Food

2015 Best Cheap Restaurants in Washington, DC

Great places to feast for under $25.

Written by
,
,
and
| Published on
Photograph by Scott Suchman

Twenty-five bucks a person. These days, that amount of cash won’t get you far in many Washington restaurants (a Negroni maybe, plus a tiny bar snack). This list, though, is all about proving you can eat terrifically well if you’re in the right place. That might mean a Mexican strip-mall joint in Hyattsville, which serves some of the most wondrous mole sauce we’ve ever tasted. Or a rollicking Korean barbecue house in Annandale, where tabletop grills sizzle with pork belly and rib eye until 2 am. Or a storefront in Bloomingdale with the best chili-topped half-smokes around. (Sorry, Ben’s.)

These 100 restaurants—including 25 we’re calling out as the brightest stars on the scene—are where we’ve had some of our most thrilling meals of the year. At any price.

More:
Todd Kliman
Todd Kliman
Ann Limpert
Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

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.

Anna Spiegel
Food Editor

Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.

Cynthia Hacinli
Cynthia Hacinli