9 Restaurants In NoVA, DC Among Best For 'Big Night Out'

WASHINGTON, DC — If your favorite way to mark a night out is to dress up and head to a fine dining restaurant, you have nine great options in the DC region, according to new rankings by the online reservation company OpenTable.

The company this month released its 100 best restaurants in America for a “big night out.” With both affordable and expensive places spanning 19 states, the list includes Italian, Chinese, Mexican, French, Middle Eastern, Cajun, Latin, Irish, American foods and more. Steakhouses and breweries also made the list.

Here are the restaurants from Washington, D.C., and one in northern Virginia:

Farmers & Distillers

• Food type: American
• Location: 600 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, D.C.
• “The foundation of Farmers & Distillers is delicious, made-from-scratch food that is carefully sourced. Weekend brunch is buffet style, with a wide array of breakfast, lunch, salad, entree, and dessert options. Don’t miss our specialty drinks and spirits, many of which are also made in our fully functioning on-site distillery, Founding Spirits. .”

Farmers Fishers Bakers

• Food type: American and sushi
• Location: 3000 K Street, NW Washington Harbour, Washington, DC (Georgetown)
• “Farmers Fishers Bakers is majority owned by the more than 40,000 family farmers of the NDFU. Offering a full bar with 24 beer taps, delicious hand crafted tiki cocktails, sushi, pizza, fresh fish, tacos, and a sunny patio with water views. We're proud to cook food from scratch with ingredients you can trust. The restaurant is upscale casual, which welcomes business casual dress, and dress that would be appropriate in a nice restaurant; this includes jeans and athletic wear.”

Filomena Ristorante

• Food type: Italian
• Location: 1063 Wisconsin Ave. NW Washington, DC, in Georgetown
• “Filomena is one of Washington's most Landmark restaurants located in the heart of Historic Georgetown overlooking the C&O Canal. Voted one of Washington's Top Best Italian Restaurants. Named in Forbes 100 Best Restaurants for Wine Lovers. Our old-world cooking styles and recipes brought to America by the early Italian immigrants, carefully passed down from one generation to the next, alongside the culinary cutting edge creations of Italy's foods of today.”

Founding Farmers - DC

• Food type: American
• Location: 1924 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC, in Foggy Bottom
• “Founding Farmers, the Greenest Restaurant in DC, is owned by the more than 47,000 family farmers of the NDFU, serving American inspired real food and drink with an emphasis and focus on cooking from scratch. While our restaurant is supplied by hundreds of family farms everywhere, that doesn’t mean we know every farm, and that doesn’t mean we never have to buy product from the traditional (corporate) supply chain, but it does mean we’re working hard to direct our purchasing dollars where it aligns with our values.”

Founding Farmers - Tysons

• Food type: American
• Location: 1800 Tysons Boulevard, Tysons Corner, VA
• “Founding Farmers Tysons is a farmer owned restaurant that offers fresh food and drink with an emphasis and focus on cooking from scratch with ingredients sourced from near and far, from sources we trust, in a modern farmhouse setting. The bar is not to be missed, offering delicious scratch sodas, craft cocktails, and an all Virginia draught beer list; we'll have just the thing to quench your thirst. Approximately 30% of the menu includes items inspired by the culinary traditions of Virginia in a modern way.”

Le Diplomate

• French food
• Location: 1601 14th St. NW Washington, DC, in Logan Circle
• “The stylish 260 seat restaurant transports diners to the beloved cafés of Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris. The extensive menu features a variety of classic dishes including Onion Soup Gratinee, Steak Frites, and Poulet Roti as well as contemporary bistro fare, with dishes such as Shaved Veal Tongue with Mache and Bavette de Boeuf à l’Echalote. In warmer weather, enjoy dining "en plein air" in the stunning outdoor café where you can take in the bustling energy of DC while sipping on the perfect kir royale.”

Oyamel

• Mexican food
• Location: 401 7th Street N.W. Washington, DC, in Penn Quarter
• “Oyamel Cocina Mexicana combines Mexico’s rich regional culinary traditions with modern urban fare. Guests experience an array of antijitos—traditional Mexican snack or small plates—along with authentic tacos, ceviches and an impressive selection of cocktails and tequilas. Under the direction of renowned chef José Andrés, Head Chef Omar Rodriguez takes traditional ingredients and techniques and elevates them to deliver dishes and drinks with exceptional creativity and refinement.”

RPM Italian - DC

• Italian food
• Location: 650 K Street NW Washington, DC, in Mount Vernon Square
• “RPM Italian presents cuisine that is modern in approach and Italian in spirit, with dishes intended to be shared. Chef partner Doug Psaltis has created a menu which features a variety of cold and hot antipasti, more than a dozen freshly prepared in-house pastas, and a selection of salads, prime steaks, chops and slow-roasted meats.”

Zaytinya

• Mediterranean, Turkish food
• Location: 701 9th St NW Washington, DC, in Penn Quarter
• “Under the direction of chef José Andrés and his ThinkFoodGroup team, Zaytinya offers an innovative mezze menu inspired by Turkish, Greek and Lebanese cuisines served up in a sleek and modern setting. Building on Jose’s deep knowledge of Mediterranean cooking and years of research and travel, the menu features shared small plates of authentic and innovative fare, creative cocktails, and unique Mediterranean wines.”

Americans love eating out. The restaurant industry is projected to generate $863 billion in sales this year, according to the National Restaurant Association, and a large part of that is people feel eating at a restaurant is actually a better use of their time. Nine in 10 consumers say they enjoy eating out, and about 75 percent say their leisure time is better spent dining out with family and friends than cooking and cleaning up.

OpenTable wrote in a blog post that its honorees were restaurants that offered not only “exceptional” food and drinks, but also “vibrant bar scenes and lively atmospheres” so patrons can enjoy the warm summer evenings.

“The Big Night Out list is also great year-round for anyone planning a celebratory evening out, whether it’s a girls’ night, a milestone birthday, or an anniversary,” the company said.

While most restaurants on the list were found in just one city, some can be found in multiple locations. These include Avra, Beauty & Essex, Buddakan, Catch, Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, Founding Farmers, Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman, RPM Italian, Steak 44 and Steak 48, Tao, Uchi and Yardbird Southern Table & Bar.

The list was cultivated from more than 12 million verified diner reviews of more than 30,000 restaurants, OpenTable said. Many establishments offer beautiful scenes that offer diners a perfect backdrop for their night out.

With 18 restaurants, California had the most establishments on the list. New York had the second-most with 16, followed by Illinois with 14, all of which were in Chicago.

Each restaurant on the list was frequently tagged “hot spot” as a special feature.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.