West End

This pastry shop is both one of the capital's best and a good reason to wander into the Watergate Hotel. Specialties include their excellent sacher torte, as well as the "Nixon donut."

Serves a Indian cuisine all vegetarian as a lunch buffet, featuring different regions of India each day of the week. For dinner, a regular menu is offered.

Vegetarian and vegan organic food, Korean style, but also popular among non-vegetarians. Also serves sandwiches, salads, coffee, and brunch is served on Saturdays.

Serves Asian/Japanese dishes, such as bento boxes, along with many varieties of pricey tea. Also a good option for breakfast.

The Burro

Popular with George Washington University students, The Burro serves quesadillas, burritos, tacos, and other tex-mex. NOW CLOSED

Manouche's Hotdog Stand

If it's a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night between August and May you'll find Manouche's Hotdog Stand. Manouche has been serving late-night hotdogs to hungry George Washington University students and passers-by since 1986. His interesting anecdotes and personality alone make it worth the trip.

The venerable Old Ebbitt Grill. You don't come for the food which just just fine, American cuisine, you come here for the tradition and the history. This Victorian restaurant and bar a couple blocks from the White House was a personal favorite with steak-eating Presidents Grant, Cleveland, Harding and Theodore Roosevelt back in the nineteenth century. It remains a symbol of the classic Washingtonian experience, and will probably always attract power diners. The one selection on the menu that really is excellent is the rightly famous oyster menu. You will need reservations.

The decor is a little uninspired, but the sushi and especially the other Japanese cuisine here is exceptional and creative great chef!.

Fine Peruvian dining at a very reasonable price, across the street from the World Bank. If you haven't tried Peruvian before, it's a rich mix of Incan, Spanish, and East Asian cuisines Peru has a large East Asian immigrant population. Look for dishes with potatoes—Peru is the birthplace of the spud, and its cuisine uses some 40 odd varieties. The lomo saltado, a steak dish with heavy Chinese influence, is a local favorite, but if you are up to something more adventurous, the chicken hearts anticuchos de corazón are out of this world. This is one of the best options for fine dining on a budget anywhere near the White House, and a great place to relax, sip a pisco sour, and enjoy some fresh ceviche. Noisy on busy nights.

A highly acclaimed, classy, albeit not entirely authentic Chinese restaurant catering to lawyers, businessmen, and politicians. An excellent option for a business lunch or dinner. Meiwah also offers delivery and carry-out.

This restaurant serves some of D.C.'s favorite upscale southern cooking, such as fried catfish, shrimp and grits, or southern fried chicken, along with traditional southern side dishes. Lunch on weekdays sees a $24 prix fixe three-course menu. Book ahead for the very popular Sunday jazz brunch.

This restaurant overlooks Lafayette Square and the White House, and is a premier place for power dining. For the price, the food here is underwhelming, but the food, obviously, is not why you come here.

Traditional Spanish cuisine served a la carte and as tapas, served in one very romantic restaurant. The three-course prix fixe is highway robbery. The restaurant also offers a dedicated vegetarian menu. Neither tapas nor prix-fixe menus are available on Saturday nights, so that's not the night to get your money's worth.

The Old Ebbitt Grill outshines this century-old establishment by the White House "Where Statesmen Dine" in terms of fame and age, but not in terms of quality. Anybody who is anybody in D.C. has dined here going back to its opening in 1906, and their images remain on the famous photo-lined walls. If the endless politicos bore you, keep in mind that the Occidental also hosted the Washington Senators victory banquet when the city won its first and only World Series. This restaurant doesn't rest on its star-studded laurels, though, and practices top-notch cookery, and is looking quite sharp following its centennial anniversary and $2 million renovation.

American seafood cooking at its finest, often considered the best in the city. Kinkead's raw bar is also popular. Home to an uncommonly fine crab cake.

Celebrity chef Todd Gray's D.C. restaurant, serving fine seasonal American cuisine. Offers a tasting menu, with pasta, fish, and cheese courses. Vegetarian options also available.

Locally renowned southern cuisine in an elegant setting, a la carte or tasting menu. Offers complimentary wine tastings and light hor'd'oeuvres during happy hour M-F 4PM-7PM. The sommelier loves chatting about wine, it's a free education, which is pretty rare in D.C.

Self described French cuisine with Flemish flair. Quiet, elegant atmosphere. They will wow you with the service, with extra touches everywhere, from occasional free cocktails to the limo service to the Kennedy Center included in the pre-theatre dining.

Chef Tony Conte prepares elegant meat, pasta, and seafood dishes, including lobster. Good selection of wine, and delicious desserts. The last few presidents have all dined here; Condoleeza Rice declared it her favorite in the city.

A steakhouse that prides itself on tradition and formality—jackets are a must, and they go well with the beautiful art deco surroundings, tuxedo-clad waiters, and classy Frank Sinatra-esque piano bar atmosphere. The menu can be a little uneven, but the signature prime rib is appropriately excellent, as is the lump crab imperial.