7 VA, DC Restaurants Make Daily Meal's 101 Best In U.S. List

WASHINGTON, DC — If you're looking to dine out on a patio — or get to-go dinners from some of the region's top restaurants — we've got some tasty news for you. The Daily Meal published its list for the "101 Best Restaurants In America," and the online food and dining site included a total of seven restaurants from the District of Columbia and Virginia.

These restaurants serve food that’s thought-provoking, a stellar level of service, a good beverage list and a true sense of personality, imagination and consistency, the editors said. "Visiting one of these restaurants feels like a truly memorable culinary experience," the site said.

Here are the best restaurants in the region, according to The Daily Meal's rankings, and what the food writers said about each.

No. 5, Inn at Little Washington, in Washington, Virginia: "Self-taught chef Patrick O'Connell opened his Washington, Virginia, restaurant Inn at Little Washington in 1978, and it is ornate, eclectic, and one of America’s most romantic restaurants. ... Menu items might include a “sandwich” of pan-roasted quail with braised endive and huckleberries, green bean tartare with tomato vinaigrette, and a crispy Napoleon of chilled Maine lobster with caviar and spicy bloody mary coulis. O’Connell was awarded the 2019 James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Inn is the longest-tenured Forbes Five-Star restaurant in the world."

No. 33, Minibar, 855 E. Street NW, Washington, DC: "At Washington, D.C.’s two-Michelin-starred Minibar, legendary chef José Andrés channels Spanish avant-garde cuisine into a tasting counter experience. ... Expect a molecular gastronomy experience filled with culinary hat tricks and some truly creative morsels hiding behind simple-sounding names like Huckleberry and Hibiscus, Parmesan Danish and Lobster and Honey. Prepare for around 30 courses, and be ready to pay $295 per person before drinks."

No. 57, Seven Reasons, 2208 14th St NW, Washington, DC: "Venezuela-born chef Enrique Limardo’s Seven Reasons in Washington, D.C. serves pan-Latin fare inspired by his travels to Peru, the Amazon and the Caribbean. The regularly changing menu is fun, accessible and seriously inspired. Plan on sharing: start with mini cheese arepas, hamachi tiradito and a swordfish belly tostada with green mango Tajin salad; then move onto cauliflower tempura and lamb loin palo-a-pique with coconut curry; and finish with a lamb shank chocolate mole casserole."

No. 59, Komi, 1509 17th Street NW, Washington, DC: "Surprises are the name of the game at Komi, an upscale, modern Greek restaurant in Washington, D.C.’s Dupont Circle. There’s a tasting menu that changes regularly and there are no clues as to what might be on it until diners arrive. Past dishes have included trout roe with watermelon and scallop, amberjack collar, and katsikaki and suckling pig."

No. 91, Rose’s Luxury, 717 Eighth Street SE, Washington, DC: "Rose’s Luxury, a small, limited-reservations converted townhouse in Washington, D.C., ... showcases international flavors with a decidedly American twist, with sample menu items including green tomato panzanella, ‘nduja strozzapreti with honey and pecorino, and crispy cauliflower with golden raisins and Greek yogurt. This is one of those restaurants worth waiting for."

No. 93, Alewife in Richmond: "At Alewife, chef/owner Lee Gregory’s seafood-focused menu is inspired by the local catch of the Chesapeake Bay in the Richmond, Virginia, area and changes based on what’s in season. Expect dishes like crispy crab claws with hot sauce mayo, rockfish with sweet potato puree, and cobia with rice porridge and roasted cauliflower. There’s a relaxed vibe and some of America’s best beers are on tap."

No. 99, The Dabney, 122 Blagden Alley NW, Washington, DC: "At Washington, D.C., restaurant The Dabney, chef/owner Jeremiah Langhorne sources his ingredients from regional purveyors, and he’s cooking that bounty over embers in a wood-burning hearth that’s the centerpiece of the open kitchen-dominated dining room. The menu is primarily composed of small plates. Offerings include charred squash with mustard greens, pecan, smoked feta and local maple syrup; Eastern shore-style chicken and dumplings; and the must-order fried sugar toads, the tails of a type of pufferfish, with hot honey and buttermilk dressing."

To compile the rankings, The Daily Meal contacted hundreds of dining experts around the country to ask which restaurants they considered the absolute best in their respective cities. Those restaurants were then added to other establishments that have "garnered near-universal acclaim" and eateries that have been featured on previous Daily Meal lists. The restaurants were ranked according to metrics such as food, service, beverage options and environment.

"These 101 restuarants serve food that's thoughtful and thought-provoking, and they also have a dining room and a level of service that suit the quality of what's on the plate, a good beverage list and a true sense of personality, imagination and consistency," authors of The Daily Meal rankings wrote in an introductory statement to the list. "Visiting one of these restaurants feels like a truly memorable culinary experience."

Alinea, the three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago, was ranked as the No. 1 eatery in the United States, according to The Daily Meal. The top five restaurants were rounded out by Eleven Madison Park in New York City, Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, Le Bernardin in New York City and Inn at Little Washington.

The full list of the 101 best restaurants is available on The Daily Meal.