If you know anything about DC dining, you’ve heard of Ben’s Chili Bowl and the infamous half-smoke. While we prefer the half-smokes at Halfsmoke and DCity Smokehouse, you really should pay homage to the OG half-smoke gawd first. We force everyone who visits us to try the American spot, because it’s just as much a historical landmark as it is a restaurant. Grab the original chili half-smoke with all the fixins and ask them to split it.

The oldest Black-owned American restaurant in the city requires some planning if you want to taste their famous hot cakes, served with butter, cinnamon, and powdered sugar. After more than 70 years serving the city, the Shaw spot only opens Friday through Sunday from 9am-2pm. That makes it perfect if you’re in town for the weekend, but block out a couple hours for your meal because things take time here. It’s worth it to try dishes like the cajun fried catfish.

Getting your José Andrés fix is a must when you come to DC. With so many choices, it can be hard to know which direction to go in, but his 2023 addition, a Spanish spot called The Bazaar, is where you’ll get his best food and most fantastical setting (it’s inside the Waldorf Astoria at the Old Post Office Building in Penn Quarter). Don't skip the spanish octopus, which combines octopus, fried potatoes, and chorizo and tastes as good as it sounds.

DC is not a standout pizza town, but 2Amys is one of the best. The main dining room, which is always bustling, is bright and white, and on sunny days light spills through the huge window facing Macomb St. The open kitchen lets you see the wood-fired pizza oven in all its glory and the staff skillfully making personalized Neapolitan pies. There’s a patio in the back, a tiny bar area, and an upstairs with a sprawling space good for splitting bottles of wine with your friends.

This Capitol Hill institution is a great place to grab a drink, munch on bar food, and imagine all the secrets these walls have heard. It looks like an old lodge, full of stuffed animals (real ones, not the cuddly kind) and pictures of ancient dudes you’ll definitely recognize from their days at 1600 Pennsylvania. There are, of course, Hill staffers and lobbyists and whatnot hanging around and acting more important than they are. But you’ll also find locals swinging by the neighborhood bar.

With one of the largest Ethiopian communities in the country, the city is blessed with some seriously good Ethiopian food. Ethiopic is a great place to start. Take your pick of big communal tables if you’re visiting with friends or grab one of the smaller, more secluded tables if you have something intimate going on. Just know the H St. spot gets packed on the weekends, so you’ll need to plan ahead. Either way, get the vegetarian platter with the fried fish.

Assuming you’re in town all day, you’re going to need to eat breakfast, so get some takeout tacos at La Tejana. You can stand at the counter along the window or enjoy the Mt. Pleasant sidewalk seating if it’s warm. Otherwise, plan to keep it moving. There are only five taco options on the menu, which they rightly recommend you order in batches of two or three. Each soft taco is made with some variation of eggs, queso, potatoes, or refried beans on flour tortillas made in-house.

To get an understanding of just how good the food in DC truly is, go to Thip Khao. The Lao restaurant in Columbia Heights is one of the best restaurants in the city, which is why there’s a line by the time they open their doors. Every dish here is bursting with flavor. The mee kathi, a noodle soup made with a rich red coconut curry topped with peanuts, cabbage, bean sprout, mint and cilantro, gives you crunch and spice. The place gets packed, so be prepared to get cozy with your neighbor.

DC’s largest immigrant population hails from El Salvador, and that means there are lots of fantastic places to get pupusas and other Salvadoran classics. El Tamarindo in Adams Morgan is DC’s oldest Salvadoran spot—which is fitting since most trips to DC include a little bit of history—and serves up fast, flavorful food. The menu is a mix of Salvadoran and Mexican, so along with pupusas, sweet plantains, and tamales, there are tacos, burritos, and fajitas.

No one in DC does Trinidadian food better than Cane. The first thing you see when you walk into the Trinidadian restaurant on H St. is a painting of President Obama, mouth wide open, eating doubles. And the doubles at Cane taste as good as the ones in the painting look, both overflowing with spices and chickpeas. The menu pays homage to Afro-Indian food and includes heavy hitters like oxtail and snapper escovitch. But if you’re going to try anything, get the jerk wings.

You’ll have to plan ahead to experience Albi’s Sofra tasting menu, but the pita bread alone is a reason to make the effort to score a reservation. There’s a literal buzz that flows through the Navy Yard restaurant as diners chat about the latest Middle Eastern course. The $125 tasting menu, which varies a bit each night, showcases the best Albi has to offer and is the way to go here, but there are also a la carte options.

When you come to the nation’s capital, it’s worth rubbing elbows with the people who make our government work (or not). The Monocle, which has been serving the city since the ‘60s, lets you eavesdrop on lobbyists and gush over congresspeople while eating some of the best steaks you’ll get in DC. The yellow and green building sits damn near on Capitol grounds, which makes it a great place for lunch or dinner after you’ve taken a tour or checked in with your senators.

After spending the day exploring Georgetown, go to George’s for some of the best shawarma in the city, which explains why there’s always a line to the door. Don’t worry, the service is fast and the Georgetown spot is larger than it looks. There’s a downstairs counter where the Mediterranean food is served and an upstairs seating area if you’re too impatient to take your food to go. The lamb and chicken shawarma served with fresh pickled radishes, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

No trip to DC is complete without heading over to Chinatown. After you take your obligatory photo under the entryway (yes, we’re judging, but also we get it), head over to Tony Cheng’s. This spot has graced H St. long before Walgreens put all the Chinese markets out of business. There are two restaurants here, but head upstairs to sample the solid Chinese menu. It’s the closest you’ll get to Chinese fine-dining in this part of town.

People fell in love with Rose’s Luxury the moment it hit the scene in 2013, and the American restaurant still delivers. The Capitol Hill spot doesn't quite serve a tasting menu, but for $95 per person, you’ll get to choose a bunch of dishes based on how many folks are sitting at your table (4 plates for 2 people, 6 for 4, and so on). Don’t skip the pork and lychee salad, which is mindblowing. It’s sweet and salty and spicy and crunchy and soft, so basically any (good) flavor you can imagine.