Heading for DC in September for 3 nights, I'm looking for great places to eat.

What are your favorites?

I don't know about "best", but we had wonderful meals at Hotel Washington rooftop, Willard Hotel and B...... Grill, just drew another senior moment, back eventually!

I got it!!! Old Ebbit Grille.

We had a wonderful dinner 2 weeks ago at Brasserie Beck - bustling and noisy, but the Belgian food was very good and it has an excellent beer list.

If you are a creative foodie, Kinkead's. Historic DC atmosphere, Old Ebbit Grill. Willard Hotel likewise is an historic DC destination with reliable food. If you want to catch some DC nabob's and can handle big city, big time steak prices go for the Capital Grill. Superb stuff, but will cost you.

For a special night out go to the Willard Hotel. Old Ebbit Grille is very popular and therefore crowded -- just plan accordingly.

Just returned from a 7 day trip to DC area and enjoyed the following restaurants -
Kinkeads
Sea Catch
Warehouse Bar & Grill
Tony & Joes
Old Ebbitt Grill
Pizzeria Paradiso

Filomena and the 1789 both in Georgetown but the latter has a coat requirement for men.

There are so many good restaurants in DC and new ones are added all the time, and a place like Bethesda has dozens of good restaurants too. You also don't give a budget, which makes reccos a bit more difficult. Take a look at the website for the Washingtonian Magazine at http://www.washingtonian.com/, which lots of people in DC use as their restaurant bible. Some of my favorites in the District are:

Nora
2132 Florida Ave., NW
Washington, DC
202-462-5143
http://www.noras.com/

Excellent, expensive, usually ranked as one of DC’s best restaurants. This is in the DuPont Circle area. Has an Asian restaurant as well, called Asia-Nora which I have not yet been too.

Palena
3529 Connecticut Ave., NW
Cleveland Park
(202) 537-9250
http://www.palenarestaurant.com/

Italian, Quite expensive. Make reservations now.

Citronelle
3000 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
202-625-2150

Again, usually ranked in the top 10 of DC restaurants and ranked high in US restaurants. Hard to describe, it’s continental with a little Asian, sort of fusion, but it’s just good food. Expensive, but worth it. Jacket and tie required.

Petit Plats
2653 Connecticut Ave., NW
Woodley Park
(202) 518-0018
http://www.petits-plats.com/

Great French food. Not too expensive.

Lauriol Plaza
835 18th St., NW
202-387-0035
http://www.lauriolplaza.com/

Good inexpensive Mexican food. Fun crowd, they have a roof deck. This is near DuPont Circle. They have a sister restaurant further up toward the National Cathedral: Cactus Cantina, 3300 Wisconsin Ave., NW; 202-686-7222.

Tabard Inn
Dupont Circle
1739 N St., NW
Washington, DC
202-833-2668
http://www.tabardinn.com/

Excellent, more formal, continental, also somewhat expensive. Near DuPont circle.

Morrison- Clark Inn.
1015 L Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20001
ph: 202.898.1200
fax: 202.289.9576
http://www.elegantsmallhotel.com/hotels/esh552.html

Usually listed among the area's top-20 restaurants. Continental in a somewhat formal dining room. They have brunch.


Red Sage – Grill
605 Fourteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: (202) 638-4444
http://www.redsage.com/grill/grill.html

American grill, good food, not to expensive.

Finally last and very much not least, if you can take a 1 hour drive, then you should go to the Inn at Little Washington, Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Virginia. Go to http://www.theinnatlittlewashington.com/ - this is a very charming inn and has one of the best restaurants on the east coast, and probably one of the 5 best in the country. Lovely part of the country as well.

I think Tony and Joe’s is very good for brunch given its waterfront location. While I like the Old Ebbit Grill a lot, but I don’t know that I would go so far as to call it one of the “best” restaurants in Washingon…. Agree that the view from the Hotel Washington is great, if you don’t want to have dinner, go up for drinks, it’s quite popular esp on weekend nights. 1789 has a nice atmosphere.

Please, do not advise people that they can make it out to "Little" Washington "in one hour." We have enough speeding problems out here in Virginia as it is!

Thanks for all your suggestions.

I have stayed at Inn at Little Washington - which I would rank up on my top five restaurant experiences.

I didn't give a budget since I don't really have a price in mind. I like to go to different types of places - and price isn't always a reflection of how good the food is and how much fun you can have at a restaurant.

Thanks again!

Are you more interested in food or atmosphere? Lauriol Plaza is definitely a see and be seen crowd but the food is nothing special. Red Sage has been closed for months so you can skip that option. Palena is wonderful but I would sit in the front bistro for a cheaper meal - get the burger and/or roast chicken. Skip the Hotel Washington rooftop for dinner and just grab some drinks and the enjoy the view. Same thing for anything down in the G'town waterfront (Tony and Joes, Sequoia, etc.) Old Ebbitt would be a good brunch option

I would recommend the following for both food and atmosphere. Book early:

Central (same chef as Citronelle)
Brasserie Beck (Belgian - great beer)
Rasika (Indian)

If you are a foodie the best restaurant in DC hands down is Komi on 17th st. One of the other top end places with a really inventive tasting menu is Minibar at Cafe Atlantico. If you went to both of those (tho both are pretty expensive) you woudl IMHO have eaten at 2 of the most inventive restaurants in the country.

Seconding the recommendation for Komi. We ate there last year while visiting DC. My husband still raves about that meal. You may want to search chowhound.com for more recommendations.