This is Eater’s guide to all the new restaurants, bars, and cafes that have opened in July. If there’s an opening in your neighborhood that we’ve missed, let us know at dc@eater.com.
Bethesda: A D.C. Mediterranean staple expanded to its first Maryland
location on Saturday, July 18. Agora Bethesda is tucked into the back of the Hyatt Regency by the metro stop, but the largest location for the eatery definitely stands out with a lovely patio and dramatic design details, like dining room booths covered in layered wooden canopies. The meze menu stays consistent with plenty of dips and fluffy pitas; starters like kibbeh bulgur dumplings filled with beef; grilled meats and seafood; flatbreads, including pide and lahmacun; and over-the-top desserts, such as a gooey pistachio souffle and Turkish baklava served with vanilla ice cream. Due to its hotel location, Agora will debut a seven-days-a-week breakfast menu with Mediterranean-style eggs, avocado toast, porridge, and other early morning staples. One Bethesda Metro Center, Bethesda, Maryland
Downtown: The Grand Hyatt Washington welcomed turquoise-toned Oribu just in time for the influx of Fourth of July tourists. The fusion menu, inspired by maritime trade routes connecting Asia to the Mediterranean, includes Japanese wagyu sashimi, hamachi crudo, charcoal-grilled salmon, kebab plates, olive wood-smoked burrata, and all sorts of sushi rolls prepared behind a sleek 10-seat omakase counter. The sprawling restaurant off the lobby is the first D.C. venture for chef Joevel Magpantay, a hotel hospitality vet who most recently worked at Andaz Abu Dhabi. 1000 H Street NW
Foggy Bottom: Ayat, regarded as one of New York City’s best Palestinian restaurants, opened in D.C. on Wednesday, July 22. Ayat is known for its huge portions of all-halal food, with highlights like chicken shawarma platters, silky hummus, and mixed meze spreads — and no alcohol in sight (but you can, however, BYOB). Ayat, owned by Abdul Elenani (and named after his wife, Ayat Masoud), first debuted in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge neighborhood in 2020, and the brand has been on an expansion spree ever since. 2112 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Tenleytown: South Block, the acai bowl and smoothie shop that started in Arlington and has expanded across the DMV and North Carolina, opened a new shop in Tenleytown on Saturday, July 11. The classic menu of acai bowls, smoothies, juices, and toasts is served at the new location, which puts the mini-chain at 25 shops. 4523 Wisconsin Avenue NW
National Harbor: After making a splash at its first D.C. area location (we hear there’s still a long wait on weekends at the Westfield Montgomery outpost), Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings expanded to National Harbor on Wednesday, July 22. The Michelin-recommended Shanghainese spot first opened its doors in Flushing, Queens, in 2006 and has now expanded to 13 locations across the country, with even more storefronts on the way in Illinois, New Jersey, and across New York. The soup dumplings are a large part of the draw here, with signature fillings including pork, crab, chicken, shrimp, and pork, and more. The rest of the family-style menu includes pan-fried pork buns, scallion pancakes, noodle dishes, and fruit teas. The 6,000-square-foot restaurant is built around an open kitchen where diners can peer at chefs crafting those steaming soup dumplings, an iconic part of the original outpost. 180 American Way, Oxon Hill, Maryland
Rosslyn: Brasserie Noble Fox Bar & Terrace, which opened Monday, July 27, on the fourth floor of Rosslyn’s reinvented Le Méridien hotel. Executive chef Francecil Ponte’s menu centers around steak frites, blackened shrimp tacos, flatbreads, club sandwiches, chopped salads, and a big burger she’s especially proud of. Noble Fox, complete with a tony terrace overlooking Georgetown, the National Cathedral, and planes flying by, is part of the top-to-bottom renovation of the 154-room hotel that opened in 2012. 1121 19th Street N., Arlington, Virginia
Shaw: Chef Sanjay Mandhaiya, known for classic Indian cuisine at Pappe and dishes traversing the Silk Road at Karravaan, is now trying his hand at a cozy American saloon. The Grace opened in the former Passenger space on Wednesday, July 1, with Mandhaiya (a regular at the shuttered bar) hoping to return the neighborhood hangout to its former glory as a well-priced pub . Executive chef Courtney Evans is serving up American bar food, think chicken wings served with bleu cheese and a stacked burger, alongside comforting bites that draw inspiration from across the country, like a pressed Cuban sandwich with cumin-crusted pork and corned beef piled on rye toast in a classic Reuben. Beverage director Stefan Sokic also pulls from American bar classics, including a menu of daiquiris and plenty of beer options. 1539 Seventh Street NW
Tenleytown: South Block, the acai bowl and smoothie shop that started in Arlington and has expanded across the DMV and North Carolina, opened a new shop in Tenleytown on Saturday, July 11. The classic menu of acai bowls, smoothies, juices, and toasts is served at the new location, which puts the mini-chain at 25 shops. 4523 Wisconsin Avenue NW
