DCGuide
The 11 Best Deals For DC’s Restaurant Week
photo credit: Nina Palazzolo
Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Week is back from August 28th to September 3rd. There are over 200 participating restaurants this year, offering multi-course meals for either $25, $40, or $55 dollars. To help you narrow things down, we made a list of 10 participating spots that we love, in alphabetical order.
photo credit: Shab + Coop Photograpy
Unlike a lot of places, Agora in Dupont Circle does Restaurant Week right. The Mediterranean spot is featuring some of its best dishes, particularly on the $25 weekday lunch menu—you’ll find their htipiti, grilled chicken, and Turkish baklava, three of our go-tos.
Bar Chinois is a little funky, and a lot of fun, especially if you’re out after dark during the week. Do a $40 Restaurant Week dinner at the Mt. Vernon Triangle Chinese spot, then stick around for cocktails (and maybe a little dancing) as it switches over to a nightclub vibe after 9pm.
The deals at this Dupont Circle Spanish restaurant are too good to be missed, with $25 brunch and lunch, or a $40 dinner. Each meal consists of an appetizer, entree, and dessert, and you’ll find their delicious albóndigas at both lunch and dinner.
Filomena Ristorante—which is celebrating its 40th year in Georgetown—has a $40 dinner that might be the best deal in town. You get a three-course Italian meal where you choose from some of our favorite dishes on the menu. Your options include the salsicce di casa, a sweet Italian sausage, and the pollo alla parmigiana. And it’s all for the price of an entree on a regular night.
Il Piatto is a great date night spot, especially when you’re trying not to spend too much money on decent Italian food downtown. Save some cash during Restaurant Week with their $25 brunch and lunch and $40 dinner specials. They haven’t shared official menus, but expect something similar to their weekday express lunch, which is an appetizer, entree, and dessert for $35. If they’re available, don’t miss the crispy arancini and chocolate mousse.
Le Chat Noir is our favorite French restaurant in the city, so we’re thrilled that it’s offering a Restaurant Week dinner. While they haven’t released specifics yet, everything at the Friendship Heights spot is worth eating over and over again, so anything on the $40 menu will be a good choice.
Lulu’s patio is one of the best in the city, and Restaurant Week is the perfect time to check it out. The casual wine garden on U Street is offering a $25 brunch where you can enjoy a drink, bodega-style breakfast-sandwiches (think bacon, egg, and cheese) and dessert.
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Ottoman Taverna has some of our favorite year-round deals (like their $45 all-inclusive brunch), which makes their Restaurant Week specials that much more exciting. The Turkish spot in Mt. Vernon Triangle is doing a $25 brunch and lunch, plus a $40 dinner, where you can sample some of their classics like doner kebap and tavuk köfte.
photo credit: Kim Kong
This new French spot made our Hit List, so if you haven’t been, now’s your chance to check it out. The Mt. Vernon Square restaurant created a special $55 dinner menu for Restaurant Week, so you can try their mussel soup and chicken ballotine.
photo credit: Nina Palazzolo
The decision to go to Rasika in Penn Quarter is always a good one. This isn’t just because the Indian restaurant has great food (which it does), but because it works for all sorts of occasions—date night, post-work dinner, or dining solo at the bar. They're doing a $55 dinner for Restaurant Week, featuring some of our favorite dishes like palak chaat—crispy spinach in a date chutney—and a chicken tikka masala that will be your new favorite.
If you haven’t had the Penn Quarter spot’s signature sticky toffee pudding, their $55 Restaurant Week dinner is your chance to indulge. You’ll just have to wade through a starter and entree course first, but those are pretty good, too. Plus, the American restaurant is one of our go-to “I forgot to make a reservation” spots, so you should have no issues getting a table on September 2nd.
