Esquire Critic Names DC Restaurant Among Best New Eateries In USA

WASHINGTON, DC — Esquire critic Jeff Gordinier has released his list of the 22 best new restaurants in America for 2019, and a D.C. restaurant is on it.

In fact, Seven Reasons — located at 2208 14th Street NW near the U Street Corridor — was the very first restaurant on the list.

Gordinier, who has been "logging coutless miles for the past 12 months" looking for the best dining in the country, highlighted the Latin American restaurant as a place where "immigrants are throwing a party."

"Unfettered joy radiates from inside Seven Reasons as you stand outside the front door, and once you enter and sit down, that joy makes itself known—proudly, defiantly—in the riot of flavors and hues that chef Enrique Limardo sends out from the kitchen," he wrote. "Is there almost too much packed into each bite? No one’s complaining. More-is-more extravagance is what makes Seven Reasons a fiesta you never want to stop."

Seven Reasons offers a bar and a 32-seat summer garden in addition to the dining room. The garden is held nightly for walk-in diners.

The restaurant opens at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and at 5 p.m. on Sunday. It is closed on Mondays. The restaurant stays open until 12 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday and until 12:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. It closes at 10 p.m. on Sunday.

Some of its dishes include chorizo and prawns black rice, swordfish belly tostada, and jelly tomato salad.

"Seven Reasons has a simple but challenging mission: to take clients through a sensorial encounter, allowing them to discover their very own Seven Reasons of a magic culinary experience," their website states. "Our kitchen is inspired by the best Latin American culinary roots, brought to life through Enrique Limardo’s bold, contemporary approach. Enrique will aim to transport clients through a route of exquisite flavors and textures, each presented in his unique way."