Now on Resy: Joselito, 1789 Restaurant, Tsehay Ethiopian, and More Local Favorites

You might think you’re in Madrid or Seville when you walk into this animated, casually stylish Capitol Hill Spanish place, with its tile floors, café chairs, marble tabletops, walls crowded with vintage photos, and above all, its menu serving just the kind of food you’d get in Spain, from traditional gazpacho and salt cod fritters to fisherman’s rice.

Named for the year Georgetown University was founded, this long-running restaurant from the group behind Clyde’s and Old Ebbitt Grill earns well-deserved classic status for its antique-filled Federalist-era townhouse premises and its 21st-century American-European menu. Don’t miss the escargot croissant with Chartreuse butter and chanterelles. Yes, you read that right.

Next door to its sibling, 1789 Restaurant & Bar, Fitzgerald’s is hardly your typical college-adjacent hangout — not with its plaid-backed bar seats and caramel-brown banquettes, its menu full of tasty twists (Asian pear with the tuna crudo, peanuts with the chicken wings), and its knockout list of rare Japanese whiskies.

Talk about tradition: For more than 60 years old, this neighborhood haunt and collegiate hangout underneath 1789 Restaurant has been an essential part of the Georgetown community — and it’s still the place to come for food you know and love, from nachos to smash burgers to eggplant Parmesan.

Expect elevated but soulful Ethiopian dishes, including fresh teff injera made daily. Family recipes inspire the menu, and it makes all the difference (Michelin’s taken note, too). Everything from the lamb and beef tibs to the vegan platter are not to be missed.

Add this one to your Hit List — a low-key, surprisingly roomy cocktail lounge concealed beneath the beloved Afghan restaurant Lapis, where the coffee is stupendously good, the cocktails weave in Middle Eastern flavors, and the small plates from the Lapis kitchen are just what you want to nibble on.

Chef Jesse Miller works his magic in this historic former old-school bank, teaming up with co-owner Erin Edwards, whom he worked with at Bar Pilar, and industry vet Garrick Lumsden. Expect to dive into satisfying, seasonal takes like winter coconut curry, mom’s meatballs braised in tomato sauce, and roasted pork shoulder tacos, among other selections.

Classic Georgetown dining on the Potomac with stunning views and art to match. Spread out in the sprawling space or outside on the patio for massive shellfish towers, crab cakes, lobster flatbread, and more. When the sun is shining and the sky is blue, family brunch here is an automatic yes.

It would be easy to say everyone goes to the always-buzzing Georgetown bistro for the focaccia — it is perfection — but that would be an egregious simplification. It’s everything: The charming dining room, the wine and well-crafted cocktails, the always affable service, and a tight menu that fluctuates with the seasons. What’s always there: that focaccia, and gorgeous pommes paillasson with crème fraîche and caviar, whether you get the tasting menu or not.

Clyde’s puts the lodge in Tower Oaks Lodge. The woodsy décor includes high-beamed ceilings, big booths, taxidermy, ornate chandeliers, horse paintings, riding objects, and so much more. Like the setting, the menu is classic Americana. Go for crab cakes and steaks, stay for the classic sundae.

It’s everything Rose’s Luxury is downstairs, only more personalized and catered to you and your favorite people, be it friends, family, or someone you invited off the street. The rooftop garden feels like the terrace at your best friend’s apartment, plants, bistro chairs, and all. The food, of course, is way better. There’s a good chance the pork and lychee salad will be at least one of the courses.

Because Barley Mac is for classic comfort food fare and a huge whiskey selection, plus it boasts a huge patio that’s perfect for long hangs (think happy hour through dinner) outside. French onion soup with a blanket of bruléed cheese, big beefy burgers, myriad mac and cheese options, wood-fired pizza, and lots of salad options complete the picture.

Cozy and intimate, this Alexandria bar feels like you’ve fallen through the looking glass. An offshoot of Thai Signature in Old Town, there’s a lot of whimsy here, from the flower-topped mango sticky rice cocktail to the small bites.

After sampling wines around Warrenton, you’ll need something like sweet corn cappelletti, bison short ribs, and seasonal desserts. Farm to table out here in wine country means you’ll have ultra-seasonal specialties that change every time you visit.

The eclectic décor and great patio are conducive to meeting up with friends, throwing back a couple of cocktails (a classic old fashioned is velvety and smooth), and things like burgers with smoky bacon and chili aioli, buttery garlic shrimp, and chocolate lava cake. Brunch is a vibe.

This ornate Adams Morgan destination isn’t your typical steakhouse, and that’s what makes it special. Sure, the menu focuses on seafood and serious meats, but classic dishes and sides from West Africa — an unexpected but perfect complement — are added. Pro tip: After dinner, the Pink Lounge downstairs may just prolong your night with live music, DJ sets, and bottle service.

There’s a lot more going on here than what the exterior building lets on, like a continent of vegetarian Indian specialties that make any group night better. Just about every table has the Gujarati or Rajasthani thali, a daily-changing platter full of sabzis, chutney, daal, rice, bread, and more. Staples, like paneer dishes and samosas, are also go-tos.

The party never stops at this buzzy multilevel Shaw spot, whether it’s for bottomless mimosas and Bailey’s French toast at brunch, or popcorn chicken and cocktails at night.

For well over half a century, this Petworth classic has stood out brilliantly for its no-nonsense Southern cooking — fried chicken, blackened catfish, crab cakes, and more — and friendly home-like atmosphere. Don’t even think about leaving without trying the better-than-mom-ever-made mashed potatoes.

You’ll want to bring your friends and an appetite to this fun, two-level Montreal-accented Adams Morgan rendez-vous, where it’s Champagne, Canadian oysters, and duck confit poutine upstairs — and disco, drinks, and dancing down below.

It’s not everyday that you find a spot where you can pop in for a solo drink and some French onion soup, or a full sushi spread for dinner with friends. But that’s what this South Dupont spot is all about. Cocktails are fun and inventive, and the menu equally so — i.e. don’t knock a fish and chips roll until you try it.

It’s hard to go wrong with a great view, and perched atop the Cambria Hotel, you get eyes over the Capital Riverfront, including Nationals Park and Navy Yard. Take it all in while you sip on a peach old fashioned or butterfly pea-colored gimlets, and share ceviche tostadas, jerk chicken flatbreads, and queso grit croquettes with the table.

Culinary luminary Fabio Trabocchi pays tribute to his native Italy with eight restaurants in the D.C. area and Florida, but this is his flagship — a Michelin-starred destination where both modern and traditional Italian fare are offered in the form of five-course fixed-price menus that’ll make you think you’re in Tuscany or on the Adriatic coast.

Come to Fabio Trabocchi’s elegant salute to Italian fish and shellfish preparations for the power crowd people-watching, the award-winning wine list, the breezy Georgetown waterfront atmosphere, and of course, Trabbochi’s justly celebrated cooking, focused on fresh seafood sourced from three continents.

A sfoglina is a pasta maker, so it’s not surprising that almost all the pastas at this warm and comfortable restaurant from famed chef Fabio Trabocchi (of Fiola and Del Mar) are made in-house. Keep your eyes peeled for seldom-seen specialties from the chef’s native Le Marche region and such Trabocchi signatures as braised beef agnolotti with truffle pesto.

Book the Van Ness and Rosslyn locations, too.

Here’s something you might not expect: A vibrant, traditional Spanish restaurant from Italian star chef Fabio Trabocchi. You’ll find a stunning interior (custom light fixtures, glowing murals, hand-crafted furniture) and a menu that ranges from jamón ibérico and classic tapas to grilled seafood and an assortment of paellas.

The Neapolitan pizza at this Georgetown fixture was certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, meaning it does everything to be as authentic as possible to make its thin-crust, bubbly pies. Of course it’s so much more than that, from excellent antipasti to soul-affirming lasagna and tiramisu.