The 100 Very Best Restaurants in Washington

The 100 Very Best Restaurants in Washington
The Dabney highlights live-fire hearth cooking and Mid-Atlantic ingredients. Photograph by Scott Suchman

A lot has changed since we last published Washingtonian’s annual list of the area’s 100 Very Best Restaurants, back in the early days of 2020.

We’ve said goodbye to beloved dining spots such as Bad Saint and Kith/Kin and Union Market’s Rappahannock Oyster Bar. Restaurants have faced seismic challenges. And it’s a pretty tough time to be a diner, too. Reservation cancellation fees are frequent and steep. Cocktail prices, menu prices—heck, even sad-desk-salad prices—have shot up, along with gratuity expectations. And some dining rooms remain short-staffed.

Our idea of what a “best” restaurant means has also shifted. While we previously considered only sit-down places, we now put carryouts, pop-ups, and food trucks in the mix, too.

At the same time, in the shadow of the past three years, special occasions feel as significant as ever. Among our favorite ways to celebrate: the new tasting menu at the Dabney (our pick for Washington’s number-one restaurant this year), a round of caviar dumplings with a side of bejeweled handcuffs at Pineapple & Pearls, and a take-home plate of fantasy-inducing mozzarella sticks from Gemini (formerly Happy Gyro), the Dupont carryout run by former Komi proprietor Johnny Monis.

Whatever the occasion, consider this your road map to the Washington food scene. Here are the 100 places—the top 25 of them ranked—that we’re most excited to dine at right now.

Jessica Sidman
Jessica Sidman
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.

Ann Limpert
Ann Limpert
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 Logan Circle.

Anna Spiegel
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.