Ben’s Chili Bowl

What is there left to say about the Chili Bowl? Its history in the civil-rights movement, its survival through riots and gentrification, its legendary nonagenarian matriarch, Virginia Ali—this is one of DC’s most enduring restaurants. And for many Washingtonians, one bite of a chili half-smoke here induces Proustian nostalgia. After a period of renovations during which the original location was relegated to a less soulful storefront across U Street, the revamped Ben’s is set to open in late April.

 

The Bombay Club

The definition of a Washington power-lunch spot, Ashok Bajaj’s Indian dining room by the White House has been serving refined curries and thalis to a Brooks Brothers crowd for nearly 40 years. Though it may have been eclipsed in the hearts of foodies by other downtown South Asian spots—including Bajaj’s own Rasika—the chandeliered place still feels singular in its quiet elegance.

 

Carlyle

This crown jewel of the Great American Restaurants chain, which opened 40 years ago alongside the rest of the Village at Shirlington, still nails the formula that made its tables so coveted back in the day. The dining room, while a bit faded, is comfy and filled with spacious booths. Service is eager and accommodating. Cocktails are under $12. And the food? Yeah, it feels a little focus-grouped—you might recognize the marinated rib eye and chocolate waffle from the menu at its siblings—but it’s crowd-pleasing for sure.

 

Deli City

This slightly shabby time capsule on an unlovely stretch of Bladensburg Road is a ticket to an older, unpretentious DC. Commendable pastrami on rye with potato salad—or a scrapple-and-egg breakfast—somehow tastes even better in a sunlit, wood-paneled space decorated with “Washington Redskins” memorabilia, photos of Janet and Michael Jackson, a still from Sanford and Son, and a presidential-history calendar that ends with Obama’s first term.

 

The Hitching Post

This laid-back Southern-food institution in Petworth is the kind of place where even introverts can’t help but chat up the tables around them. It’s gone through some changes since it opened back in 1967—founders Al and Adrienne Carter sold it to Barry Dindyal in 2012—and you can now pregame your crabcakes with a palak chaat. But the fried chicken is as crackly and satisfying as ever, and sides like potato salad, slaw, and cornbread are just as tasty.

 

Huong Viet

Founded in 1987, this is the longest-running Vietnamese restaurant in Falls Church’s Eden Center. The sprawling menu features nearly 200 dishes, including good renditions of bánh xèo (crispy crepes filled with shrimp, pork, and bean sprouts) and spicy lemongrass beef noodle soup. Other signatures such as sweet-lacquered roasted quail and bubbling caramelized-fish hot pot have helped keep the red-boothed dining room consistently humming over the years. One notable relic of the past: The place still accepts only cash.

 

Il Pizzico

Step from a nondescript Rockville strip mall into this white-tablecloth dining room and you’re transported to the early ’90s, a golden era of upscale Tuscan-leaning cuisine. You’ll find gracious service plus a bucatini amatriciana and fettuccine with veal ragu that still hit all the right notes 35 years later. After rib-sticking secondi such as braised short ribs over polenta, save room for the chocolate mousse, its plate drizzled with raspberry sauce for a wink of ’90s flair. Love notes from happy diners are clothes-pinned to the restroom walls —“Always fabulous!”—and we happily added ours.

 

Jaleo

José Andrés’s original DC restaurant, now in its fourth decade in Penn Quarter, still serves up a lively scene and satisfying tapas such as a perfect pan con tomate and juicy shrimp bubbling with slivered garlic. On a recent visit, we couldn’t get enough of the rossejat, toasted broken noodles with seafood that hit all the best paella notes in a smaller skillet. Finish with the Basque cheesecake, gorgeously caramelized until almost burnt, but ultra-creamy in the center.

 

La Chaumière

Escargots sizzling in herb butter to sop up with crusty bread. Delicate sole meunière that needs little more than a squeeze of lemon. Rosy medium-rare beef medallions. You can order bistro classics at cooler places around town, with more interesting sides than mashed potatoes piped onto nearly every plate, but La Chaumière still does them justice after half a century in Georgetown. French country specialties like quenelles de brochet—fluffy fish dumplings in lobster sauce—round out the retro offerings.

 

La Ferme

Inside this farmhouse restaurant tucked into a residential neighborhood, you’ll find the same lace curtains, wood beams, thick tablecloths, and bow-tied servers that have defined it since the mid-’80s. Also unchanged: nicely executed classics like onion soup, endive salad, trout amandine, sole meunière, and fluffy soufflés. A well-heeled old guard fills the dining room nightly, while a new generation of neighborhood regulars—now roughly the same age as the restaurant—holds court at the bar.

 

L’Auberge Chez François

It’s easy to forget that the original Chez François opened near the White House in 1954. In 1976, owner François Haeringer moved it to this cozy Tudor cottage, where it feels a world away from official Washington. Haeringer’s son Jacques now runs the kitchen but has largely stayed true to his late father’s vision: The lobster with Sauternes sauce, choucroute garni, Chateaubriand, and Grand Marnier soufflé taste as good as they did decades ago. Don’t be alarmed when you see the $100-plus entrée prices—they include your entire meal, from appetizer to salad to dessert.

 

Le Refuge

At a recent lunch at this charming 43-year-old Old Town bistro, the lights dimmed and “Sixteen Candles” played to celebrate an octogenarian’s birthday. We’d happily spend ours here, too, lingering over frog’s legs glossed in garlic butter and soulful coq au vin with creamy scalloped potatoes. An asparagus salad with smoked trout makes an ideal starter or a light lunch. For dessert, blow out the candles over classic crème brûlée or a slice of chocolate-mousse cake.

 

Mangialardo and Sons

Where’s the best Italian sub in the area? It’s a question we get all the time. The answer is this closet-size deli, which started as an Italian grocery and has been serving the Hill lunch crowd for more than 70 years. The sandwiches aren’t fancy but are constructed on fresh rolls, with paper-thin meats, crisp lettuce, and vinegary peppers, all layered in perfect proportion.

 

Nam-Viet

Cofounder Nguyen Van Thoi was an interpreter for the US Army during the Vietnam War who was captured and sent to a reeducation camp. He and his wife, Ngoc Anh Tran, the chef of the family, eventually emigrated to Arlington and opened this Vietnamese restaurant in 1986. Nam-Viet became well known for its spring rolls (still among the best around) but also as a reunion hub for former POWs (among them, the late senator John McCain). “Mr. Thoi,” as he was known, died in 2005, and “Mrs. Thoi” is semiretired. The restaurant is now run by their son, Richard Nguyen, who’s updated the menu with new dishes, craft cocktails, and a viral Vietnamese iced coffee served with Pokémon-shaped ice.

 

Old Ebbitt Grill

Wander into this dining room near the White House around 5 pm and we challenge you to find an empty table or bar seat. In 2025, the saloon-like spot was the fourth-highest-grossing restaurant in the country and sent out nearly 620,000 meals. While it tends to be written off by locals as a tourist trap, it actually gets a lot right. The famous raw bar is still worth visiting, but the kitchen excels with nicely crusty oysters Rockefeller and lemon-spritzed crab dip, too. The burger is thick and satisfying, and the bar shakes up a mean margarita.

 

Panjshir

The slow-cooked, soul-warming Silk Road fare at this suburban institution—opened in 1985 by Aziz Niazy and predating the region’s Afghan food boom—is now stewarded by Niazy’s children, Esmat and Maria. Some dishes—such as stewed lamb with pumpkin or baked apples and prunes, served alongside rice layered with candied carrots and raisins—lean sweet, but a shot of yogurt or green chutney keeps things lively.

 

Peking Gourmet Inn

The walls are crammed with portraits of noteworthy guests who have visited this Chinese-American stalwart over the decades, from Bill Clinton to Robert De Niro to, more recently, Tiffany Trump. The main draw here is Peking duck, carved tableside and served with housemade crepes, ready to roll up with hoisin sauce, julienned cucumber, and slivers of spring onion. Other popular dishes with heaping portions include the sweet and crispy Szechuan beef and jumbo fried salt-and-pepper shrimp with crunchy garlic.

 

Perry’s

This 42-year-old Adams Morgan restaurant served very traditional Japanese cuisine when Saied Azali first began working there as a server and manager. He and the restaurant’s accountant later bought the place, and over the years it has served Spanish tapas, functioned as a nightclub, and hosted DC’s first drag brunch, which continues today. More recently, it’s gained acclaim far beyond the neighborhood, thanks to chef Masako Morishita’s modern takes on Japanese comfort food, such as garlic edamame dumplings showered in Parmesan and shrimp-katsu burgers with egg salad.

 

Ristorante Tosca

Owner Paolo Sacco’s downtown power spot of the early aughts remains packed with suits at lunch a quarter century later. Order delicate agnolotti stuffed with short rib or juicy Parmesan-crusted chicken milanese and you’ll quickly taste why. A post-pandemic refresh brought an airier, more relaxed look with a handsome marble bar, but gracious formal service and white tablecloths remain.

 

Saints Paradise Cafeteria

Hidden in plain sight, the cafeteria of the United House of Prayer for All People has been serving a rotating selection of soul-food lunch specials cooked by congregants for about 60 years. Enter the church from a nondescript side door and line up at the steam table for fried whiting, smothered pork chops, meatloaf, liver and onions, mac and cheese, collard greens, candied yams, cornbread, or whatever looks good that day.

 

Shamshiry

On a busy night at this 33-year-old Tysons kebab spot, it feels as if an entire social scene from 1970s Tehran has been reconstituted here. Impressive heaps of steaming Persian rice, topped with shards of crispy tahdig from the bottom of the pot, are almost as much of a draw as the meat itself. One favorite pairing is salmon kebab with fluffy dill-and-fava-bean polo. And don’t forget dessert: stretchy saffron ice cream with rose syrup.

 

Sushiko

DC’s first sushi restaurant opened in Glover Park in the ’70s and expanded with a second location in Friendship Heights nearly 30 years later. While the original closed in 2013, its suburban sibling carries on signatures such as Tuna Five Ways. Chef/owners Piter and Handry Tjan keep things fresh with omakase tastings of lesser-known fish and creative yet balanced rolls like the Element—tuna tartare, potato crisps, avocado, and red onion tucked into soy paper.

 

Taberna del Alabardero

Many Washingtonians first encountered authentic Spanish cooking at this downtown standard-bearer, where the service remains formal and attentive. Nearly 40 years on, tapas such as croquetas with serrano ham, tortilla de patatas, and gazpacho are textbook traditional and full of flavor. One paella is an umami-packed showstopper, with beautifully cooked seafood and squid-ink-black rice spooned tableside from the pan at a tufted banquette.

 

Tachibana

Tachibana was among the first crop of Japanese restaurants in the area when it opened in Arlington in 1982, and it’s been a mainstay of McLean since relocating there in 1996. The affordable, family-friendly dining room hasn’t veered from tradition over the years. You won’t find crazy fusion rolls or luxe omakase offerings, but the wide-ranging menu offers a solid selection of nigiri and classic rolls, tempura, udon and soba noodles, and other chef’s specials ranging from broiled yellowtail jaw to monkfish-liver pâté.

 

Teddy’s Roti Shop

This low-key Caribbean institution has been one of the area’s few purveyors of Indian-influenced Trinidadian dishes such as roti, buss-up shut (a torn flatbread), and doubles (chickpea fritters) since it opened in 1994. Last year, Teddy’s moved from its distinctive rowhouse space on upper Georgia Avenue to a more central location in Park View. The oxtails, curried chickpeas, and heady Scotch-bonnet sauce remain unchanged.

This article appears in the May 2026 issue of Washingtonian.