Flagging this:
"But it still chafes under a reputation that has bedeviled its dining scene for decades: that it has little culinary excitement or any distinctive identity. In this view, the strivers coursing through the capital’s halls of power represent the entire population; luxury, status and predictability rule in the kitchen, and the best meal to be had is a dry-aged steak."
Having lived in DC since 2010, the only time I see this opinon is in satire making fun of the New York Times, which thinks that all we eat is dry-aged steaks.
Whoa ....
We dine in DC all the time and have been to about half of these restaurants and mostly agree. ..... BUT .... we tried Kith & Kin last weekend and it was horrible! Terrible service, overpriced dishes that looked very ordinary (and arrived without serving utensils) and a disinterested, poorly trained server who said nothing when we never ordered main courses and asked for our check. Too bad I was celebrating my birthday but I’ll have more!
Wouldn’t it make sense to rate restaurants on their vegan or pescatarian (sustainable) dishes? Not only for the clients’ sake, but for the planet’s?
3
Why no mention of Little Serow?
1
Almost all are started by immigrants. Let's appreciate what another culture can bring to our country.
8
I knew smart Americans would come here and remark on expensive restaurants and corrupt pols and corrupt lobbyists and I wasn't disappointed!
Washington is a state, not a city.
But where can you get a decent hamburger?
We were just in DC this past week and love good restaurants. Rooster & Owl - amazing. Sat at the bar. Great service and very interesting and tasty food. Go there for sure. Wine pairings I usually avoid were spot on. The Dabney not so great for us as we try to avoid dairy/meat and the menu was pretty rich. But nice people and good service and worth a visit for sure. Had a drink and a snack at Del Mar and weren't overwhelmed...but up the block Officina was awesome Italian both for brunch and then later for a lunch. Finally, having worked in India many times, Rasika was one of the best ever Indian places I have been to. Congrats to DC on their food...
3
How long will serving Foie Gras survive in DC? I give it about 6 months.
2
I would expect with all the corrupt lobbying money running around D.C that they would have quite a few great places to eat. I do plan on visiting later this year. Hopefully if I am seated near a prominent member of the GOP, I will not be led out by the DC POLICE.
8
While you have a point about the lobbyists, you might be surprised to find out when you get here that DC is one of the most liberal areas in the country, and conservatives tend to be the exception rather than the rule.
26
@M.D. Agree - the predominance of young people, international and national NGO workers, students and assistants of great heady new reps make it a very fun dynamic city.
6
@Donald You might also be surprised that there are real people in Washington DC who are not corrupt, who work hard at real jobs and who have a reputation for treating people from out of town in a helpful and courteous manner, including people from Florida. It's a place where the people who live here celebrate civility on a daily basis and treat others with respect even if a small number of people from Florida don't. I've been to Florida many times. I moved to DC 50 years ago. I'll take DC in a New York minute.
7
I'm just a Mid-west yokel but I had fabulous meal at one of Chef Andre's DC restaurants, Zaytinya. Michigan has a lot of Mediterranean restaurants but nothing like this one. Had wonderful Mexican at a place just across from my hotel. The food is one reason I would love to visit DC again soon.
6
What about Trump's restaurant in his DC hotel? I'm sure he'll tell you it's the best restaurant in town, maybe the world!
1
No wonder restaurants in DC are thriving. There is a never-ending almost unlimited stream of money. I was there after the 2008 crash (as required by my then employer). Every time we went to (expensive) places for dinner, they were packed. Between politicians and lobbyists, there’s always money to be made.
5
@Hoss Cartright real people eat out all the time too
I don't know why Del Mar is on this list. I've been twice and both times had sub-par meals with poor service. Fiola Mare belongs here instead.
5
@KCM I second that. Mediocre food, service that is not in the same universe as “Michelin grade” and garish decor. Plus it’s in the Wharf development, which is about as attractive as a mall in Houston. There’s been a wonderful proliferation of great dining in DC since I left there ages ago; this place isn’t part of it.
4
@KCM, did the guy with the shaved head and full beard serve you? It looks pretty pretentious to me.
The idea that D.C. is a stodgy restaurant town should've been dismissed and forgotten long, long ago. I'm not sure why it still seems to always find its way into the introductions of articles like this one.
11
@LJ Molière
Agreed. This is such old news, but the Times does this over and over again.
3
Having lived in both NYC and DC, DC has come a long way since the 1990s. Some of the restaurants on this list are excellent. I also recommend Sfoglina (Italian), the newcomer Karma (Indian and delicious!!), the newly-reinvented Momofuku, the tried and true Rasika (Indian), Centrolina, Tosca, RPM (all Italian) and another newcomer, Chloe.
6
@M. Malik Yes! Chloe is a revelation! It should be on this list. I recently moved from DC and I went to chloe for my birthday earlier in the year. It was fabulous. I have even copied their tahini braised cauliflower at home bc it was so delicious. I love a restaurant that isn’t afraid of strong flavors and Chloe definitely isn’t afraid. Will definitely eat there again when I’m back in town.
1
@ M. Malik NYC/DC
But you recommend only ethno-regional restaurants?
@Tuvw Xyz I recommend great restaurants. 🙂
1
Washington has a violent crime problem. We’re on track to have a murder a day in 2019. So there’s that.
3
@Stanley Gomez This is how misinformation spreads. DC has had 145 homicides this year as of today.
Today is the 303 day of the year.
145 vs 303. Not anywhere close to "a murder a day".
Calm down, Stanley.
13
@ Stanley Gomez DC
If fears of crime are the reason behind the poor quailty of restaurant food and guests' attendance, then all should be armed with efficient instruments of self-defense. Carrying of weapons is a good deterrent against criminals.
1
@DC is not Arlington I agree and would add that the murder rate is significantly lower than it was when I came to DC for college in the late 80s.
2
The main reason I don't eat in D.C. is because I recognize too many of the crooked politicians and lobbyists among their clientele.
2
Fancy eating out is way overrated.
6
Sushi is fabulous in the District of Columbia.
2
Street food I've had in Asia that costs next to nothing beats anything that these pretentious restaurants serve.
The old song says if you can make it in NYC you can make it anywhere. Fabio(Del Mar) started in DC. He did well and decided to head to the big time in NY. A few years later he was back after not having made it. He is a star here. His food is pricey and inconsistent. You will have an appetizer that will cause involuntary moans of pleasure followed by a main course that makes you think the money would have been better spent on a tank of gas. DC has always had good food but generally NY still has it beat.
4
Nice to see our tax dollars at work.
2
@David, more people live in DC than Wyoming and Vermont. Our small city has roughly the same population as Alaska and each of the Dakotas. We don't all work in politics and we, for the most part, all seem to like food and supporting local businesses.
19
Your tax dollars have nothing to do with out restaurants. DC, like most blue states, is a net tax donor: we give more to red states than they give to us.
13
But we gave you Jeff Sessions!
My heart is broken to not see Dakaiya ramen in Chinatown DC on here! But, then again, the wait is already so ridiculous and food so good, they don't need more publicity!
1
DC has some great restaurants. Just ask any lobbyist. The rest dine where they can find a place that is just palatable.
1
This article is outdated. Were these selections from other published articles? Pineapple and Pearls is no longer a coffee shop during the day, Silverman opened Little Pearl as a cafe and wine bar two years ago. DC has much to offer below high end dining at Komi. You missed an opportunity to explore DC like a local, NYT!!!
12
Rather than speak of DC as any kind of restaurant town, I prefer to pose the question, what kind of a food town is DC?
As a nearly 70 native of the Bronx, and a resident of DC since 1976, my take on DC is that the food here is better than it used to be.
My test of a good food town: how is the pizza, how is the bread?
If you know where to look DC is decent, but you have to know where to go. Self proclaimed foodies haven’t a clue.
The restaurant scene, especially the ones listed in this article, is about status, as is almost everything in DC.
Bragging rights for starting to wait on line (for non-NYers, in line)
at 4 in the afternoon, outside in the rain on 11th St. NW for Bad Saint.
Is the food good? Who cares? You tell tell your frienemies you ate there. You waited for hours and it was amazing.
The only stronghold of good food, I.e. groceries, is the Rodman’s on Wisconsin Ave. like being on the UWS, though not Zabar’s, as close as you can get for packaged international foods, and the international customers as well.
I will not divulge anyplace else.
It’s been 43 years and I miss New York almost every day.
8
@Richard B Rodman's is a nice place, but it's nothing to write home about, except as to how nice they are. The quality of the green groceries is especially bad. But they are nice people.
If you want good food in DC you get real local food in Adams Morgan or a strip mall. Come back and be impressed. You will be thrilled. The places you mention are dull and the food unmemorable.
3
"The capital’s dining scene has gotten a bad rap as stodgy, status-driven and lacking a strong identity." Er, that might have been true up until about 10-15yrs ago, but since then Washington has been recognized both nationally and internationally as a decent dining destination.
5
@Steve -- Honestly? I think it only gets a bad rap from New Yorkers and San Franciscans who are always amazed to find there is something worth eating when they emerge from their city bounds.
A shout-out to the Washington Post's great critic Tom Sietsema, marking his 20th year writing about DC's restaurants. His incisive reviews have been an important factor in the development of the city's scene.
26
Philadelphia is the best food city in the country period. I've spent time in DC and NYC. The food was OK. I don't know why these cities, so close to Philadelphia, are so subpar. It's not that they don't have great restaurants. it's that the proportion of their restaurants which are great is very low. I wouldn't even bother writing about the food in DC. Nothing to write home about.
2
@GFF Let's keep it quiet. Otherwise we'll be overrun with NY folks who are habituated to accepting "Eh!" food as terrific. (See the review of Peter Luger this week.)
2
@GFF
Chicago has awesome places to dine as well!!
As a DC-Arlington area resident for the last 30 years, I think the restaurants here are pretty mediocre, unless you consider spending half a fortune on passable food as a ‘good restaurant.’
I am amazed at how much better restaurants are in New York, San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma and many large cities in the northeast.
DC museums yes, restaurants, not so much.
10
@amundsen Agreed. The food in Boston is much, much better than in DC. Brains over power!
2
The article is spot on. As a DC resident for 24 years now, the dining scene has completely changed. 24 years ago, it was classic steakhouses, a few traditional French outposts and a lot of so-so places. Restaurant
Nora was a unique gem in those days. Fast forward and the depth and variety is staggering. Much credit is due to Jose Andres and Ashok Bajaj. It can still be a bit difficult to find great food at the lower end of the cost spectrum and there isn’t much of a diner, deli or walk-up pizza culture. However, when combined with a lot of great international cuisine in the suburbs the mix is one of the best. Still Chicago, New York and SF are way ahead.
14
How about government expense accounts. Nobody has to foot the bill EXCEPT the American Taxpayer. That is why DC is such a great restaurant city.
2
More accurate are lobbyist expense accounts. Every trade association will pay numerous $1000 tabs to grab a key vote on legislation.
9
@Cecily Ryan Govt. per diem isn't really that great. I visited regularly for years and could never treat myself to a meal comparable to these restaurants'. More likely that lobbyists and people in town on their employers' dime are the ones footing high bills, otherwise local well paid private sector folks enjoying a night out.
3
@Cecily Ryan The government does not provide expense accounts. Moreover, lobbyists are severely restricted by law in their ability to spend money entertaining Members Congress, their staff, or those in the regulatory agencies. So, very little of your tax dollars is footing the bill for eating in restaurants. In fact, DC residents are probably subsidizing your state through our taxes since we pay more in taxes to the Feds than most other states. In effect, it's you who are on welfare.
2
What rescued the Washington restaurant scene were the US foreign policy disasters. As governments were overthrown back home the Embassy cook had to seek asylum and voila and new ethnic high quality restaurant sprouted in DC.
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@ Eli RI
Your scenario is remarkably close to the story of emergence of Parisian restaurants. Cooks/chefs, who lost their patrons to the guillotine or exile overseas, opened public eateries where even the blood-thirsty Jacobines had to eat.
2
@Eli
But mom and pop restaurants as well. In the late 1970s there was a surge of refugees from Vietnam and later a surge of Vietnamese restaurants. Then an influx of Ethiopians and I'll bet some of the best Ethiopian restaurants in the western hemisphere. And in the 1980s, Central Americans flocked to DC and opened numerous Salvadoran restos.
At the same time, the high end Italian and French places, prompted under the Kennedys, were closing from lack of business as tastes changed.
1
@Eli -- When I was a local reporter here many years ago, I did a story on refugee resettlement. I was told by one of the resettlement agency people that there was a reason so many of the hot dog stands were run by Ethiopians: all the upheaval and warfare in that area meant generals were constantly having to flee the country. When they landed in Washington, they understood the reality of their new status meant they would have to start at the bottom and work very hard, but their bosses complained they could NOT obey orders or even take directions: they were used to giving orders and being obeyed, after all. Owning one of those tiny, beat up, portable hot dog stands was the solution. Yes, it was still the bottom, and yes, they'd still have to work hard, but they would be their own boss.
1
It's okay to have one restaurant on the list that's not Asian, African, or South American influenced. The increasing availability of cuisines from different cultures is terrific.
But not one Italian or French place could make the cut? An American steakhouse or seafood joint?
Strange how not one Ethiopian restaurant was mentioned, and we get "the latest, and the first that isn't Italian" from an Italian with five other restaurants.
Is this list Hungry City for D.C.?
3
@telemachus sneezed
This is a very small list of the excellent restaurants available in DC, and frankly, I haven't heard of most of them. Read Tom Sietsema's reviews and chat on the Washington Post for more -- a LOT more -- information.
In fact, I think he just came out with a Fall Dining Guide. You want an Ethiopian restaurant? He's got your Ethiopian restaurant! And a whole lot more.
4
Skimming the list, I am surprised no Ethiopian restaurant is listed. Whenever I go to DC, I make sure to go to at least one of them. DC has the best Ethiopian.
Also, I like Rasika and Andres' Zaytina.
6
@ms The list is outdated and appears to have been written from behind a desk in a New York basement without ever having been here. As a resident, if i have a complaint about DC dining it's the demise of so many local family owned and run restaurants. There are several but with rising rents and labor costs, there are too few good "joints."
I helped open Fiola in 2011 as the Beverage Director and can attest to the quality of the food, service, and the wine selection. It got even better after I left and it operates at the highest levels. I've eaten at all his restaurants in D.C. including Del Mar and they are all a little unique in their own way. The cooking and service and atmosphere is Michelin-level. I think my favorite is Sfoglina.
However, I can't say working there was a pleasant experience and I would concede I made a bad decision in taking the job, and I think Chef Trabocchi could have hired someone with more experience than me, but in early 2011 he wasn't running a smooth operation. $25,000 budget for wine and spirits at the depth and breadth Chef Trabocchi wanted was nearly impossible, and the fat cat restaurant investors who wanted to sell their wine or have influence over what wine was purchased didn't make the task easy.
Ask Chef Trabocchi about the time he kicked me hard in the shin after I dozed off during a presentation (I had been working 6 days a week, 12-15 hours a day). It's technically an assault but at the time I didn't complain because I wanted to finish my consulting job and just get on with it. Different culture then. If it were today, I would have filed a complaint with the DCPD. He's a bully.
17
I met my wife in Tappahannock where we both taught at a girls’ boarding school. She’s from Santiago de Compostela so I thought I would take her to Jaleo for our first date. Boy what a date that turned out to be: I got a flat crossing the Georgetown bridge. After dinner I noticed the spare was flat. There was an ice storm that night and the tow truck asked us where we wanted to go. We slept in separate beds at an Econolodge somewhere south of the city. The next morning I bought 2 toothbrushes and 4 new tires.
14
You lost me at "...and have been for a long time."
DC *is* coming into its own on the restaurant scene, after decades-long yeoman efforts from the likes of Jose Andres and others. That's a welcome but relatively recent phenomenon.
The best food DC has to offer-- Anthony Bourdain would agree-- are the myriad immigrant holes in the wall tucked in into neighborhood strip malls out beyond the toney zipcodes of Kalorama and the pop-up wealth of places like the Wharf.
I'll take the pupuseria, anyday.
21
@NDGryphon
There is wonderful eating to be had in the strip malls, thanks to the dedication and culinary gifts of immigrants. Someone asked about moderately priced restaurants? The suburbs are full of these places. I had to laugh when the article stated that three of the featured owners hailed from the Falls Church area. There are some good spots in The Little City, but Fairfax County (which includes a large area generically known as Falls Church) has very many. Moderate strip-mall rents and the availability of staff willing to learn various cuisines make the magic.
@NDGryphon
That's the story I want to read.
Tell us about the hidden gems, hole in the walls and food trucks that the average person will go to and has time for.
1
How many years in a row will the NYT write an article about the 'reputation' of DC's food scene. At a certain point isn't the reputation merely the prelude to an article about how the reputation is wrong rather than an actual opinion people hold?
7
So, is the NYTimes writing this to try to make up for calling us a funless city a few days ago? Too little, too late. FYI we are better than NYC. Oue city is clean. Our museums free. Parking is possible in the city. And we are not the birthplace of Donald Trump.
73
Anyone who makes geese suffer for foie gras is deranged.
14
I lived in the Washington Metro area for 25 years and never had trouble finding outstanding cuisine. I still return and enjoy great food. The international flavor of the city with all the embassy staffs makes ethnic restaurants strong. Seafood is also terrific. Adding Annapolis, Old Town Alexandria, and Baltimore to the mix makes for even more options without the silly 10pm parking meters and limited garage options after 8pm that hampers DC nightlife. Now I live around Seattle, another great foodie city and often visit New York. Next month I look forward to fresh seafood and Mexican food in San Diego. The truth is that many cities offer lots of great dining choices that can be found with a little research and enjoyed with a positive attitude. That is certainly the case in Washington and it's been that way for a long time.
22
Perhaps my taste palate isn't sophisticated enough and I hate to bash a tiny establishment that seems to be popular but the food at Bad Saint was not good. At all. The population radish appetizer was so heavy on coconut crema that all you could taste was coconut and fat and not in a good way. the deep fried branzino wasn't great either, lacked flavor but sure picked up all the oil in the deep frying process. other dishes were not remarkable either. the drinks were tasty but the price point and the size didn't match. the drinks are served in prohibition era quantities but the prices are 2022. makes me question these Michelin stars as well this whole gourmet dining.
2
Outside of the high end stuff the DC metro area is pretty poor for dining. There’s tons of mediocre restaurants and very little else. I visit friends in Portland, Maine roughly once a year and I’m amazed how such a small town has so much excellent and affordable food on offer. I don’t understand why the DC area is so far behind. I’m not a newcomer either, been in the area for 36 years.
16
@Slopoke completely agree. DC is about 20 years behind with restaurants largely geared for expense accounts.
6
Disagree. Came to DC in 87. Durham NC is a better restaurant town than DC. Des Moines is better. Austin. Boston. DC is at best merely a red headed step child set of kitchens. The word great can be applied to NYC and SF and Chicago. Very good to Charleston and Boston. And meh for DC. But for the ILW, the rest is just so so. A very expensive dinner at Pineapple and Pearl reveals the essence of the DC gestalt: all style little substance.
15
@czb Not sure I'd give such props to Durham.
DC certainly is a great food town. Penns Quarter and Georgetown offer a good concentration of places, while there are other great restaurants around. Chef Andres in a National Treasure.
While Boston, NY, and Chicago offer the great dining that major metropolitan areas can have, Charleston is superb because so many great places are within walking distance of one another, and there is parking.
I could plan an entire vacation in San Francisco around my stomach and walking or riding the cable cars from one great area to another.
Still, Washington deserves recognition not only for how great it is, but how far it has come as a dining destination.
10
@czb
As a resident of Boston for 20 years, who invests a sizable amount of his keep at dining out, I can say that Boston might be the very worst of the major metropolitan food scenes in the U.S. and likely 1000x worse than D.C. (I just returned from D.C. last week and dined out a dozen times).
D.C. has eighteen Michelin Starred Restaurants. Boston has none, and likely never will. It loses in holes-in-the-wall, it loses at basic sandwich shops, it loses at walk-in bistros, it loses at fusion and, above all, it loses in fine dining (which is virtually non-existent in Boston). It also loses at produce.
It probably only has a leg up in...I don't even know...oysters and craft beer breweries, I guess.
Boston's dining scene is an utter joke compared to D.C.'s.
22
@Remarque Gotta be kidding. Boston restaurants are a lot, a lot better than DC's.
Chef Jose Andres - a great American and the pride of Washington.
78
@fast/furious
I had the luxury of eating at China Chilcano while in DC. Wow. Great, affordable, friendly. $17 for a shrimp entree in DC! And a great one at that. Top notch all the way around. Jose Andres could be cashing in on his celebrity chef status and could be charging 2x or 3x what he does, and still keep the place packed. Everything was even better than I expected.
4
During the six years I lived in NYC, I didn't have enough money to eat out much. It was mostly limited to Chinese takeout. Growing up in the DMV, I didn’t eat out because my parents would have been foolish to take a gaggle of kids out for bad meals that were other than McDonalds.
We also had terrible grocery stores. In Falls Church alone, we have Great Wall and HMart.
It's facile to limit D.C. food to D.C. proper. I rarely go into the District to eat because there are so many good places near where I live—not far from where the owners of Rooster & Owl grew up. Within a few square miles you can get astonishingly good Ethiopian, Vietnamese and Chinese. The recently opened Mama Chang is about 4-5 miles away. No relation to David Chang, who also grew up here.
I love NYC, but I don't really go there for the food, unless it's Zabar's. The unfortunate reality of the D.C. area is that you have to drive everywhere because the public transportation is spotty at best. But as I love Vietnamese, Chinese and Ethiopian, I can do just fine in a short drive.
America is great for food, but not so great for cuisine. Traveling to Italy, France, Argentina, wherever, you are rarely going to find an "American Food" restaurant, unless it's a fast food chain. Fine with me. The whole world is American food now, and I'm happy to chow down.
9
@Steve You are spot on.
Let'a not forget Afghani, Lebanese, Indian and Korean... there are dozens of Korean establishments, all good, all competing against each other, barely three miles down the road.
Hasn't it been pretty well established that DC's mid- to high-end restaurant scene has been flourishing for at least the last 10-15 years?
NY-based outlets trod out some variation of this article once a year, invariably including a phrase like, "long known for its steakhouses catering to politicos and businessmen, creative new chefs are pushing the boundaries of DC's cuisine and introducing new flavors to high end dining," Jose Andres' empire and other high-end "ethnic" fine dining restaurants like Rasika have now been around for over 15 years. DC's dining scene is....not a new story?
This list of restaurants is basically the greatest hits of new-ish DC restaurants, all found in a quick scan of the Washington Post or Washingtonian magazine. I'd recommend either of those sources to someone who's looking for advice on where to make a reservation while in town.
34
My definition of ‘fine dining’ is, I confess proudly, pedestrian. If I find the food delicious and the atmosphere welcoming, then I consider the night a success. If I want a guarantee, I head to Founding Farmers.
4
Emilie's, led by Kevin Tien, opened recently in Capitol Hill/Eastern Market and was absolutely stellar in every way when we dined two weeks ago. The menu is relatively approachable for plainer palettes and will thrill food lovers. It would be a perfect special occasion restaurant for DC natives and visitors alike. It is most definitely a place -- and team -- to watch.
6
Some neighborhoods in DC are mostly lacking in good dining options. Our office relocated a few years ago from Dupont Circle, where there are many options, to Foggy Bottom, where there are almost none (except fast casual for students). There need to be better options in every DC neighborhood, especially in SE below the Anacostia.
10
@Alyson Reed
I'll speak to them about that. I'm sure they'll get right on it.
Look, restauranteurs open where they think they can make a living. If there aren't many people who will be eating out in a certain area, there won't be very many restaurants in that area. I'm sorry you're disappointed, but that's the way it is.
1
@Alyson Reed
SE below the Anacostia is still a struggling area. Finer dining isn't the only issue it needs help with...
1
@Alyson Reed Try Dish at the River Inn on 25th St. NW. Excellent food and superb wine selection.
Just in case you did not know, there are restaurants (some of them very good!) outside the borders of the District. They are located in places called Maryland and Virginia.
Would a list of best places to eat in NYC include only those in Manhattan?
19
@Cary The story is about Washington as a great restaurant city. The suburbs are not Washington, DC. Yes, I agree there are some fine places to eat out there.
If the list of best places to eat was about NYC, it would certainly NOT include places in Hempstead, or Hackensack, or Greenwich. If it was about Portland (up near you), it would not feature places in Beaverton.
13
@Paul Alan Levy -the suburbs of Washington are not distant towns. They are literally across the street (Maryland) or across the river (Virginia). Washington is essentially just the urban core of a much larger "city."
40
@Paul Alan Levy
But a list of best places to eat in NYC would indeed include places other than Manhattan. It would include places in all five boroughs. Similarly, a list of places to eat in DC should include restaurants in the immediate metro area -- which does include near-in parts of Maryland and Virginia.
Check a map, Paul Alan. It'll help you understand.
2
I have always been astounded at the ignorance (luckily not displayed here) show regarding the vibrant restaurant scene in Washington DC and its suburbs that has been in place for decades now.
I lived in the area between 1985 and 1997 and the food scene even then was spectacular, and even on the well-beaten paths. If you stepped ever so slightly off them the gems that could be found were even more numerous.
I still return to the area, as my sister lives there, and the restaurant scene has only further flourished in the 22 years since I was living in the area. Given the demographics of metro DC, which is wildly diverse and very cosmopolitan, it's no surprise that there are myriad excellent restaurants. Almost anything that isn't, at the very least, good will generally go under in short order, as the very good to absolutely fantastic abound.
7
I've already been to at least 4 of the restaurants listed in this article, and can confirm that they were absolutely amazing experiences. Thanks for giving me some other recommendations to try!
10
@not nearsighted
Check Tom Sietsema's recommendations both in his critiques and his weekly chat, in the WPost. There are some amazing restaurants in the DC area, and he knows every one of them.
4
Having just come from a week in D.C. and dining out three times a day, every day, and at three restaurants mentioned in this article - I can say the food scene is great, and the fifth best in the U.S. behind NYC, Chicago, S.F. and L.A. What strikes me about the food in D.C. is the consistency of the produce used across dining establishments (be they quickies, bistros or Michelin joints), all of which, in my experience, can be a more frequent hit or miss at the other metropoleis.
Commentators need to cut D.C. some slack when comparing it to the other behemoths. D.C. has eighteen Michelin Starred restaurants (also 5th most in the US) - nothing to sneer at.
Today, Peter Wells published a scathing, long-overdue review of Luger's in NYC. What's interesting to me is that while D.C.'s food scene has a lot less than NYC's in every way, it also seems to have less mediocrity in each category it attempts. You'd be hard-pressed to feel scammed after a blind dining-out in D.C.
24
@Remarque
Sorry but there is no way DC is ahead of NOLA in terms of its excellent food scene. Yes DC has exciting food—the Ethiopian food options stand out in my mind—but it lags behind New Orleans.
1
@ Remarque Cambridge
I am extremely surprised by your ranking Chicago as the second best "food scene" in the US. Or, perhaps, your definition of "food scene" includes criteria other than the quality of food and service?
I was raised in DC, have lived in NYC the last 16 years, and now spend 7-10 days a month in DC. I've been fortunate to dine at a lot of DC restaurants - including all but two on this list.
DC's dining scene has undoubtedly improved over the last 15-20 years. Talent level, creativity, range - all much better. But, it's not a great US restaurant city. It's nowhere close to NYC, LA, SF, New Orleans or Chicago. Although I find a handful of DC restaurants enchanting and delicious, I've found it dispiriting how many beloved ones completely flop (including many on this list). The cooking is often forced. Too many ingredients, over-dressed, trying too hard to win the creativity war - at the expense of truly balanced, satisfying cooking.
Maybe it's my NYC bias. Guilty as charged there. But there's a counterweight to the food media's NYC bias - critics are on a never-ending quest to find the "next great restaurant city". It often means restaurants outside the established food capitals are graded on a curve - and that's my sense with DC. Yes, it's much better than it used to be, but still far from great.
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I moved to DC from NYC, and if you are reading this article in NYC thinking there's no way DC could possibly be called a "great" food city in the same way NYC is a great food city, you are correct.
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@Mark Bishop New York's Inn at Little Washington is outstanding.
If NYC is a high A grade on the Food City exam, DC is a B. Part of that is that DC does not have the it's-your-civic-duty-to-eat-out culture that NYC does (I lived there for six years and still absolutely adore it).
And then there's the sheer size of NYC. DC isn't even close. When I grew up in the DMV, we never ate out because there were no restaurants worth spending anything on in the VA suburbs. Now, we have truly outstanding Vietnamese and Ethiopian in Falls Church. Drive a few miles and you go from Saigon to Athens to Sichuan. Peter Chang's, Q and Mama Chang, if you haven't been to them, are wonderful. Swing over to Springfield and Burke and go to the Cedar Cafe for some wonderful Lebanese.
It's not New York, but I could eat out for every meal within a few square miles and find no end of novelty. Doesn't mean I still don't have a hankering to head over to Zabar's.
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Would add Tail Up Goat in Adams Morgan to this list somewhere. And agreed, don't miss an opportunity for great Ethiopian food when you visit DC.
I would not quite call Jose Andres's restaurants "expense-account haunts" -- each has been a local favorite from the moment it opened and you can eat well for a reasonable price at any of them (Minibar of course being the once-in-a-lifetime-splurge exception). And of course, the chef is also a very fine humanitarian.
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@gmg22 Agree that generally the Andres restaurants are actually fairly reasonable. The exception being, of course Minibar. (which is well worth the splurge.)
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Moved to DC from NYC and I still miss NYC for dining out. DC might do pricy restaurants well enough but for dining day in and day out Nyc offers much more affordable and authentic eateries
Why there is no authentic korean restaurant in DC? All are fusions of some lame sort. The population here either lacks appreciation of authentic cuisine, or needs to be diluted mainstream way to accept it
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@JNC There are a lot of good Korean places in Annandale, Virginia, about a 20 minute drive from DC. The best of the cheaper food options are often in the suburbs.
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@JNC 15-20+ years ago DC was rich with small eateries from all far-flung corners of the world. Just like NYC, you now have to journey to the edges of the city to find affordable, authentic eateries you describe. Gentrification had rapidly homogenized cheap eats in DC too, sadly. I miss those days, growing up in DC, when my father would pack us up in the car and drive to some random block in search of Ethiopian, Afghan, Columbian, Syrian, Korean, etc.
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@JNC I've experienced the opposite, and I think it just comes down to spending time in and knowing a city. As a visitor to NYC, I've found that the best high-end places are obvious but once you get into the mid-range it's a huge challenge to separate the gems from the tourist traps. Would welcome ideas on how to avoid that -- Yelp reviews don't quite cut it and in my experience the Times doesn't review as many of the mid-range places as it ideally would.
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It is simply not true that DC is a good food town. Having moved from SF to DC over a decade ago, I wish it were so. There are aspirations and precious attempts (standards like Komi and Central that have read the books but not learned the lessons) and there are second-rate taquerias and pleading Ethiopian and Thai restaurants, but it remains true that well-conceived cooking that honors it's ingredients is a rarity. You can spend a lot of money in hip joints, but you'll spend a lot of money to get something less skillfully executed that at average restaurants in San Francisco; the demographic here is just less sophisticated and the business that cater to it mirror that. You can't even get a good cappuccino in this town at more than a tiny handful of places.
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You are going to the wrong places for tacos. Taqueria habanero consistently puts up as good as anything I have had in LA. As a bonus, it's next door to the Red Derby.
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Also Zenebdch for Ethiopian is amazing. SF is a great food city. I would love to live there, but it's too bad you have not enjoyed the great things DC has to offer. And I would put Pineapple and Pearls and Inn at Little Washington on the same plane as creative high end places like Providence in LA.
Washington has truly exceptional restaurants, but it seems these lists are worse than the advertising guides in airport magazines. Although Komi is featured, the articles seem to focus on the flavor of the moment, disregarding established restaurants in favor of fusion start ups. Among the many missed, the article overlooks Plume, the Michelin starred restaurant that is the gem of the Jefferson Hotel. Plume has truly extraordinary food, atmosphere, wine list and service. Other aces such as Le Diplomate are also not mentioned. It is hard to select the ten most interesting restaurants but I am not sure that teh article captures the essence of D.C. dining.
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@Christopher Rillo
No, it doesn't capture the essence of DC dining. It looks like a random list of recently opened restaurants. Don't know where that list was assembled, but I really doubt it was the result of considerable research and hard work on the part of a restaurant critic.
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Eater has a great list of best restaurants in DC
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My favorites are mid-atlantic seafood. Fresh and simply served.
Fresh catch cannot be beat.
Restaurants I frequent in the burbs whose owners and managers I have come to know can all do a first class presentation without rival at a less ostentatious price, and no parking to fight.
Bill, Carlos, and Jose, here's to you.
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DC is a small city, much smaller than NYC, but if you include the close in suburbs you can find excellent Vietnamese, Indian, and other cuisines as well.
Read the reviews by Tim Carman and Tom Seitsma at the Washington Post.
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I think it's accurate to say DC is a vastly improved restaurant city. But it's a major stretch to say it's a "great" restaurant city; it's far behind NYC, Paris, Tokyo, London (not to mention SF, LA, Chi, DF, Osaka, Lyon and many others). The restaurant scene is still very heavily weighted to steakhouses, corporate concepts and the like, geared towards the transient professional crowd. Not a very innovative environment.
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@Osito The fact is, it is a great restaurant city. Having lived in many of the above-mentioned places, the variety / diversity of food options here in DC is far greater than the Tokyos, Osakas, Chicagos, and Lyons of the world. The notion that DC is steakhouse and corporate concept haven is an old trope from another era, along with the cliched notion that the professional crowd here is any more transient than other cities.
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@Osito it sounds like you haven't been to DC in a while, or if you have, that you didn't leave the immediate downtown area. NoMa, H street, Columbia Heights, Mt. Pleasant, Cardozo / U St., Logan Circle, etc. have a lot more to offer than corporate steakhouses. I still agree it isn't as much of a "great" restaurant city as many you named, but there is more here than you gave DC credit for.
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@Osito "The restaurant scene is still very heavily weighted to steakhouses, corporate concepts and the like, geared towards the transient professional crowd. Not a very innovative environment."
I'm sorry, but unless you actually SPEND TIME in DC (not work trips), you do not have enough information to confidently pronounce this. It is not correct.
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Obelisk and it’s Neapolitan pizza spot, 2 Amy’s have been around for years and are still my go to spots. Incredible wine lists and extraordinary attention to ingredients make these places timeless.
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Last year my hubby traveled to D.C. on business and I tagged along. Neither of us had ever been and we didn't expect much but were delighted with the quality and variety of food. The restaurants were top-notch. One of the highlights was Old Ebbit Grill for lunch one cold afternoon.
More than the food, we were graciously served and felt welcome everywhere we went.
Thank you for this article.
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This article focuses on cruelty-based foods but the D.C. area is great for cruelty-free dining as well.
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@Polaris Shout out to DC's Cedar, which has a meat menu and a vegan menu. The vegan menu is top drawer, the restaurant itself is lovely, and the cocktails are delicious.
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@Polaris It's Washington, D.C. we're talking about here. Of course there's cruelty.