Winter Restaurant Week has been extended for a second week. Check with your restaurant of choice to make sure there are no menu changes. This guide has been updated.
The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s Winter Restaurant Week is back!
Winter Restaurant Week originally ran from Monday, Jan. 15 to Sunday, Jan. 21. But, since D.C. got several inches of snow over the course of the week, RAMW extended the event for a second week: Jan. 22 to Jan. 28.
Dozens of restaurants in D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia will offer dining deals and discounts on multi-course meals.
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Lunch and brunch menus are generally two courses for $25 or $35 per person, while dinners are usually three courses for $40, $55 or $65. If everything seems more expensive right now, you’re right: The upper tiers of prices are $10 higher than we’ve seen before. The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington says the higher price points would expand the available menu options. Still, good deals and discounts are out there.
Restaurant Week is evolving, and our pro tips will help you navigate the ins and outs and ups and downs of D.C.’s dining scene during its favorite biannual tradition.
The Scene
The most fun things to do and places to be in D.C., Maryland and Virginia
We reviewed dozens of menus and drew upon interviews with experts to check for the essential ingredients for a worthy Restaurant Week: a great menu for a good price at a restaurant worth visiting.
In: Being the reservation hero
Do your research and snag a table! The good reservations go fast. This is D.C. after all.
Fine dining restaurants get particularly competitive. Check out Michelin-starred Gravitas and Bresca or The Wharf's Del Mar.
In: Eun Yang's picks
News4's resident foodie Eun Yang loves exploring the D.C. area's restaurant scene. You better believe she has some opinions on restaurants worth visiting – for Restaurant Week deals and beyond.
Some of Eun's go-to favorites for Restaurant Week include All Purpose Pizzeria (Capitol Riverfront and Shaw), L'Ardente, Nama Ko and Ruthie's All-Day, Mandu, Dauphine's and Pennyroyal Station.
Ingle Korean Steakhouse (8369 Leesburg Pike Suite A, Vienna, Virginia) is a newcomer to Restaurant Week, elevating the Korean BBQ experience you know and love with high-quality meats and special side dishes in Tysons. Their Restaurant Week menu is the same as their regular menu, but $15 cheaper.
The Salt Line (Capitol Riverfront, Ballston and Bethesda) is a staple whether you visit in D.C., Maryland or Virginia. A $55 dinner could include crab dip, a lobster roll and a Boston cream mille-feuille. The $10 hot cocktails and option to add raw bar items are welcome bonuses.
Mandu (453 K St NW, Washington, D.C.) is offering a special Korean experience, Gogi Baekban. For $40, you get a beautiful set meal with Korean favorites and classic dishes with a twist.
Perry’s (1811 Columbia Road, NW, Washington, D.C.) has been part of the D.C. dining scene for nearly 40 years, drawing people to Adams Morgan for rooftop fun and sushi. Executive Chef Masako told Food Fare how she’s helping make it a destination spot with her culinary creativity.
For Restaurant Week, Perry’s has a three-course, $55 dinner menu filled with comforting Japanese favorites. Snag reservations on Resy.
Petite Cerise (1027 7th St NW, Washington, D.C.): Lunch, brunch and dinner à la mode française are on offer from the team that nabbed a Michelin star for The Dabney See the menus here.
Xiquet (2404 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, D.C.), the Michelin-starred Spanish restaurant in Glover Park, is participating in Restaurant Week for the first time after it was named Formal Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year in the 2023 RAMMY Awards, and you can explore Valencian Chef Danny Lledó’s special menu through Jan. 28. Grab those reservations quickly!
You can choose from two tasting menus on Restaurant Week: A $165 version and a $65 version that’s only available for the first and last seatings each evening.
The tasting menu usually costs $265, so Restaurant Week is a pretty good deal, but look out: A 22% service charge and tempting upgrades like a pork wellington ($40) and wine pairings ($40-$85) will drive up your bill.
In: An embassy-restaurant collab
When we look at Restaurant Week menus, we like to see a restaurant showing off their standout dishes– not a dumbed-down version.
But Gerrard Street Kitchen is taking Restaurant Week offerings to the next level. The restaurant in The Darcy Hotel is collaborating with Chef Balazs Szabo from the Embassy of Hungary. The starring dish on the $40 dinner menu is the beef goulash served with housemade spaetzle.
Out: Forgetting lunch and brunch
Priced at $25 or $35 per person, brunch and lunch are always the deal heroes of Restaurant Week.
Some well-loved restaurants only do Restaurant Week for these two meals, including Iron Gate and L’Ardente. Ocean Prime is doing lunches only.
These spots are coming through with $25 brunch deals: Brasserie Liberté in Georgetown, Dovetail at the Viceroy Hotel in Bloomingdale, and Mi Vida’s three locations in D.C. Joon in Tysons has a $35 brunch.
There are tons of $35 lunches available, including: Takara 14 in Logan Circle, The Pembroke on Dupont Circle, Zaytinya in Penn Quarter, Spanish Diner in Bethesda and Rasika’s West End and Penn Quarter locations.
Out: Trekking for food
We love finding gems closer to home for Restaurant Week. Maybe one of this year's first-time participants are right in your neighborhood?
The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington tells us there are newcomers across the DMV:
- D.C.: The Bazaar by José Andrés; Fireclay at the Hotel Washington in Penn Quarter; Flora in the Pendry at The Wharf; Makan and Meli in Columbia Heights; Mita in Shaw, Code Red and Ceibo in Adams Morgan and Mercy Me at Yours Truly Hotel in Golden Triangle
- Maryland: Charley Prime Foods in Gaithersburg and several Milk and Honey locations, including Bowie and College Park (locations in The Wharf, Ashburn and Fairfax are also participating)
- Virginia: Ingle Korean Steakhouse and Tysons Social in Tysons; Corso Italian, Sabores and Makers Union in Arlington and NUE in Falls Church
Alexandria’s and Falls Church’s restaurant weeks from Jan. 19-28 give you even more options.
In: Moon Rabbit
It’s been quite a year for Chef Kevin Tien: He won Chef of the Year at the RAMMYs for Moon Rabbit, months after The Wharf restaurant closed amid a unionization fight.
Soon, the modern Vietnamese spot is coming back. Reservations are going fast to dine in the highly-anticipated new outpost in Penn Quarter. Restaurant Week is their dress rehearsal.
Out: Checks that make you say, “Wait, how much?”
Read the fine print before committing to any restaurant to make sure you’re getting a real deal.
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.
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