The clock is ticking to get reservations in for Summer Restaurant Week. Organized by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW), this year’s event hosts a record number of restaurants offering deals and discounts from Aug. 12 through Aug. 18.
With over 350 restaurants to choose from, diners can celebrate the diverse cuisines found in the D.C. region with brunch and lunch menus priced at $25 or $35 per person and dinner menus for as low as $40 or as high as $65 per person.
In a statement, RAMW President and CEO Shawn Townsend said: “This is the largest number of participants we have ever seen for Restaurant Week, which is a constant reminder of how integral restaurants are to the fabric of our region. Our local eateries not only provide a wide array of culinary experiences but also bring people together and contribute significantly to the cultural and economic vitality of our communities.”
Diners can find the full list of participating restaurants here at RAMW’s website. For those interested in suggestions to help guide them for their next memorable dining experience, consider the more than 20 local restaurants found below.
For those seeking a Michelin-approved experience
For a taste of the Greek Isles, head to Balos, a Dupont Circle restaurant that was added to D.C.’s Michelin Guide earlier this year. To celebrate Summer Restaurant Week, it has a three-course lunch menu for $35 and a three-course dinner menu for $65. Dishes to anticipate include starters like spanakopita and avgolemono with main courses like grilled octopus, lamb chops and seafood youvetsi.
Enjoy Mediterranean flavors at Residents Café and Bar, a restaurant that got a nod from Michelin with Bib Gourmand status, meaning that diners should expect good food at a moderate price. During Summer Restaurant Week, the restaurant is offering dishes like crispy artichokes, peri peri whipped hummus, stracciatella pesto trofie and basque cheesecake. The three-course dinner experience costs $40.
Makan, another Michelin-approved restaurant with Bib Gourmand status, is plating up a three-course dinner menu with modern Malaysian food for $55. Dishes to savor include kare dalca, which is a yellow dal curry, and also rendang daging, which is a dry beef curry.
El Cielo, which holds one Michelin star, is celebrating Summer Restaurant Week with a three-course menu priced at $65 per person. The contemporary Colombian restaurant is expected to offer entrees like porchetta with yellow peas and cumin, yucca gnocchi with sweet plantains and shiitake, plus quail with apastelado rice and green onions.
Michelin-starred Gravitas is offering a three-course dinner for only $65 per guest, available from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday through Sunday in the dining room. Typically, a three-course tasting menu costs $95 per person at the restaurant, not including tax or gratuity.
For an exceptional dining experience at a (relatively) new restaurant
Since opening, MITA, in D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood, has been commended by The Washington Post, The New York Times and Washingtonian for its inventive, Latin American plant-based cuisine. For this year’s Summer Restaurant Week, MITA is offering a $65 per person dinner menu with dishes like a plantain ceviche, Venezuelan hallaca and moai, a po’e cake paired with coconut ice cream and miso pineapple jam.
Mallard, located near Logan Circle, focuses on the foods of the American South. For the weeklong culinary event, the restaurant is offering a $55 dinner menu. While the exact items on the prix fixe menu aren’t clear, the full menu that debuted recently includes fried Chesapeake oysters, crisp Berkshire pork trotter, Southern fried green tomatoes and a slow-roasted flat iron steak.
If you’re in the mood for pasta, Italian restaurant Cucina Morini is a worthy destination to consider. The restaurant is offering a three-course brunch for $25 per person and a three-course dinner for $40 per person from Tuesday, Aug. 13, through Sunday, Aug. 18. Highlights from the dinner menu include a pan-seared arctic char, a corn soup with sautéed shrimp and basil pesto, as well as a crème brûlée with coffee mascarpone custard.
Earlier this year, La Grande Boucherie opened in a historic downtown D.C. office building with both classic and modern French dishes in tow. For Summer Restaurant Week expect paired down, but still flavor-packed, menus priced at $35 for brunch and lunch and $65 for dinner. For a peek inside, check out WTOP’s reporting from earlier this year with a video included.
If in search of a more “whimsical” dining experience, head to Surreal at Crystal City, Virginia’s National Landing neighborhood. The restaurant is offering a $55 dinner with three courses, including a “Veal MacParm,” a crispy tuna poke pillow and desserts like an orange sunset royale with Japanese citrus candies or a chocolate waffle cannoli.
For more memorable, affordable brunches, lunches and dinners
Available for brunch, lunch and dinner, Petite Cerise highlights seasonal, French dishes with ingredients from the mid-Atlantic region and beyond. Prices for this year’s prix fixe menus are $35 for brunch and lunch and $55 for dinner.
Several locations of the Balkan restaurant chain, Ambar, are participating in this year’s Summer Restaurant Week. The restaurant is favored in the region for its “dining without limits” offerings. As a twist to its regular, unlimited menu, Ambar is instead offering lunch at $25 per person, or $29.99 with the addition of dessert, and dinner at $55 per person.
Hiraya, one of the hottest Filipino dining destinations in D.C. right now, is offering special, discounted menus for Summer Restaurant Week. Their lunch menu will be available at the cafe, including one brunch plate, a nonalcoholic drink and a pastry for $25. The three-course dinner menu is priced at $65 per person.
The pasta staple, Osteria Morini, is celebrating Summer Restaurant Week with a special three-course prix fixe menu for brunch, lunch and dinner. For brunch and lunch, expect a $25 per person menu, and a $40 per person price for dinner. Some of this year’s most prized options include panini di pollo, which is a crispy chicken cutlet with basil aioli and rosemary potato chips, plus for dessert, torta di formaggio, or a matcha cheesecake with white chocolate banana crema and banana crumble.
In D.C.’s Cleveland Park neighborhood, SABABA is preparing two five-course prix fixe menus, both exclusively available during dinner service. For $40 per person, guests can enjoy salatim and hummus, an Israeli salad and fried cauliflower and a choice of either harissa-marinated chicken kebab or pomegranate-marinated salmon kebab. If interested in upgrading, diners can instead opt for the $55 per person menu, which offers a choice of either braised lamb shank or Mediterranean sea bass.
Elevate your Summer Restaurant Week at CRANES, a Spanish-Japanese fusion restaurant located in D.C.’s Chinatown neighborhood. Lunch is priced at only $35 per person, while dinner is $65. For dinner, expect options like king salmon tataki or lamb with squash blossom, while lunch offers chicken katsu or a shiitake yakitori.
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