Restaurant week in D.C. August 11th thru August 17th. Check 'find a restaurant'.

If you can find RW on open table, it's easier to scroll and view.

ramw.org/restaurantweek

Thanks! It might be a good time to schedule a quick trip.

Bonus is that hotel rates fall in mid-August, and sometimes the temperatures do too.

IME, only a few restaurants are actually a bargain during restaurant week, and in some cases, the fixed prie menu costs more than a "normal" meal would. That said, there are a few restaurants where restaurant week really does offer a wonderful opportunity to enjoy some of the city's finest meals!

More to the point, I would NOT recommend coming to DC during August if you can avoid it. The heat and humidity can be TRULY awful.

More to the point, I would NOT recommend coming to DC during August if you can avoid it. The heat and humidity can be TRULY awful.

I respectfully disagree, not with the point that the weather can be brutal but that the same thing could be said about visiting NYC, Philadelpia, Baltimore, Charleston, New Orleans, and Chicago. So it may not be the optimal time to visit but I'd hardly warn people away. Lots to do and see in blissful A/C and you can pace yourself to mitigate the heat & humidity.

And iit's hardly Birdie's first rodeo in DC.

Restaurant week can be a mixed bag, but I see at least 40 places I'd happily visit. I agree it's not always a dollar for dollar value but it's fun try new places and support local businesses. And dine well in the meantime.

Restaurant Week around the country is when chefs trot out low cost ingredients to generate high volume business. IMO, it can be a good opportunity to go to a place you otherwise couldn't afford, but IME, Restaurant Week menus do not showcase the restaurants' best. I wouldn't advise anyone to build a trip around RW, but to each his own.

I see it the same as NewbE.

RW used to be a great time to check out a new restaurant, but as others have said, that is no longer the case. Often what is offered is not even on the regular menu. Restaurants tend to be very busy and staff are harried and have told us they hate the week and can't wait for it to be over.
Definitely some good restaurants, but will you get their best or even close to it? I doubt it.
Lots of articles talking bout how it is not a good value
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/b...-did-the-math/

Any restaurants you would recommend trying?

www.opentable.com/promo.aspx?m=9&pid=68

For me, I don't believe that any chef that values his or her reputation is going to serve an inferior dinner or lunch.

Special menu--yes.

Smaller sizes-maybe

We have had some very good RW dinners in Boston's North End and Portsmouth, NH.

For D.C. we have had some very good dinners using restaurant.com Some people don't like using restaurant.com, but we have used it at Jaleos' and that was good.

Also Zaytinya and that was very good. We stopped by at 11:30am and they took a dinner reservation.

I think both Boston and Portsmouth will have RW in the near future. Cava in Portsmouth was excellent during RW last year.

Whatever floats your boat is fine!!

Rasika is great Indian Food.

LindainOhio, do you mean for RW specifically or in DC in general? I have lots of DC favorites, as do others here, so perhaps you could start your own thread about that.

I agree with the comments iris made.

These are some of DC's best restaurants and they appear on the RW list. I doubt they're serving the dog's dinner during RW.

Bistro Bis
Brabo
Equinox
Jaleo
Poste
Rasika
Vermillion
Vidalia
West End Bistro

These are some of my current favorite DC restaurants, also on the RW list:

Birch & Barley
Black Salt
Firefly
Graffiato
Indique
Kapros
Le Chaumiere
I Ricci
Lincoln
Mourayo
NoPa Kitchen and Bar
Oyamel
RIS
Siroc
Urbana
Zaninya

Could there possibly be a little snobbism at play here. RW is for amateurs. I'm no foodie by any means but I spend my fair share of $ eating out in DC, up and down the price scale. I'd gauge my expectations during RW but I wouldn't shoo people off.

I don't think it's particularly audacious for restaurants to offer a prix fixe menu as an incentive to attract more customers during slow times like January and August. And if you think it's a rip off or not enough of a bargain, order off the regular menu. In general I think lunch is more of a "bargain" than dinner.

YMMV.

I don't think RW is dog's dinner. I just don't believe it is the best way to experience a place.

Thanks for the recommendations. Our daughter just moved to Arlington last month and I know she always enjoyed RW when she lived in Chicago. I am keeping this list for when we visit.

I lived in the DC area for more than 40 years and I am not going to spend your time, or mine, telling you about all the restaurants I have patronized in the area and there are some bad ones and some good ones.

Whatever you do, don't lat anyone tell you that the area does not have some great places to eat and they are certainly in a class which equals or even exceeds any other city in the US you can name IMO.

Enjoy your time in the area. Frankly, there are a couple of places on that "list" that I think stink but that's obviously a subjective opinion. Perhaps you could try all of them and then decide who is the "foodie."

In the meanwhile hopefully your daughter has eaten in some of the great Arlington restaurants by this time.

I like restaurant weeks because they offer something different. Sometimes I like the offerings, sometimes I don't. Just like the regular menus. We've been to Vidalia a few times so a RW menu might be a fun option.

Obxgirl, it's nice to see Urbanna on your list. We tried it a few years ago and loved it. Did I Ricci reopen or has it been there all these years but under the radar?

obxgirl; Happy to see Jaleo and Zaninya on your list.

We enjoyed both and I'm confident a good meal would be had during RW.

Remember, we used restaurant.com coupons at both restaurants and there was no drop off in service or quality of food.

Like you, we are not foodies, just like good food.

Birdie; Enjoy your time in D.C. and consider looking at restaurant.com

I just don't believe it is the best way to experience a place.

I agree but that doesn't mean that it's a subpar experience.

I had a lunch and a dinner in NYC last summer during RW. My first visit to Jaleo in DC years ago was during RW. Were those meals "the best" those restaurants offer? Almost certainly not but they were all excellent meals which made or will make me a return customer.

I wouldn't schedule a special occasion dinner at a place during RW. But would I drop $25 or $40 to try a new place or a place off my beaten path? Absolutely. And my expectations would be gauged accordingly.

For anyone doing a search in the future I'll correct my misspellings. Zaytinya and i Ricchi.

Obxgirl, it's nice to see Urbanna on your list. We tried it a few years ago and loved it. Did I Ricci reopen or has it been there all these years but under the radar?

I think i Ricchi has been there all along but I don't know for certain. DH loves Italian so the good ones that aren't super formal or ultra pricey go on the list.

For future visits, RW or not, consider a trip to Le Chaumiere for some traditional French bistro food. It's DC's Le Yaca. Very old school Georgetown. Walkable from Dupont Circle at the east end of GT.