See the best pasta restaurants in Italy in Washington, D.C., below, and get tons of culinary ideas for your next date or family outing.

I’m Eddie Cano

This Chevy Chase modern favorite features reasonably priced and consistently good pastas divided between Italian-American and traditional Italian. Local favorites include Sunday lasagna, chicken Milanese, and cacio e pepe. Order online for delivery for lunch or dinner, or use DoorDash for online pickup.

Tartufo Italian Restaurant

Upper Northwest locals in the know regularly visit this underappreciated neighborhood treasure. It looks like a modest rustic Italian eatery and has the same charm. Enjoy the spaghetti with fresh clams or the tagliatelle with homemade veal ragu. They also make a perfect carbonara.

Sfoglina

The name of this casual pasta restaurant owned by longstanding D.C. restaurateur Fabio Trabbochi refers to the Italian artisans who make fresh pasta. A mozzarella bar is available with toppings including tomatoes, beef bresaola, and burrata to go along with buffalo mozzerella, fior di latte, and burrata. Pasta dishes include garganelli with clams and chiles, carbonara, and potato gnocchi with porcini crema. Anthony Fauci frequented the Van Ness original during the epidemic several times a week to satisfy his craving for spaghetti to go. Also, there are outlets in downtown and Rosslyn. Place a delivery and takeout order online.

LiLLiES Restaurant & Bar

LiLLiES, situated across the street from the National Zoo, is a great place to refuel on pasta after a long walk through the gorgeous Woodley Park area. Since 2011, lunch and dinner have been served five days a week at this family-run restaurant. Brunch and dinner are both available on the weekends. Enjoy one of the many exceptional pasta dishes, including the lobster ravioli and vegetable lasagna. Be sure to take a table on the roomy terrace during the warmer months.

Capa Tosta

The popular restaurant Columbia Heights launched over two years ago and rapidly gained a reputation among the locals. The orecchiette with broccoli rabe and spicy sausage, the pillowy ricotta gnocchi with fresh burrata, and the squid ink pasta are some of its most well-known dishes. The culinary parents of owner Angelo Ciotola came out of retirement all the way from Naples just to recreate their dishes here.

Lupo Verde

This 14th Street restaurant has a top-notch atmosphere thanks to its cozy interior of exposed brick and the natural light that pours in via its many windows. Prepare to eat Southern Italian cuisine like gnocchi al gorgonzola, ravioli alla zucca, and tonnarelli cacio e pepe. Finish the pasta-heavy meal with vanilla bean panna cotta or traditional tiramisu for dessert.

Quattro Osteria

You will find Shaw’s fashionable newcomer past a pair of 18th-century double doors. Pasta specialties include rich lobster linguine, beef short ribs, pig collar, and beef ragu over pappardelle, black truffle-topped gnocchi, and duck ravioli. Three-course ($65) and five-course ($85) meals are also available in addition to the a la carte menu.

The Red Hen

One of D.C.’s most well-known dishes is the rigatoni and fennel sausage with pecorino out of this Bloomingdale institution. A seasonal new spaghetti verde dish from chef Mike Friedman coupled with toasted pine nuts, silky broccoli cremosa, oregano, lemon, spinach, oregano, and garlicky breadcrumbs also impresses. You can also never go wrong with the crispy arancini cacio e pepe with herb aioli.

Via Ghibellina

Want some Tuscan food? Visit Via Ghibellina in Ivy City for a selection of delicacies that are reminiscent of the rich culinary history of Tuscany. Every pasta dish, from the tagliatelle al ragù to the cavatelli di ricotta con melanzana, is sure to please. On Wednesdays, enjoy grilled fresh lobster with your choice of linguine, risotto, or salad. Not to be missed is the weekend brunch menu. You can expect dishes like spaghetti carbonara or smoked salmon frittata.

Floriana

Classic pasta dishes including pappardelle with ragu, lamb gnocchi, burrata ravioli with mushrooms and spinach and a tortelloni with tenderloin are served at this Dupont neighborhood bistro. Vice President Kamala Harris made a noteworthy visit to this Washington restaurant just before the 2021 inauguration just to try the pasta.

Masseria a Casa

Only six-course tasting menus are available at this cozy and unpretentious Michelin-starred Italian gem. Dishes here are inspired by the chef Nicholas Stefanelli’s Italian heritage in Puglia. With its delivery service, Masseria also enables patrons to take it all home and serves prix fixe menus for two for $105 each. As the menu is frequently updated expect something new and delicious every visit this Washington pasta destination.

Flavio Restaurant DC

The most well-known dish at Georgetown’s bustling Italian restaurant is the lobster diavolo. It’s made with the chef’s choice of pasta, scallops, shrimp, scallops, mushrooms, and a fiery tomato cream sauce. Another dish not to be missed is the ricotta-based gnocchi. By opening a second shop in Cathedral Heights, Flavio intends to grow throughout the city.

il Canale

The pizza Napolitana at this Georgetown restaurant is its main draw. However don’t overlook the other pasta dishes that honor the owner’s Sicilian roots.  Scialatielli allo scoglio, a dish that combines fresh pasta with seafood, cherry tomatoes, white wine, and garlic, is a must-try.  The gnocchi and spaghetti pomodoro are other dishes worth mentioning. Filomena, located downstairs, has been serving hearty Italian cuisine in an elaborate setting for almost 30 years.

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Al Goldberg established Mess Hall in 2014 as an incubator to assist food entrepreneurs in starting their enterprises.

Many currently well-known restaurants had their start there.

According to Al, the 1990s, when Washington was a city plagued by crime, are the crucial years to look back on in order to comprehend the cultural currents at play in modern DC. This decade saw the occurrence of two significant events. A dining renaissance began in 1993 when José Andrés, a famous Spanish chef, established Jaleo in the city center. A few years later, the city’s professional ice hockey and basketball teams, which had previously played in Maryland, relocated to a stylish new facility in the Penn Quarter. Then, in 2005, the first professional baseball team to play in the city since 1971—the Washington Nationals—moved there. This confirmed the city’s lucrative sporting revival.

Al claims that all of this gave the city a fresh sense of energy and pride. At the same time, there was also something else interesting happening.  Since a new presidential administration changes every four to eight years, DC has always been a transient city. However as crime decreased and a growing sense of municipal pride emerged, people begun to settle there approximately 20 years ago. People wanted to live in DC and improve the city’s quality of life.

Craft beer in Washington DC

Greg Engert, the founder and director of the Bluejacket brewery, is one of them. Greg began working at Brickskeller, a beer bar serving more than 1,200 beers from around the world in 2004. During that period, beer wasn’t mainstream.

Greg was deeply involved in the scene however. According to him, the fact that Washington has always had lax alcohol restrictions is what made Brickskeller the top beer pub in the Country at the time. For instance, buying directly from the producer rather than going via a distributor was only possible in the capital. As Greg says, this made it possible for the bar to have a large number of unusual brews, which was critical.

They had access to beer that no one else in the Country had. The liquor laws are still permissive and that’s what makes drinking in this city special.

Since the Heurich Brewing Company shut down in 1956, DC Brau was the first brewery to open in the District of Columbia in 2011. 3 Stars Brewing Company debuted the next year, and Bluejacket followed in 2013. Today, DC is home to 18 craft breweries, all of which owe something to the tiny (and long-gone) Brickskeller.

Local Distilleries

For distilleries, the situation is comparable. Local business owners successfully petitioned the city council to remove a Prohibition-era regulation that prohibited distilling in the city’s center in 2011. The outcome was the opening of the city’s first new distillery in nearly a century.

Following that, distillation flourished, much like the craft brewing movement. Especially so in Ivy City, a historically industrial neighborhood. Six of the city’s ten distilleries are located here as of right now. One Eight Distillery took its name from article one, section eight of the US Constitution; the provision that established a district to serve as the nation’s capital.

Washington was relatively late to the craft and culinary trends that struck big American cities in the US about 15 years ago. Yet people were genuinely hungry for it. It’s also the Wild West of alcohol production. Distilleries have really taken off here because of lax rules.Just down the road is Republic Restoratives which is the only female-run distillery in the area.  A couple of other laws that the city approved in 2015 permitted distilleries to run and expand within the District. One permitted the installation of bars within distilleries.Republic Restoratives launched their distillery a year after this. They create bourbons in honor of people like Hillary Clinton and, vice president Kamala Harris.

A lot of the city’s recent development is down to Barack Obama, despite the fact that sports teams and legislation supportive of the alcohol industry also played a role. The city experienced a lot of excitement following Obama’s victory. All of a sudden, everyone wanted to live in Washington and help improve it.

Global cuisines

If Obama contributed to the artisanal movement in Washington, then his successor may have indirectly influenced the city’s culinary scene. A focus on immigrant cuisine has grown in popularity in the District over the past five years; maybe as a defiant reaction to Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies. Currently, a small number of organizations and eateries in the city support the promotion of immigrant cooks. One is Open Kitchen DC which plans events where immigrant chefs perform food demonstrations and educate guests about the nation and culture of their birth.

Immigrant Food is a restaurant that takes things a step further by offering a fusion of foods based on immigrant trends. It recently opened in Planet Word, the world’s first voice-activated museum, at the Franklin School. The fear for the US and its immigrant population under the Trump administration served as the impetus for the effort. Immigrants choose what food will be served. They operate the vehicles used to deliver the food and prepare the meals. They also deliver them. The food has a direct connection to immigrants.

Enrique Limardo, the chief chef at Immigrant Food and a Venezuelan native, spent weeks researching immigration to the DC area and the dishes associated with it. After studying Salvadorian and Ethiopian cookery, the food of the two major immigrant groups in Washington, he knew it was possible to combine multiple cuisines. He  discovered several similarities between them and the end result is an unusual yet tasty fusion of elements from different cultures. These include dishes such as Caribbean spiced chicken drenched in a sauce with pho-inspired Vietnamese flavors.

Beyond Food

Open Kitchen and Immigrant Food are only two examples of the impact of immigrant cuisine, though. José Andrés, a Spanish chef, was selected for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his work supporting immigrants and assisting communities throughout the world through his NGO World Central Kitchen. Washington has become important in culinary and cultural trends and it has become a force for good.

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Pupuseria Mama Emilia

Elsy Claros decided to break with tradition when she decided to open her own restaurant.  She ventured into uncharted area with her daughter, Ericka, and their pupuseria, which bears the name of Claros’s late mother, Emilia Cruz Lopez. They use fillings that aren’t often found in more conventional Salvadoran pupuserias. Picture a traditional loroco with cheese boosted by habaneros and jalapenos. Or ham, sausage, and mortadella suspended in a special, three-cheese blend. Then imagine carrots, beets, and sweet potato packed into a sweet pupusa. It’s tough to perform this kind of experimentation with this kind of food. It requires a chef’s ability to combine such elements. It would be easy to turn a masa cake into soup in the wrong hands for example. Mama Emilia is a huge upgrade for local Salvadoran cuisine in DC.

Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana

At a Bethesda mall, right next to a Cheesecake Factory, no less, how on earth was Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana going to recreate the Old World elegance of its New Haven, Connecticut, location? The coal-fired oven, a duplicate of the custom-built, 100,000-pound original back on Wooster Street, holds the key. Before the pizzeria’s grand launch, the new oven was given a couple of weeks to season before producing pies that tasted authentic rather than like third-generation knockoffs. The smells of garlic and salty littleneck clams atop a white pie will make you think you’re eating them while sipping a Peroni in a booth in New Haven. Up until you turn to gaze out the window and notice the mall of course.

District Rico

Fernando and Juan Sanchez naturally gravitate toward pollo a la brasa. When the brothers’ grandmother first started a store in Lima, three generations of their family have been selling exquisite, charcoal-grilled birds. Their Peruvian chicken, which is dry-brined, heavily spiced with cumin, and cooked over natural wood charcoal, is unmatched.  Yet, this third generation of restaurateurs is likewise extending the definition of a pollo a la brasa shop. The majority of the chicken used in their subs, salads, and Mission-style burritos is freshly taken from the rotisserie. The meat elevates those dishes to a level that Chipotle and Sweetgreen could never reach. It is so charred and smokey that you’ll never look back. 

Ramona’s Pizza Garden

Unfortunately the likelihood is high that you won’t have the opportunity to try this place just yet. Or at least not until Ramona’s sign a lease for a legitimate sit-down establishment. At some point, due to its popularity, they ceased adding people to their waiting list. The crowd peaked at 700 people, all of whom were clamoring for a sample of the excellent pan pizzas. They resemble Detroit pies but are prepared in their own distinctive way. 

Lapu Lapu

During the pandemic, so many establishments stopped serving breakfast. It was a a victim of a labor shortage and the higher wages requested by those who did agree to work in restaurants despite the high risk and low reward. Moreover, a lot of people were working from home, where we could easily prepare our own coffee.  Javier and Jennifer Fernandez opened Lapu Lapu; a corner store that specializes on breakfast sandwiches with American and Philippine influences, in June.

The proprietors are the same couple who run the renowned Kuya Ja’s Lechon Belly in Rockville. Cebuchon, a roast pork belly prepared in the Philippines that is frequently compared to porchetta, is their specialty. Lechon leftovers are used to make Lapu Lapu’s best invention, the paksiw sandwich. This is made from a muddle of braised pork simmered in a variety of sauces including soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and cane vinegar. It is then served on a pandesal bread with a fried egg. If it weren’t for the other treats on the menu, you could solely eat this every day.

Z&Z Manoushe Bakery

Danny Dubbaneh claims that the flatbread existed a long time before pizza. He is referring to the well-known Levantine manoushe. Three brothers co-founded this restaurant in Rockville. They are rightly very proud of their heritage and culinary history. The brothers believe that pizzas shouldn’t have to dominate the American dining scene. They argue that manoushe shouldn’t be viewed in the context of pizza by using historical examples. Instead they suggest that it would be more reasonable to view pizza within the context of Middle Eastern flatbreads. They are correct. Also, they offer an outstanding selection of manakish. Start with the famous za’atar manoushe, which is covered in the homemade spice mixture. 

La Tingeria

The name of David Andres Pea’s food truck, La Tingeria, was a reference to its signature dish when it first debuted in 2013. Nowadays the dish is frequently eclipsed by other dishes meals that have captured the public’s attention. These include  the goat and beef birria tacos that Pea added to the truck during the epidemic, either with or without cheese. At the restaurant Pea launched in Falls Church last year, the quesobirria tacos are a real hit. 

Even if it benefited from our national obsession with all things birra during the pandemic, their status is well-deserved. With his stewed meats, cheese, and packed within a tortilla coated in birria oil, Pea meticulously layers flavors. Indeed, these tacos are awesome. Don’t let the birria hype blindside you so you miss out on Pea’s tinga though: a hunk of braised chicken breast whose strong heat is matched by sweet caramelized onions.

Spice Kitchen

Olumide Shokunbi had a plan for Spice Kitchen from the very beginning. The owner and chef sought to open a Nigerian restaurant that appealed to everyone. Shokunbi, a former general manager at a Chipotle in his hometown of Bowie, Maryland, had embraced the restaurant chain’s ethos and believed that His Spice Kitchen would, like the Mexican-inspired giant, have wide appeal. The goal was achieved. The popular grilled and flavored skewers known as suya are introduced to everyone here.

The process has been exquisitely streamlined. There are just a few skewers available, some of which are traditional (beef, chicken). While others aren’t they are all coated with a spice mixture that Shokunbi buys from Nigeria and enhances with his own ideas. The skewers are earthy and spicy at the same time. They are served on top of food-grade wax paper intended to resemble the newspaper provided with suya in the mother country. It’s just one of many wonderful touches in this place.

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Flight Wine Bar

This popular neighborhood wine bar specializes in (you guessed it) wine tasting flights! Offering a great way to sample different wines style and drink your way around their current glass list.

Flight’s husband and wife team are both sommeliers that have travelled the globe to select wines for their extensively curated list. Expect a selection of 22 wine flights and a glass list with more than 30 different styles and origins.

Maxwell Park

Before opening, Maxwell Park with partners and local sommelliers Niki Lang and Daniel Runnerstrom; Brent Kroll had already established a reputation in the D.C. wine scene. while working at the Neighborhood Restaurant Group and Proof. This friendly laidback bar with its casual vibe in the Shaw neighborhood is popular with both locals and business people.

Eastern Wine Bar

This neighborhood wine bar is committed to making wine approachable and enjoyable for everyone. Situated in the center of Eastern Market on Capitol Hill it has with a patio with outside seating.

Established by same owners behind the Whiskey Lounge, Barrel with sommelier Robert Morin in charge; there is a selection of over 40 wines available by the glass or bottle. Walfer Hernandez, the executive chef also offers a menu of small plates, charcuteries, and cheese . Robert Morin, the general manager and sommelier, is in charge of the experienced management group.

Cork Wine Bar & Market

Despite consolidating its operations (into a two-story market area at 14th and S Streets NW) Cork Wine Bar remains committed to advocating Old World wines from across the whole of Europe. Wines by the glass are available in a variety of prices starting at around $10. Dinner has hot and cold dishes that are paired with the wine list.

Era

Era Wine Bar is a wine bar that offers exquisite small dishes and over 100 bottles or wine by the glass. Owners Michelle and Ka-ton Grant, a couple who have lived in the neighborhood since 2018. The first-time restaurateurs are wine aficionado who have travelled to sourced small producers, organic and biodynamic varieties, and support wineries run by women. For those in the military and overseas service, there is also a membership club and concierge service.

Apéro & La Bohème

Washington DC’s only wine and cocktail bar specializing in Champagne and caviar. A variety of French cuisine based small plates, snacks and a variety of wines by the glass are served throughout the day

St Vincent Wine Bar

St. Vincent’s expansive 4,000 square foot terrace is tucked away in Park View and is the perfect place to unwind with a wide variety of wines, drinks, and charcuterie. Bacchanal, a well-known bar in New Orleans, served as inspiration for the internet store, which offers a wide selection of items that may be picked up. Weekends feature live music at the 2-year-old fixture’s wood-framed cocktail bar in the back.

No Kisses Bar

Fans of natural wines absolutely need to visit No Kisses based in Park View. A cool, melancholy vibe is produced with fluorescent, color-changing ceiling tiles and plush, forest green banquettes. The bar that is open Friday and Saturday nights; shares a backyard garden with Sonny’s Pizza, the establishment next door. They also offer a decent selection of wines via their online bottle shop.

Primrose

This Brooklyn style restaurant has a quirky wine selection complimented by a menu that is primarily European but they frequently host pop-ups covering other cuisines. Their wine offering is mainly French but also features pours from Virginia-based Lightwell Survey; owner Sebastian Zutant’s own wine range.

Lulu’s Wine Garden

After managing Vinoteca for 12 years, Paul Carlson reinvented the establishment as this laid-back place with a Southwestern ambiance and a menu by Cable Smith (Head Chef at Royal), which includes cheese and tostadas, a French onion dip toast and a roasted beet salad. The selection of wines is to over 50 bottles all of which cost $55, and tare sourced from vineyards in Europe, Virginia, California, Mexico, and Argentina. Lulu’s also boasts one of the best arrangements in town for seating on the sidewalk.

Bottles Wine Garden

Siutaed in a west end hotel lobby, this wine bar is unique with its dedicatio to promting women-owned wineries. With carefully chosen selections from cutting-edge wineries throughout the world, certified sommelier Erika Parjus and fellow Centrolina alumna Angie Duran cater to serious oenophiles and amateurs alike. Customers can place their orders at the bar or at their preferred seat from a small menu of five by-the-glass options and about twenty bottles.

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