A&J
1319-C Rockville Pike, Rockville; 4316 Markham St., Annandale
Our favorite dim sum houses serve up thousand-layer pancakes, crispy potstickers, spicy noodle dishes, vibrant salads, and more starting at 11:30 every day. A feast here is one of the area’s best values.
Balos
1940 N St., NW
This vibey Greek restaurant in Dupont is serving its three-course prix fixe brunch ($45 per person) with optional bottomless espresso martinis mixed tableside (also $45). The wide-ranging menu has plenty of classics—spanakopita, avgolemono soup—plus baklava French toast and a tzatziki-topped burger.
Cordelia Fish Bar
550 Morse St., NE
Union Market’s Cordelia Fish Bar doesn’t feel like a sibling of Clyde’s and Old Ebbitt Grill. The dining room is obsessed with tinned, raw, and dry-aged seafood, and at brunch, dinner-menu staples like coal-roasted oysters and whole black sea bass share space with gravlax with housemade bagels and fried prawns and waffles.
Purple Patch
3155 Mount Pleasant St., NW
This beloved Mount Pleasant Filipino place serves brunch every day of the week. Go for calamansi mimosas, garlicky rice with grilled pork and a fried egg, and ube-tinted pancakes with lechon kawali.
The River Club
3000 K St., NW
The Georgetown waterfront’s snazzy, sprawling Lebanese/Spanish/Italian restaurant serves brunch this Monday starting at 11 AM. Graze across the cuisines on plates like churros, smoked lamb belly with harissa honey, and lemony pasta.
The Royal
501 Florida Ave., NW
We love this LeDroit Park cafe/bar for its whimsical coffee drinks (such as cold brew with spiced-plantain foam), its ace cocktails, and its very tasty arepas filled with fried egg, chorizo, and avocado. Another thing to linger around for: the guava pastry. It opens at 10 AM daily.
Starr Restaurants
All of Stephen Starr’s buzzy DC restaurants are open for brunch on Monday. Head to Le Diplomate (1601 14th St., NW) and Pastis (1323 Fourth St., NE) for bistro fare; El Presidente (1255 Union St., NE) for breakfast burritos and tacos; St. Anselm (1250 Fifth St., NE) for American standards and strong cocktails; Osteria Mozza (3276 M St., NW) for a scene-y Italian brunch in Georgetown; and the Occidental (1475 Pennsylvania Ave., NW) for elegant throwbacks like caviar-topped vichyssoise.
Unconventional Diner
1207 Ninth St., NW
This French-American dining room in Shaw serves brunch every day from 9 AM to 3:45 PM. We’re fans of the eclectic menu’s sweet-potato shakshuka, “dirty” Caesar with smoked tomatoes, and double cheeseburger.
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.
