After being confined to a to-go program for the last two iterations, Washington, D.C.’s Restaurant Week is back this summer to celebrate the revitalized dining scene in the city. Summer Restaurant Week 2021, run by Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW), is scheduled to kick off Monday, Aug. 9, and last through Sunday, Aug. 15. 

The signature summer dining event returns to a one-week promotion this year, though restaurants have the option of extending their promotions. Diners can enjoy three-course menus at a range of indoor/outdoor comfort levels at more than 200 restaurants, ranging from fast-casual eateries to fine-dining destinations. In addition, the to-go family-style options that were introduced last year are not gone, however, as many restaurants will also offer this off-premise option. Of course, many spots plan to include a cocktail pairing as well.

Dinner is the main event for participating restaurants, with the classic three-course dinner priced at $35 per person. Several restaurants with higher overall price points are also offering an elevated $55 dinner with exclusive items. Three-course lunches run $22, and weekend brunch is also $22. 

Finally, many restaurants will also offer “RW-To-Go” dinner meals, available at two price points: $60 or $120 for two people and $100 or $200 for four people.

These RW-To-Go dinner meal packages are available for takeout or delivery, and diners can order RW-To-Go either directly from the participating restaurant or check their delivery app for the offer.

D.C. restaurants remain open at 100 percent capacity, but Mayor Bowser last week reinstated mask mandates for indoor spaces.  

New restaurants participating in Summer Restaurant Week include Angolo, ANXO, Flower Child, Le Sel, GATSBY, Glover Park Grill, Gypsy Kitchen, and Truluck’s in D.C.; and Spice Kraft Indian Bistro in Virginia.

“This year’s Summer Restaurant Week is not only providing diners with great options at great prices for dining out, but is also the first time all restaurants across our region are able to accommodate diners at full capacity both indoors and outdoors,” says Kathy Hollinger, president and CEO of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington. “Being fully open is a step toward recovery for the industry and also toward a return to our dynamic local restaurants in their spaces which help to elevate the dining experience.”

RAMW is the regional association representing restaurants and the foodservice industry in the D.C. Metropolitan Area. RAWM also runs the RAMMYs, the awards for the food and beverage industry. 

Restaurant operators themselves reinforced how important the promotion is to them. “Restaurant Week is an opportunity for us to showcase our resilience and commitment to serving our staff and community,” says Salwa Laaraichi of Station 4. 

For Eric Heidenberger, a partner at The DC Restaurant Group, which owns spots like Shaw’s Tavern and 801 Restaurant, the past year has been a challenge. But RAMW, he says, “has been very supportive to the D.C. restaurant community and a key a resource in helping us navigate the challenges of the pandemic. We’re excited to participate in the first “normal” restaurant week in almost a year and a half. Restaurant week is a great opportunity for us reach new diners and showcase new dishes to our regular/repeat customers.”

All of gay-owned KNEAD Hospitality + Design’s locations are participating in Restaurant Week. Co-owners Jason Berry said that he hopes that Restaurant Week “offers a way for diners to begin dipping their toe by taking advantage of these well-priced promotions. Restaurant Week brings a much-needed lift to August revenue and is especially meaningful this year as so many restaurants have been hurting these last 16 months.” 

As for what’s going to be offered at his restaurants, which include Gatsby, The Grill, Mi Casa, Mi Vida, and Succotash, most of which debuted just this year, “each of our restaurants takes a unique approach to offering seasonal additions, fun new items and crowd pleasers so that all guests have something for them during Restaurant Week.”

From pandemic slumber to summer awakening: the D.C. dining scene is wasting no time in opening back up after restrictions were lifted in June. Make the best of eating and drinking inside or outside with a full plate of what’s to come in summer 2021. Check out all the openings and happenings in this list:

To take in the entire dining scene, take part in Metropolitan Washington Summer Restaurant Week, running Aug. 9-15. Unlike the previous restaurant week, this will return to a focus on on-premises dining, but keep the family-to-go dinner meals and cocktail pairings for those who still want the takeout or at-home experience.

In Barracks Row, Crazy Aunt Helen’s is a new spot from a veteran in the D.C. food industry. The all-day casual comfort food and diner-style spot is run by first-time owner and former marketing director of lesbian-owned Hank’s Oyster Bar, Shayne Mason. Images of icons like Jackie Kennedy line the wall, with dishes like fried chicken, house-cured pastrami Reubens, and mushroom “crab” cakes.

The Line Hotel closed two of its restaurants during the pandemic, but is now set to open No Goodbyes. It will serve Chesapeake-based dishes, with crab cakes as the star. Fried chicken and catfish will also be on the menu.

Replacing the B Too spot in the heart of 14^th Street will be Maiz 64, an upscale Mexican spot to highlight small-batch mezcal. It is a “modern homage to authentic Mexican cuisine,” that uses local ingredients. Check out the ceviche raw bar, as well as the creative taco bar with creative options like charred broccoli mole and suckling pig with pork rinds and avocado.

On the wharf, the enormous Ilili brings elegant Mediterranean-Levantine cuisine to D.C. “with a New York attitude” as it is the second spot outside of its first Manhattan location. The chef tops labneh yogurt with Petrossian roe, and stuffs kibbeh with steak tartare. 

Just north of U Street, taking over the vacant former Quarter & Glory space, will be St. James. The owner and chef is Peter Prime, who currently runs Cane on H Street, N.E. (Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant). He is now overseeing this sister project with a much larger footprint. Named for a city in his home country of Trinidad, the restaurant brings flavors from across the Caribbean through Prime’s modern lens.

In Adams Morgan, a pop-up brings Bolivian cocktails and street food courtesy of Carla Sanchez and her brother. Called Casa Kantuta, the pop-up runs until Aug. 8 in the bottom level of the Spacycloud restaurant-shop. Bartender Luis Aliaga slings drinks using Andean ingredients and inspiration with fun names like the Angry Llama.

Just north in Adams Morgan is Shabu Plus. In the same building as Death Punch Bar and Shibuya, the same owners (Chef Darren Norris and wife Candice) bring a Japanese hot pot experience. Diners start with a choice of one of three broths, plus vegetables, and the order meats like wagyu and lobster tail by the ounce.

Over in Shaw, the former Bistro Bohem space is set to be refreshed as Quattro Osteria. The owners, originally from Naples, bring an Italian flair, with well-known and modern dishes and drinks.

In Foggy Bottom, a huge new marketplace called Western Market will open later in the fall. The 12,300-square-foot space will transform a historic market, originally built in 1802, into a hall with more than a dozen food and beverage vendors. Taste everything from lobster rolls to sushi to arepas, and even sub sandwiches from Shaw’s Capo Deli.

Chef Alfredo Solis already has three Mexican restaurants (Anafre, El Sol, Mezcalero). His next venture travels farther afield in the form of Mariscos 1133 on 11^th Street. Mariscos 1133 celebrates the coastal cuisine of the entire continent of communities, with inspiration from California, Pero, Mexico, and beyond. Diners can expect dishes like Brazilian moqueca (fish stew), ceviches, and with a nod to the local, a spin on crab cakes. 

Gay-owned KNEAD Hospitality + Design’s latest opening is Mi Casa in Dupont Circle. Inspired by Chef Roberto Santibañez’s years living in Texas and his Mexican heritage, Mi Casa’s “border cuisine” concept aims to marry Mexican, TexMex, and the American Southwest. 

Hungry now? Get a taste of restaurants that opened during the spring:

Las Gemelas Cocina. This dual-concept restaurant in La Cosecha brings a casual taco bar as well as an upscale sit-down Mexican menu. It comes from the operators of Espita in Shaw. 

The Point. This enormous seafood restaurant anchors new development in Buzzard Point, near Audi Field. Crab doughnuts are the star, plus lots of fish and lobster rolls. It’s run by the owners of Ivy City Smokehouse and Tony & Joe’s.

Dauphine’s. This elegant homage to cuisine from New Orleans brings not only a raw bar (for seafood) but a boucherie, a whole-pig butcher style of service popular in Cajun cooking. Casual dishes like po’ boys are offered next to headcheese and caviar.

La Famosa. This Navy Yard spot channels Puerto Rico through a relaxed, waterside vibe and lots of fried plantains and rum.

Makan. This Malaysian restaurant in Columbia Heights narrows Southeast Asian dishes to hone in on this particular country. Taste the unripe mango salad, as well as the pandan leaf that appears in both drinks and dishes.

Caruso’s Grocery. This homey Italian spot by Matt Adler (from Osteria Morini) is set near the Potomac Avenue Metro. A deep wine list accompanies dishes like burrata, shrimp scampi, and chicken Parm.

Chicatana. This Mexican restaurant lands in an area of 14^th Street of Columbia Heights with several other Mexican eateries nearby – but has a twist. It’s named for a type of ant used in traditional Oaxacan cuisine, tossing a couple tiny crunchy ants (similar to chapulines, or grasshopper) on anything from ceviche to cocktails. The menu, instead of focusing on tacos, offers a broad and modern take on Mexican food. 

Lupo Pizzeria. This 14^th Street location comes from the same group as Lupo Verde. Lupo Pizzeria offers a menu of elevated Italian street food, Italian cocktails, and lots of bubbly. The signature from the chef is pizza made with handmade black squid-ink dough.

Capital Pride looks different this year as the city wakes from its pandemic closures. While official Pride events are mostly virtual in June, bars and restaurants will still have plenty going on to celebrate and commemorate LGBTQ+ Pride in DC.

Selected options for drinks, food, and events are listed below.

Food & Drinks

Aslin Beer Company (847 S Pickett St., Alexandria) made news this spring with an announcement of a planned second location on 14th Street where Dacha had sought to open a location. The brewery will again produce its “Now More Than Ever” beer, an 8.6% double IPA hopped with citra and sabro, in recognition of Pride month. It will be $20 for a pack.

Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken (1308 G St., N.W.) is circling the Pride square with fried goodies. At all three locations, the Pride doughnut ($3.75) is a vanilla glazed with rainbow sprinkles – plus other decorations, including one with a non-edible rainbow ring that can be worn after the doughnut is enjoyed. A portion of proceeds go to SMYAL.

ANXO Cidery (300 Florida Ave., N.W.) is producing a Pride cider, with a portion of proceeds benefitting Casa Ruby. It will be a Northern Spy apple cider, fermented dry in in stainless steel. It is sugar-free and gluten-free, and will sold nationwide. The can will be decked out in rainbow colors.

Karma Modern Indian (611 I St., N.W.) is offering a special cocktail for the month of June: the Banyan Shade ($14). It’s made with Tito’s Vodka, Domaine Canton, and “Spinach Aqua” and has a garnish resembling a colorful flag. Karma will be making a donation to Casa Ruby from the proceeds.

Dirty Habit DC is having “Colors of the Rainbow,” a month-long series during which the restaurant will feature a different color themed food and beverage offering each week. A portion of sale of every “Colors of the Rainbow” signature item will be donated to the Human Rights Campaign and PFLAG.

As an LGBTQ-owned business, KNEAD Hospitality + Design is supporting the Capital Pride Alliance by donating a portion of proceeds on punch cocktails at all KNEAD restaurants: The Grill, Succotash, Gatsby, and Mi Vida, on June 12 and 13.

Foxtrot Market (1267 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.), the new upscale corner store and café in Georgetown, is partnering with Brooklyn artist Cute Brute to create a Confetti Cake Brownie for the month of June. Proceeds from sales of the brownie will go to Casa Ruby.

In keeping to its annual tradition, DC Brau Brewing is making its hops queer, with a limited run of a special PRIDE PILS. Proceeds will go to benefit SMYAL. DC Brau will do a second run of PRIDE PILS in October, benefiting The Blade Foundation, set for the weekend of National Coming Out Day.

El Tamarindo, the Mexican-Salvadoran restaurant more than three decades old, is serving a Walter Mercado cocktail ($11), garnished with an elegant orchid. The front window display is dedicated to Walter Mercado and his cultural influence. Proceeds from the drink go to Casa Ruby.

The eco-friendly plant-based fast-food joint HipCityVeg is mixing up its first-ever Pride drink: The Love Shake, served all June long. This strawberry shake is topped with rainbow and glitter sprinkles and gets a compostable rainbow straw. A percentage of sales go to SMYAL and Whitman-Walker. “We wanted something colorful and festive that would both raise spirits and raise funds for organizations that serve the community,” explains Director of Marketing Aviva Goldfarb. “We have tons of LGBTQ+ staff members and customers and knew this would also be meaningful (and fun) for them. Plus, we have seasonal strawberry shakes in stores in June so adding the colorful and glittery sprinkles and the rainbow straw made sense.” 

Events

Dacha Beer Garden (1600 7th St., N.W., and 79 Potomac Ave., S.E.) is hosting a Cause Tuesday fundraiser with Gay for Good on Tuesday, June 7, and a Dacha Beer Club with local brewery 7 Locks on Wednesday, June 8. The Beer Club event will showcase the 7 Locks Surrender Dorothy beer, part of the sour series Bitch Monkey. Dacha will have a Dorothy Drag surprise, and guests are encouraged to wear their Wizard of Oz best. Special Dacha brand tank tops will be on sale at both locations.

Via the Capital Pride Alliance is its official weekly mixer of Pride Season, Hooked on Capital Pride! It will take place at Hook Hall (3400 Georgia Ave., N.W.) in Petworth. Every Wednesday beginning June 9, there will be drink specials, music, and celebrations. A portion of the proceeds from this event will support the Capital Pride Alliance and partner Pride organizations through the GivePride365 Fund. Every reservation will include a bottle of Rose Bubbly, and a celebration kit. This event will take place on June 9, 16, 23, and 30 from 3-9 p.m.

Bark Social (935 Prose St, North Bethesda, Md.) is partnering with Montgomery County Council member Evan Glass to celebrate D.C. Pride with a PAWrade and canine costume contest on Saturday, June 12 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. This beer garden and coffee house for dogs and humans will create a rainbow-filled canine festival of pride + paws. The bar will pour a special Pride-inspired cocktail with proceeds donated to the Moco Reconnect Center to work with other local creating inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ youth.

Capital Pride is hosting a citywide Sunday funday on June 13 to support local LGBTQ businesses with the first-ever city-wide Taste of Pride Brunch. Various local restaurants have made a commitment to support Pride and local LGBTQ+ charities, featuring food items, drink specials, and entertainment. The event will raise awareness and resources for the GivePride365 Fund, benefiting local LGBTQ+ charities, and help to ensure the return of a full-scale Pride in 2022.

The speakeasy-style back room at Capo Deli (715 Florida Ave.) rounds out Pride weekend parties with an post-brunch event Sunday, June 13, 2-5 p.m. The event, called Bubbles & Bass, features DJ Babbitt and DJ Chris Adam playing disco over rose, Champagne, and other drink specials.

Caboose Commons (2918 Eskridge Rd., Fairfax, Va.) and its dog-friendly patio is hosting an event for Pride on Saturday, June 19 with Beer Babes Drag. There will be two seatings (12 p.m. and 3 p.m.) and a portion of sales (including items sold) will support PFLAG and the National LGBTQ Task Force.

Celebrate PRIDE with a staycation, via Kimpton Monaco. This hotel is the Trevor Project’s “Premiere National Hotel Partner.” When guests make a reservation at Hotel Monaco D.C., Kimpton will donate $10/night to The Trevor Project, and guests receive 15% off the hotel’s “Best Flexible Rate.”