DCDiningGuide

 
Before coming to Mintwood Place, chef Cedric Maupillier helped open Central Michel Richard, which won a James Beard Award for best new restaurant. While Maupillier brings much of the style and playfulness of Central to his new restaurant in Adams Morgan, he takes it a step further, delving deeper into the American lexicon for ideas and imbuing them with even more classically French techniques and ingredients. Appetizers of deviled pickled eggs, escargot hush puppies, and chopped chicken liver tartine retain what everyone loves about these classics yet Maupillier elevates each to new heights. Entrees like Crispy rainbow trout with green papaya and aji amarillo slaw read more like typical "modern American fare," but combine flavors and techniques in a way the sets them apart. Desserts like baked Alaska receive the same careful attention, so save room.

 
The owners behind Tail Up Goat, beverage director Bill Jensen, chef Jon Sybert, and service director Jill Tyler, all spent a long time at Johnny Monis' acclaimed restaurants Komi and Little Serow before striking out on their own. That experience shows in the casual refinement of nearly every aspect of the experience.

 
Jack Rose has always been one of the best bars around. The wood-paneled, four-story space boasts one of the largest whiskey collections in the world, excellent cocktails, 20 beers on tap, a craft cocktail "speakeasy" in the basement, and a roof deck that draws crowds in warmer months. With the arrival of chef Russell Jones, it finally has food to match the setting. Jones' contemporary American menu has a bit of a Southern accent, showing the chef's South Carolina roots. There's also considerable refinement in the cooking, reflecting Jones' prior job as a sous-chef at Restaurant Eve.

 
This modern Afghan restaurant replaced the former French bistro Napoleon. It still has the same owners, the Popal family, who seem newly invigorated by the chance to showcase their native cuisine. Although most think of kebabs when someone mentions Afghan food, some of the best dishes here are the vegetarian offerings.

 
This casual seafood shack next door to and owned by Cashion's recalls the childhood beach trips of owners Justin Abad and John Manolatos. The simple menu features a selection of fried, grilled, and steamed classics, plus burgers, hotdogs, and chicken for landlubbers. Upstairs, there's a bar with a small selection of easygoing cocktails, beers, and wine.

 
Although there's an Indian menu, the real draw here are the Nepalese dishes you won't find anywhere else in DC.

 
Chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley (also of Cleveland Park's Ripple) oversees a meat heavy menu of sausages and upscale pub food. For drinkers, there's a downstairs bar with good happy hour specials and a rooftop deck with its own bar and a great view of the strip.

 
This little shop has a name that sounds like something from a Seinfeld episode, but it offers dependable falafel and kabobs for a good price. The second location in Adams Morgan also offers jumbo slices, which are about as good as (and no better than) all of the other jumbo slice places.

 
This local chain stays open late and sticks to the basics: delicious Israeli-style falafel with plenty of tasty toppings on the do-it-yourself bar and fries with several sauces. There are three locations in DC and one in Clarendon.

 
Seungjoon Jang's Donburi serves the eponymous rice bowls topped with fish, meat, vegetables and donburi sauce in varying combinations, including the minimalist sakedon (salmon), tricked-out katsudon (fried pork and shrimp over onions with soft fried egg), and rich unagidon (caramelized eel). Washingtonian named it one of its best "Cheap Eats" 2014.

 
This Middle Eastern restaurant with two locations has consistently juicy kebabs, good dips and salads, and surprisingly good pizza, making it one of our favorites for takeout. In particular, try the vegetarian sampler, which is a combination of several classic Mediterranean dishes, a generous grilled salmon Greek salad, or the Egyptian pizza, which has a unique fennel seed crust.

 
Keren is the second largest city in Eritrea, a country with a cuisine similar to Ethiopia. This convivial restaurant and café is open all day serving a full menu of ful and egg dishes, tibisi (tibs) and stews with teff enjera (injera), and some dishes over spaghetti that show the Eritrea's heritage as an Italian colony.