Why Didn’t The Alibi Face Harsher Consequences for Having Customers Inside on Jan. 6?

Video footage and photographs included in social media posts cannot be used to substantiate an ABRA violation.

When CityLab reporter and City Paper contributor Kriston Capps shared a video he recorded and a photo he snapped of customers inside The Alibi on the afternoon of Jan. 6, Twitter users reacted by tagging Mayor Muriel Bowser and city agencies that have the power to hold the bar accountable for violating the indoor dining […]

by Laura Hayes

Club ZŌ’s Owners Are Whipping Up A Kinky Post-Pandemic Brunch in D.C.

Find the provocative new venue in the basement of longtime downtown strip club Archibald’s.

D.C. residents can’t wait to enjoy their favorite meals after the pandemic. Once it’s safe to do so Washingtonians will be able to enjoy a provocative, “sex positive” brunch with a side of S&M. Club ZŌ founders Thom Naylor and Christopher Peters promise French toast will be the last thing on customers’ minds. The K […]

by Anthony Lacey

Take-Home For The Holidays

D.C. restaurants sold out of the sumptuous feasts they offered for takeout over the holidays, proving you can box up hospitality.

Cassia Denton and Devin Maier found themselves home for the holidays. They heeded repeated warnings that traveling and mingling with older relatives is too dangerous because of COVID-19. “We have always spent Christmas in Hawaii with Devin’s dad,” Denton says. “He always makes a big meal there. We were not expecting to be here instead.” […]

by Laura Hayes

Try Palestinian Chicken and Taboon When Shababi Opens This Month

The ghost restaurant from Chefs Marcelle Afram and Roro Asmar is based in Alexandria.

Fresh off their departure from the executive chef role at Michelin-starred Maydan, Marcelle Afram is bringing the D.C. area their version of one of Palestine’s national dishes—musakhan—in partnership with fellow Lebanese American chef Roro Asmar. The rotisserie-style halal chicken with skin that snaps is brined for 24 hours, then coated with allspice, sumac, cumin, fenugreek, […]

by Laura Hayes

D.C. Officially Extends Indoor Dining Ban to Jan. 22, Citing Public Safety

Winter Restaurant Week has been pushed back to Jan. 25 through Feb. 7.

D.C. restaurants will have to wait an extra week before they can reopen their dining rooms at 25 percent capacity. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced late tonight that she is extending the indoor dining ban originally set to expire on Jan. 15 to Jan. 22 at 5 a.m. The time frame now more closely aligns with […]

by Laura Hayes

How D.C.-Area Breweries Are Hanging On 10 Months Into The Pandemic

Some of the operational changes brewers made in response to COVID-19 could stick around.

As 2019 was coming to an end, local breweries ramped up production for spring in anticipation of an expected uptick in sales. A seasonably warm March 2020 had Washingtonians shedding their winter coats, eager to drink outdoors. Fresh off a Nationals World Series championship, brewers were excited about the sales potential of having their beer […]

by Bobby Bump

Are D.C. and Maryland Diners Flocking to Northern Virginia to Dine Inside?

"A small fraction of people are coming over, but the majority are scared and nervous about getting and spreading COVID."

When D.C. and several bordering counties in Maryland temporarily banned indoor dining in December because of spiking COVID-19 cases, Northern Virginia restaurant owners’ ears perked up. They wondered if a rush of diners would cross the river to eat in their dining rooms. During parts of the pandemic, the Commonwealth has had slightly looser restrictions […]

by Laura Hayes

The Past, Present, and Future of D.C.’s Panda Gourmet

The famed Chinese restaurant tucked into a Days Inn has plans to expand in 2021.

When Panda Gourmet opened in December 2012, it followed several other restaurants that occupied the Days Inn at 2700 New York Ave. NE. The motel, once described as having “a Tom Waits, ‘Jockey Full of Bourbon’ vibe,” housed Chinese laborers building the Chinese Embassy from 2006 to 2008 and until recently, families experiencing homelessness.   Before […]

by Katherine Zhao

Two of D.C.’s Buzziest Cafes Are Run by Women of Color With Bold Goals

Ayat Elhag from Yellow and Nazia Khan from Cameo want coffee to be more about celebrating growers and less about latte art.

Our sense of smell can help us recall moments in our past. One of Ayat Elhag’s earliest memories comes from the childhood trips she would take to Sudan with her parents in the summer. The Sudanese would perform a sort of ceremony that stuck with her. “They light incense and then use sandalwood or frankincense […]

by Laura Hayes

The Year 2020 in Food

Six lingering questions we're left with after the year that ravaged D.C. restaurants

The year that devastated the hospitality industry is coming to an end, but 2020 will have lasting effects. Many restaurants and bars will never reopen, with fond memories and scorched livelihoods left behind. Now-empty storefronts will soon be ready for the next generation of restaurant operators. What adjustments will these brave new souls make based […]

by Laura Hayes

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