6 Best Restaurants in The National Mall, Washington, D.C.

Popular D.C. coffee and gelato chain Dolcezza set up shop at the Hirshhorn Museum a few years ago, making it the only locally owned café in a Smithsonian museum. On a hot summer day, cool down with a heaping cone of their beloved pistachio gelato or recharge with a strong espresso. Located in the futuristic-looking lobby designed by the internationally acclaimed Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, it has stunning tables made in the shape of the roots of a medieval Japanese nutmeg tree. The café also offers freshly made sweet and savory pastries to appeal to the diverse taste of its guests.

The food stations here offer both traditional and contemporary Native American dishes from throughout the western hemisphere. The culinary team offers seasonal menus from five regional cuisines, expanding the museum experience with insight into indigenous culinary history, cooking techniques, ingredients, and flavors. Try an Indian taco from the Great Plains, green chile chicken posole from Mesoamerica, soup from the northern woodlands, salmon from the Northwest coast, or cazuela de cordero from South America. Burger lovers will love the bison burger, a favorite among frequent diners. Don't miss the fry bread and wild rice salad, and little ones will enjoy the bison chili and corn totopos.

At the edge of the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden, you can sidle up to the counter and feast your eyes on the menu items before deciding what you'll order at this casual, sit-down eatery. From pastries to anything-but-ordinary salads to hot and cold sandwiches with Southwestern or East Asian flavors, you'll have an array of choices. Salads topped with plenty of seasonal fruit, vegetables, and style. Sandwiches typically offer a twist, such as Montréal beef on whole-grain ciabatta or lemon-tarragon chicken salad on a whole-grain croissant. Enjoy your meal inside with full windows or outside in either the sun or the shade—or take it with you to sit by the fountains surrounding a pond, making something of a soothing oasis as they drown out the traffic noise. In summer, you can order carafes of sangria to take in the sounds of the popular Jazz in the Garden series. During the winter, you can enjoy some boozy hot chocolate and cider while walking around the garden's seasonal ice-skating rink. Hours change seasonally.

Sweet Home Café, located at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, continues to be on the top of the list of best museum restaurants in Washington, D.C. since opening in 2016. It offers traditional and authentic dishes that rotate based on the seasons. The culinary staff uses locally sourced ingredients and a from-scratch cooking style to showcase the rich history of African American cuisine from four distinct geographic regions. Summer brings barbecue and fish-fry special menus and offers seasonal holiday dishes. Taste the regional experiences of the South year-round with buttermilk fried chicken from the agricultural South, gumbo or shrimp and grits from the Creole coast, a Caribbean-style pepper pot from the Northern states, or pan-roasted rainbow trout from the Western range.

After marveling at the masterpieces in the National Gallery West Building, sit down in a lovely open courtyard, complete with a fountain. The Garden Café features a selection of sandwiches, pastries, and snacks, and it is also an excellent spot for a coffee with its perfectly crafted lattes.

If you need to take a break from a museum without straying too far, check out Rice Bar, a fast-casual Korean restaurant located a block away from the Air and Space museum. The restaurant specializes in bibimbap, a Korean rice bowl dish usually topped with savory marinated beef, gochujang (chili pepper paste), and sautéed vegetables. The eatery allows customization of the bowls and offers vegetarian and vegan options like tofu and egg protein choices. Aside from the rice bowls, they offer a wide selection of soups with classic Korean flavors like kimchi, spicy kalbi, and tofu.