The 15 Best Places to Eat in Rockville

1. The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
2. Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.
3. Washingtonian #95 · 100 Very Best Restaurants

1. Eater The Best Bakeries Around D.C.
2. Washingtonian 9 Delicious Doughnut Shops Around DC

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Outstanding Chef · Peter Chang

1. The Rammys Finalist · Chef of the Year · Matt Adler

The crust on Z&Z's za'atar manoushe is chewy through the middle and genuinely crisp all the way to the edge, which sounds simple until you're eating it. This four-table Levantine flatbread bakery in Rockville operates something like a pizzeria, with variations on the signature item boxed up to go. The New York Times named it among D.C.'s top restaurants, and Bon Appétit put it on its best new restaurants list.

1. Bon Appétit America's Best New Restaurants
2. The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, D.C., Right Now

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. Bon Appétit The Very Best Bagels in the US (Yes, Outside New York)

1. AAA Approved

A taco trailer parked at a Shell station in Rockville, where the chef mills his own masa on-site and builds the whole menu around it. Tacos, tostadas, and triangular tetelas stuffed with refried beans come out of an operation this small with a focus you'd expect from somewhere twice the size. The chef trained in Oaxaca, grew up in Montgomery County, and clearly has something to prove about corn.

1. Washingtonian The Hot List: 10 Restaurants Around DC We’re Loving Right Now

A Salvadoran pupuseria in a Rockville strip mall, run by a family whose roots in the craft go back a generation in El Salvador. The menu runs nearly 30 styles, from the classic cheese-and-chicharrón to shrimp with mint and kale, all served hot off the griddle and freshly blistered. The New York Times put it on their D.C. restaurant list. Come at breakfast and order the signature pupusa with eggs in a red sauce that has no business being that good.

1. The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, D.C., Right Now

1. Washingtonian #52 · 100 Very Best Restaurants

1. The Washington Post #2 · The Best Bagels in D.C.

1. Washingtonian Bao Bei Bowl · Our Favorite Dishes of the Year in the DC Area

The whole branzino is flown in from Greece, cured, air-dried for days, then grilled until the skin shatters, which tells you everything about the kitchen's priorities at this polished Pike & Rose restaurant. It reads like a classic American steakhouse, and you could easily miss the Greek thread running through it, which is exactly what makes that fish such a pleasantly disorienting moment. The owners also run Cava, which is quite the range.

1. Washingtonian Grilled Whole Branzino · Our Favorite Dishes of the Year in the DC Area