The Resy Hit List: Where In D.C. You’ll Want to Eat Right Now

Providencia is more than a cocktail bar — it’s a gathering place to enjoy rotating secret menus, seasonal specials and guest chef collaborations. Co-owners Erik Bruner-Yang, Paola Velez, Pedro Tobar, and Daniel Gonzalez came together to entice guests to experience one of the city’s most intimate dining spots, with just 22 seats. Dare we say this is the sweetest bar in D.C. too? Bright, cute, and comfy — like any neighborhood bar should be — and with an even sweeter menu thanks to signature dessert dishes like a Baked Alaska with shaved ice, and cocktails like the Lights of the Night Market, a gin-mezcal sour with pandan. We especially love this partnership because it allows Velez to bring her creative cultural storytelling to a new physical space.

One of 2024’s most highly lauded restaurants, with good reason. Wife-and-husband team Isabel Coss and Matt Conroy of Lutèce  created an intimate Mexican restaurant in Capitol Hill in what was formerly a barbecue shop. The space is reminiscent of one of Mexico’s beach-chic eateries, and all that remains of the barbecue joint is the smell of wood-fired coals. Dishes that take on those smoky flavors include lamb-neck barbacoa, and tacos al pastor with each tortilla made in house. And don’t miss the parsnip tamal, with its spice-rich mole blanco. While seating is limited to indoors, there are bar seats for walk-in visits and plans for a patio, should a mezcal margarita be calling your name.

D.C. has an abundance of Ethiopian restaurants, but what if you had to pick just one? Then it must be Tsehay, if only to sample the doro wat and kitfo, arguably the city’s best, not to mention the fresh teff injera made daily. Ask almost any D.C. cab driver, and they will tell you Tsehay is their top pick, too. It’s especially a go-to if you are looking for a vegetarian or vegan-friendly option, with a hefty combo platter that includes seven different vegetables and legumes, from freshly stewed collards (gomen) to spicy red lentils (misir).

New York City restaurateur Keith McNally’s has brought his cherished Greenwich Village tavern to D.C. with all the elements that made the original such a hit: dark woods, aged photos, a gorgeous hand-painted mural over red leather banquettes, and tables close enough to join into conversation. Let’s not forget the American-meets-French menu: favorites include the Black Label burger, roasted bone marrow, French onion soup, coq au vin, and a perfect Vesper that will make you weep. Just don’t forget to make your way to the bar upstairs.

Kensington was once a sleepy Maryland suburb but has recently become a hotbed of restaurant activity, including these wood-fired pizzas. They emerge piping hot, deep golden to mahogany brown with an intended bubbly, charred (not burnt) crust. The menu features a half-dozen red and white pies, with a catalogue of extra toppings for personalizing to your preference, plus homemade focaccia, and desserts like a triple chocolate flourless brownie.

Chef Suresh Sundas of Daru has opened a second Indian-ish restaurant along H Street, and people are clamoring to grab a seat. The menu combines all of his experiences in cooking street fare from markets across India that he frequents — everything from kebabs to lotus root chaat. But Nepalese dishes are also on the menu thanks to the talents of chef Baburam Sharma, who joined this effort and has been cooking for nearly two decades in Nepal. What originally started as a long-distance Zoom collaboration eventually turned to what we see today at Tapori, a menu with Himalayan-style dosas, momos, and pani puri.

U Street has a new Ethiopian restaurant with a side of jazz, art, and storytelling nights. The menu is filled with traditional dishes, and each bite tells a story. Take for instance the essential berbere-spiced chicken stew known as doro wat, Ethiopia’s national dish (and understandably so). But there’s plenty more to love, including exceptional plant-based specialties and seafood entrées to vibrant communal vegetable platters.

Chef Pepe Moncayo (of Cranes D.C. fame) recently opened his red-hot restaurant Arrels in the new Arlo hotel. The menu honors his Spanish family and personal travels across the Iberian Peninsula. Diners will immediately be drawn in by the heat of this kitchen. The restaurant features a state-of-the-art charcoal grill, infusing dishes with smoky flavors. Early contenders for top dishes include Spanish classics like seafood paella, croquetas, and churros with Espelette pepper chocolate sauce. Moncayo also uses some of his mother’s recipes, including a Catalan dish with rabbit shoulder, carrots and artichokes, served in a broth that is emblematic of the rustic warmth of Spanish home cooking.

We can’t think of another quintessential neighborhood restaurant in The District quite like Tail Up Goat. If you’ve been paying attention, you may have noticed that chef Jon Sybert‘s menu options are refreshed for a new year. New and red-hot dishes include the Nashville hot sweetbreads with shiso ranch and pickles served on chef Aiden McGuiggin’s milk bread. Or a dish that screams Maryland-fresh: Chesapeake Bay rockfish with perfectly crisp skin, served with sunchoke, lentils, celery, and dates. And when she’s not baking bread, McGuiggin is churning out decadent desserts like layered chocolate cake. You’ll want to mint yourself as a regular.

This Japanese culinary collection from internationally celebrated chef Makoto Okuwa, part of a giant food hall, plays host to a full-service sushi omakase experience for dinner, featuring “new school” and “old school” sushi techniques, plus an omakase express lunch, and plenty of à la carte options like hand rolls and Japanese A5 wagyu that you grill over a tableside hot stone. Need something sweet after dinner? Head to the back of the food hall and order one of the many heart-shaped donuts offered at Love on the Run. This menu is available for donuts to go. Plus, just in time for spring blossoms, Love, Makoto recently introduced a Hanami Picnic for $55. It includes 16 pieces of sushi, two cherry blossom donuts, a seaweed salad, and bottles of Ramune, a Japanese fizzy lemonade.

Ama brings the essence of Northern Italy to the Navy Yard. Chef Johanna Hellrigl and husband Micah Wilder have pulled from regions around the Ligurian Sea and the “Pale Mountains” of Alto Adige to create a dining experience that is inviting and unrushed. Mornings begin with Caffè Vergnano espresso “al banco” and a delicately flaky cornetto, followed by focaccia Genovese sandwiches and seasonal salads. As the sun sets, Wilder has conjured up spritzes, seltzers, and carbonated frozen drinks to complement signature Northern Italian flavors and dishes, including Tyrolean knödel and Ligurian langoustines.

This Francophile’s dream has all the requisites: beef tartare, mussels, seared hanger steak with wispy, crisp frites, and Niçoise salad. The long and airy space is the perfect date night option. The restaurant is unfussy and vibey, just what you want when enjoying an earthy Côtes du Rhône or a Frenchified cocktail.

Most omakase experiences put an emphasis on an experience where you have to whisper if you talk. Not at Kiyomi, which is a sushi bar smack-dab in the middle of The Square food hall in downtown D.C. This is more of a sushi party, with ’90s pop playing in the background as you savor fresh cuts of monkfish, fatty tuna, and uni in successive pairings. This counter is also one of the best bargains in the city for a quick omakase at lunch. Seven pieces of sushi, hand roll, and miso soup by chef Masa Uchi are available Monday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 pm at $40 per person.

Chef Alfredo Solis (of Mezcalero and El Sol fame) took this lively Columbia Heights Mexican seafood restaurant to new heights with an expanded menu that includes pizzas inspired by the Mexican coasts. Think pies topped with chicken mole or chile relleno, alongside classic seafood dishes like shrimp aguachile, fish tacos, and pulpo a la diabla. Cocktails are similarly fresh and dynamic, with options ranging from a paloma infused with ancho chile to a sotol-based jungle bird.

Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj of the Knightsbridge Restaurant Group is at it again with the grand opening of Rosedale, designed to be a neighborhood gathering place. The giant U-shaped bar is the perfect perch to make new friends and overhear conversation, or opt for the sleek and formal dining room, more casual outdoor patio space, or private dining room. The menu reads new American, with rotating specials including a rotisserie chicken, potato and smoked cheddar croquettes, and grilled Rhode Island squid with ginger sabayon. Don’t overlook sides like the charred carrots with pickled onion and mustard. And pizzas range from traditional to playful (see: Across the Aisle, with bacon, fig jam, and ricotta).

Book it to Beth’s for date night in Bethesda. This swanky new restaurant from Deniz and Celal Gulluoglu (with ala | DC in Dupont Circle) recently opened an all-purpose restaurant, great for date nights, but also family dinners, business lunches, or weekend brunch. The menu features Maryland-sourced seafood and dishes that reinterpret American staples. The bites section of the menu includes Chesapeake Bay-style crab dip, plus seafood tacos, and a hefty smash burger.