The Top 100 Restaurants Near The Black Sheep
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Rank 4. Harrimans Grill
Southern
- Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Five Star
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
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Rank 5. Mama Chang
Chinese
Peter Chang has quietly turned the D.C. suburbs into a Sichuan outpost, and Mama Chang is his tribute to the women of his family who actually did the cooking. The warm-wood dining room is upscale-casual Chinese, the kind where dry-fried cauliflower seems to land on every table without anyone admitting they ordered it. The New York Times and The Washington Post have both put it on their D.C. essentials lists, which for a Fairfax strip mall is a flex.
- 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 6. 2941 Restaurant
French
- AAA Four Diamonds
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant
- Northern Virgina Magazine #1 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
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Rank 7. Joon
Persian
The rice alone explains why the New York Times put this upscale Persian restaurant on its 2024 restaurant list: the tadig comes out with a shattering crust, and the fluffy sour-cherry version beside it is its own argument. Classic stews anchor the menu, with duck fessenjoon and beef with dried lime doing the heavy lifting. The room is relaxed enough for families, polished enough for a proper date.
- The New York Times The Restaurant List
- Washingtonian #35 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.
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Rank 8. Ellie Bird
Contemporary New American
The steak tartare comes dressed with Thai papaya salad and malt-vinegar chips, which tells you everything about how the kitchen thinks. Ellie Bird is a casual New American restaurant in Falls Church where Yuan Tang, of Rooster & Owl, runs global mash-ups alongside rigatoni Bolognese and kimchi-rice brunch bowls. The New York Times put it on their restaurant list and Washingtonian ranked it among the DC area's favorites, so the room fills accordingly.
- The Rammys Finalist · Pastry Chef or Baker of the Year · Rachel Sherriffe
- The New York Times The Restaurant List
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, D.C., Right Now
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- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
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- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - The Fried Rice Collective
- Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - Fried Rice Collective
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Rank 12. Ometeo
Afghan Middle Eastern
- The Rammys Finalist · Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year
- Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
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Rank 13. Modan Restaurant
Japanese
- Washingtonian The Hot List: 10 Restaurants Around DC We’re Loving Right Now
- Northern Virgina Magazine #6 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
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Rank 16. Nue
Vietnamese
The dining room is swathed in impressionist pastels and fresh florals, which sets expectations that the kitchen then quietly meets. This is a modern Vietnamese restaurant in Falls Church serving dishes that take the cuisine somewhere more composed, think pho-spiced chicken-liver mousse or handmade pappardelle with a lemongrass short-rib ragu that borrows from Vietnamese beef stew. The cocktails lean dramatic and photogenic, and the crowd arrives dressed accordingly.
- Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
- Washingtonian #79 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 17. Rice Paper
Vietnamese
- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
- Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
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Rank 20. The Black Market
Italian
- Washingtonian Neighborhood Guide: Where to Eat, Shop, and Play in Middleburg
- Washingtonian Where to Eat, Shop, and Play in Middleburg
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Rank 21. Tiffin Hut
Indian
The benne dosa here folds like a quesadilla rather than rolling into a cylinder, which tells you this is Bangalorean, not generic Indian. It's a casual dosa counter in a Herndon strip mall that somehow has the quiet confidence of a place that doesn't need to explain itself. The butter-lacquered exterior crisps up hard while the inside stays soft with masala potatoes and podi, a coarse spice mix that the Washingtonian named among its favorite dishes of the year.
- Washingtonian Podi Masala Dosa · Our Favorite Dishes of the Year in the DC Area
- Washingtonian #78 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - The Fried Rice Collective
- Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - Fried Rice Collective
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Rank 23. Himalayan Wild Yak
Nepalese Indian
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Rank 24. Southeast Impression
Southeast Asian Thai
A strip mall in Fairfax with walls of actual greenery sets the scene for this casual Southeast Asian restaurant covering Thai, Malaysian, and Singaporean ground with real range. Chili crab comes with soft-shells in a red sauce and sweet buns for mopping, and a fried rice pyramid topped with lump crab closes the loop nicely. The pandan castella cake keeps dessert from being an afterthought.
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Rank 25. Middleburg Deli
American
- Washingtonian Neighborhood Guide: Where to Eat, Shop, and Play in Middleburg
- Washingtonian Where to Eat, Shop, and Play in Middleburg
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Rank 26. Afghan Bistro
Afghan Middle Eastern
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Rank 27. Peter Chang
Chinese
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Rank 28. L'Auberge Chez Francois
Alsatian French
An Alsatian-style cottage tucked into the woods of Great Falls that has been on the Washingtonian's 100 Very Best Restaurants list longer than most of its readers have been alive. The upstairs dining room runs classic French, foie gras and Grand Marnier soufflé and all, while downstairs at Jacques' the mood loosens around a proper choucroute garni. Folksy French knickknacks everywhere, zero apologies for any of it.
- Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
- Washingtonian #86 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 29. Pho Thin
Noodles
Pho Thin is a pho shop whose signature move is wok-searing ribeye in garlic before it ever meets the bowl. The broth leans savory rather than the sweet, star-anise-heavy style common around DC, and the noodles are wide and chewy instead of threadlike. The Falls Church outpost of a Hanoi institution, it arrived already pulling crowds. Order the pickled raw garlic that comes to the table and don't leave it untouched.
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Rank 30. Chay Restaurant
Vegetarian Vietnamese
The "clam" dip is made from tofu, the fried fish contains no fish, and somehow none of that feels like a compromise. This vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant in Falls Church is where the chef makes her own faux meats and seafoods from scratch, turning lemongrass noodle soup and papaya salad into fully convincing arguments that the meat was never the point. Devout carnivores tend to figure this out about halfway through the meal.
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Rank 31. Fava Pot
Egyptian
Fava beans, not chickpeas, go into the falafel here, which tells you something about how seriously this Falls Church spot takes its Egyptian identity. It's a warmly informal, homestyle restaurant where the owner greets everyone like a relative and the menu runs deep, from lamb shank with roasted potatoes to beef moussaka with pine nuts. The kind of room that smells like someone has been cooking since morning, because someone has.
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Rank 32. Brasserie Royale
French
The onion soup follows Julia Child's recipe and nobody has touched it, which tells you something about the kitchen's instincts. This casually elegant French bistro in Sterling plays with the classics just enough, turning tuna tartare into something that reads like steak, serving Brie crispy, while leaving the soul of the thing intact. The Washingtonian named that tartare one of their favorite DC-area dishes of the year.
- Washingtonian Tuna Tartare · Our Favorite Dishes of the Year in the DC Area
- Washingtonian #91 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
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Rank 33. Feru Bar and Restaurant
Ethiopian
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Rank 35. Padaek
Laotian Thai
Seng Luangrath is widely credited with bringing Laotian food to the DC dining conversation, and this Falls Church strip-mall restaurant is where that reputation took root. The menu leans into bright, lime-forward salads, fragrant soups, and banana-leaf-wrapped fish, with a crispy coconut-rice salad that regulars treat as non-negotiable. Homestyle Laotian cooking in a room that's casual enough for a weeknight but specific enough to feel like a find.
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Rank 36. Truong Tien
Vietnamese
Tucked deep inside the Eden Center mall, this Vietnamese restaurant operates on the assumption that you came ready to work for it. The staff speaks limited English and menu descriptions don't give much away, but the rice-cake and tapioca-dumpling appetizers, some banana-leaf-wrapped, some chicharrón-crusted with tiny shell-on shrimp, make the ordering process forgiving. The spicy lemongrass noodle soup with rustic meatballs in a rich beef broth is what regulars are usually after.
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Rank 38. Makeda
Ethiopian
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- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
- Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
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Rank 41. Dōgon by Kwame Onwuachi
Afro-Caribbean
A chain-link curtain separates the Salamander hotel lobby from Kwame Onwuachi's Afro-Caribbean restaurant, which pulls from his Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Creole roots. The menu is built for sharing, with hoe crab served in the shell alongside plantain cakes, and a crispy lamb bowl that nods to Ben's Chili Bowl. It landed on North America's 50 Best Restaurants list, and the room fills like it knows.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Condé Nast Traveler The best new restaurants in the world
- 50 Best #37 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
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The polished metal trays arrive loaded with banchan, and the arrangement shifts every time, which is half the point. Baek ban is the format, a Korean rice-set meal with a main and a rotating cast of small dishes, and at this Chantilly spot the lineup might include cubed radish kimchi, sesame-glossed glass noodles, or a perilla-leaf omelet. The smoky-sweet bulgogi landed on the Washingtonian's favorite dishes list, so that one is worth keeping an eye out for.
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Rank 45. 1789
French-influenced New American
A Federal-period Georgetown townhouse carved into six dining rooms across three floors, each one feeling like it belongs to a different century of the same family. This is the fine dining room where Georgetown parents take their kids to celebrate things, and the veteran servers have clearly done this long enough to find the whole ritual quietly amusing. The French-influenced New American kitchen runs on classic instincts, and holds a AAA Four Diamond rating.
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Rank 46. Birndo Bar and Restaurant
Ethiopian
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Rank 48. Meaza Restaurant
Ethiopian
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Rank 49. Nazret Ethiopian Restaurant
Ethiopian
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Rank 50. SER Restaurant
Spanish
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Rank 51. Rasika
Indian
- Eater The All-Time Eater 38
- 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 52. Apéro
French
Midnight-blue walls, gold accents, and a Persian rug that has no business being this plush set the mood at Apéro, a French restaurant on P Street where champagne and caviar are essentially the whole thesis. The back garden is the kind of spot people pretend to stumble upon. The menu fills out with French classics for anyone who needs an excuse beyond caviar, which, to be fair, is most of us.
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Rank 55. My Little Chamomile
Mediterranean Turkish
Tucked into a cobblestone Georgetown alley, this Turkish and Mediterranean dining room draws from homestyle cooking, particularly the "From Mom's Kitchen" section of the menu. The sesame-and-nigella-seeded bread goes with everything, and the rice-stuffed artichoke, a recreation of an Aegean dish the chef grew up eating, earned a Washingtonian dish of the year. The chef was a 2026 James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic.
- Washingtonian The Hot List: 10 Restaurants Around DC We’re Loving Right Now
- Washingtonian #14 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- Washingtonian Rice-Stuffed Artichoke · Our Favorite Dishes of the Year in the DC Area
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Rank 56. Moon Rabbit
Vietnamese
A muffuletta reimagined as a rice-noodle dish tells you pretty much everything about what Kevin Tien is doing at this modern Vietnamese restaurant in Penn Quarter. His Louisiana upbringing and Vietnamese heritage push and pull at each other in ways that somehow feel inevitable rather than forced. Pastry chef Susan Bae won North America's Best Pastry Chef Award, and her desserts make seaweed and green curry sound like obvious choices. It landed at #24 on North America's 50 Best Restaurants.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Winner · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Susan Bae
- 50 Best #24 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
- 50 Best North American's Best Pastry Chef Award 2025 · Susan Bae
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- The Rammys Finalist · Hottest Sandwich Spot of the Year
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Rahman "Rock" Harper
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A curved counter wrapping a stainless-steel workspace is where dinner happens at José Andrés's avant-garde tasting room, a two Michelin star, AAA Five Diamond operation that takes the small-bites format seriously enough to earn the credentials. Nothing on the menu looks like what it turns out to be, which is either thrilling or unsettling depending on your relationship with surprise. Sharply suited servers keep the whole production moving with warmth rather than ceremony.
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Rank 63. Anju
Korean
The name says it all: "anju" means Korean food made to go with a drink, and this gastropub on 18th Street takes that premise seriously, with soju, makgeolli, and beer running alongside a menu of fried snacks, rich stews, and banchan. Brick walls, wood floors, and a bit of funky art make it feel like a neighborhood spot that happens to be packed every night. The chef is a James Beard nominee, and the cooking has a mom's-kitchen warmth that earns that comparison without being sentimental.
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Emerging Chef · Angel Barreto
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - The Fried Rice Collective
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Angel Barreto
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Rank 64. Perry's
Japanese
The rooftop draws Adams Morgan brunch-seekers, but the real reason to come is Masako Morishita's Japanese comfort food, which won her a 2024 James Beard Award for Emerging Chef. This neighborhood restaurant has long been a sushi standby, though the menu has drifted into more interesting territory: edamame dumplings with Parmesan, fried mochi in dashi, a shrimp-katsu burger that commits fully to its own premise. The rotating specials and occasional Saturday prix fixe breakfasts keep regulars checking back.
- 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 66. Green Almond Pantry
Mediterranean
A snug Georgetown lunch counter where the glass case does most of the talking: lentils with smoky eggplant, leek-and-walnut tarts, spinach-feta börek, and a dairy-free zucchini soup that has no business being that good. Order a sandwich on the crackly focaccia to eat on the spot, then quietly stock your fridge from the rest. The chef was a James Beard semifinalist in 2025, which explains why a takeout counter feels like such a considered place.
- Washingtonian #59 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Cagla Onal Urel
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Rank 69. Fiola
Italian
Stone walls, Warhol-esque prints, and servers who greet you before you've touched the door handle: Fiola is a tasting-menu Italian on Pennsylvania Avenue where Fabio Trabocchi's kitchen treats pasta scraps as an occasion for caviar and sea urchin. Several tasting menus let you calibrate exactly how far down the rabbit hole to go. It holds a Michelin star and landed at number seven on 50 Top Italy's global list.
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Rank 70. Bostan Uyghur Cuisine
Uyghur Chinese
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Rank 71. Amparo Fondita
Mexican
Corn sourced from Oaxaca and nixtamalized in-house gives you a sense of how seriously this upscale-casual Mexican restaurant in Dupont Circle takes its sourcing. The menu covers raw bar, sopecitos, and mains like halibut with mole, plus sides that quietly steal scenes. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, it started as a pop-up, which might explain why the cooking still has a point to prove. The papaya dessert alone earns its real estate on the menu.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Rammys Finalist · Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year
- Washingtonian The Hot List: 10 Restaurants Around DC We’re Loving Right Now
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Rank 73. Albi
Palestinian
Everything at this Palestinian live-fire restaurant in Navy Yard passes through a roaring open hearth before it reaches the table, and the renovated dining room leaves the kitchen's fire in full view. Michael Rafidi, a James Beard Outstanding Chef winner with a Michelin star, draws on his family's Ramallah roots while working with mid-Atlantic seasons. The tasting menu is the move, though the wood-fired lamb pies and hummus hold their own à la carte.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Winner · Outstanding Chef · Michael Rafidi
- 50 Best #6 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
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Rank 74. Jônt
American, Japanese
A dessert counter that ends with a treasure box of mignardises tells you something about the ambitions here. Jônt is a counter-seating tasting menu restaurant above Bresca, where Ryan Ratino runs an American-Japanese kitchen earning two Michelin stars. Sharp-suited servers and laser-focused chefs work in close quarters while a high-energy playlist keeps the room from tipping into reverence. The menu centers on top-tier Japanese seafood and meat, handled with enough finesse to justify the full evening.
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Rank 76. The Dabney
American
The wood-fired hearth in the open kitchen sets the mood before anything arrives at the table. This fine dining room in a Shaw alley does Mid-Atlantic cooking with a Southern undertow, and the chef's commitment to the region shows in everything from rooftop herbs to the catfish slider that's been on the menu since forever. A Michelin star keeps company with crowds who dress up but aren't stiff about it.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, D.C., Right Now
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Rank 77. Amazonia
Amazonian Peruvian
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Winner · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Carlos Delgado
- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- The Rammys Finalist · Chef of the Year · Carlos Delgado
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Rank 78. Rooster & Owl
American
A four-course prix-fixe in Columbia Heights where cacio e pepe shows up as a Bartlett-pear salad and no one bats an eye. Chef Yuan Tang's menu roams freely from steakhouse classics to Southeast Asian detours, and the mix-and-match format means the bar can match wine to whatever path you picked. It holds a Michelin star, and the room skews lively enough that "fine dining" undersells how relaxed the whole thing feels.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- The Rammys Finalist · Formal Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year
- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
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Rank 79. Blue Duck Tavern
American
The wood-burning oven at the center of the open kitchen is roughly the size of a studio apartment, and it sets the agenda here. Blue Duck Tavern is an upscale American restaurant inside the Park Hyatt, with soaring windows, walnut seating, and glass-enclosed booths that regulars treat as personal property. The menu leans into farms and purveyors, and the dessert station and near-30-tea list reward anyone who lingers.
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Rank 81. Agora
Mediterranean
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Rank 84. Rasika
Modern Indian
The lamb rogan josh arrives layered with enough depth to make you wonder what the kitchen is actually doing back there. Rasika is a modern Indian restaurant near the Mall, loud and well-lit in the way that says everyone is welcome and no one is being precious about it. The naan alone justifies the bread basket order, and the menu moves comfortably from kebabs to curries without a single piece of decorative kitsch in sight.
- Eater The All-Time Eater 38
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, D.C., Right Now
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Rank 89. Rania
Contemporary Indian
The name means "queen" in Sanskrit, which sets the tone before you've even sat down. Rania is a prix-fixe contemporary Indian spot in DC, Michelin-starred, where the kitchen treats the subcontinent's pantry as a starting point rather than a boundary. Cocktails are built to hold their own against the bold, layered food rather than just stand politely beside it. The room draws the kind of crowd that dresses for the occasion.
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Rank 90. Obelisk
Seasonal Italian
A five-course prix-fixe of seasonal Italian, five nights a week, in a room that reads like a neighborhood spot rather than the occasion it technically is. The cooking is quiet and direct, letting good ingredients do the work without much fuss or flourish. Breads and desserts are made in-house, and the antipasti arrive fast, which is fortunate, because you're otherwise looking at a two-to-three-hour sit.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Esther Lee
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Rank 91. Thompson Italian
Italian
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Rank 92. Mita
Vegetarian Peruvian
Plant-based Peruvian tasting menus in Shaw sounds like a premise that requires a disclaimer, yet Mita holds a Michelin star and a James Beard nomination for Best New Restaurant. The chef's team pulls from across Latin America, so the flavors run from Andean to coastal without apology. Two tasting menu lengths mean you can commit at whatever level feels reasonable on a Tuesday. The bar program is serious enough that Punch named the team among its best new bartenders.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Punch Best New Bartenders · Lou Bernard
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
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Rank 94. Nasime
Japanese
Fewer than twenty seats, one chef, seven courses, and a kitchen so quiet you can hear the thinking. Nasime is an intimate Japanese tasting room in Old Town Alexandria where the Ginza-trained team runs a set menu that moves through seasons rather than trends. The pacing is unhurried, the combinations are precise, and the sashimi course arrives with a buzz-button flower that earns its spot on the plate.
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Rank 96. Annabelle
American
A cool marble bar greets you before you've even found your table, and the room behind it, skylighted and hung with art, reads as elegant without being airless. This is a polished American dining room in Kalorama where the menu follows the seasons and the service stays warm instead of formal. The martinis are serious, and the pastry program gives you an actual reason to stay for dessert.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Washingtonian #97 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Ashok Bajaj - Knightsbridge Restaurant Group
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Olive trees planted between the tables are doing a lot of heavy lifting, but this roomy Greek restaurant on N Street sells the Aegean fantasy well enough that you forget you're in Dupont Circle. The menu runs through the classics, spanakopita, souvlaki, avgolemono, fish grilled with capers flown in from Greece, and the fries have a devoted following. Baklava with iced Greek yogurt closes things out the only sensible way.
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Rank 98. Banh Mi Oi
Vietnamese
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Rank 99. The Bombay Club
Indian
The dining room is dressed up like a British Raj club, which is exactly the kind of setting that makes sense a few blocks from the White House. This is traditional Indian fine dining where politicians have been settling into the half-moon banquettes for decades, and the polished cooking moves across the subcontinent, from northern grilled meats to southern coconut-laced seafood. The Washington Post named it among D.C.'s 40 best restaurants.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Ashok Bajaj - Knightsbridge Restaurant Group
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Rank 100. Tail Up Goat
Caribbean
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- The Rammys Finalist · Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality