The Top 100 Restaurants Near Call Your Mother
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Rank 3. 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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- 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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- 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 6. 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 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. 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 10. 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 11. 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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- Washingtonian 2026 · #92 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #73 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 13. 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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Rank 14. 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 15. 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 16. 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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Rank 17. 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 19. 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 20. The Fountain Inn
Cocktail Bar
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Rank 22. Bistro Aracosia
Afghan Middle Eastern
- Washingtonian 2026 · #92 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #73 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 24. The Falls
Mid-Atlantic
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Rank 27. 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 28. BlackSalt
Seafood
BlackSalt pairs a working fish market with a dining room where shellfish arrives impeccably fresh and broth gets swabbed clean. A Provençal stew thick with the day's catch and a tart key lime pie studded with sesame suggest a kitchen uninterested in restraint.
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Rank 29. SER Restaurant
Spanish
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Rank 31. The Irish Inn
Irish
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Rank 33. Fava Pot
Egyptian Middle Eastern
- Washingtonian 2026 · #87 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #67 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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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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- 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 42. Padaek
Laotian Thai
- Washingtonian 2026 · #42 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #57 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 43. Green Almond Pantry
Mediterranean
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Cagla Onal Urel
- Washingtonian 2026 · #59 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #87 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 44. Agora
Mediterranean
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Rank 48. 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. 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 52. Blue Duck Tavern
American
Inside the Park Hyatt, Blue Duck Tavern sprawls across walnut and glass with the unhurried air of a room built for lingering. A wood-burning oven anchors the open kitchen, roasting whole fish and duck legs while the product-driven menu traces its ingredients back to named farms. The effect is upscale comfort—well-tailored, abundant, and entirely at ease with itself.
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Rank 54. 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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Rank 55. 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 57. 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 58. Annabelle
Contemporary New American
A marble bar anchors this Kalorama dining room, where artwork and a skylight-crowned garden conjure elegance without pretense. The seasonal American cooking—from summer beans to mushroom gnocchi to a gianduja ganache that justifies the trip alone—moves with quiet confidence.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Ashok Bajaj - Knightsbridge Restaurant Group
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Washingtonian 2026 · #97 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 59. 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 60. 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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Rank 61. Amparo Fondita
Contemporary Mexican
Chef Christian Irabién's Mexican kitchen sources Oaxacan corn and nixtamalizes it in-house, elevating humble ingredients with precise technique. A fried plantain or papaya dessert reveals layers of flavor that belie their apparent simplicity.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.
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Rank 62. 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 63. Kyojin
Sushi
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Rank 64. 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 66. La Bonne Vache
French
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- Northern Virgina Magazine 2025 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Matt Hill
- Washingtonian 2025 · #95 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 68. 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
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Rank 69. 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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Rank 70. Obelisk
Seasonal Italian
The dining room feels like a neighbor's kitchen, unpretentious despite its fixed five-course ritual since 1987. Antipasti arrive in quick succession—burrata from Lazio, cheese croquettes still steaming—followed by simply rendered seasonal Italian: a dorade with crackling skin and romesco, house-made bread, desserts built in-house. The point is not speed but presence, the full arc of an evening.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Esther Lee
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
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- James Beard Awards 2024 · Winner · Emerging Chef · Masako Morishita
- 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 73. Meaza Restaurant
Ethiopian
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Rank 74. Chez Billy Sud
Classic French
- Washingtonian 2026 · #80 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #93 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 75. Fiola Mare
Italian-influenced Seafood
Fiola Mare perches on the Potomac with service as precise as its Italian seafood, where a Capital oyster bathed in prosecco zabaglione justifies the splurge. The terrace view commands premium prices, though lunch offers better value and the same meticulous technique.
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Rank 77. 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
- Washingtonian Best Coffee Shops in DC
- Time Out The 20 Best Coffee Shops and Cafés in Washington, DC
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Rank 78. 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 80. 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 82. 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 84. Lapis Afghan Bistro
Afghan
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, D.C., Right Now
- Time Out #15 · Best restaurants in Washington, D.C.
- Washingtonian 2025 · #23 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 85. Lapis
Afghan Middle Eastern
Whitewashed walls and Afghan rugs create an intimate setting where husband-and-wife owners Zubair and Shamim Popal cook their native cuisine with restraint and finesse. Split pea soup arrives layered with quiet complexity; chopawn—three grilled lamb chops with cardamom rice—demonstrates a kitchen unafraid of subtlety. Afghan food, here, tastes like discovery.
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Rank 86. 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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- Washingtonian The Soup-and-Fire Combo · 7 Delicious French Onion Soups to Keep You Cozy All Day Long
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Rank 88. Afghania
Afghan Middle Eastern
- Washingtonian 2026 · #92 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #73 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 89. Das Ethiopian Cuisine
Ethiopian
Inside a Georgetown townhouse softened by jewel tones and draped fabrics, Das moves between tradition and surprise—flaxseed telba wat alongside chicken and beef samplers meant for tearing into with spongy injera. The staff meets the careful design with equal warmth, making even adventurous palates feel welcomed.
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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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Two dining rooms lined with olive trees and Greek pottery transport you to Crete without leaving the capital. The kitchen moves confidently between spanakopita and grilled fish with ladolemono, though it's the crisp Greek fries and baklava with iced yogurt that justify the journey—straightforward pleasures executed with conviction.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Rammys 2025 · Finalist · Favorite Gathering Place of the Year
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Rank 92. Sura
Authentic Thai
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.
- Washingtonian 2026 · #93 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian 2025 · #71 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 93. Birndo Bar and Restaurant
Ethiopian
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Rank 94. 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 96. Ceibo
Uruguayan
- 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 97. 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 99. New Heights
New American
A muted dining room in Woodley Park where quiet competence and restless ambition meet on the plate: broccolini with black garlic, crispy oysters with pickled cauliflower, tempura mushrooms dusted in Moroccan spice. The kitchen strikes a balance between familiar comfort and subtle surprise that most restaurants spend years chasing.
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