100 Very Best Restaurants 2017: The Riggsby
The Riggsby's chocolate ice box cake is a must. Photograph by Scott Suchman
It’s barely two years old, but somehow the Riggsby fills us with nostalgia. The crimson-walled restaurant is packed with comforts out of the Eisenhower era: roomy booths and banquettes, properly made martinis, and starters such as stuffed mushrooms and cheese and crackers. The menu isn’t all a throwback—chef/owner Michael Schlow has an affinity for Italian flavors; many of his dishes are cleanly modern. But it’s plates like a chopped salad gilded with Thousand Island dressing and a filet with béarnaise sauce that keep us coming back. Oh, and the best chocolate cake in the city helps, too. Expensive.
Also great: Deviled eggs; Caesar salad; cheeseburger; roasted chicken; potato purée; ice-cream sundae.
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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.
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.
Food Editor
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
Articles Editor
Kristen Hinman has been editing Washingtonian’s features since 2014. She joined the magazine after editing politics & policy coverage for Bloomberg Businessweek and working as a staff writer for Voice Media Group/Riverfront Times.