Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington’s Summer Restaurant Week is almost here—it runs from Monday, August 24 through Sunday, August 30—and there are over 300 dining spots offering $25-$35 lunches and brunches and $40-$65 (and up) dinners. Need help narrowing? Here’s what places on our 2026 100 Very Best Restaurants list—plus a few favorite newcomers—are doing. Find elusive $40 dinner menus, lavish seven-course prix fixes, laidback family-style feasts, bottomless brunches, and more.
All-Purpose
1250 Ninth St., NW
This Shaw destination for Jersey-style pizza is serving a $40 dinner menu centered around a pie—the 10 options include the Godfather, with Italian sausage, chilies, onion, and pickled peppers, and the Sedgwick, a white pizza drizzled with truffle honey. There are a few pizzas on the $35 brunch menu, which is two courses plus a drink (you can make it bottomless for $10 more).
Amparo Fondita
2002 P St., NW
Dupont’s all-day Mexican restaurant grinds its own corn for the tortillas that are the foundation of several of its dishes. At its $65 dinner, they include crunchy tortillas with sunfish ceviche, seared pork belly tacos with grilled fruit, and pan-seared fish with mole verde. Dessert is flan or tres leches cake, and there’s an optional $35 wine/agave pairing. The $35 three-course brunch features huevos rancheros , breakfast tacos with chorizo, and Greek yogurt with amaranth granola and papaya.
Anju
1805 18th St., NW
There are $35 brunches and $65 Restaurant Week dinners at this mod-Korean favorite, but there’s an even better deal on Thursday, August 27. It’s the restaurant’s seventh anniversary, and several dishes—kimbap, ramen with 2Fifty brisket, and its famed Korean fried chicken—will be $7. There’s a shortlist of $7 cocktails, too.
Annabelle
2132 Florida Ave., NW
This quietly elegant Dupont dining room is serving a $65 dinner menu with several turn-of-the-season choices, from heirloom-tomato carpaccio and watermelon gazpacho to mushroom risotto with hazelnuts and roast chicken with chanterelles. Dessert is tiramisu profiteroles, Key lime cheesecake, or chocolate cake with hazelnut buttercream.
Barbouzard
1700 K St., NW
And the Restaurant Week dish of the summer is…gazpacho. At this Riviera-inspired downtown restaurant, though, a yellow-tomato version is upgraded with tomato sorbet and panzanella. Other appetizers on Cedric Maupillier’s $65 dinner menu include a half dozen oysters, grilled whole calamari, and leek-and-artichoke salad with bottarga. Main courses range from steamed salmon with buttermilk dashi and grilled dorade with fennel pollen and tomato confit to Provencale daube de boeuf and Wagyu roast beef with peppercorn/brandy sauce.
Brasero Atlantico
1066 Wisconsin Ave., NW
This Buenos Aires export, which opened last fall, was the first in a mini-wave of Georgetown steakhouses. We’ve had the best luck here with dishes that evoke the place’s Argentinian roots, and the $65 dinner menu includes ossobuco empanadas, a New York strip with chimichurri (upgrade to a ribeye for $18 more), and flan or gelato.
Brasserie Royale
46290 Cranston St., Sterling
I’m a big fan of the onion soup—Julia Child’s recipe—at this French charmer in Sterling. You’ll find it on the $55 dinner menu, along with goat cheese with peaches and honey; steak frites; halibut provencale; and profiteroles. You an sample it on the $35 brunch menu, too.
Cana
2412 18th St., NW
Adams Morgan’s styling Brazilian restaurant/caipirinha bar is offering a four-course $65 dinner menu, some of which is served family style. Our must get among the snacks: fried tapioca squares with guava. Move onto dishes like steak tartare inspired by the Southern Brazilian city of Curitiba; cod Milanesa; gnocchi with oxtail ragu; and custard with dulce de leche and caramel.
Caruso’s Grocery
11820 Trade St., North Bethesda
Find a rare $40 three-course dinner at Matt Adler’s Italian/American spot at Pike and Rose. Even better: You basically have your pick of the full menu, with some upcharges (the $7 extra for the scampi is totally worth it). Don’t miss the Caesar or Alfredo, which are also available on the $35 lunch and brunch menus.
Casa Teresa
919 19th St., NW
The $65 family-style Spanish dinner at Ruben Garcia’s homey spot is ideal for grazers. Snacks include tomato bread, croquetas, and gazpacho (and, for an extra $50, two ounces of Iberico ham). Larger plates are a choice of grilled hanger steak with aioli and grilled fish with romesco. There are $35 lunch and brunch versions, too.
Casamara
1337 Connecticut Ave., NW
This chic Mediterranean dining room in Dupont is serving a concise $65 dinner menu, and extending Restaurant Week through September 6. Choose among dishes like tuna crudo with gooseberries; lamb carpaccio; roasted seabass with grilled corn and urfa chilies; and harissa roast chicken.
Chloe
1331 Fourth St., SE
Haidar Karoum’s eclectic sensibility comes through loud and clear on his Navy Yard restaurant’s $65 dinner menu. It veers from spicy beef meatballs with ricotta dumplings to Laotian rice salad to steak frites with red wine/shallot butter. At brunch, $35, find ricotta with cherries and honey, cinnamon/sugar doughnuts, and Karoum’s excellent scrambled eggs.
Cucina Morini
901 Fourth St., NW
Dinner is $40 and optional wine pairings are an additional $30 at this buzzing coastal Italian dining room (also home of the $7 happy hour martini). The shortlist of options include corn soup with spicy shrimp, burrata with watermelon, and gnocchi with pork ragu.
The Dabney
122 Blagden Alley., NW
By now you’ve probably heard the advice that finer-dining restaurants offer some of the best values during Restaurant Week. So if you can lock down a reservation at this hearth-driven mid-Atlantic restaurant in Shaw, do it. The $65 dinner menu sounds lovely: cauliflower veloute with poached lobster; a beet-and-radicchio salad with goat feta and watermelon molasses; roasted trout with sorghum/cider beurre blanc; a bavette steak with black truffle; and chocolate chess pie. A catfish slider on a sweet potato roll is worth the $10 surcharge.
Daru
1451 Maryland Ave., NE
The $55 three-course dinner menu at this mod-Indian destination features longtime hits like bison momo dumplings, sunchoke chaat, mushroom biryani, and chicken tikka masala. Nice touch: Bread and a veggie side are included, too.
Del Mar
791 Wharf St., SW
There are few better RW values than the $25 three course lunch at this waterside Spanish dining room. Mains are roasted salmon, a grilled half chicken, or paella with mussels, cuttlefish, and shrimp. The $55 dinner and $35 brunch menus are also good bets, especially at the Wharf.
Dogon
1330 Maryland Ave., SW
In a sexy dining room at the Potomac hotel (nee the Salamander and Mandarin Oriental), chef Kwame Onwuachi’s team executes dishes that nod to East and West Africa, the Caribbean, DC, and beyond. The $65 dinner menu includes such menu staples as carrot tigua, piri piri salad, and rum cake with gooseberries alongside larger plates like brown stew branzino and barbecue chicken with jollof rice.
The Duck and the Peach
300 Seventh St., SE
This pretty Capitol Hill dining room takes a different menu approach than most. Its $65 dinner menus include an entree, side, and dessert (alas, the famed duck is a $20 supplement), while the $35 brunch is an entree with a choice of two sides.
Elle
3221 Mount Pleasant St., NW
Mount Pleasant has become a great dining neighborhood, and this eight year-old cafe/restaurant was part of the spark that ignited it. Its $65 dinner includes summery plates like tomato-and-watermelon panzanella; swordfish kebabs with ratatouille; fried chicken with grilled roma beans; and mango sorbet with candied almonds.
Ellie Bird
125 Founders Ave., Falls Church
This whimsical suburban hotspot hasn’t yet released its Restaurant Week menu, but know that $65 set menus (and sweet happy hour deals) are a regular thing here all year long.
Fish Shop
610 Water St., SW
Lunch seems like the best time to visit this soaring Wharf dining room, which is offering three courses for $25. Among the choices: she-crab soup; pasta with Virginia clams and bonito butter; and catfish with sauce gribiche. Or, check out the $25 two-course brunch and $55 three-course dinner.
Joon
8045 Leesburg Pike, Vienna
There are few better places to eat in Tysons than this fancy-ish Persian dining room. It’ll serve a $25 three course lunch; a $35 three-course brunch; and a $65 dinner that comes with family-style rice and tahdig.
Kayu
1633 17th St., NW
Paolo Dungca’s modern Filipino dining room in Dupont started Restaurant Week early—its $65 dinner menu is already up and running. I’m a big fan of the place’s chorizo-filled ube bao, and other intriguing options include blue-crab noodles with salsa macha; mushroom dumplings with curry butter; and sourdough bomboloni with cheddar and truffle cream.
L’Ardente
200 Massachusetts Ave., NW
This swank, often-packed Italian dining room is skipping a special dinner menu and will instead serve $35 lunch and brunch. The good news: there’s plenty of choice, including thin pizzas, hearty pastas, and lovely desserts and salads.
Lucky Danger
709 D St., NW
The crab rangoon at this Penn Quarter Chinese restaurant/mahjong bar landed on our list of the year’s best dishes in 2025. Find it on the $25 lunch and $55 dinner menus. Among the other offerings: a Sichuan-pepper-laced smash burger; crispy red snapper with garlic/peanut rice; mapo tofu; and fried rice with jumbo lump crab.
Marcus
222 M St., NE
Chef/TV personality Marcus Samuelsson is behind this dining room in NoMa’s Morrow hotel, but its executive chef, Anthony Jones has a high profile, too. His $65 dinner menu includes seared Faroe Island salmon with sweet-potato jus; adobo-roasted cauliflower with mango; parmesan gnocchi; and a brown-sugar tart. Add on the place’s much-hyped blue-corn bread for $12 more.
Maru San
325 Seventh St., SE
Line up early for a spot at this tiny, narrow sushi bar, a new arrival from Causa’s Carlos Delgado and Tiger Fork’s Simon Lam. It’s devoted to Japanese/Peruvian handrolls, and a set of six nori-wrapped cylinders is the centerpiece of its $35 lunch and $40 dinner menus.
Moon Rabbit
927 F St., NW
Kevin Tien always does it up for Restaurant Week, and this year his Penn Quarter Vietnamese hotspot is offering three dinner menus: three courses for $65, five courses for $85, and seven courses for $105. Dishes like marinated snow crab claws, dry-aged duck breast with herbal jus, and a sweet-and-sour smothered pork chop are available across all three menus through September 5.
Namak
1813 Columbia Rd., NW
This Adams Morgan dining room weaves Mediterranean, Levantine, and Persian flavors throughout its $55 dinner menu. Spicy whipped feta with chilies and dill; hummus with braised lamb; and rainbow trout with saffron orzo are among the options. Don’t sleep on the zucchini fritters, though.
Nue
944 W. Broad St., Falls Church
This flower-filled Vietnamese restaurant has already started Restaurant Week. Tasting menus begin at $65 for five courses. For $85 per person, you can make it an all-you-can-eat dinner from the full menu, which is tempting when you think of hits like seafood spring rolls and crispy fluke lettuce wraps.
Reveler’s Hour
1775 Columbia Rd., NW
After a recent dinner at this wine-centric Adams Morgan dining room, I can vouch for the deliciousness of several dishes on its $55 evening menu: burrata with grilled peaches, tomato panzanella, canastra-cheese-filled ravioli with corn, and steak with gremolata (a $15 supplement). Yes, you do still want a $6 garlic knot.
Rooster and Owl
1436 14th St., NW
Four-course set menus here are usually $125, so Restaurant Week—with $65 for three courses—is a good chance to check it out. Yuan Tang’s creations are always fun, whether an elote-inspired pasta or dan dan cantaloupe.
Rosselli
1199 H St., NW
Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj closed his Penn Quarter Italian restaurant Modena last summer. After a chic renovation, the space debuted as the more elegant Rosselli in April. There are two dinner options—$55 and $65. They share the same appetizer choices (crudo, lemony arancini) and desserts, but the more affordable menu is centered around pasta, while the other offers steak, salmon, risotto, and chicken. A $35 lunch menu features pasta and panini.
Rye Bunny
1827 Adams Mill Rd., NW
Miss Tail Up Goat? Rye Bunny, with the same owners and the same space, is just as wonderful. The newcomer doesn’t take reservations and will likely be mobbed, but nowhere makes standing in line more pleasant. Its $55 dinner menu features three savory courses, plus an optional dessert add-on. Some of my favorite dishes are on there, including crispy montasio cheese frico with smoked-trout roe and creme fraiche; anchovy toast; pork croquettes with aioli; and fried chicken with sumac, honey, and fresh dill.
St. James
2017 14th St., NW
Jeanine Prime’s sleek Caribbean dining room is serving a $55 dinner menu. Dig into duck leg with daal, a whole fried snapper, salt-fish fritters, and Trini-style pork buns.
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.
