Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
Until recently, tourists who trekked north from the Mall hungry for something more than Smithsonian cafeteria food were stranded Downtown with little but high-end options. Now, young Washingtonians are taking advantage of residential development and moving off Capitol Hill to Downtown, Penn Quarter, and Chinatown, where nothing short of a restaurant revolution has taken shape in the last decade.
This spacious restaurant is on the ground floor of the 130-year-old Riggs Bank Building, now known as the Riggs Hotel. The café boasts large Corinthian columns, original stone floors, a sky-high ceiling, and Palladian windows. The menu is as luxurious as its surroundings: an ample raw bar featuring caviar, oysters, and crab. If seafood is not your thing, there are plenty of other choices, like steak frites and duck breast.
The specialty at chef José Andrés's Mexican stunner are antojitos, literally translated as "little cravings." But the high ceilings, gracious service, and gorgeous Frida Kahlo–inspired interior are anything but small, and even the smallest of dishes is larger than life when doused with chocolate mole poblano sauce or piquant lime-cilantro dressing. Standouts include homemade margaritas topped with a clever salt foam, the seared Chesapeake perch with serrano and cilantro, and grasshopper tacos—yes, those are bugs basted in tequila and chili sauce, and they're delightful. Museumgoers shouldn't miss the filling and fanciful lunch specials.
