The Hot List: 10 Restaurants Around DC We’re Loving Right Now

Do not skip dessert at this excellent kebab palace, which recently revamped its interior and installed a new ice cream station specifically designed for sheeryakh, an Afghan style of hand-churned ice cream flavored with rosewater and pistachios. As you eat your main course, watch as a master ice cream maker churns sheeryakh to order in an ice-submerged copper kettle before scraping it up and piling it into narrow, Washington Monument-shaped turrets of ice cream on each plate.

Saigon native Yeanie Bach already runs a trio of well-liked banh mi shops in the Boston area. In mid-April, she made her way down here, setting up shop at the Eden Center, Falls Church’s bustling hub of Vietnamese shops, cafes, and restaurants. The word is out: on our mid-week visit, the lunch crowds poured into the cool little space, done up with a vintage record player, a Neil Diamond album, and lots of plants. (There are a few tables, but that day most folks were getting takeout.) The menu is short and tight—just six banh mi and a few tea and coffee drinks—and what the place does, it does very well. The sandwiches are built on airy baguettes with shatteringly crunchy crusts, and with fresh, crisp vegetables and herbs. The signature—a trio of cold cuts plus pate—was the star, but other versions starring lemongrass-y steak and marinated chicken were close behind.

Dupont has a swank new boutique hotel, the Sixty DC, and with it, a swank new Mediterranean restaurant from Toronto restaurateur Hanif Harji. The menu is wide-ranging—there are bright salads, handmade pastas, and rustic meats—but its heart is with seafood. Oysters grilled and topped with chili butter, parmesan, and breadcrumbs are fabulous, and there’s a fun riff on prosciutto and melon made with tuna belly instead of ham. Pay attention to the attached card of daily catches, which on our visit included sweet, plump shrimp dressed with all they needed—lots of lemon and butter. And there are nice bookends in cocktails like the Acqua Verde, made with vodka, salted cucumber, and kiwi, and desserts like a Basque cheesecake with marmalade.

The original Fish Shop is in Ballater, Scotland; In April, its first spinoff landed at DC’s Wharf. The dining room is on the chain-ier side of the waterfront development (neighbors include Philippe Chow and Hell’s Kitchen), but it is one of the most stunning spaces at the Wharf. That’s thanks to art-focused hospitality group Artfarm and its attention to detail. You may immediately notice the soaring installations of basket-woven fish and oceanic murals, but subtler touches abound, such as wooden chairs covered with a bespoke tartan that incorporates the color of fishing twine. Longtime DC chef Ria Montes oversees the kitchen and its haul of mid-Atlantic seafood. Don’t miss her crumpets stuffed with buttery crab, a plate of hot-smoked trout with potatoes and dill sauce, a simply seared rockfish with saffron aioli, and a peanut-laced tiramisu.

One of the city’s best burger joints—Mount Pleasant’s tiny Joia Burger—recently landed in Glover Park. The new space is bigger and serves coffee made with Arabica beans from the Philippines, but otherwise, the menu hews pretty close to the original. That means you’ll find a concise list of thin-cut fries, ube soft-serve, and excellent smash burgers made with American wagyu beef (stack with one, two, or three patties). Owner Patrice Cleary’s genius touch: a topping of special sauce mixed with chopped lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle, so every bite is perfect. Cleary (also behind Purple Patch) told Washingtonian last year that she’s looking to expand even further. Good news, because any neighborhood would be lucky to have a Joia.

This friendly new sit-down Turkish-Mediterranean restaurant, hidden in a Georgetown alley, is just the kind of next act we were hoping for from the Green Almond Pantry chef Cagla Onal. Mezze draw on Turkish tradition, leaning into seasonal produce: herby feta-goat cheese dip; a bright salad of pomegranate seeds, walnuts, olives, and dill; and big California artichokes stuffed with arborio rice. Carnivores should seek out Onal’s dainty lamb skewers (have you tried the arrosticini at Bar del Monte yet? You’ll like these) hidden under a crisp homemade lavash slathered with fresh tomato spread.

This snug cocktail bar hidden in an alleyway off the H Street corridor was recently named one of Bon Appetit’s best nine bars of 2025. No wonder: at a time when so few bars and restaurants feel original, there’s nothing like this place. The menu fuses Asian and Latin American flavors in delightful ways, whether an espresso martini made with sesame horchata or a concoction of gin, mezcal, pandan, and coconut channeling Taipei’s night markets. The snacky menu is also fun, from the extra-crackly “big chip” with tomatillo salsa or a root-vegetable tamale with Japanese curry. Whatever you do, don’t miss the Baked Alaska shaved ice for dessert.

This Dominican counter-service lunch spot opened in December, bringing a menu replete with fried plantain variations—and lots more—to an unlovely section of Georgia Avenue. Try the mofongo (plantain mash with garlic and a variety of toppings) or mofonguitos, where the starchy banana mash is shaped into tiny cups that hold meaty fillings. The crunchy chicharron here is worth the trip too, as is anything topped with thick slices of creamy, smooth, Dominican-style avocado. 

The sequel to “Indian-ish” hit Daru is a colorful and funky ode to Indian street foods. Chef Suresh Sundas, an alum of Rasika, turns crispy lotus root into an addictive chaat with dabs of sweet yogurt, green chutney, and tamarind, while upgrading kulcha flatbread by stuffing it with duck and topping it with sour cherry compote, yogurt, and trout roe. You’ll also see some of his Nepalese roots in dishes like wagyu buckwheat momo in a slurpable consommé. The bar, overseen by co-owner and cocktail talent Dante Datta, is just as much a draw as the kitchen. Among our favorite drinks: the frozen jackfruit-and-ginger Junglebird and an umami-rich dirty martini with an achar pickle brine.

Chefs Amy Phan and Zach Ramos first started selling their jewel box-like chirashi bowls as a carryout luxury during the thick of Covid lockdowns. Now, after a series of pop ups around town, they’ve landed in a permanent location in Georgetown. Tucked in an alleyway, the two-story space features an intimate omakase counter upstairs and a takeout-only daytime cafe downstairs. At the latter, find pristine cuts of fish straight from Japan’s Toyosu seafood market atop rice that’s seasoned with Okinawan brown sugar and seasonally adjusted vinegar (for example, leaner spring fish are paired with a lighter-dressed rice). There are plenty of other temptations too: ice-shaken matcha drinks, “ono nigiri” that draws inspo from the oversized, over-the-top conveyor belt sushi of Hawaii, and adorably delicious turtle-shaped cream puffs.