Restaurant Week 2023: Best brunch and beyond in DC

Fire up your go-to reservation platform of choice because we’re living in our Restaurant Week era.

D.C.’s big Summer Restaurant Week officially starts Monday, Aug. 28 and goes until Sunday, Sept. 3.

📺 Watch News4 now: Stream NBC4 newscasts for free right here, right now.

That's right, part of Labor Day Weekend is included in the annual dining event this year! If you're traveling, note that several restaurants at Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport are participating.

News4's Tommy McFly talks to a chef at Shilling Canning Co., one of the restaurants participating in Restaurant Week beginning Aug. 28.

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If you're hungry for deals in the D.C. area, you can make reservations now at dozens of eateries.

Whether you want to grab brunch, see who’s getting creative (Tonari has a menu inspired by Hulu's "The Bear") or reconnect with longtime favorites (like Perry’s or Pennyroyal Station), this guide has something for you.

Do: Start early

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You'll want to book reservations sooner rather than later — we noticed some popular restaurants getting booked up way in advance.

Do: Take it from Eun Yang

Our Food Fare band leader always knows what’s good.

Here are Eun's top picks this time around:

Destino (1280 4th Street NE, Washington, D.C.): The RAMMY-nominated sit-down spot in La Cosecha food hall at Union Market offers Mexican dishes with exciting ingredients on its $25 brunch and $55 dinner menus. If you want something extra, their cocktail menu takes favorite drinks to the next level.

Perry’s (1811 Columbia Road, NW, Washington, D.C.): The appetizing $55 dinner menu counts fried chicken with caviar and tuna tartare among starters, steak donburi and chef’s choice sushi/sashimi for mains, then miso choco cookies or yuzu blueberry cake for dessert. Nab rooftop reservations while you can!

James Beard award-winning Chef Jeremiah Langhorne wanted to share his love for French food and technique with his latest restaurant Petit Cerise. News4's Eun Yang checks out this bistro's classic French dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in this Food Fare.

Petite Cerise (1027 7th St NW, Washington, D.C.): French cooking from the team behind The Dabney is on the $55 dinner menu.

Celebrities and locals alike are drawn to Chef Philippe Chow’s restaurants with his famous Peking Duck. He’s now brought his modern Beijing-style cuisine to the Wharf in southwest D.C. — his first U.S. restaurant outside New York City. The restaurant that bears his name offers diners the comfort of their favorite Chinese foods in a glamorous setting.

Philippe by Philippe Chow (635 Wharf St SW, Washington, D.C.): The three-course dinner menu costs $55 per person at one of our Food Fare features.

Don't: Sleep through Restaurant Week brunch (or lunch)

Bar Chinois (455 I St NW, Washington, D.C.): The energetic French-meets-Chinese bar offers a starter, entree and dessert for $25 at brunch, with an option to add bottomless mimosas, select beers and canned vodka spritzers for $20.

L’Ardente (200 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, D.C.): The RAMMY’s Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year is serving brunch and lunch deals.

The owners of Unconventional Diner, Eric Eden, and chef David Deshaies, opened L'Ardente this fall. It's located in D.C.'s East End neighborhood in D.C. In this Food Fare segment, Chef Deshaies shows News4's Eun Yang how to make the restaurant's signature dish, a 40-layer lasagna.

Le Clou (222 M Street NE, Washington, D.C.): Duck confit poutine stands out on the brunch menu, and the lunch crowd does get sorbet for a dessert course at this modern French brasserie. There’s also dinners at $40 or $55.

Lupo Verde (4814 MacArthur Blvd NW, Washington, D.C.): The Italian spot won’t leave guests underfed with carbonara, eggplant parmesan and linguini with clams among brunch or lunch offerings (we must mention that the $55 dinner menu gets you a pasta course in addition to the starter, main and dessert).

Pennyroyal Station (3310 Rhode Island Ave, Mount Rainier, Maryland): Perennial favorite for elevated comfort food — and RAMMY winner for Casual Restaurant of the Year — has three courses on its $25 brunch menu. It also has a $40 dinner.

Tabla (3227 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C.) and Supra (1205 11th St NW, Washington, D.C.): Khachapuri — the Georgian boat-bread dish often filled with eggs and cheese — is a brunch dream, and the spreads are scrumptious. A $25 brunch is available at Supra and its more casual sibling Tabla.

Shibuya Eatery/Death Punch (2321 18th Street NW, Washington, D.C.): Stop by for a $25 lunch starting with shio soba.

Do: Explore Michelin-starred, award-winning and high-end Restaurant Week offerings

Popular restaurants — especially acclaimed ones and RAMMY winners — do participate in Restaurant Week, but tables go fast. Here are some options that still had tables at publishing time:

Bar Ivy (3033 Wilson Blvd Suite 115R, Arlington, Virginia): The RAMMY nominee for New Restaurant of the Year is offering lunch and dinner with plenty of options with lots of fish and seafood dishes.

Bresca (1906 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C.): The Michelin-starred American restaurant lauded for its "casual yet ambitious" cooking has an Australian Wagyu beef dish as its Restaurant Week entree.

Causa/Amazonia (920 Blagden Alley NW, Washington, D.C.): This Peruvian restaurant is scooping up top restaurant awards. With its regular chef’s tasting menu set at $125, the $55 Restaurant Week menu looks like a winner. You can book online or call the restaurant.

With D.C. Restaurant Week fast approaching, Cranes is getting ready to serve up some delicious cuisine. News4's Tommy McFly sits down with the restaurant's chef to talk about how the restaurant is preparing for the event.

Cranes (724 9th Street NW, Washington, D.C.): The Michelin-starred restaurant that blends the best of Spanish and Japanese, has a four-course menu for $55 with a beverage pairing option for $35.

Crazy Aunt Helen’s (713 8th St SE, Washington, D.C.): A finalist for a RAMMY award for Favorite Gathering Place, the Barracks Row restaurant has $40 dinner and $25 lunch menus.

Estuary (950 New York Avenue NW Washington, D.C.): The CityCenterDC restaurant offering locally sourced, Mid-Atlantic cuisine has put together a $55 dinner menu.

Lulu's Wine Garden (1940 11th Street NW, Washington, D.C.): The fancy dinner for two ($110) includes a build-your-own taco course and the brunch starts with a drink. Wines from the RAMMY-nominated program are among your choices.

Tonari (707 6th St NW, Washington, D.C.): If you loved Hulu's "The Bear" but haven't made it to Chicago yet, this Japanese-Italian joint that was nominated for a RAMMY is making your dreams come true. Their Restaurant Week menu includes a mortadella cannoli, Mikey's family spaghetti and their version of Pequod's deep dish pizza. The $55 menu is available through Sept 11. There's also a $90 beverage pairing option.

Tiki on 18th/The Game Sports Pub (2411 18th Street NW, Washington, D.C.): This year’s RAMMY award winner for Favorite Gathering Place packs its food menu with Filipino favorites — and yes, the $55 dinner menu comes complete with a tiki drink. If you want a second drink, the pub will be donating $1 from every cocktail sold to help people in Maui recover from the devastating wildfires.

Rania (427 11th St. NW, Washington, D.C.): This RAMMY nominee for New Restaurant of the Year is bringing Indian food to brunch (you can add on bottomless mimosas for an extra $25), lunch and dinner.

Don't: Forget that Restaurant Week is in Maryland and Virginia, too

You don't have to stay in the District to get in on Restaurant Week. In addition to spots mentioned above like Pennyroyal Station in Mount Ranier and Bar Ivy in Arlington, check out these spots.

Maryland

Caruso's Grocery Pike & Rose (11820 Trade St., North Bethesda): The dessert options alone on the $40 dinner menu have us drooling.

Era Wine Bar (3300 Rhode Island Avenue, Mount Rainier, Maryland): Era Wine Bar was nominated for Wine Program of the Year in the RAMMY Awards, so you may want to add some vino to your internationally-inspired brunch or dinner.

Virginia

Vermilion (1120 King Street, Alexandria, Virginia): The upscale American spot in Old Town is taking part in back-to-back Restaurant Weeks through Sept. 3. Check out reservations here.

Ruthie's All-Day (3411 5th Street South, Arlington, Virginia): Lunch, dinner menus at $40 and $55 plus a paired drink option are in the works at another RAMMY finalist for Favorite Gathering Place.

Don’t: Overlook the fine print

The deals start at $25 to $55, but your check will ring up for more than that once you factor in tax and tip — and potentially other charges.

Lots of restaurants are adding fees, citing inflation or Initiative 82, but they are generally required to let you know upfront. An additional 3-5% on checks isn’t abnormal nowadays; neither are automatic 20% service charges.

Do: Keep the Restaurant Week party going

Many restaurants extend their dining deals. So far, we've heard about Dovetail, Figleaf, Joselito Casa de Comidas, Nama Ko and SER (all going through Sept. 10); Tonari (through Sept. 11) and Bresca (lunch only on Sept. 3, then the discount menu returns Sept. 6-10).

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