East End

Texas-style barbecue joint serving pulled pork and chicken, a variety of sandwiches, ribs, and other options. For the price in this area, it's a great option, though Texans might be underwhelmed.

For a nice, small treat, you'll find cupcake varieties including mocha/espresso, peanut butter cup, and boutique cupcakery here.

Teaism

Teaism has a large selection of teas, and an adjacent tea shop where you can get some to take home. In addition to tea, they serve a variety of Asian dishes including Japanese bento boxes, udon noodle soup, ochazuke, Thai and Indian curry, and many vegetarian options. Breakfast is also delicious at Teaism, and their salty oat cookies are a must.

Arguably the best choice for an actual, authentic, Chinatown meal. Full Kee excels in the fish department, along with some good crispy duck and the noodle soups. Daily specials on the wall are always worth a look as well.

Chinatown Express

You'll notice the chef in the window right away preparing Chinese noodles by hand. Express is precisely what a Chinatown restaurant should be and what D.C.'s Chinatown sometimes seems to lack, a cheap casual place, serving solid, authentic Chinese food. The Singapore-style noodle and dumpling soups are the specialty, but it's also a great place to burn your mouth on some spicy beef entries.

Moroccan Cuisine, belly dancers, eat with your hands. This is a city-wide favorite, not just with the downtown crowd, especially for the ambiance. The seven course meal, with a rotating menu, is the only option. There are some minor choices for main dishes, or if you want a vegetarian meal. Be sure to check out the back hallway with pictures of all the famous visitors.

Matchbox looks like a tourist trap. It's in the right neighborhood, has gimmicky if really cool decor with an insane variety and quantity of matchboxes decorating the tables, and is enormous but still packed with people all times of the day. But some of the food here is actually really good: charcoaled sliders and wood-fired NYC-style pizza. The rest of the menu, however, would befit a bonafide tourist trap. It's also a good place to go for a drink, especially when the weather is warm and they open up their outdoor seating.

Many credit this loud, happy restaurant in the Penn Quarter for the current boom in Spanish tapas bars. Serves tasty tapas and wonderful sangria, as well as a fantastic selection of ports and sherry. This is Jose Andrés' first restaurant, and one of the best options in the area. Expect to wait on a crowded F-Sa night.

Mr. Andrés' wild culinary ride through molecular-gastronomy. Reservations are hard to come by at this six-customer, two-chef restaurant, which will serve you a 30-course meal of everything from cotton candy foie gras to lobster injection to beet tumbleweed. Even by its own extreme standards, the Dragon Popcorn caused a local stir last year—caramelized curry popcorn dipped into liquid nitrogen, which causes smoke to come out your nose after eating. Reservations open up one month in advance, and you should call at 10 AM if you want to get one and watch out for the rude reservations lady.

Tapas, antojitos, and... mezzes! Andrés' alphabetically last restaurant serves a variety of meat, seafood, and vegetarian Greek and Lebanese mezzes, along with large selection of wines from the same region.

This small dining room is a lovely trip back to the Southern traditions of the mid-nineteenth century, and could be reason enough on its own to have dinner here, but the food is absolutely the cream of D.C.'s crop as well. The menu is small, with simple, but fairly exotic and expertly executed Southern dishes. Sunday brunch $30-35 is popular.

If you want to impress your date with a really chic lounge that noone knows about, this is a good option, and one that seems quite out of place in touristy Chinatown. The interior is modern and dimly-lit romantic, and the unique cocktail creations will give you something to talk about. The food is about as trendy as it gets, with almost silly options like popcorn-crusted halibut, raw tuna sliders, etc. It's great food, though, prepared by well-known D.C. chef Paul Smith. M-F 4PM-7PM happy hour is a smart way to try some of their dishes on the cheap.

José's take on Mexican antojitos, the Mexican word for snacks literally, "little cravings". The obvious comparison is to Cafe Atlantico, which shares the colorful, bright ambiance, and latin flavor. The difference lies in the indiginous Mexican focus at Oyamel—it has real Aztec pretensions. In a town without real Mexican food, you have to go upscale, and this is the place—the mole here is outstanding and the grasshopper tacos are... interesting. Oyamel, by the way, benefits from the same tableside guacamole as Atlantico! Su-F 4:30PM-6:30PM has great happy hour deals at the bar.

Wolfgang Puck entered the D.C. market couple years ago with this Asian-focused restaurant. In the past couple years this has been probably the city's best place to spot celebrities of the political variety. You'll pay through the nose, but the food is worth it. If you value your nose, head to the lounge, which offers food from the same kitchen at slightly more modest prices.

Renowned Nuevo Latino cuisine in D.C. courtesy of Andrés protege Katsuya Fukushima, in a flashy, colorful restaurant. The tableside prepared guacamole is fabulous. The drinks, caipirinhas, mojitos, etc., are as well. Sunday brunch is a very fun "latino dim sum"—stop by Su 11:30AM-1:30PM to try the $35 pri-fixe chef's selection of fourteen dishes.

One of D.C.'s few great Asian restaurants. Refreshingly eclectic dishes, startlingly new sauces, excellent service, and award-winning cocktails.