The September Hit List: Makan, RedRocks, Rasika, and More

Serving up Creekstone beef Juicy Lucys, Scorpion Bowls, and Drag Bingo — Slash Run truly gets us. To complement their supreme burgers, there are all things fried, like buttermilk brined chicken nuggets, waffle fries, and PBR battered pickle spears with horseradish ranch. The bar isn’t playing around either, whether you’re into Main Beer Co. IPAs on draft, or a blackberry Widow Jane bourbon smash, or tallboy and rye combos for bottom dollar, Slash Run has got you covered. Be sure to check out their calendar, featuring everything from rock shows and karaoke, to a true-crime book swap happy hour and Betamax Video Club movie night.

There’s cheap beer, frozen cocktails and Malaysian food specials, while your dog lets loose at the dog run out front during Makan’s “Yappy Hour,” and we’re here for it. Boozy Jungle Birds and fried yucca with fresh coconut and crispy fried anchovy, chile, and tamarind sambal is a strong play. Come with a hungry squad to share everything from spicy & sour mango salad to tropical beef Rendang curry. Meanwhile their ginger, galangal, and shrimp paste-infused bloody mary (or topped off with Vasen calamansi sour tallboys), with Penang street noodles are the final boss of brunch.

Spinach and artichoke dip, wood-fired pizzas, and saisons on the patio at RedRocks (or inside their cozy Columbia Heights rowhouse when the weather gets hairy) is what we look forward to all week. Shaved fennel salad, roasted brussels sprouts in anchovy-pepper sauce, and meatballs al forno makes our ideal spread to start. Among their pizzas, we’re keen on the Funghi, Verde — resembling a carnitas taco, and, trigger warning, the Ananas, topped with crispy prosciutto and pineapple. Or come through at brunch for breakfast calzones and mezcal Bloody Marias.

If you want to exorcise forever that recent hooey about Indian cuisine being “based on one spice,” might we suggest dinner at Rasika, where chef Vikram Sunderam shows peerless dedication to showcasing the vast regional expressions of Indian cuisine? Consider such dishes as the Punjabi tandoori lamb chops, scented with mace, cardamom, and ginger; a pungent Bengali mustard and green chile curry of lobster; or a luscious smoked duck, cashew, and foie gras galouti — a modern take on the delicacy of the Mughal court. And be sure to accompany said dishes with a parallel tasting menu of their flatbreads, including savory onion and sage naan, goat cheese kulcha, and laminated pastry-like mint paratha. Unless, of course, you don’t like flavor.

Once you taste Pho Viet’s signature spicy lemongrass broth phở, we promise not to tell your former spot that you’ve rebounded and are not looking back. Snag a table on their lush garden patio, and go for the extra-spicy broth to sweat out last night’s excessive negronis. Be sure to order a round of cool summer rolls (rice paper stuffed with shrimp, vermicelli, fresh herbs, and sprouts), and a trio of tempura shrimp, sweet potato, and vegetables for the table. There’s delectable vermicelli bowls too, like the grilled honey lemongrass pork with crispy egg rolls dressed with basil, cucumber, pickled carrots, and nước chấm sauce, to complicate decisions.

Did you really think we were through the margarita season? Not a chance — so we’re heading to Espita for happy hour (until 6 p.m. daily), then on to dinner. For starters, we’re craving their chilled mussels and cucumber salad with guajillo cream, and the hamachi crudo wallowing in avocado puree, salsa macha, and habanero ice. Then on to mole: think hanger steak with three-day mole negro, or a Flintstones-sized pork shank confit with mole manchamanteles and pickled red cabbage, all served with their lovely tortillas, housemade from heirloom corn. And don’t sleep on their over 100 bottle deep selection of mezcals.

Sometimes all you need is a CoronaRita with chips and salsa, and a pupusa and tamale combo platter on the patio to get through your day. Welcome to El Rinconcito — where the pupusas are generously stuffed and well-griddled, served with a vibrant salsa roja and golden (annatto tinged) curtido slaw for the ideal bright and vinegary tang. Also trust on chimichangas, fried yucca and XL hunks of crispy pork belly, and their Salvadoran seafood soup overflowing with shrimp, mussels, squid, and crab.

Whether for their succulent binchotan grilled kushiyaki skewers, or a decadent butter-poached Maine lobster yakisoba, or fabulous sashimi made with latest imports from Tsukiji Fish Market, Shibuya Eatery keeps us coming back for more. Be sure to catch their daily happy hour, from 4-7 p.m. and enjoy half priced koji cured chicken kushiyaki. Or choose your own adventure with a bento box (think broiled eel, grilled Japanese eggplant with sweet miso, and housemade kimchi). Their full menu is also served upstairs at Death Punch — a sort of divey Japanese biker bar with nicer bathrooms, a handsome pool table, and DJs spinning on weekend nights.

Maybe you’re over the “roaring twenties” bacchanal of this summer, and looking for proper drinks and civil atmosphere, perhaps a certain chic candle-lit cocktail lounge, we have good news: The Gibson has returned. Reserve an intimate red velvet lined booth inside and sip a Belvedere Weather Station (their riff on the boulevardier), or take in the fresh air and moonlight on their greenhouse patio and have a Bittered Rye Sling. And keep an eye out for the inimitable Chantal Tseng, who will resume her Literary Cocktails residency at The Gibson.

The Popal family (proprietors of Lapis, Lutece, and the Berliner) more than most understand the existential plight of Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban, as the Popals too fled Afghanistan amid the Soviet invasion during the ’80s and ultimately made Washington their new home. At Lapis, Chef Shamim Popal serves a modern homage to the food of their childhood in Kabul. Their bolani — a fried pumpkin-filled pastry, crunchy pakowras, and aushak dumplings filled with leeks, split peas, and beef to start are a must. Follow with eggplant buranee with tomato demi-glace and mint-yogurt sauce, and spicy grilled lamb chaplee kabab. We’re also hooked on their salted cucumber and mint yogurt soda, and a shot of bourbon in your iced cardamom black tea chai doesn’t hurt either.

Call 202-299-9630 for reservations.