We all know the trope about ordering chicken at a nice restaurant: It’s a polite entrée to get, because it’s usually the cheapest. That all changed in the early 2000s when chefs began obsessing over creating a roast chicken that a home cook never could—think heritage birds worthy of a Portlandia sketch, wood-fired ovens, and housemade butter rubs—and charging accordingly.
These days, chefs are taking a more casual approach to chicken. Moon Rabbit’s Kevin Tien slings Nashville hot-chicken sandwiches at Hot Lola’s. Carey and Yuan Tang run the takeout-only Side Chick out of their hit Falls Church restaurant, Ellie Bird. Here’s a look at two notable chef-driven newcomers, both on Capitol Hill.
Bumblebirds
Eighteen years ago, Carla Hall competed on Top Chef. The DC-based former hotel chef, caterer, and Howard University grad didn’t win, but she became the most famous of the show’s alumni in large part due to her charming personality. She spent seven years as a cohost of an ABC talk show. Her first and only restaurant, the Nashville-style hot-chicken shop in Brooklyn she opened in 2016, lasted barely more than a year. (Hall cited its out-of-the-way location and staffing issues as reasons for the closure.)
Now she’s betting big on fried chicken again. Bumblebirds, a sunny, folksy fast-casual place in the former Good Stuff Eatery space, opened in March for a six-month test run. If it does well, it’ll stay put, though Hall recently hinted it might close, which would be too bad. Because even if you’re asking yourself whether DC really needs yet another place for a honey-butter-soaked fried-chicken sandwich, I’d say it’s off to a good start.
I appreciate that the strawberry lemonade tastes more like berries than simple syrup and that the massive chicken tenders come with a perfect honey mustard. A scoop of pimiento cheese could have been plucked from a Carolina kitchen (its accompanying slices of dried biscuit not so much). At night, there are elderflower juleps and boozy iced teas from Andra “AJ” Johnson, formerly of Serenata.
Hall’s fried-chicken sandwiches are big and unapologetically drippy (I had to clean all my rings when I got home) but held together with sturdy brioche buns. They’re also $12, which seems like a steal at a time when $18 sandos are commonplace. Still, the most important part is the bird. It gets a dry brine that includes a tenderizing powdered vinegar, and the trick works: The thighs emerge from the fryer juicy, nicely crunchy, and not too salty.
The sandwiches I’d happily return for include the OG Bumble, layered with peppery slaw, pickles, and Havarti; a Buffalo-wing homage heavy on the blue cheese and celery-leaf slaw; and, yes, a honey-butter-gilded version. The one I’d skip: the lone vegetarian option, with vinegary fried mushrooms. (A side of bland fried chicken skins was disappointing, too.)
You can get any sandwich with grilled chicken, which is fine but somehow feels like sacrilege here.
Little Engine
Rob Sonderman might not have the same level of name-brand recognition that Hall does, but he is the culinary mind behind some seriously popular DC joints, including the urban barbecue pioneer Federalist Pig and the Petworth fried-chicken bar Honeymoon Chicken. The financial backer behind his latest spot might ring more of a bell: Jeff Zeints, Joe Biden’s former Covid czar, who also helped get Call Your Mother off the ground.
Sonderman grew up near his little rotisserie shop, which is decorated with ’90s relics like videotapes and CDs. And it feels like 2026’s answer to the late local chain Chicken Out—a Clinton-era staple for reliable takeout. Scrambling to figure out a weeknight dinner that’ll feed the family and not horrify your cardiologist? Sonderman wants to be your guy. The $42 “Family Van” takeout package, centered around a whole chicken, will feed four.
Some chickens here have been more memorable than others. Sonderman coats his birds with smoked paprika and other spices for up to two days before giving them a spin in the rotisserie. One night’s chicken leaned dry and salty but was saved by a bright jalapeño-lime sauce, which is so good it deserves to be bottled. On another two visits, the bird was far better. It was helped by the savory-sweet “Hazel’s magic dust,” one of three finishing rubs you can opt for.
Wings, big and meaty, are fried and can be either dry-rubbed or (a better bet) sheened with, say, Buffalo sauce or a sticky garlic glaze. Grab some of the housemade ranch and more of that jalapeño-lime sauce.
Most of the sides lean healthy, such as a piquantly spiced carrot slaw, a cucumber-tomato salad, or sautéed snap peas with salsa macha. Only one is truly memorable: big, golden-fried hushpuppies studded with sweet corn and scallions. Sonderman’s secret? Another sprinkling of that magic dust.
Bumblebirds
location_on303 Pennsylvania Ave., SE
languageWebsite
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
Neighborhood: Capitol Hill.
Dress: You’ll see a lot of suits because of its location, but anything goes.
Best dishes: OG Bumble, Buffalo & Blue, and Sassy Honey Bird sandwiches; chicken tenders; pimiento cheese.
Price range: Starters and sides $6 to $15, sandwiches $12 to $15.
Bottom line: DC’s fried-chicken-sandwich scene is crowded, but Carla Hall’s entrant is a worthy competitor.
Little Engine
location_on250 Seventh St., SE
languageWebsite
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
Neighborhood: Eastern Market.
Dress: As casual as you want.
Best dishes: Rotisserie chicken with “Hazel’s magic dust” and jalapeño-lime sauce; hushpuppies; barbecue and Buffalo wings.
Price range: Sides $5 to $8, chicken plates $10 to $22.50.
Bottom line: A rotisserie spot that aims (and mostly deserves) to be part of your regular dinner rotation.
This article appears in the June 2026 issue of Washingtonian.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
