The Best Spanish Food in Washington

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.

1. AAA Five Diamonds
2. Michelin Guide 2 Stars
3. The 50 The 50 Discovery

A wood-fired hearth and a smoker do the heavy lifting in this fine dining room on the third floor of a Glover Park townhouse, where chef Danny Lledó builds a tasting menu around the food of Valencia. Rice cooked over the open fire is the gravitational center of the meal. The room holds only a handful of tables, and after dinner guests move to the lounge for coffee. It holds a Michelin star and AAA Five Diamonds.

1. AAA Five Diamonds
2. Michelin Guide 1 Star
3. The Rammys Finalist · Service Program of the Year

The oak-and-charcoal grill doing steady work on Ibérico pork and whole fish is a reasonable argument for why this Spanish restaurant inside a food hall draws a serious crowd. The chef, an alum of José Andrés's Minibar, runs the room with a light touch: tapas at the bar, big shared platters for the table, and a Basque cheesecake that regulars treat as non-negotiable. The patio helps on good days.

1. The Rammys Finalist · Chef of the Year · Rubén García Castilla
2. Eater Chef of the Year · Rubén García
3. Washingtonian #22 · 100 Very Best Restaurants

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

José Andrés launched his American empire here, and this Penn Quarter tapas bar has been loud and full of energy ever since. The dining room goes heavy on tile, glass, and art, which sets the mood before the vermouth list even arrives. Sangria and sherry are smart starts, and the bacalao fritters and olive-oil ice cream over grapefruit granita are reasons to stay long past the last small plate.

1. AAA Three Diamonds
2. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
3. Washingtonian Where to Eat Near the National Mall

1. AAA Four Diamonds

1. AAA Four Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

Enrique Limardo of Imperfecto keeps the room deliberately calm, all cream, beige, and light wood inside the Ritz-Carlton, so the Spanish-meets-Latin-American food has nowhere to hide. Tapas and small plates anchor the menu, with a whole section devoted to rice dishes, including a pink beet-stained arroz tucked with roasted vegetables and fava beans that earns its page. Mains run meat-forward and come sized for the table.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

Whole roast suckling pig, ordered tableside with enough ceremony to make your neighbors jealous, is the move at this Spanish tapas restaurant in Ballston. The co-owner, Spanish himself, infuses his own spirits, and the gin and tonic is the kind of thing that makes you question every gin and tonic you've had before. Paella, croquetas, and a raw bar round things out, and the patio catches a breeze when the weather cooperates.

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The mollette, a pulled-oxtail sandwich with pickled vegetables and a sherry glaze, sits next to lobster and oysters on a menu that refuses to pick a lane, which is very much the point. Arrels is a modern Spanish restaurant where the cooking runs from rustic to refined without apology. The fideua, made with vermicelli, Manchego, jamón, and truffle cream, gives you a reason to linger well past the bread course.

1. Washingtonian #83 · 100 Very Best Restaurants

Geometric tilework and honey-hued lighting set the scene at this casual Spanish tapas bar on Columbia Pike, where a pitcher of sangria and a spread of small plates is the whole plan. The kitchen leans into Moorish-influenced staples, bacon-wrapped dates, chickpea stew, mussels with charred bread for sopping. The room rewards lingering, and the crowd tends to take that as a personal challenge.

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