The Best Places in Southwest

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.

1. AAA Four Diamonds
2. Condé Nast Traveler The best new restaurants in the world
3. The 50 #37 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants

Nautical decor that stops short of kitsch anchors this seafood restaurant on the Southwest waterfront, where the patio looks straight out over the marina. The menu pulls from Chesapeake waters and a D.C. urban fish farm, so northern puffer fish arrives whole and crispy fried, and a Maryland crab crumpet nods to the place's Scottish sister spot. Save room for the Virginia peanut tiramisu, which sounds like a dare and tastes like a good idea.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. Washingtonian #77 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
3. Eater Design of the Year · The 2025 Eater DC Award Winners

Fabio Trabocchi's fine dining room at the Wharf is all coastal blues and polished brass, with floor-to-ceiling windows over the Potomac that make the room feel like it floats. The Spanish menu runs from jamón croquetas and spreadable sobrasada to paella loaded with lobster and giant prawns, with impeccably simple fish in between. The crowd dresses up, as they should.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. Washingtonian #49 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
3. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In The Wharf

Moonraker is a rooftop cocktail bar on the 14th floor of the Pendry Hotel, built around a circular bronze bar under glowing pendant lights. The windows are floor-to-ceiling and the Potomac does the rest, with boats and planes drifting past like extras. Japanese whiskeys, sushi rolls, and small plates keep the hands busy, and the patio fire pits suit a date or a solo drink. Dress like you meant to be here.

1. AAA Three Diamonds
2. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In The Wharf

1. The Rammys Finalist · Hottest Sandwich Spot of the Year
2. The Rammys Finalist · Wine Program of the Year

Kirwan's is an Irish pub on the Wharf, all dark wood that wouldn't look out of place on a 17th-century naval vessel. Downstairs is for sports fans and conference lanyards pouring Guinness, while an upstairs mezzanine has a closed-off snug and a whiskey room tucked below for anyone who'd like their stout with fewer opinions shouted at it. Shepherd's pie and a spice bag are the order, entry-level pub prices apply.

1. Washingtonian 9 Great Pubs for a Full Irish Breakfast Around DC
2. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In The Wharf

1. Time Out The 20 Best Coffee Shops and Cafés in Washington, DC

1. Washingtonian 9 Delicious Doughnut Shops Around DC

12 Stories is a rooftop cocktail bar on the twelfth floor at the Wharf, with a DJ, a dancehall and R&B soundtrack, and a view of the whole Potomac. The food is slider-and-truffle-fries territory, so eat beforehand and treat the menu as a courtesy. It's a place to debut a new outfit, with a gingery rum-pineapple Story Teller in hand and a dance floor that rewards commitment.

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In The Wharf

This is the hotel lobby bar at the Pendry on the Wharf, all brass, espresso wood, and dim velvet, the sort of room where a Louis Vuitton-print jacket would blend right in. Hotel guests and the well-funded settle into the lounge with coffee-and-rum cocktails while complimentary nuts and olives arrive unprompted. Entrees exist, but most people stick to truffle fries and a charcuterie board. It's a nightcap spot.

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In The Wharf

Cantina Bambina is a two-story bar on the Wharf where the main attraction is the sunset, which turns the whole room gold around 8pm in summer. Drinks run to beer, wine, and a vodka-strawberry lemonade, and the food is beef sticks, Moon Pies, and potato chips, so eat dinner first. It suits the stretch before a show at the Anthem across the street, or any sunny afternoon with nowhere to be.

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In The Wharf

Ilili is a Lebanese dinner-and-brunch spot at the Wharf, where hanging vines, cages of light-up birds, and a trickling stone fountain make the dining room look like a very well-funded aviary. Hand-painted tiles cover the floor, and graduation parties and promotion dinners show up in their Sunday best. Skip the small plates for the mixed grill, a charred platter built for sharing.

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In The Wharf

Officina is a multi-story Italian restaurant on the Wharf, and the second-floor dining room looks like a Campari ad, all art deco light fixtures and golden-green everything. The menu roams the whole country with a strong lean toward seafood, plus housemade pastas for when you want a linguine that stays on message. Upstairs, a plant-filled terrace gets a lovely view south and a less lovely one of the overpass north. Dress like you're in Milan.

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In The Wharf

Pink Tiger is a Wharf cocktail bar and restaurant where everything arrives in some shade of rose, from the patio umbrellas to the drinks, which seem to have been color-matched to the walls. The menu wanders between Southeast Asian, American, and Mediterranean ideas, so go in with a loose itinerary. Expect a dressed-up, mildly flamingo crowd and a tab that matches the waterfront address.

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In The Wharf

This is a small oyster bar with an outsized patio, parked a few steps from the Wharf's fish market, where the barge bobs and the air does some of the marketing. It's run by the oyster growers whose name is on the door, so the bivalves have a short commute. Weekday happy hour from 4 to 6 puts oysters at $2 and clams at $1.50, which tourists and locals both do the math on.

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In The Wharf

The Grill is a sit-down American restaurant at the Wharf, the sort of place you pick when the show at the Anthem starts soon and nobody can agree on dinner. The menu is steaks, salads, mac and cheese, and lobster rolls, a dressed-up cousin of the roadside chain. There's a wine wall with faux wood pillars, and the servers wear formal attire, which feels generous for a burger.

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In The Wharf

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Michael Reginbogin and Jason Berry - KNEAD Hospitality + Design