The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Kema by Kenaki
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Rank 3. Melina
Modern Greek
- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.
- Washingtonian 2026 · #95 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 5. Call Your Mother
Jewish American
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Rank 7. 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 8. Pupuseria Mamá Emilia
Salvadorian
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Rank 9. Kuya Ja's Lechon Belly
Filipino
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Rank 13. Z&Z Manoushe Bakery
Middle Eastern
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, D.C., Right Now
- Bon Appétit 2022 · America's Best New Restaurants
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Rank 15. Dolcezza
Italian Dessert
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Rank 16. Aventino
Roman Italian
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.
- Washingtonian 2026 · #60 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #50 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
- Washingtonian 2026 · #90 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 21. The Irish Inn
Irish
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- Washingtonian 2026 · #99 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · Fried Tamal de Elote · Our Favorite Dishes of the Year in the DC Area
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Rank 26. Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana
Neapolitan Pizza
- 50 Top Pizza 2025 · #21 · 50 Top Pizza USA
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Tony Conte
- Washingtonian 2026 · #33 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 27. Lime & Cilantro
Latin
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Rank 30. Opal
New American
On a quiet Chevy Chase corner, Opal fills nightly with neighbors drawn to straightforward cooking executed with uncommon care: ricotta dumplings, properly cooked trout, lamb in pita. The tiramisu ice cream arrives as a small triumph, and the homey room's packed bar suggests the place has already found its essential footing.
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Rank 31. Beteseb Restaurant
Ethiopian
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Darmyelesh Alemu
- Washingtonian 2026 · #46 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- The Washington Post The 8 best Ethiopian restaurants in and around D.C.
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Rank 34. 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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- 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 9 Delicious Doughnut Shops Around DC
- Eater The Best Bakeries Around D.C.
- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
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Rank 37. Rose Ave Bakery
Bakery
- Washingtonian 9 Delicious Doughnut Shops Around DC
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Pastry Chef or Baker of the Year · Rose Nguyen
- Eater The Best Bakeries Around D.C.
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Rank 38. Call Your Mother
Jewish American
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Rank 39. 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 40. 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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- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
- Washingtonian 2026 · #86 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #89 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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- Washingtonian 2026 · #92 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #73 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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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 45. 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 46. 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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Rank 49. Sfoglina
Italian
A cheerful Arlington trattoria built around a working pasta station where fresh sheets emerge throughout service. The menu tours Italy's regions through handmade shapes—tortelloni folded around braised pork, ravioli stuffed with herbed goat cheese—alongside Rome's carbonara, its bucatini properly dressed with guanciale and pecorino. The pasta itself is the point here.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
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Rank 51. 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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- Time Out The 20 Best Coffee Shops and Cafés in Washington, DC
- Washingtonian Best Coffee Shops in DC
- Eater The 15 Best Coffee Shops Around D.C.
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Rank 53. 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 54. The Old Brogue
Irish
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Rank 55. 2AMYS
Artisanal Pizza
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · Peter Pastan
- Washingtonian 2026 · #20 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #28 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 56. 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 58. Donut Run
Vegan
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Rank 59. 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 60. 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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Rank 61. 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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Rank 62. Shalla Restaurant & Bar
Ethiopian
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Rank 63. 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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- 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 66. 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 67. 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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- 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 70. 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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Rank 71. Ellē
Contemporary New American
Inside a former bakery, Ellē pairs retro dining room charm with a kitchen that ferments its way through a playful menu: orange carrots with shio-koji and rye miso lead to Nashville hot duck on buttermilk biscuit, while desserts like Thai iced tea–tres leches border on architectural. By day it's a casual café; by night, something more inventive takes hold.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Eater The Best Bakeries Around D.C.
- Time Out #11 · Best restaurants in Washington, D.C.
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Rank 72. 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 73. La Tejana
Mexican
A narrow counter in Mt. Pleasant serves breakfast tacos that arrive wrapped in foil, their superb flour tortillas still steaming. Soft scrambled eggs, creamy beans, queso, bacon, chorizo, brisket—each filling is simple, each bite a small, unhurried satisfaction. No reservations, no ceremony, just the kind of morning rescue that extends into night.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Fast Casual Restaurant of the Year
- Time Out #16 · Best restaurants in Washington, D.C.
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Rank 74. 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 75. Call Your Mother
Bakery
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Rank 76. 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 77. Rooster & Owl
Contemporary
A husband-and-wife team runs this Michelin-starred kitchen where ricotta gnudi and pistachio olive oil cake reveal restless global ambitions within spare, contemporary walls. The prix-fixe format lets diners mix courses while the bar customizes wine pairings to match.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Yuan Tang
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Formal Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year
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Rank 78. 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 79. Tail Up Goat
Caribbean
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year
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Rank 80. Queen's English
Chinese
A neon-fronted Columbia Heights spot serves Hong Kong cooking with meticulous balance—lotus root with anchovy dust, Wagyu in mala broth. The spare dining room, lined in white and blue, feels intentionally intimate.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Henji Cheung
- Time Out #9 · Best restaurants in Washington, D.C.
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Rank 81. 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
- Washingtonian 2026 · #35 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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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 83. Causa
Nikkei Peruvian
Chef Carlos Delgado's intimate tasting menu traces a path from Lima's coast through the Andes and Amazon, folding Japanese technique into Peruvian seafood and spice. Causa, the namesake dish of mashed potato and ají amarillo crowned with tuna, and a wagyu finished in Peruvian pepper sauce, chart a precise geography of flavor.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
- Eater 2022 · The Best New Restaurants in America
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Rank 84. Cana
Brazilian
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best New Bar
- Eater Best Night Out
- Washingtonian 2026 · #26 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 85. 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 · Pastry Chef or Baker of the Year · Alicia Wang
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Fast Casual Restaurant of the Year
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Rank 86. Providencia
Cocktail Bar
A moody cocktail bar that conceals serious culinary ambition: Erik Bruner-Yang and Paola Velez stitch together Asian, Caribbean, and Latin American traditions into dishes like pupusas with salsa verde and crab pan de playa crowned with tomato gochujang mayo, each plate improbable and purposeful in its construction.
- Bon Appétit 2025 · America's Best New Bars
- Punch 2025 · Ni de Aqui Ni de Alla · Our Favorite Cocktails
- Eater Bar of the Year
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Rank 87. Purple Patch Food & Drink
Filipino
- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
- Time Out #17 · Best restaurants in Washington, D.C.
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.
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Rank 88. 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 89. 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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Seng Luangrath's Columbia Heights dining room has been serving as the city's steadiest interpreter of Laotian cooking since 2014, a place where crispy coconut rice salad and tamarind-salted pig ears share menu space with gentler curries and the essential sticky rice. The kitchen cooks for groups, for sharing, for the kind of dinner where the table fills with dishes and nobody orders alone.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, D.C., Right Now
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.
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Rank 91. Cranes
Spanish/Japanese
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Rank 92. Sababa
Israeli Middle Eastern
A Mediterranean tile-lined room in Washington devoted to Israeli small plates and the kind of hummus that justifies its own menu line. Salatim spreads, charred vegetables, and tahini-dressed cauliflower arrive in careful succession, each one a minor argument for eating more slowly.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Ashok Bajaj - Knightsbridge Restaurant Group
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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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 94. The Bazaar by José Andrés
Avant-Garde Spanish
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Rank 95. Elcielo Restaurant
Colombian
Chef Juan Manuel Barrientos stages a theatrical love letter to Colombia in two intimate dining rooms near Union Market, where pristine plating and choreographed service frame dishes built on Colombian ingredients and culinary memory. A corn broth arrives as revelation; dessert ventures into chocolate territory with playful intent. This is cooking rooted in place and purpose, executed with warmth.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service · Andra "AJ" Johnson
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Formal Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year
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Rank 96. La' Shukran
Levantine Middle Eastern
A hidden Levantine bistro reached by climbing stairs behind a green door, where retro funk and inventive cocktails frame impeccably executed sharing plates. The soujek dumplings—lamb and beef in smoked corn broth with urfa chili—justify the reservation difficulty alone.
- The New York Times 2025 · The Restaurant List
- The New York Times 2025 · Falafel Jibneh · The Best Restaurant Dishes We Ate Across the U.S.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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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 98. Reveler's Hour
Wine Bar
Behind a austere facade, a U-shaped bar and arched ceilings frame a dining room where natural wines anchor small plates of grilled oysters and house-made pasta with spicy pork ragu. The semifreddo with olive oil and grilled citrus arrives as a small, perfect punctuation mark.
- Wine Enthusiast 2023 · Forward 50 Restaurants
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
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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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- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Suresh Sundas
- Eater 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- Washingtonian 2026 · #43 · 100 Very Best Restaurants