What are the most successful independent restaurants in Washington? You might be tempted to say award magnets like Rose’s Luxury, or Minibar and its $250-minimum tasting menus. Yet according to a list from Restaurant Business Magazine ranking the Top 100 highest-grossing independent eateries in America, stalwart Old Ebbitt Grill lands at the top. The restaurant clocks in as the third most lucrative in the nation, with an estimated $26,687,861 in sales annually.
Ironically, the Ebbitt, one of the oldest institutions in DC, has an average check total of just $40. Still, with its 508 seats and 600,000 meals sold annually, it’s able to best some of the fancier establisments in the city. Only Tao in Vegas (number one) and Miami’s original Joe’s Stone Crab have projected higher revenues. Sister venture the Hamilton doesn’t come far behind, ranked at 15 with an estimated $17,855,655 in sales. Both the Ebbitt and Hamilton fall under the Clyde’s Restaurant Group umbrella, as does Rockville’s Tower Oaks Lodge, ranked at 71. Other top earners in Washington, according to the list: Georgetown’s Sequoia (34), Mike’s American in Springfield (62), and Jackson’s Mighty Fine Food in Reston (82).
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.
