10 Recently Opened Bars and Restaurants With Outside Tables Around D.C.

Following long departures from D.C.’s dining scene during the COVID-19 pandemic, another round of restaurants and bars have recently reopened their doors, added new outdoor seats, or announced an impending comeback. They include options for scene-y vibes downtown, long-running steakhouses around the city, a modernist tasting menu in Georgetown, a new beer garden in Capitol Hill, and a classic wine bar on the 14th Street NW strip.

Here are 10 bars and restaurants to check out soon:

Cork

1805 14th Street NW

The classic, Black-owned wine bar and market reopens for on-site dining with new, tented sidewalk seating today (Friday, September 25). Recently hired executive chef Johnathan Allen II is in charge of the bistro fare, including the pistachio-laden avocado toast Cork was selling before it was trendy. Reservations are available on Open Table.

Wild Days

1201 K Street NW

Eaton/official photo

After a six-month hiatus, Eaton hotel’s glass-enclosed rooftop bar downtown reopened last night (Thursday, September 24). The adjoining outdoor patio overlooking K Street NW makes creative use of its fire pits with new s’mores service ($26 for two to four people), bottle service, and an a la carte menu full of $16 cocktails — think rum punch or a Courvoisier Old Fashioned — and bites including calamari, lamb burgers smoked mozzarella, and a pizza topped with banh mi fillings. Meanwhile, American Son — its lobby-level restaurant helmed by chef Tim Ma — reopened for limited service earlier this month. Open Thursdays to Saturdays, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; reserve a seat by emailing wilddays@plandosee.com.

Shelter

1401 Pennsylvania Avenue SE

Neighborhood Restaurant Group [official]

The phased opening of the Roost food hall across the street from the Potomac Ave Metro station represents one of the most enticing new options for the fall, especially for beer geeks. This week Neighborhood Restaurant Group (Churchkey, the Sovereign, Bluejacket) opened Shelter, the facility’s indoor-outdoor beer garden with 21 beers on draft and an improvised retail operation full of eclectic bottles and cans. Red Apron Butcher boss Nate Anda developed a new taco stall, Hi/Fi Taco, to supply the bar with carnitas braised in orange soda, Valentina hot sauce chicken wings with smoked crema, and a queso brimming with everything you’d find on a bacon cheeseburger. Starting Saturday, September 26, a new Red Apron outpost will add burgers and two types of poutine built around the butcher shop’s beef fat fries.

Ghost Line

2340 Wisconsin Avenue NW

Rey Lopez/Eater D.C.

Glover Park’s new takeout- and delivery-oriented “ghost kitchen” just added an outdoor seating area where customers can sample a variety of options. The innovative venture from restaurateur Aaron Gordon (Red Velvet, Little Beast) packs an assortment of opening chefs dishing out several styles of pizza, Indian khichdi, ramen, fried chicken sandwiches, cupcakes, ice cream; and a bar/cafe that serves up cocktails, lattes, pastries, and breakfast sandwiches. The garden at Ghost Line experimented with hosting its first jazz show but has delayed hosting more performances until the spring.

Bourbon Steak

2800 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Bourbon Steak/official photo

Following a kitchen fire last month, Michael Mina’s scene-y Four Seasons steakhouse in Georgetown resumes service this week with more alfresco seats dotting the front and back of the hotel. Beloved Bourbon Steak dishes making a comeback include a lobster pot pie, ahi tuna tartare, duck fat fries, truffle bread, and tiramisu, with a new Australian wagyu filet. Jose Gonzalez, who helped open the restaurant back in 2008, is back as general manager. He was most recently GM at Mina’s Margeaux Brasserie & Petit Margeaux in Chicago.

Reverie

3201 Cherry Hill Lane NW

Reverie/official photo

Chef Johnny Spero’s contemporary American restaurant rebooted service after a months-long hiatus on September 17. Spero’s popular duck and gourmet burger are back, but the new fall menu centers around veggies and seafood. Spero, an alum of Komi and minibar, is preparing an omakase-style madai (sea bream) with spruce, kumquat, and smoked olive oil; lobster with walnut ajo blanco, walnut miso, and seaweed vinegar; and a squash consomme with produce plucked from Karma Farms. The trained pastry chef is also sending out ice cream made from birch syrup from local farmer Drew Van Lear of Great Greens. Open 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday (closed Sunday and Monday). Reserve a on the patio ($75 for four four courses) or dining room ($95 for six courses) via Tock.

La Famosa

1300 Fourth Street SE

Rey Lopez/Eater D.C.

This weeks-old Puerto Rican cafe in Navy Yard has a wraparound patio at the base of a condo building where customers can sip coffee and nibble pastries in the morning or grab a hefty dinner of pressed sandwiches stuffed with roast pork, ham, and sliced ribeye. There are a range of tropical cocktails, including a rum Negroni and a guava smash, as well as local beers and wines from Spain, Portugal, France, and California.

Proper 21K

2033 K Street NW

Rey Lopez/Eater DC

The clubby sports bar from New York recently opened its second D.C. location, giving Foggy Bottom a new 66-seat patio where customers can sample a range of huge sandwiches and other bar food with a Korean through-line. The bar offers six different flavors of crushes ($13), and there are different drink specials every night, BOGO crushes during a four-hour Friday happy hour and a 90-minute bottomless brunch on weekends. The inside of the restaurant is full of TVs, and an NFL Sunday Ticket package makes every game available.

Monocle

107 D Street NE

Capitol Hill’s 60-year-old steak and seafood institution reopened after a six-month break with pickup and delivery available through ChowNow and freshly added sidewalk seats.

Marcel’s by Robert Wiedmaier

2401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

The fine dining destination near the Kennedy Center — known for superlative service, French fare, and bubbly — is set to reopen on Thursday, October 1. Other RW Restaurant Group establishments open for indoor, patio and pickup include Mussel Bar & Grille, Arlington and Bethesda, Lock 72 in Potomac and Wildwood Kitchen in Bethesda. Reserve a seat via Opentable.

More patios

• 15 Recently Opened Outdoor Spaces at Bars and Restaurants Around D.C. [EDC]
• 8 Recently Reopened Patios To Try Around D.C.
• 12 New Patios to Try Around D.C.
• 13 Recently Reopened Bar and Restaurant Patios to Note in D.C.