaurants In The World
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
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- Washingtonian 2026 · #92 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #73 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 71. Dōgon
African Caribbean
Inside the Salamander Hotel, Kwame Onwuachi's Dōgon presents small and large plates that blur African and Caribbean traditions with Washington swagger—the hoe crab arrives in its shell with shito and plantain cakes, the rum cake darkened by charred gooseberries. Each dish arrives composed and purposeful, the wine list equally considered, the whole operation bent on flavor over convention.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Condé Nast Traveler 2024 · The best new restaurants in the world
- 50 Best 2025 · #37 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
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Rank 72. Kappo
Wagyu Omakase Japanese
Descend into Chef Minoru Ogawa's sunken dining room, where a spare counter overlooks an exacting kitchen. The eight-course omakase weaves wagyu—lightly seared tataki in egg yolk sauce, toro balanced against garlic ponzu—with pristine seafood, finishing with a miso soup that lands like comfort. Refined without pretense.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Formal Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year
- Eater The Best Tasting Menus in D.C. Right Now
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A wood-paneled room evokes the '70s while the bar operates with laboratory precision: syrups macerate under cryovac, bourbon receives yogurt washing, cacao gets pressure-infused into amontillado. Each shift tastes and adjusts batches to accommodate seasonal variance—strawberries in June behave differently than in October—treating consistency as a living pursuit rather than a fixed formula.
- The Pinnacle Guide 2 Pins
- 50 Best 2026 · #34 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. East
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Rank 74. Imperfecto
Latin American
A soaring glass box in Northwest Washington draws diners to a brass-and-marble counter where Chef Enrique Limardo oversees an intimate tasting menu rooted in Latin technique and premium ingredients. Dishes like aged grouper with charred lettuce or duck with Carolina rice demonstrate exacting skill, each component calibrated to sing.
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Rank 75. Amazonia
Amazonian Peruvian
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · World’s Best Spirits Selection
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar
- Eater 2022 · The Best New Restaurants in America
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Rank 76. Moon Rabbit
Modern Vietnamese
Kevin Tien's Moon Rabbit, now in a sleek F Street space, merges Cajun and Vietnamese traditions through dishes like mochi beignets with eel and quail stuffed with duck sausage over tomato rice. The desserts—particularly a vegan pandan panna cotta with seaweed and chocolate—confirm his instinct for balancing opposing flavors with genuine skill.
- 50 Best 2025 · North American's Best Pastry Chef Award 2025 · Susan Bae
- 50 Best 2025 · #17 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Susan Bae
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Rank 77. 1789
French-influenced New American
A Federal townhouse divided into six intimate dining rooms, 1789 channels Georgetown's intellectual past through classical French and American cooking. The kitchen executes with discipline—recent lamb and vichyssoise dishes show confidence without pretense.
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Rank 78. Bresca
Contemporary
Bresca sits on 14th Street amid gold leaf and a living moss wall, trading bistro anonymity for a warmth that feels both neighborhood and occasion-worthy. Chef Ryan Ratino's cooking—a foie gras negroni, lamb pappardelle—arrives casual yet artful, with service that knows when to vanish.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality
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- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Cagla Onal
- Washingtonian The Hot List: 10 Restaurants Around DC We’re Loving Right Now
- Washingtonian 2026 · #14 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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- The Pinnacle Guide 2 Pins
- 50 Best 2026 · #55 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Esquire 2023 · Silver Service Martini · The Best Martinis in America
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Rank 83. Service Bar
Cocktail Bar
Cocktails arrive with technical precision at this U Street bar, where the bartenders treat regulars and tourists with equal warmth. The space itself—worn wood, dim light, no pretense—feels like the living room of someone with genuinely good taste.
- The Pinnacle Guide 1 Pin
- 50 Best 2026 · #39 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Bar Team
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Rank 84. YELLOW
Levantine Middle Eastern
Michael Rafidi's Georgetown café channels Levantine cooking through a wood-burning oven, drawing crowds for pillowy pitas and charred spreads. The batata tots and brown butter cookies disappear fast, which explains why lines form from dawn through lunch.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Fast Casual Restaurant of the Year
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Pastry Chef or Baker of the Year · Alicia Wang
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- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - The Fried Rice Collective
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - Fried Rice Collective
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Rank 86. Call Your Mother
Jewish American
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Rank 87. Lutèce
Neo-Bistro French
Matt Conroy's Georgetown bistro wraps diners in pressed tin and exposed brick while a tightly curated menu pivots on seasonal seafood—scallop crudo, delicate cod—with real finesse. Cocktails match the kitchen's precision, and desserts like passion-fruit baba au rhum justify skipping nothing.
- Food & Wine 2023 · Best New Chefs · Isabel Coss
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Chef of the Year · Matt Conroy & Isabel Coss
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Rank 88. Anju
Korean
Brick and greenery frame a comfortable corner of Adams Morgan where Korean drinking food anchors a spirit-forward menu—banchan, mandu, and soju flow in easy rhythm. Chef Danny Lee's mother contributed recipes like dak jjim and dolsot bibimbap, dishes that taste like they've been made a thousand times before and will be again.
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - The Fried Rice Collective
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - Fried Rice Collective
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Angel Barreto
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Rank 89. Albi
Mediterranean Middle Eastern
The dining room pivots around a working hearth where Michael Rafidi coaxes smoke and char from eastern Mediterranean staples and local vegetables with equal precision. A seasonal tasting menu calibrates the surprises—wood-fired kefta, brown butter knafeh—better than any à la carte survey could.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Winner · Outstanding Chef · Michael Rafidi
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- 50 Best 2025 · #34 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
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Rank 90. Masseria
Puglian Italian
A former warehouse with exposed brick and a gleaming steel kitchen opens onto gardens and a wine cellar—a place where staff and diners alike seem genuinely settled in for the evening. Nicholas Stefanelli's cooking threads Puglian tradition through dishes that balance restraint with richness, as in turbot with brown butter artichokes or a lemon soufflé that knows when to stop.
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Rank 91. Mita
Vegetarian Peruvian
In the Shaw neighborhood, Mita serves an all-plant tasting menu that draws from across Latin America with confident creativity: arepas arrive in a basket with guacamole and cashew sour cream, watermelon crudo swims in cucumber leche de tigre. Chefs Tatiana Mora and Miguel Guerra build umami through layered vegetable dishes that feel neither restrained nor novelty-driven, but simply generous.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
- Punch 2025 · Best New Bartenders · Lou Bernard
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Rank 92. The Bazaar by José Andrés
Avant-Garde Spanish
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Rank 93. The Dabney
Mid-Atlantic American
At The Dabney, a wood-fired hearth anchors a spare, brick-walled dining room where chef Jeremiah Langhorne pursues Mid-Atlantic flavors with quiet conviction. His tasting menu moves from delicate snacks through roasted vegetables and charred wagyu with three-way eggplant, each plate a controlled study in restraint.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant
- Washingtonian 2026 · #15 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 94. Oyster Oyster
Vegetarian
A vegetable-focused tasting menu that somehow leaves you energized rather than depleted. Rob Rubba's compositions—eggplant agnolotti in corn broth, squash baton with seed ricotta—work from the premise that vegetables need not be a compromise. Even bread arrives reimagined, layered with garlic and accompanied by marigold-flecked sunflower spread, a signal that nothing here is incidental.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Winner · Outstanding Chef · Rob Rubba
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Food & Wine 2025 · The Top 15 US Restaurants
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Rank 95. Rasika
Indian
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Ashok Bajaj - Knightsbridge Restaurant Group
- Eater The All-Time Eater 38
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, D.C., Right Now
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Rank 97. The Fountain Inn
Cocktail Bar
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. East
- Washingtonian 2026 · #75 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 99. Centrolina
Italian
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Amy Brandwein
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · Amy Brandwein
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Rank 100. Casa Teresa
Open-Fire Spanish
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Ruben Garcia
- Eater Chef of the Year · Rubén García
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Chef of the Year · Rubén García Castilla