Summer Restaurant Week starts today and runs through Sunday, August 18th. With over 200 places serving $22 lunches and brunches and/or $35 dinners around the DC area, we’ll help you narrow it down. Try one of these eight exciting newcomers.
Buena Vida Clarendon and TTT
2900 Wilson Blvd., Arlington
The three-story modern Mexican concept from Ambar owner Ivan Iricanin serves Restaurant Week dinner in its higher-end dining room. There are lots of options to choose from on the menu, including fresh-made guacamole, Acapulco-style fish, lamb ribs, or duck enchiladas. Meanwhile, casual first-floor sister diner, Tacos Tortas Tequila, serves Restaurant Week meals for brunch, lunch, and dinner. Buena Vida: Dinner only. TTT: Brunch, lunch, dinner.
Cherry
515 15th St., NW
The W Hotel near the White House just underwent a $50 million revamp, and this wood-fired restaurant helmed by former Vermilion chef William Morris is part of the new lineup. A 15-foot wood-burning grill and oven centers the restaurant. Restaurant Week menus include dishes like wood-fired shrimp or heritage pork loin and grits. Lunch and dinner.
Estuary
950 New York Ave., NW
Lunch is often the best Restaurant Week bargain at $22 for three courses. That’s certainly true for a pricey spot like the Voltaggio brothers’ modern Chesapeake restaurant in the Conrad Hotel. We’re fans of the Maryland crab roll and cookies and cream dessert. Lunch only.
Chiko Dupont
2029 P St., NW
This “fine-casual” Chinese-Korean restaurant in Dupont Circle is already pretty easy on the wallet, but its Restaurant Week menus look generous. At dinner, guests have free reign over the menu (pick any app or entree) and get extra snacks from the kitchen and a tasty coconut custard dessert. Drinks are discounted too: beer is $5 and wine is $7. The Barracks Row original has a similar deal at dinner. Lunch and dinner.
Punjab Grill
427 11th St., NW
One of DC’s glitziest restaurants (seriously, check out that mirror-covered private room on the way in) is opening its ornate doors for Restaurant Week lunch. Chef Jaspratap Bindra is particularly skilled with lush curries and offbeat appetizers, like an Indian spin on burrata. Lunch only.
Tsehay Ethiopian Restaurant
3630 Georgia Ave., NW
Petworth’s Ethiopian newcomer, one of the top places in our Eat Great Cheap issue (on newsstands now), serves a tasty looking lineup for Restaurant Week. We’re fans of the tibs and veggie combo platter. Lunch-goers get a free Ethiopian coffee with the meal, while a comped glass of wine is poured at dinner. Lunch and dinner.
Zeppelin
1544 Ninth St., NW
Sushi, tempura, robata, and donburi (rice bowls) are all on tap at Shaw’s Japanese cocktail bar and restaurant. Guests can start with dishes like Japanese “silky pork belly” before moving on to entrees such as grilled steak or a set of nigiri and rolls. Dinner only.
Agora Tysons
7911 Westpark Dr., Tysons
The Tysons spinoff of Dupont Circle’s longtime Turkish restaurant offers large lunch and dinner menus for Restaurant Week. Tables start with a sampler of dips with fresh-baked flatbreads, followed by a choice of mezze, entree, and dessert. Lunch and dinner.
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.
