Getting hungry? Here are some tasty new spots to look forward to in the new year.
It’s no secret that the last two years have been difficult for the restaurant industry in D.C. Many beloved spots have been forced to shutter since the start of the pandemic in 2020, and lingering issues with understaffing were compounded this year with pandemic-related funding support running out. At least 48 D.C. restaurants closed permanently in 2022, according to the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington — an increase from 40 closures the past year, Axios DC reports.
We’re still waiting on some restaurants we previously anticipated opening by now (see: Le Mont Royal, Deanwood Deli, Jiwa Singapura, Uncaged Mimosas) but on the bright side, some made it open for the end of the year (Bronze on H Street opened Dec. 28), and others, like Mezcalero at La Cosecha, pulled off expansions. Plus, there are several more restaurants looking to open their doors after D.C. rings in 2023.
Here’s what we’re looking forward to, including a permanent home for a beloved Eastern Market vendor, several more food halls, and a Levantine wine and pastry headquarters.
4747 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda
Mike Friedman, the brains behind Italian hotspots The Red Hen and All-Purpose, is expanding to Bethesda with two adjacent eateries slinging Roman-focused menus starting in early 2023. Bethesda Beat reports Aventino, a 4,200-square-foot space seating 135, will offer a menu of antipasto, thin-crust Roman pizza, pastas, and entrees like a fried whole branzino, alongside a nearly 100-bottle wine list from the Roman region. AP, while similar in name to All-Purpose, will differ from the original with its focus on takeout with a 2,000-square-foot space only seating 20 next to a to-go window. Find New York and Sicilian style pies, risotto balls, and olive oil cake here.
670 Rhode Island Ave. NE
The Bryant Street NE development in Edgewood is expected to be home to several rumored eateries — not to mention the roller rink/pickleball venue announced last month — but one long-anticipated addition is for sure: a food hall. The Bevy is slated to start with a few vendors, including its first in Baltimore’s The Chicken Lab serving up sweet-and-spicy fried chicken and fried rice cakes. Eater DC reports the 12,400-square foot space, opening in late summer 2023, will eventually feature nine stalls.
2440 18th St. NW
Adams Morgan gains a speakeasy with Code RED. The 74-seat bar, opening in early 2023, will require a password to enter. The space will offer an eclectic menu, Georgetowner reports, alongside cocktails and decor that nod to the late-Prohibition era 1930s.
3301 14th St. NW
The popular L.A.-based chicken and fries chain expands to D.C. after inking deals to land in Maryland. The former Z Burger outpost in Columbia Heights — once home to the Tivoli Theater — will now house a menu focused on Nashville style hot chicken tenders, opening soon in January.
124 Blagden Alley, NW
The ever-growing Blagden Alley gains another cocktail room after Columbia Room lefe a hole. The L.A., Denver, and New York-based cocktail bar brings its extravagant cocktails and small snacks to D.C. in spring 2023, but no word on whether the space will be an intimate bar like it’s O.G. New York location or a cocktail lounge in Denver.
1837 M St. NW in D.C. and 7401 Baltimore Ave. Ste. A, College Park
Another California-born chain expands in the area with the hotdog and sausage-heavy beer garden in a former Chipotle near Dupont Circle. The chain already has locations in Silver Spring, Gaithersburg, and Bethesda, and also has one “coming soon” to College Park. The Dupont outpost will seat 80 and offer up gourmet burgers, sausages, and breakfast burritos. More details on the opening are to come.
2910 N. Sycamore St., Arlington
This local fancy hot dog shop, with existing locations in Old Town Alexandria and Nationals Park, is expanding to Williamsburg Shopping Center in Arlington. They took over the former Smoking Kow BBQ space in October, and co-founder Chloe Swanson says the team “hit the ground running with evolving it from a rustic BBQ decor and smoker to fit our needs.” They hope for an opening in mid-January, Swanson says.
Hedzole will serve up groundnut soup with steamed balls of fufu and more.DJ Harris / Hedzole
5505 Colorado Ave., NW
Many former pop-ups and food trucks finally have a place to call home, and that includes this West African venture from chef Candice Mensah, Eater DC reports. The popular pop-up will move to 16th Street Heights to serve up dishes like stewed oxtail over Ghanaian waakye and groundnut soup with steamed fufu. Mensah previously popped up in Tysons Galleria and at the Mosaic District farmers market. She’ll start out with an intimate, 12-seater space (the former Social Kitchen) in late January before adding a 20-seat patio.
1248-1250 H St., NE
Chef Paolo Dungca of The Block and Pogi Boys fame is busy expanding his various Filipino pop-ups into brick-and-mortars. In addition to his barbecue spot Sari now open in Annandale (6920 Braddock Rd.), Dungca is opening up a two-level operation with a day-time cafe on the first floor and a second-floor upscale venture with a la carte small plates and eventually a prix-fixe menu on H Street NE. Expect pastries, breakfast sandwiches, ube lattes, boba tea, and silog made with garlic rice, runny eggs, and longanisa sausage, reports Eater.
3226 11th St., NW
Branden Givand, the chef behind local hot sauce brand Sauce City, is renovating the former Bad Saint space in Columbia Heights to open an all-day sports bar and athletic club. Johnny’s will serve up coffee and donuts during the day before transitioning to up drinks and the “best hamburgers in America.” Expect an opening of the smaller eatery sometime next spring.
1211 Good Hope Rd., SE
The former carry-out and catering operation expands from Bellevue to open its 40-seat cafe-style restaurant down the street from the Anacostia Arts Center. The menu will include cocktails, savage fries with crab, shrimp, and Cajun cheese sauce, and various cheesecakes of the banana pudding and peach cobbler variety. No official date yet, but their social media indicates an opening in January.
2911 District Ave., Fairfax
This sit-down kebab restaurant and bar from the team behind buzzy D.C. favorite Maydan opened in late December, but we can wait to head out to the Mosaic District and check it out for ourselves. In addition to kebabs, look for dips and spreads, other Middle Eastern favorites such as falafel, and a short but on-theme cocktail list to match. A second location in Clarendon will follow sometime in 2023.
11206-C Georgia Ave., Wheaton
A family-owned Filipino eatery heads to Wheaton in February 2023. The venture from two sisters will feature traditional Filipino cuisine including lumpia, barbecue, and adobo in a fast-casual, or turo-turo, style restaurant. Bethesda Beat reports that the popular Red Ribbon Bakeshop will open sometime next year in the same shopping center.
The former Dean & Deluca space in Georgetown will transform into an Italian market and restaurant.Berlin Rosen
Mezeh Mediterranean Grill and Maizal Latin Street Food at Skyland Town Center
2704 Good Hope Road SE
The neighborhoods around Skyland Town Center in Ward 7 have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of more of the development’s restaurants, and they’re getting two of them in January: Mezeh Mediterranean Grill and Maizal, which serves Latin American street food, are both expected to open this month. Both are quick-service restaurants: choose from salad or rice bowls or stuffed pita topped with falafel, chicken shawarma and other options at Mezeh, while Maizal serves up burritos, tacos, arepas, enchiladas or build-your-own bowls. The two will join chicken sandwich joint Roaming Rooster, &pizza, Lidl grocery store, and more restaurants to come.
3276 M St. NW
Stephen Starr, whose massive restaurant empire includes Le Diplomate and St. Anselm locally, partners with Michelin star chef Nancy Silverton to open a D.C. outpost of her acclaimed L.A. restaurant Osteria Mozza. The 20,000-square-foot former Dean & DeLuca market and cafe will include an Italian market, mozzarella bar, and restaurant when it opens in the later half of 2023. Find fresh fruits and vegetables, olive oils, rubs, and other Italian products in addition to the fresh pasta, wood-fired meat, and pizzas.
1323 Fourth St. NE
Starr starts off a busy year with the opening of this second location of the Manhattan French brasserie. Eater DC reports a two-story warehouse will be transformed into a 250-seat restaurant with two patios, serving up a menu of classics like beef bourguignon, escargot, and bouillabaisse. An opening is slated for sometime in the spring.
26 N St. SE
Mission Group expands down the block in Navy Yard, this time right across from the Nationals Park. The space is soft launching through the holidays but fully opens in the new year. The two-level space provides more than 13,000 square feet of bars, private event spaces, and dining areas, plus activities like cornhole and arcade games. The first floor bar is modeled after a swimming pool, and the second floor overlooking the stadium will offer fully open windows in the warmer months. The Florida-inspired menu highlights conch fritters, gator bao buns, and a rendition of Publix subs alongside tropical sips like a key lime crush.
Spicy Water Authentic West African Grill
2019 11th St. NW
This Eastern Market weekend mainstay finds a permanent home right off of the U Street Corridor next to the Greek Spot. The restaurant’s social media indicates a carryout and full-service dining room, with the carryout launching soon. Customers will be able to dine on red snapper, roasted chicken, kabob sandwiches and more come March when the dining room opens.
Classics like grilled red snapper will be offered for dine-in come next year after Spicy Water opened for carry-out on Dec. 29.Spicy Water
1314 U St. NW
The giant sports bar chain brings its skee ball, air hockey, shuffleboard, bowling and more to the former home of The Smith right on U Street. Expect standard American sports bar fare, similar to its Bethesda location’s menu, in addition to 200-plus seats surrounded by TVs. The space will also include sports betting machines and windows.
1875 I St., NW
A long-awaited street-level food hall at the International Square complex, a 1.2 million-square-foot office and retail property above the Farragut West Metro station, will debut this upcoming spring, according to the property’s site. Richie Brandenburg and Rubén García, alums of Union Market and José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup, respectively, promise to bring Hawaiian fried chicken, Spanish cuisine, oysters, pizza, churros, and more to the downtown hall that will include a central bar.
3784 Howard Ave., Kensington
The popular taco truck opens a brick-and-mortar in spring 2023 to bring more authentic Mexican cuisine to Montgomery County. The family-owned and -operated restaurant will be quick service, with customers ordering at a counter before taking it to a table or to-go. Staple items will include birria tacos, hominy corn soup, and chorizo sandwiches, Bethesda Beat reports.
1024 King St., Alexandria, VA
Old Town gains another Italian joint in the form of an acclaimed pasta shop from husband-and-wife team Gabe and Katherine Thompson. The 90-plus seat restaurant is taking over the former Hank’s Oyster Bar space on busy King Street. With RPM Italian’s former executive chef and a James Beard-nominated pastry chef at the helm, the menu will include favorites like rigatoni bolognese, spaghetti cacio e pepe, and olive oil cake when it opens to the public in the first week of January.
1747 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Local butcher and food company Wagshal’s Family of Fine Foods will expand into downtown D.C. in a new 5,000-square-foot space that will serve sandwiches, prepared foods, and special holiday menus in addition to a catering operation, the Commercial Observer reports. Plans are to open in late 2023.
Michael Rafidi expands Yellow, again, with a new headquarters at Union Market.Rey Lopez
417-419 Morse St., NE
After opening a second cafe location in Georgetown, chef Michael Rafidi expands to the growing Union Market area, Eater DC reports. HIs 4,000-square-foot space will house sandwich spot Yellow’s headquarters and test kitchen, with an added rooftop oasis called La’ Shukran. The 80-seat Levantine cocktail bar will include a dining room, big patio, and late night DJs. Rafidi’s flavors stay consistent, with za’atar pastries, bread and kabobs downstairs, and a dine-in menu upstairs featuring shawarma frites, escargot, and arak, a Middle Eastern spirit made with anise and licorice.
1114 9th St., NW
This pop-up sandwich shop operating out of the now-closed Columbia Room will open up a storefront in Shaw, Washingtonian reports. Coming in the later half of 2023, the 1,600-square-foot spot will be split into a sandwich counter and 40-seat bar. The menu will start out with eight sandwiches, like the popular mortadella and mozzarella Italian sub, before expanding. Expect some deli-inspired drinks, like a a rye-bread old fashioned.