Hanukkah begins Sunday, December 6, and Washington bars and restaurants celebrate over the following seven days with special menus and cocktails, and plenty of latkes.
301 Water St., SE
Executive pastry chef Alex Levin’s riffs on traditional sufganiyot, Israeli jelly doughnuts eaten around the holiday. End (or begin) the meal with miniature brioche buns filled with caramelized apple compote. The Hanukkah special is available as a dessert option and in the bread basket for Sunday brunch.
When: For dinner, December 6 to 13; brunch December 13.
1800 14th St., NW (basement level)
Barman Adam Bernbach’s holiday menu of eight seasonal cocktails offers plenty of fun libations, such as the “Gin & Tonica” mixed with house-made green apple tonic.
When: Starting December 6.
480 King Street, Alexandria, VA
The “Eight Crazy Nights” menu at this Southen-style Alexandria spot has a new special every night of Hanukkah, with traditional dishes like matzo ball soup, sweet potato knishes, and pastrami on rye and blintzes.
When: Sunday December 6 through Monday December 14.
277 S Washington St., Alexandria
This Alexandria market makes holiday cooking easy with its Festival of Lights Bag. For $49 you’ll get a ready-heat meal for two with latkes, kale salad, brisket with roasted vegetables, and olive oil cake. Bags can be ordered online and picked up in-store, where you’ll also find matzo ball soup, challah, and rugelach for sale.
When: Pick up on December 6 between 10 and 4.
1914 Ninth St., NW
Chef Dean Gold offers a Jewish-Italian Hanukkah menu, designed to showcase olive oil in various dishes– linguine, tuscan fried chicken, poached fish, and of course, classic latkes. Dishes can be ordered a la cart or as part of a tasting menu.
When: Sunday December 6 through Sunday December 13.
Astro Doughnuts and Fried Chicken
1308 G St., NW; 7511 Leesburg Pk., Arlington
The Hanukkah Boxes at Astro Doughnuts are full of assorted mini doughnuts, some with “Hanukkah sprinkles.” They’ll be sold at both the DC and Falls Church Locations, and available for pre-order in DC only. They’re also selling sugar-coated sufganiyah, and latkes with either sour cream or apple sauce.
When: Sunday December 6 through Monday December 14.
1443 P St., NW
Latke-palooza is Commissary’s “Hanukkah Happy Hour” with all-you-can-eat latkes and donuts for $20. Latkes come in traditional sweet potato and zucchini varieties. Partial proceeds will go to the Jewish Food Experience.
When: Monday, December 7, 6 to 8 pm.
1317 Connecticut Ave., NW; 2985 District Ave. Suite 115, Fairfax
Both locations of this modern deli serve three course Hanukkah menus all week long, as well as latkes to-go. The special menu is available at both locations, and proceeds from the Mosaic District location will go to the Jewish Food Experience.
When: Sunday, December 6 through Monday December 14.
1341 H St., NE
This Jewish-Irish bar-deli hosts 8 Crazy Nights of Hanukkah with fooda and drink specials, and events every night of the week. Stop by for the Whiskey Festival of Flights or the Jameson ‘Jew’ Fusions and Gift-aways.
When: Sunday December 6 through Sunday December 13.
