Food

No Restaurant Week Reservations? There’s Still Time to Snag One at These Great Dining Spots.

You've got LOTS of weekend options.

El Presidente Theatre Room. Photograph by Rey Lopez.

Sunday marks the end of Restaurant Week (well, mostly—lots of places are extending the promotion). And if you want in on a three-course lunch, brunch, or dinner, there’s still time to book at plenty of good dining spots.

This year, there hasn’t been the mad scramble for reservations that used to go along with the semi-annual event. That’s likely because prices have gone up. Pre-pandemic, three course Restaurant Week dinners were $35; now, they run between $40 and $65—which, at some restaurants, is what you’d spend on an ordinary night there. That said, RW menus have gotten better, and feature far more choices than than the green-salad-or-soup offerings of the past.

Here are a bunch of worthy restaurants that still have availability (at decent times on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday—no 4 PM dinner rezzies here). For now, at least.

*Starred restaurants are on our 2024 100 Very Best Restaurants list

2941

2941 Fairview Park Dr, Falls Church

Bertrand Chemel’s special occasion destination is serving a $65 dinner menu.

 

*All-Purpose

1250 Ninth St, NW; 79 Potomac Ave., SE

Both the Shaw and Navy Yard locations of this hit pizzeria are serving $35 brunches and $40 dinners.

 

Alta Strada

465 K St., NW; 2911 District Ave., Fairfax

The Mount Vernon Triangle branch of Michael Schlow’s homey Italian place is serving a $40 dinner; its Mosaic District twin is serving a $55 dinner menu.

 

*Annabelle

2132 Florida Ave., NW

Former Palena (and White House) chef Frank Ruta oversees the kitchen at this elegant Dupont restaurant, which is serving a $65 dinner menu.

 

Balos

1940 N St., NW

The scene-y new Greek restaurant in Dupont is serving $35 lunch and $65 dinner menus.

 

*Bar Spero

250 Massachusetts Ave., NW

Johnny Spero’s ode to Basque seafood is serving a $65 dinner menu.

 

Bindaas

2000 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

This Indian small plates place in Foggy Bottom is serving $25 and $35 lunch menus and a $40 dinner.

 

*Caruso’s Grocery

11820 Trade St.,North Bethesda

The Pike and Rose location of this old-school Italian hotspot is serving $25 brunch and $40 dinner menus.

 

Central Michel Richard 

1001 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

The bistro (and politico favorite) founded by the late, great Michel Richard is serving $35 and $55 dinner menus.

 

Charley Prime Foods

9811 Washingtonian Blvd., Gaithersburg

Jackie Greenbaum’s casual lakeside steak spot is serving $25 lunch and brunch menus and $40 and $55 dinners.

 

*Chloe

1331 Fourth St., SE

The eclectic Navy Yard standby is serving $35 brunch and $65 dinner menus.

 

*Convivial

801 O St., NW

Cedric Maupillier’s French destination in Shaw is serving a $55 dinner menu.

 

Cranes

724 Ninth St., NW

This Spanish/Japanese dining room in Penn Quarter is serving a $35 lunch and $65 dinner menu.

 

Cucina Morini

901 Fourth St., NW

The Sicilian-inspired newcomer in Mount Vernon Triangle is serving a $25 brunch and $40 dinner menu.

 

*Del Mar 

791 Wharf St., SW

The Wharf’s glam Spanish dining room is serving $25 lunch, $35 brunch, and $65 dinner menus.

 

*The Duck and the Peach

300 Seventh St., SE

This mod-American dining room near Eastern Market is serving $35 and $65 dinner menus.

 

*El Presidente

1255 Union St., NE

Stephen Starr’s Mexico City-inspired hotspot is serving $35 brunch and lunch menus and $55 dinners.

 

*Elle

3221 Mount Pleasant St., NW

Mount Pleasant’s top notch daytime hangout/dinner destination is serving $35 lunch and $65 dinner menus.

 

*Ellie Bird

125 Founders Ave., Falls Church

This playful dining room from the owners of Rooster & Owl is serving a $65 dinner menu.

 

*Fiola Mare

3050 K St., NW

This stylish Georgetown seafood room is serving $25 lunch and $65 dinner menus.

 

Hiraya

1250 H St., NE

This modern Filipino cafe and tasting room is serving $25 lunch and brunch menus and a $65 dinner.

 

*Ingle Korean Steakhouse

8369 Leesburg Pike, Vienna

The upscale Korean barbecue restaurant is serving a $65 dinner menu.

 

*Joon

8045 Leesburg Pike, Vienna

This Persian fine-dining room in Tysons is serving $35 lunch and brunch menus and a $65 dinner.

 

*Kirby Club 

2911 District Ave., Fairfax

Maydan’s sister restaurant in the Mosaic District is serving $25 lunch, $35 brunch, and $40 dinner menus.

 

La Chaumiere 

2813 M St., NW

The rustic French institution in Georgetown is serving a $65 dinner menu.

 

*Makan

3400 11th St., NW

This Malaysian place in Columbia Heights is serving a $55 dinner menu.

 

*Maketto

1351 H St., NE

H Street’s Cambodian/Taiwanese spot is serving $25 lunch and $40 dinner menus.

 

Mallard

1337 14th St., NW

Logan Circle’s latest arrival is this upscale Southern dining room, which is serving a $55 dinner menu.

 

*Meli

1630 Columbia Rd., NW

The leafy patio is the place to sit at this Adams Morgan mezze spot, which is serving $40 and $55 dinner menus.

 

Mita

804 V St., NW

Plant-based tasting menus are the draw at this Shaw newcomer—try an abbreviated $65 version.

 

*Nina May 

1337 11th St., NW

The casually elegant locavore favorite in Shaw is serving $35 brunch and $55 dinner menus.

 

*Nue

944 W. Broad St., Falls Church

This flower-filled modern Vietnamese restaurant is serving $55 and $65 dinner menus.

 

Opal

5534 Connecticut Ave., NW

Nina May’s airy Chevy Chase sibling is serving $35 brunch and $55 dinner menus.

 

Pastis

1323 Fourth St., NE

The buzzy New York export is serving $35 brunch and lunch menus and $55 dinners.

 

Pearl Dive

1612 14th St., NW

Logan Circle’s longtime oyster bar/brunch destination is serving $35 brunch and $40 dinner menus.

 

*Petite Cerise

1027 Seventh St., NW

Shaw’s pretty French place comes from Dabney chef/owner Jeremiah Langhorne. It’s serving $35 lunch and brunch menus and $55 dinners.

 

*Rania

427 11th St., NW

Downtown DC’s glitzy Indian dining room is serving $25 lunch and brunch menus and $65 dinners.

 

*Reveler’s Hour

1775 Columbia Rd., NW

This wine and pasta destination in Adams Morgan is serving a $65 dinner menu.

 

*Ruthie’s All-Day

3411 Fifth St., S., Arlington

This folksy Arlington meat-and-three place is serving a $25 lunch menu and $40 and $55 dinners.

 

*St. James

2017 14th St., NW

Jeanine Prime’s modern Caribbean restaurant is serving $35 lunch and $55 dinner menus.

 

Tonari

707 Sixth St., NW

This Japanese/Italian hybrid behind Capital One Arena is serving $55 and $65 dinner menus.

 

*Unconventional Diner

1207 Ninth St., NW

The whimsical French-American dining room in Shaw is serving a $40 dinner menu.

 

Zaytinya

701 Ninth St., NW

Penn Quarter’s soaring mezze place is serving $35 lunch and $55 dinner menus.

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 Petworth.