Palestinian · Navy Yard · North America's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 (#6); One MICHELIN Star; James Beard Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (Michael Rafidi)
Michael Rafidi's wood-fired Palestinian restaurant in Navy Yard — albi means 'my heart' in Arabic, and the whole place runs on live fire. Crispy kibbeh, hummus under smoked lamb and date molasses, cha...
96
2
Rose's Luxury
New American · Barracks Row · One MICHELIN Star; James Beard Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic 2016 (Aaron Silverman); Bon Appétit Best New Restaurant 2014
Aaron Silverman's Barracks Row townhouse, open since 2013 and the spot that more or less defined DC's wait-in-line dining era. The Thai-leaning salad of sweet lychee and crumbled pork sausage with whi...
94
3
Dōgon by Kwame Onwuachi
Afro-Caribbean · Southwest Waterfront · North America's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 (#37); MICHELIN Guide Washington DC
Kwame Onwuachi's return to DC, inside the Salamander hotel on the Southwest waterfront. The concept nods to surveyor Benjamin Banneker and Onwuachi's West African roots, running Gulf and Caribbean fla...
93
4
Maydan
Middle Eastern · U Street · One MICHELIN Star (since 2019)
A live-fire Middle Eastern, North African, and Caucasus restaurant tucked off 14th Street on Florida Avenue, where every meal starts at a central wood hearth and clay ovens. The family-style menu runs...
93
5
The Dabney
Mid-Atlantic · Shaw · One MICHELIN Star (since 2017); James Beard Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic 2018 (Jeremiah Langhorne)
Jeremiah Langhorne's Mid-Atlantic restaurant in Shaw's Blagden Alley, open since 2015 and built around a ten-foot wood-burning hearth you can see from the room. The kitchen cooks regional ingredients ...
93
6
Moon Rabbit
Vietnamese · Penn Quarter · North America's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 (#24); MICHELIN Guide Washington DC
Kevin Tien's modern Vietnamese, reborn in 2024 in a 50-seat Penn Quarter room. The kitchen reinterprets Vietnamese flavor through barbecue-spiced cod in tom yum coconut broth, a lemongrass pork chop w...
92
7
Rasika
Indian · Penn Quarter · MICHELIN Guide Washington DC; James Beard Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic 2014 (Vikram Sunderam)
The Penn Quarter modern-Indian room that raised the bar for the genre nationally, opened in 2005 by Ashok Bajaj with chef Vikram Sunderam. The palak chaat — crispy fried baby spinach with sweet yogurt...
92
8
Pascual
Mexican · Capitol Hill · North America's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 (#42)
Isabel Coss and Matt Conroy's wood-fired Mexican on Capitol Hill, open since early 2024 with nearly everything run through smoke and flame. The crispy carrot tlayuda (basically an Oaxacan pizza), slow...
91
9
Le Diplomate
French · Logan Circle
Stephen Starr's French brasserie on the corner of 14th Street, built to feel like a cafe off Boulevard Saint-Germain. The seats turn over onion soup gratinée, steak frites, roast chicken, moules marin...
89
10
Press Club
Cocktail Bar · Dupont Circle · North America's 50 Best Bars 2026 (#34)
A record bar and cocktail lounge in Dupont Circle from Will Patton, Devin Kennedy and Hive Hospitality, splitting the difference between a 1970s cocktail lounge and a 1990s record shop. Drinking divid...