The Ultimate Washington, DC Dining Guide 2026

By: The Local Palate

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Best Chef: Amy Brandwein

It’s been 10 years since chef Amy Brandwein opened Centrolina, her acclaimed downtown restaurant dedicated to Italian cuisine, and her mantra can still be boiled down to three words: “Simple is exquisite.” Brandwein is known for her pasta and refined approach to cooking proteins and seasonal vegetables. Her evolution over the past decade includes opening the more casual sister café Piccolina and creating a popular Chef’s Table dinner series collaborating with DC’s most talented chefs.

Amy Brandwein Image courtesy of Scott Suchman — Image courtesy of Scott Suchman

Amy Brandwein’s Recommendations:

Breakfast: Seylou

I just like the vibe in there; it starts your weekend off right. I like the whole grains they do and I’ll pick up a loaf of bread on my way out.

Lunch: Rice Market

They have a restaurant upstairs and then the same restaurant is making to-go items, like a curried eggplant dish with rice. It’s delicious. And the mango sticky rice is unbelievable.

Dinner: Etto

My favorite thing is their watercress salad. When I have their pizza, I have their eggplant pizza. It’s got a little bit of anchovy, hot pepper, eggplant, and not too much cheese. It’s really beautiful.

Drinks: Jane Jane

They have some really good low-ABV drinks. My favorite is Rome with a View with dry vermouth, Campari, lime, and soda water.

Best Beverage Pro: Radovan Jankovic

Bar Cana, La’ Shukran, Mercy Me

Radovan Jankovic washington dc beverage pro

The bars that beverage director Radovan Jankovic works with transport drinkers to another time and place. It could be 1970s Brazil, complete with caipirinha and bossa nova spinning on vinyl at Bar Cana in Adams Morgan, or a tucked-away, funky Middle Eastern hangout via Union Market’s La’ Shukran, featuring arak cocktails and bites by acclaimed chef Michael Rafidi. He’s also behind the drinks at “sorta South American” restaurant Mercy Me, where you can order chicha punch.

Radovan Jankovic’s Current Favorites:

DC PRODUCT

Don Ciccio & Figli does a great job on all their products. I love to use Mandarinetto for seasonal mandarin cocktails.

BEVERAGE TREND

Lighter cocktails in texture, lighter cocktails in ABV. It allows you to enjoy more cocktails [and] different flavors without having the full effect of alcohol.

DRINK SOMEWHERE ELSE

A bourbon smash at Astoria.

The Best of Washington, DC

Best New Restaurant: My Little Chamomile

In addition to running sleeper hit lunch counter Green Almond Pantry, chef Çağla Önal-Urel is stretching her wings with a sit-down restaurant in Georgetown devoted to her inviting Turkish cooking. Try beef dumplings, lamb skewers, and must-try vegetable dishes like fresh cranberry beans.

Best Culinary Hotel: Sixty DC

Boutique hotelier SIXTY boasts outposts in Beverly Hills, the Lower East Side, and now Dupont Circle with the opening of SIXTY DC. The hotel’s eateries are as glam as you’d imagine: Wood-paneled cocktail bar Reynold’s shakes up dill-infused martinis, while Casamara channels the Mediterranean with checkered marble floors (and a party-ready rooftop).

Best Fried Chicken: Doro Soul Food

Ethiopian cuisine is well-represented in Washington, but chef Elias Taddesse landed on a one-of-a-kind concoction with Doro Soul Food, where he turns out buttermilk-marinated fried chicken coated in berbere spices. The flavors of doro wat, Ethiopia’s beloved chicken stew, inspire the sides and sauces here, too.

Best Chocolate Cake: Unconventional Diner

Layers of fudge and mocha buttercream make up this stunner, which sits on a pool of vanilla crème anglaise. Garden Hospitality co-owner Eric Eden gives credit for the recipe to Steffie Kay, a rural baker who sells her wares out of a feed store near Eden’s Missouri hometown.

Best Neighborhood Gem: ELLĒ

This hip all-day café aims to be completely indispensable for its Mount Pleasant neighbors, with a menu of rotating approachable-meets-adventurous dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Save room for dessert, with sweets like ancho chile pot de crème.

Best Noodles: BirdSong

Chef Kitima Boonmala takes her popular noodle pop-up to a permanent space with BirdSong, showcasing lesser-known Thai dishes from her homeland. Try boat noodle soup or soy-sauce coated rice noodles.

Best Carbs: Fossette Focacceria

The geniuses behind DC’s All-Purpose Pizza recently turned their attention to focaccia, with an outpost in Shaw and one in Union Market for the airy Italian loaves. Order this bread on its own or as the anchor for sandwiches stuffed with porchetta or portobello.