Washington, D.C. — Weekly Eats — Monday, August 17, 2026

Caribbean cocktails at Croix, including a tamarind drink in distinctive glassware

Opened Friday · Navy Yard rooftop

Croix opened Friday with callaloo, coconut drinks, and the Nats in the window

9th floor, Cambria Hotel · 69 Q Street SW · Friday, August 14

Keem Hughley, Malika King, and Sonat Ozkaynak take over the Cambria rooftop as a St. Croix getaway: Crucian callaloo with fungi and pimento-smoked coconut oil, saltfish mille-feuille, sea bass escovitch, lamb ribs, and about twenty branded coconut cocktails a night. The wraparound Croix Veranda has frozen machines and two outdoor bars; it shuts down in November, when a speakeasy called the Green Room is supposed to take over. Eater DC published Wednesday; Washingtonian dated the opening August 14.

Sources: Eater DC, Aug. 12; Washingtonian, Aug. 6

Photo: Rey Lopez / Washingtonian (og:image)

Croix opened Saturday. Panda Fest on Pennsylvania Avenue and La Merna’s first full weekend were yesterday. Metropolitan Washington Summer Restaurant Week is seven days out (Aug. 24–30). October is already spoken for: Kneads in the old Maialino Mare, and a sandwich window next to La Merna.

August September October

August 2026 — marked days have a seat at the table

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

September 2026

October 2026

Eater DC, Washingtonian, Infatuation DC, and Downtown DC are the desk. Infatuation has recent cards (The Grace, Prim’s, Emma’s Torch) but not a weekend calendar. A Georgetown Indian street-food shop, Delhi Belly, posted conflicting “now open” and “opens August 15” copy on PoPville; it is not in the brief.

Today

Monday

Pizzas, meatballs, salad, and pasta at La Merna

Dupont Circle

La Merna’s first full weekend

2153 P Street NW · Thu 5 p.m.–midnight; Fri–Sun 5 p.m.–2 a.m. · Resy

Bradley Shorten and Meg Schmitt’s Chicago tavern pies — cracker crust, squares, toppings to the edge — opened Thursday in the old Duffy’s. Soft opening runs through this weekend; the giardiniera-and-sausage pie is the one Shorten tells people to get. Pastas from a Bologna stage (fazzoletti with short-rib ragù, ’nduja ravioli) and a late-night Juicy Lucy still to come. Thursday–Sunday only, for now.

Sources: Eater DC, Aug. 7; Washingtonian, Aug. 7

Website Reviews

Outdoor festival scene from Downtown DC’s Panda Fest page

Pennsylvania Avenue

Panda Fest, first D.C. edition

Saturday 10 a.m.–10 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m.–8 p.m. · 4th to 7th Streets NW · GA from $14

Downtown DC’s listing: more than 90 Asian food vendors, 200-plus street-food dishes, merchandise, performances, timed entry via pandafests.com. Metro to Archives–Navy Memorial or Judiciary Square. Pennsylvania Avenue closes for it.

Source: Downtown DC — Panda Fest

Just opened

Openings

Foggy Bottom

Ayat

Opened July 22 · 2112 Pennsylvania Ave NW · 11 a.m.–10 p.m. weekdays, 11 p.m. Fri–Sat

NYC’s high-volume Palestinian kitchen — shawarma platters, hummus, mixed meze, all halal, no alcohol, BYOB — in a 100-seat first District room. Lunch platters 11 a.m.–3 p.m. A patio is “coming soon.”

Source: Eater DC, July 24

Google reviews

Shaw

The Grace

Opened July 1 · 1539 7th St NW · former Passenger

Sanjay Mandhaiya (Pappe, Karravaan) and chef Courtney Evans in a come-as-you-are American saloon: wings, a stacked burger, a cumin-crusted Cuban, a Reuben. Infatuation’s August 5 review is the useful one — the Cuban is “almost incredible.”

Sources: Eater DC, July 31; Infatuation, Aug. 5

Google reviews

Soup dumplings at Nan Xiang, from Eater DC

National Harbor

Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings

Opened July 22 · 180 American Way, Oxon Hill

The Flushing Shanghainese chain’s second regional room — 6,000 square feet, open kitchen, pork and crab xiao long bao, pan-fried buns. Eater’s July openings roundup.

Source: Eater DC, July 31

Google reviews

Eden Center

Tam Tam Brunch and Dinner

Falls Church · opened by mid-August

Thao Tran and Tin Truong’s date-night Vietnamese room in a mall of casual pho shops: salmon crudo, abalone soup, hot pots. Washingtonian, August 12.

Source: Washingtonian, Aug. 12

Website Reviews

Rosslyn

Noble Fox

Opened July 27 · 4th floor, Le Méridien · 1121 19th St N, Arlington

Francecil Ponte’s brasserie — steak frites, a burger she’s proud of, terrace over Georgetown and the Cathedral — in the renovated hotel.

Source: Eater DC, July 31

Google reviews

Downtown / Bethesda

Oribu, and Agora’s Maryland room

Oribu, Grand Hyatt, 1000 H St NW; Agora Bethesda, July 18, One Bethesda Metro Center

Oribu is Joevel Magpantay’s Asia-to-Mediterranean hotel restaurant with a 10-seat omakase counter. Agora’s first Maryland location keeps the meze and adds a seven-day breakfast.

Source: Eater DC, July 31

Google reviews

On the calendar

Events

Citywide

Metropolitan Washington Summer Restaurant Week

Monday, August 24 – Sunday, August 30

RAMW’s summer edition: 200-plus restaurants, three-course lunch/brunch at $25 or $35, dinner at $40, $55, or $65. Seven Reasons Group has confirmed Seven Reasons, Imperfecto, The Saga, and Surreal. Menus on the RAMW Restaurant Week site. Washingtonian also published an August 10 list of 11 new rooms worth using the week on.

Sources: Washingtonian, Aug. 10; RAMW Restaurant Week (via regional coverage of the Aug. 24–30 dates)

Shaw / Silver Spring

Also new, if you are already out

Prim’s Cafe, 1847 7th St NW; Emma’s Torch, 1200 East-West Hwy, Silver Spring

Infatuation’s August 4 cards: Prim’s is specialty coffee and Souk pastries, including a lavender latte. Emma’s Torch, the refugee-training nonprofit, opened a 4,500-square-foot café — shakshuka, chicken Caesar wraps, housemade chai. Neither has a review yet; both are dated openings.

Source: Infatuation — Prim’s; Emma’s Torch

Google reviews

0–90 days

Coming

Navy Yard

Kneads, in the old Maialino Mare

October · 221 Tingey St SE · Thompson Hotel

Baltimore’s Kneads takes the 5,500-square-foot Danny Meyer space: pastry counter, full bar, dining room, remote-work corner, patio. Redesign starts in September; a rep told Eater it should open “pretty quickly” in October, all day from the start. Crème brûlée doughnuts and pistachio baklava croissants are the Baltimore sellers. Logan Circle and Chevy Chase are also promised later this year.

Source: Eater DC, Aug. 11

Google reviews

Dupont

La Merna’s sandwich window

By October · next door, weekends first

Shorten and Schmitt told Eater they will open a stewed-meat window: Italian beef, and a thick-cut hot salami with garlic cheese, pepperoncini, and mustard. Weekends only, at first.

Source: Eater DC, Aug. 7

Google reviews

Navy Yard

Croix’s Green Room

November, after the veranda closes

Eater: the outdoor veranda shuts in November; a speakeasy called the Green Room is slated to take over with cocktails and live music. No menu or reservation page yet.

Source: Eater DC, Aug. 12

Google reviews

Arlington

Xi’an Famous Foods

“Very soon,” as of July 29 · no day published

Washingtonian reported the hand-pulled-noodle chain is coming to Arlington. That is the last dated local note; no August opening day has been published. On the watch list only.

Source: Washingtonian, July 29

Website Reviews