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The Best Places to Eat and Stay in Capitol Hill

  1. Chefs in custom gold Nikes, LL Cool J on the speakers, and caviar occasionally served with gummy bears: Aaron Silverman's Capitol Hill tasting room is not doing the hushed-temple thing. This prix-fixe spot holds a Michelin star while leaning hard into the party, with tableside absinthe cocktails and truffle-laced dishes that arrive with a story attached. Dress up, because the room absolutely will.


  2. String lights hang above a counter facing an open kitchen, and the menu opens with challah that the kitchen calls "really, really, really good" without any embarrassment. Rose's Luxury is a prix-fixe spot in Capitol Hill where the cooking runs from spiced pork with lychee to Korean rice cakes in gochujang alla vodka, all served family-style and at a pace that feels more like a dinner party than a restaurant. It holds a Michelin star.


  3. Fourteen seats at a counter, up a set of metal stairs past paintings made by pressing inked fish onto rice paper, which is either the best possible preview of dinner or a very specific art movement. This Michelin-starred omakase pulls seasonal seafood from Tokyo's Toyosu market, and the chef trained under Nakazawa before landing here. A Minibar alum walks you through each piece with the care of someone who means it.


    Address
    522 Eighth St SE Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Open now, until 11:59 PM

    Tuesday 5:30 PM–11:59 PM

    Reserve
    Resy
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  4. A glass-walled dining room that reads more like a sunroom than a tasting menu destination, Little Pearl is the quieter, more intimate sibling in the Rose's Luxury family of Capitol Hill restaurants. The seasonal menu rotates constantly, save for the signature angel egg amuse, and the wine pairings show the same offbeat curiosity as the food. A Michelin star, and somehow one of the more approachable price points among D.C. tasting menus.


  5. A large spinning rotisserie dominates the open kitchen at this Capitol Hill New American restaurant, and the menu more or less organizes itself around it. The duck is the obvious move, but seasonal Mid-Atlantic produce does serious supporting work throughout. The room is spare, which keeps the focus where the kitchen wants it. The New York Times put it on their D.C. shortlist, and a 2024 James Beard nomination for Outstanding Restaurateur followed.


    Address
    300 Seventh St SE, Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Open now, until 10 PM

    Tuesday 5 PM–10 PM

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  6. Address
    914 14th St SE, Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Open now, until 10 PM

    Tuesday 5 PM–10 PM

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  7. Address
    517 8th St SE Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Wed 8 AM

    Tuesday 8 AM–2 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  8. Address
    423 8th St SE, Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Open now, until 9 PM

    Tuesday 4 PM–9 PM

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  9. Rank 8. Dolcezza

    Italian Dessert


    Address
    7th and Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Wed 10 AM

    Tuesday 10 AM–5 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  10. Address
    747 C St SE, Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Open now, until 10 PM

    Tuesday 11:30 AM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  11. Rank 10. Maru San

    Peruvian Sushi

    A 25-seat handroll bar in Capitol Hill where almost every spot goes to walk-ins, so the line outside is part of the deal. The chef's Nikkei style means cones of crackly nori packed with koshihikari rice and fillings that pull from both Japanese and Peruvian traditions. Ceviches, tiraditos, and small plates round things out. The pace is quick by design, so think of it less as dinner and more as something you inhale with a sense of purpose.


    Address
    325 7th St SE, Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Open now, until 10 PM

    Tuesday 4 PM–10 PM

    Reserve
    Resy
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  12. Address
    701 Eighth St SE, Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Wed 6:30 AM

    Tuesday 6:30 AM–2 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  13. Address
    526 Eighth St SE, Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Wed 10:30 AM

    Tuesday 10:30 AM–6 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  14. Address
    1401 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Wed 8 AM

    Tuesday 8 AM–6 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  15. Rank 16. Souk

    Bakery



  16. Address
    613 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington, D.C. · Washington
    Hours

    Open now, until midnight

    Tuesday 4 PM–Midnight

    Reserve
    Resy
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  17. Address
    514 8th St SE, Washington, D.C. · Washington
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Wed noon

    Tuesday Noon–2:30 PM

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  18. Rank 18. Hill East Burger

    Southwestern Burger Joint


    Address
    1432 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Open now, until 10 PM

    Tuesday 5 PM–10 PM

    Reserve
    SevenRooms
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  19. Address
    1317 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington, D.C. · Washington
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Wed 8 AM

    Tuesday 8 AM–3 PM

    Online
    Website



  20. Rank 18. The Brig DC

    German Beer Bar


    Address
    1007 8th St SE, Washington, DC · Washington
    Hours

    Open now, until midnight

    Tuesday 3 PM–Midnight

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  21. Rank 18. The Roost

    Italian

    The Roost is a Capitol Hill food hall where you order from your phone and the food finds you, which spares everyone the usual tray-and-buzzer shuffle. Under one roof you get Cameo Coffee, Hi-Fi Taco, and a craft beer bar pouring Bluejacket brews. There's also Caruso's Grocery, a sit-down red sauce joint with faded red booths and chicken Parmigiana, doing a convincing impression of a place your grandfather had a table at.



  22. Rank 18. Zom Tum

    Southeast Asian

    Zom Tum is a casual Thai and Laotian spot on Capitol Hill, set in the old Joselito space, with a papaya salad station right at the door so you meet the main attraction before you meet a host. The name is a playful spin on "som tom." Curries come from a longtime D.C. Thai restaurateur, and a bar pours craft Thai beers and whisky. Daily happy hour covers spring rolls, wontons, and wine, an unusual trio.


Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

    How we score →

    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

      How we score →

      Stay Score

      Four fifths of the score is the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin Key outweighs a listicle. The last fifth is where it is: the ranked places to eat and things to do around it, and how safe the country is. When you sort by what's nearby, distance from you changes the order, never the score.

        How we score →

        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

          How we score →

          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. The places are 60% of it: the best of what's within reach, weighed by distance. The setting is the other 40%: how life goes in that country (how people rate their own lives, how long and how well they live, how safe they are) and what it's like right there (the air, and the weather). If the score looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.