Summer Restaurant Week—the big one, put on by Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington—runs from Monday, August 18 to Sunday, August 24. And while its affordability is debatable now that many dinners are $65 per person (plus, in some cases, a 20 percent service fee), there are still deals to be had at lunch and brunch, where menus range from $25 to $35. Here’s what’s on offer at a bunch of new (and new-ish) restaurants, all open a year or less.
A Kitchen+Bar
1010 New Hampshire Ave., NW
Beard-award-winning restaurateur Ellen Yin opened this spinoff of her Philadelphia hit in September (it pretty quickly landed on our 2025 100 Very Best Restaurants list). The dining room, housed in a West End hotel, is serving its Restaurant Week dinner menu through the end of August. That three-course prix fixe is $65 (don’t miss the chickpea panisse, a signature), and there are $35 lunches and brunches until August 24.
Alara
1303 Wisconsin Ave, NW
Georgetown’s all-day Mediterranean dining room took over the former Paolo’s space in February, and its Restaurant Week menus run simple and affordable. For dinner—$40 for three courses—choose from dips, salads, kebabs, and a shortlist of dessert. Brunch, also three courses, is $25, and throws omelets and Benedicts into the mix.
Arrels
333 G St., NW
Cranes chef Pepe Moncayo is behind this sleek hotel restaurant on the edge of Penn Quarter. The $35 lunch menu includes tapas for the table to share, including gambas al ajillo and rustic escalivida, then a choice of paella and a round of churros. Dinner is a four-course set menu for $55 that includes cherry gazpacho with manchego, scallop a la plancha, and a poached peach with crema Catalana.
Bar Angie
2300 N St., NW
This spring arrival from the Balos team brings NYC bistro vibes, plenty of martinis, and an Italian-accented menu to the West End. The $65 three course dinner features steak tartare, a Caesar with everything-bagel croutons, rigatoni with white Bolognese, steak frites, and rainbow-cookie cake. A few dishes, such as lobster pasta and blue-crab rangoon, come with upcharges. There’s a lot of crossover on the $35 lunch and brunch menus, but expect steeper upcharges there, too.
Bar Chinois National Landing
244 19th Ct. S., Arlington
The Arlington location of this French/Chinese hangout is planning a $40 dinner menu with hoisin ribs, roasted-mushroom salad with garlic confit, black pepper duck, and buttery garlic noodles. Find the same lineup—along with a $35 brunch—at the Mount Vernon Triangle original.
Cordelia Fish Bar
550 Morse St., NE
Interested in trying this Union Market seafood room? Now’s the time, because the $65 Restaurant Week offering gives you full run of the regular dinner menu. Choose an appetizer (an array of crudos, a half-dozen oysters, clams casino), an entree (king salmon with summer-vegetable salad, whole black seabass with olive relish), and dessert.
El Taller del Xiquet
2404 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Paella fans, this one’s for you. Chef and national paella competition champ Danny Lledo—also behind the pricier tasting room Xiquet—showcases two fancy versions on the $65 dinner menu at his more casual Valencian spot. One arrives with red snapper, shrimp, and cuttlefish, and the other with smoked duck breast. Bookend them with hamachi crudo, a cheese plate, or carrot cake with carrot/orange sorbet. Nice touch: mignardises before the check. The menu will be available throughout August, and there’s a $35 wine pairing.
Elena James
8551 Connecticut Ave., Chevy Chase
Last winter, the guys behind Nina May and Opal debuted this all-day cafe/restaurant. For $65 on any regular night, you can partake in a family-style menu of chef’s choice dishes. During Restaurant Week, there’s a $55 three-course dinner with summery options like corn tortellini with chanterelles, heirloom-tomato-and-mozzarella salad, pan-roasted rainbow trout, and corn creme brûlée with blueberries.
Fish Shop
610 Water St., SW
One of the Wharf’s prettiest restaurants is this soaring dining room that’s an offshoot of a location in Scotland. Its $25 three-course lunch is one of the better deals around, with choices like buffalo fried oysters with blue cheese, ricotta-filled squash blossoms, a fried catfish sandwich, and Smith Island cake. At dinner, $55 for three courses, the menu offers fried sugar toads (tiny Chesapeake fish) with tamarind and lime, dry-aged trout with dashi beurre blanc, and candied-peanut tiramisu. And you can get a glass of Roederer for five bucks off.
Lucky Danger
709 D St., NW
This Penn Quarter dining room and mahjong parlor—a sibling to the Chinese-American carryout in Arlington—is doing a $65 dinner menu. Go for snow-crab rangoon, short-rib-and-marrow dumplings, and crab lo mein with leek fondue (one of my favorite dishes of the summer).
Minetta Tavern
1287 Fourth St., NE
One of Union Market’s coolest restaurants is Keith McNally’s meticulously designed, New York-born tavern, which opened late last year. There are three choices for each category of its $55 three-course dinner menu, including hanger steak with potato gratin, country pate with Armagnac prunes, lemon/ricotta ravioli, and coconut cake. Finish the evening off with a martini at the upstairs Lucy Mercer bar.
Rimtang
1039 33rd St., NW
Saran “Peter” Kannasute, also behind the flashy sushi restaurant Kyojin, opened this Georgetown Thai spot as an homage to his mother. Its $65 dinner menu is centered around a platter with papaya salad, barbecue pork and sweet sausage with rice, and massaman curry with chicken. It comes with a non-alcoholic drink and dessert (mango sticky rice, coconut ice cream), too.
Sushi Sato
1245 H St., NE
If you’re not quite ready to spring for the AYCE sushi and Japanese small plates menu at Tim Ma’s latest spot, visit for a $40 Restaurant Week dinner. On the menu: miso-glazed shishitos, chicken karaage, nigiri and maki, and yuzu/lychee pie.
Tapori
600 H St., NE
This Indian street food destination from the crew behind nearby Daru is serving a $55 menu that includes pani puri, a choice of appetizer, main, bread, and dessert, plus a side. There are lots of possibilities, whether you’re in the mood for salmon kebabs with mustard oil, Nepali-style wagyu dumplings, or a dosa.
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.
