Food

Where to Brunch for Presidents’ Day Around DC

Cheers the long weekend with Monday mimosas, bottomless buffets, and all-day happy hours.

Pearl Dive dishes up its catfish po' boy for brunch. Photograph by Scott Suchman

About Brunch Around DC

All our brunch suggestions in one handy location.

Royal
501 Florida Ave., NW
LeDroit Park’s neighborhood cafe runs morning through late-night, with tasty Latin-influenced eats and drinks at all hours. Go early for breakfast sandwiches and egg arepas; an afternoon/evening menu kicks in at noon with more arepas stuffed with steak and avocado or hearts of palm, grilled fare, salads, and a killer fried chicken sandwich. An added bonus: happy hour starts at noon on Mondays, and at 3 PM every other day.

Pearl Dive Oyster Palace
1612 14th St., NW
The holiday weekend brings four days of brunch (Friday through Monday) to Jeff Black’s southern-style oyster house. In addition to the full raw bar, try dishes like po’ boys, eggs Pontchartrian (a seafood Benedict with crawfish, crab, and spicy hollandaise), and pork belly huevos rancheros. Tables can order bottomless mimosas for $20 with fresh orange or grapefruit juices, while a la carte brunch cocktails are equally quaffable.

Kapnos/Kapnos Kouzina/Kapnos Taverna
DC/Bethesda/Arlington and College Park 
All locations of restaurateur Mike Isabella’s Greek-Mediterranean restaurants serve holiday brunch. Menus vary by eatery, but all serve delicious dips and spreads with fresh-baked flatbreads (or veggies for the carb-less), plus daytime dishes like baked eggs or Greek coffee waffles. Pomegranate-spiked mimosas or boozy lemonades do the trick for day drinks.

Requin
100 District Square, SW
Brunch by the water throughout the long weekend at Isabella’s svelte French brasserie at The Wharf.  A few favorite dishes from the evening menu—bone marrow, French onion soup—carry over, alongside daytime plates like a croissant Benedict with ham and wilted greens, and pancakes soufflé  à la bananas foster. The bar specializes in Champagne, so go ahead and indulge.

Founding Farmers, Farmers Fishers Bakers, Farmers & Distillers 
Multiple locations in DC, MD, VA 
It feels appropriate to celebrate Presidents’ Day at this local American chainlet that pays tribute to Americana in various ways (yes, that’s George Washington with a man bun at Farmers & Distillers). Menus differ by location—most serve all-you-can-eat brunch buffets—with classic comfort dishes, house-baked treats, and plenty of brunch drinks at all.

City Tap House
901 I St., NW; 1250 Connecticut Ave., NW
Bottomless mimosas go for just $9 for the federal holiday at both the Dupont Circle and Penn Quarter locations of the Philly-based gastropub. Pad the stomach with hearty eats like brick-oven “hangover pizza” (caramelized onions, eggs, potatoes, sausage gravy) or go lighter with a crab benny.

Baba
2901 Wilson Blvd., Arlington
It’s like Sunday every day at this Arlington cafe, which serves brunch on weekdays from 8 AM to 3 PM (9:30 AM start on weekends). Mimosas and bloody Marys go for $5, or you can get creative with cocktails like a La Colombe martini mixed with espresso and vodka. Try dishes like smoked salmon Benedict or homemade croissants. Later hours bring more of a bar vibe.

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.