Non-Exhaustive Recommended Food List (asterisk means personal favorite of Josh)
View recommendations on the map or listed by neighborhoods below.
Near the Library of Congress:
- We the Pizza
- District Taco
- Hank’s Oyster House (affordable and excellent Chesapeake seafood)*
- Pret a Manger (sandwiches to go)
- Firehook Bakery (coffee)
- Le Pain Quotidien (coffee and sandwiches)
- Rose’s Luxury (hip restaurant, several hour wait to get in)
- Sonoma
- Sweetgreen
- Santa Rosa Taqueria
- Talay Thai
- Sushi Capitol (fantastic!)
- Good Stuff Eatery
- Bullfeathers
- Hawk n’ Dove
- Stanton & Greene
Nearby in Penn Quarter:
Quick Sandwiches:
- Taylor Gourmet (cheese steaks and deli sandwiches)
- Luke’s Lobster
- Teaism (healthy eating with loose leaf teas)*
- Paul Bakery (French bakery with good sandwiches)
- Red Apron Butcher (meat sandwiches)
- Shake Shack (popular NYC burger joint, long lines)
Restaurants (advance reservation very highly recommended):
- Rasika (nationally-ranked fusion Indian food)*
- Oyamel (Mexican tapas)
- Zaytinya (Mediterranean tapas)
- Jaleo (Spanish tapas, won a James Beard Award)
- barmini (extremely expensive)
- Proof (expensive but good New American cuisine)
- Sei (fusion Japanese)
- Graffiato (Top Chef contestant Italian food)
- Daikaya Izakaya (ramen)
Additional Recommendations:
Union Market:
- Rappahannock Oyster Bar (best Chesapeake oysters and crab cakes in DC, no reservation needed)*
- TaKorean (Korean tacos)
- Red Apron Butcher and Bar (meat sandwiches)
- Neopol Smoked Fish (outstanding smoked fish sandwiches)*
- Masseria (hip Italian restaurant next door to the market)
Logan Circle/U Street:
- Le Diplomate (outstanding bistro French)*
- Estadio (Spanish tapas)
- Ben’s Chili Bowl (famous sausage storefront, not worth the wait if there’s a long line)
- Dukem (famous Ethiopian restaurant)*
- Etete (famous Ethiopian restaurant)
- Tico (fusion Mexican/New American)
- Busboys and Poets (good diner food)
- Compass Rose (fusion tapas from multiple cuisines)
- Amsterdam Falafel (to-go)*
- Pearl Dive (Chesapeake seafood, no reservations taken, very busy)*
- Eat the Rich (Chesapeake seafood, bar and counters for eating)
- Church Key/Birch and Barley (beer taverns, same building/owners)
- Mockingbird Hill (great sherry bar with ham and cheese plates)*
- Doi Moi (Southeast Asian fusion)
Foggy Bottom:
- Founding Farmers* (great local farm-sourced food, long lines)
- Rasika West End
- Old Ebbitt Grill (touristy, but not bad)
- Teaism (healthy eating with loose leaf tea)
Columbia Heights
- Meridian Pint (great beer bar with good food)*
- El Chucho (affordable Mexican bar food)
- Gloria’s Pupuceria (affordable and delicious El Salvadorian food)*
- Bad Saint (hip Filipino restaurant, long lines)
- Thip Khao (hip Laotian restaurant, long lines)