Pay no attention to outsiders’ snickers about steakhouses and lobbyist lunches: Washington, D.C. is a dining destination. The city’s international scene, expansive growth and proximity to the Chesapeake and Mid-Atlantic farmlands and watersheds have made it an irresistible place for chefs to set up shop. Both homegrown talent and national names have contributed to D.C.’s restaurant boom, which shows no sign of slowing as new neighborhoods become food hot spots every year. If you still want to spy boldface names at a power lunch, we’ve got you covered. But within this guide you’ll also discover neighborhood gems, inspired Southeast Asian food, local gelato and many more reasons to eat your way through the nation’s capital.

 

Photo: Scott Suchman

There are a lot of good restaurant burgers in the District, but Garden District’s may be the only one that masters the spirit of the backyard cookout. Open only in warmer seasons, the Logan Circle beer garden is perfectly suited to maximize summer burger appreciation, with sunbaked picnic tables, icy steins of American and German craft beers, and the occasional pie special for dessert. The burger starts with a well-seasoned, hand-formed patty, which Chef Tad Curtz tops with a thin cap of sharp cheddar, ripe tomato, Thousand Island-style sauce and dill pickles, which the kitchen cuts by hand to ensure uniform crunch. The whole lot goes into a buttered, griddled bun that manages to just barely hold itself together, much like the typical family cookout.

 

Photo: Wilson Andrews

When there’s a $50 plate of (lobster) ravioli on the menu and not an empty seat in the house, you know you’re in a D.C. power spot. Though the Fiola Mare dinner is exceptional, we like Fabio and Maria Trabocchi’s seafood-focused Italian dining room best at lunch, preferably with a window seat overlooking the Georgetown waterfront and the Kennedy Center. If you’re dining sans expense account, zone in on the Presto! lunch menu at the bar, which offers your choice of an entree (think spaghetti with clams or grilled calamari with salsa verde) and a cocktail for $22. Or avoid that too-stuffed-to-go-back-to-work predicament with the lightened-up Maria lunch menu, just $28 for three courses. But if you’re on someone else’s dime, we’d spring for that decadent ravioli or the simply grilled whole branzino. 

 

Photo: Greg Powers

You won’t find pad Thai on the menu at Little Serow. The Dupont Circle kitchen, overseen by award-winning D.C. native Johnny Monis, focuses on the spicy, herbaceous Isaan style of Thai food, with no substitutions allowed. Dishes from the ever-changing seven-course menu (a bargain at $45) could include fiery nam prik dip, best scooped up with raw vegetables or house pork rinds, or whiskey-lacquered pork ribs with dill. The tear-inducing heat doesn’t discourage the crowds, who queue up five nights a week, 90 minutes before the 5:30 opening, for a chance at a spot in the small, subterranean space. Cool off with Thai beer or let the vintage-clad servers handle pairings like funky cider, homemade vermouth and wines that wouldn’t seem out of place at Monis’ elegant upstairs restaurant, Komi.