Lavagna

Brunch might not be the first meal you think of when someone says “let’s get pasta,” but at Lavagna, it should be. Every weekend, the Capitol Hill spot is packed with locals indulging in mascarpone pancakes topped with whipped nutella that taste like they should be dessert instead of breakfast. The staff carries huge plates of bacon-topped spaghetti carbonara past black-and-white photos of James Dean and Audrey Hepburn, but are never too busy to stop and laugh with customers they haven’t seen in a while. Come Saturday, for more of a typical DC brunch scene, or take it slow on Sunday with the quietly sip mimosas crowd.