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Chinese barbecue from Tiger Fork
Chinese barbecue from Tiger Fork
Tiger Fork [official]

Where to Order a Christmas Feast in D.C.

Prime picks for Chinese barbecue platters, whole hams marinated in Trini chow, to-go turkeys, and decorative pies

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Chinese barbecue from Tiger Fork
| Tiger Fork [official]

With a city devoid of traffic and restaurants on break, Christmas in Washington is traditionally a blissfully quiet time. But during a pandemic when residents are encouraged to hunker down, many more locals will be staying put and looking for reliable holiday takeout to support the struggling restaurants they love.

Whether that means grabbing a Filipino holiday dinner at the Game, stocking up on traditional Bûche de Noël log cakes at Et Voila, or sampling bottomless Balkan small plates and drinks at Ambar, there are plenty of favorites keeping their doors open for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and/or offering takeout and delivery packages.

Here’s a curated list of 20 places to find a Christmas feast in D.C.

A number of D.C. area restaurants have resumed dine-in service. The level of service offered is indicated on each map point. However, this should not be taken as endorsement for dining in, as there are still safety concerns. The Washington Post is tracking coronavirus cases and deaths in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. More information can be found at coronavirus.dc.gov. Studies indicate that there is a lower exposure risk when outdoors, but the level of risk involved with patio dining is contingent on restaurants following strict social distancing and other safety guidelines.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process. If you buy something or book a reservation from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.

Cielo Rojo Restaurant

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The two-year-old taqueria in Takoma Park makes to-go tamales built with chicken mole, pumpkin, poblano peppers, and Oaxacan cheeses. Preorder by Tuesday, December 22, for pickup on Christmas Eve from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For at-home chefs, balls of white or blue corn masa are available for pickup on Wednesday, December 23.

Cielo Rojo [official photo]

Muchas Gracias

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Chef Christian Irabién’s eight-course Christmas Day tasting menu ($120 for two; $200 for four)  offers pretty servings of green ravioli ravioli with Mexican corn fungus (huitlacoche), pork loin inl mojo de ajo, and Oaxacan chocolate mousse. Preorder by Friday, December 18, for Christmas Eve pickup from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For a holiday tamale fix, he’s making pork or chicken varieties ($3 each, $25 for a half dozen, $45 for a dozen) that day from 11 a.m. until sellout (pre-order online).

This standout Malaysian spot in Columbian Heights offers a takeout dinner for two ($80) with specialty dishes like dry beef curry or spicy sour skate wing from chef James Wozniuk. To-go drinks include cocktails for four ($30) like a Kelabu with bourbon, Earl Gray Tea, salted honey syrup, and Vietnamese coriander. Preorder by Monday, December 21, for pickup from noon to 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. 

Nasi campur, or “with rice,” dishes at Makan include beef rendang, center; pajeri nenas (pineapple currry), top; ayam goreng (fried chicken with salted duck yolk and curry leaf), right, and okra in sambal.
Nasi campur, or “with rice,” dishes at Makan include beef rendang, center; pajeri nenas (pineapple currry), top; ayam goreng (fried chicken with salted duck yolk and curry leaf), right, and okra in sambal.
Rey Lopez/Eater D.C.

Et Voila !

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A three-course takeout menu at chef Claudio Pirollo’s Palisades restaurant includes French staples like foie gras terrine, roasted capon with truffle potatoes, and a chestnut tart (one for $69.95, two for $39.95, four for $259.95), complete with a baguette and bottle of Champagne. There’s also a whole beef tenderloin from Roseda Farm ($195), Bûche de Noël log cakes, and liters of mulled wine. Preorder for pickup on Christmas Eve.

Mintwood Place

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Chef Harper McClure offers a $50-per-person Christmas Eve menu (5 p.m. to 9 p.m.) with three choose-your-own courses (for dine-in) or a $55-per-person takeout dinner starring beef short rib or roasted cauliflower tagine, chestnut and foie gras soup, and eggnog panna cotta. A prime rib special with Yorkshire pudding and potato gratin is also available for dine-in indoors, on its heated patio, or for carryout ($32). Pre-order through Monday, December 21. There’s also a special dine-in brunch on Christmas Day.

Mintwood Place offers indoor and outdoor dining across its heated patio.
Jennifer Chase/Mintwood Place

The Game Sports Pub

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Bar manager-turned-chef Jo-Jo Valenzuela makes to-go Christmas Eve and Day dinners full of Filipino specials for one, two, or four ($45, $80, $150). His traditional “Pinoy” dishes include lumpiang hubad (naked lumpia); embutido (ground pork, Vienna sausage, egg, peppers, cheese, pickle relish, raisins); chicken breast with chorizo de Bilbao, mushrooms, carrots, peppers, water chestnuts, and cream; and a buko pandan salad (young coconut, pandan gulaman, condensed milk, cream). Order by 9 p.m. on Monday, December 21 for pickup on Christmas Eve from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Annabelle

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Chef Frank Ruta’s upscale to-go menu offers Christmas feasts centered around Seven Hills prime rib, Shenandoah rack of lamb, or baked ham cured on-site. Mains are accompanied by five sides and a traditional Bûche de Noël log cake or cookie dessert (starting at $175 for two to $365 for a family of six, plus tax and gratuity). Order online or call by Saturday, December 19, for pickup starting at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, December 23, and Christmas Eve. Ruta’s greatest hits also appear across a four-course menu ($75 per person) or a la carte dinner menu for in-house dining and pickup on Christmas Eve.

The center of the main dining room at Annabelle
The center of the main dining room at Annabelle
Rey Lopez/Eater D.C.

Commissary

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EatWell DC’s Logan Circle restaurant pairs honey pineapple-glazed ham and herb-roasted turkey meals with holiday fixings like butternut squash bisque, beans, and apple raisin crisp ($50 for two, $100 for four, $169 for six to eight). There’s also sticky toffee eggnog ($15) and two bottles of wine for $24. Order by noon on Monday, December 21, for pickup Christmas Eve from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Christmas brunch for four to six is $35, with $15 mimosa pitchers. Everything is available for carryout or delivery.

The District Fishwife

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Union Market’s seafood vendor celebrates the Italian-American Feast of Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve with all the ingredients to make a cioppino stew (white fish, squid, clams, and mussels), to go along with shrimp cocktails, shucked oysters, and a whole salt-baked dorade. Open until 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Cod, mussels, clams and squid at District Fishwife.
Fredde Lieberman/District Fishwife

Tiger Fork

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The Hong Kong-style restaurant in Blagden Alley has a five-course holiday menu full of favorites that feeds three to four people ($80). It includes dishes like Chinese barbecue platters — full of char siu (pork shoulder), crispy pork belly, soya quail, and pickles — along with dishes like soy-braised mushrooms in creamed tofu. Prix fixe preorders for pickup are open on Tock until 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve for pickup Christmas Day (noon to 6:30 p.m.) An a la carte menu with eight options will be available for takeout and delivery via DoorDash.

Chinese barbecue from Tiger Fork
Chinese barbecue from Tiger Fork
Tiger Fork [official]

The Dabney

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The Michelin-starred Mid-Atlantic restaurant in Blagden Alley doubles up on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day eats with a $125-per-person carryout set. Homemade charcuterie, seasonal crudité, dips, and canapés join Seven Hills prime rib, winter root vegetables, roasted and glazed sweet potatoes, and more local fare (menu here). Order on Tock for pickup Wednesday, December 23 between 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

Andrew Cebulka/Dabney

Brasserie Liberté

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On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (starting at 11 a.m.), the sprawling Georgetown brasserie runs an all-day, three-course meal for $54.95, with options like burrata and beet carpaccio, mussels, and chocolate mousse cake. Reserve a seat on its sprawling, heated patio or indoors.

Steak frites come with a $15 upcharge for its three-course holiday meal.

Cut by Wolfgang Puck

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Wolfgang Puck’s recently rebooted steakhouse in a Georgetown hotel offers two-person takeout meals from chef Andrew Skala. Christmas Day dinner calls for scallion and Vermont cheddar Parker House rolls, a pair of 14-ounce Seven Hills prime ribs, various sides, and sliced Bûche de Noël paired with Catoctin Creek Rye eggnog for dessert ($235), with add-ons like Perigord black truffles, Alaskan king crab. Place orders on Tock with 24-hour notice for pickup on Christmas Eve or Day. Other two-person options include regional-themed ($160), Peking duck ($145) and veggie-heavy meals ($120).

Rosewood Hotel [official photo]

Kinship

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Chef Eric Ziebold’s upscale, Michelin-rated restaurant goes on a holiday dine-in break from December 21 to January 13, but Christmas brunch and dinner are still available for pickup on December 23 and 24. Choose from a three-course menu ($75) or à la carte entrees, salads, soups, sides, desserts, cookies, snacks and appetizers ($8 to $150). Milk punch, Champagnes, and wines are also available. Order online.

Whole roast chicken from Kinship
Whole roast chicken from Kinship
Kinship [official]

Georgia Brown's

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Downtown’s recently renovated Lowcountry restaurant plans a family-style Christmas feast with a la carte options ($15-$125) like roasted turkey or ham, roast beef, Carolina gumbo with red rice, baked mac and cheese, cornbread stuffing, buttermilk biscuits with peach butter, cognac bread pudding, and pecan pie. Order online by 8 p.m. on Sunday, December 20, for pickup on Christmas Eve from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Slow roasted, 20-to-24-pound turkeys that get an apple cider brine come with a pint of gravy ($125).
Georgia Brown’s [official photo]

The Bombay Club

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Ashok Bajaj’s classic, pan-regional Indian restaurant downtown has a three-course Christmas Eve menu from Nilesh Singhvi available for on-site dining, carryout, and delivery. It features smoked lamb fillet, crab masala, duck curry, and more for $55 per person, with a la carte picks available, too, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Eater DC’s Chef of the Year Peter Prime taps into his Trinidadian roots for a to-go Christmas dinner filled out by a whole Berkshire ham marinated in pineapple chow and quart-size portions of pigeon peas stewed in coconut milk or pepper pot, a rich holiday stew full of oxtail, brisket, and beef tendon. Pre-order (catering@cane-dc.com) by Sunday, December 20, at 5 p.m. for pickup on Christmas Eve from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab

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A classic power dining room downtown, Joe’s is open from noon to 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve, slinging favorites like Florida stone crab claws, Madagascar shrimp, prime steaks, and homemade pies (limited dine-in, carryout or delivery). And dinner for two, available for pickup December 23 and 24 (11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.), includes a chopped salad, beef Wellington, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and key lime pie ($179.95, plus tax). Order by Sunday, December 20.

Joe’s [official photo]

Immigrant Food

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The casual restaurant near the White House that fuses all kinds of global cuisines is selling gift baskets from chef Enrique Limardo, who also leads the standout Latin dining room at Seven Reasons. Baskets include pan de jamón, a ham and cheese loaf full of olives and raisins, as well as sweet German lebküchen bread), Moroccan Sfenj doughnuts, a pitcher of mulled sangria, and more. Baskets ($135) feed at least four people. Preorder here for pickups on December 10th, 18, or Christmas Eve. Every basket sold sponsors a donation for family meal dispersed in a local immigrant community through the restaurant’s impact partners.

Téa Ivanovic/For Immigrant Food

Ambar (Multiple locations)

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The Balkan eatery on Capitol Hill and Clarendon sends out a generous Christmas Eve spread of orange roast beef and seasonal sides like honey-garlic cauliflower and beet tartare ($55 per couple) for delivery via third-party apps. Its meze meal (4 p.m. to 10 p.m.) is $35 per person in Clarendon on Christmas Eve, with a $19.99 bottomless option at its newly renovated D.C. location.

Both locations will serve its unlimited small plates brunch and full dinner service on Christmas Day.

Ambar Clarendon’s new wintertime huts.
Ambar/official photo

Cielo Rojo Restaurant

The two-year-old taqueria in Takoma Park makes to-go tamales built with chicken mole, pumpkin, poblano peppers, and Oaxacan cheeses. Preorder by Tuesday, December 22, for pickup on Christmas Eve from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For at-home chefs, balls of white or blue corn masa are available for pickup on Wednesday, December 23.

Cielo Rojo [official photo]

Muchas Gracias

Chef Christian Irabién’s eight-course Christmas Day tasting menu ($120 for two; $200 for four)  offers pretty servings of green ravioli ravioli with Mexican corn fungus (huitlacoche), pork loin inl mojo de ajo, and Oaxacan chocolate mousse. Preorder by Friday, December 18, for Christmas Eve pickup from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For a holiday tamale fix, he’s making pork or chicken varieties ($3 each, $25 for a half dozen, $45 for a dozen) that day from 11 a.m. until sellout (pre-order online).

Makan

This standout Malaysian spot in Columbian Heights offers a takeout dinner for two ($80) with specialty dishes like dry beef curry or spicy sour skate wing from chef James Wozniuk. To-go drinks include cocktails for four ($30) like a Kelabu with bourbon, Earl Gray Tea, salted honey syrup, and Vietnamese coriander. Preorder by Monday, December 21, for pickup from noon to 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. 

Nasi campur, or “with rice,” dishes at Makan include beef rendang, center; pajeri nenas (pineapple currry), top; ayam goreng (fried chicken with salted duck yolk and curry leaf), right, and okra in sambal.
Nasi campur, or “with rice,” dishes at Makan include beef rendang, center; pajeri nenas (pineapple currry), top; ayam goreng (fried chicken with salted duck yolk and curry leaf), right, and okra in sambal.
Rey Lopez/Eater D.C.

Et Voila !

A three-course takeout menu at chef Claudio Pirollo’s Palisades restaurant includes French staples like foie gras terrine, roasted capon with truffle potatoes, and a chestnut tart (one for $69.95, two for $39.95, four for $259.95), complete with a baguette and bottle of Champagne. There’s also a whole beef tenderloin from Roseda Farm ($195), Bûche de Noël log cakes, and liters of mulled wine. Preorder for pickup on Christmas Eve.

Mintwood Place

Chef Harper McClure offers a $50-per-person Christmas Eve menu (5 p.m. to 9 p.m.) with three choose-your-own courses (for dine-in) or a $55-per-person takeout dinner starring beef short rib or roasted cauliflower tagine, chestnut and foie gras soup, and eggnog panna cotta. A prime rib special with Yorkshire pudding and potato gratin is also available for dine-in indoors, on its heated patio, or for carryout ($32). Pre-order through Monday, December 21. There’s also a special dine-in brunch on Christmas Day.

Mintwood Place offers indoor and outdoor dining across its heated patio.
Jennifer Chase/Mintwood Place

The Game Sports Pub

Bar manager-turned-chef Jo-Jo Valenzuela makes to-go Christmas Eve and Day dinners full of Filipino specials for one, two, or four ($45, $80, $150). His traditional “Pinoy” dishes include lumpiang hubad (naked lumpia); embutido (ground pork, Vienna sausage, egg, peppers, cheese, pickle relish, raisins); chicken breast with chorizo de Bilbao, mushrooms, carrots, peppers, water chestnuts, and cream; and a buko pandan salad (young coconut, pandan gulaman, condensed milk, cream). Order by 9 p.m. on Monday, December 21 for pickup on Christmas Eve from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Annabelle

Chef Frank Ruta’s upscale to-go menu offers Christmas feasts centered around Seven Hills prime rib, Shenandoah rack of lamb, or baked ham cured on-site. Mains are accompanied by five sides and a traditional Bûche de Noël log cake or cookie dessert (starting at $175 for two to $365 for a family of six, plus tax and gratuity). Order online or call by Saturday, December 19, for pickup starting at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, December 23, and Christmas Eve. Ruta’s greatest hits also appear across a four-course menu ($75 per person) or a la carte dinner menu for in-house dining and pickup on Christmas Eve.

The center of the main dining room at Annabelle
The center of the main dining room at Annabelle
Rey Lopez/Eater D.C.

Commissary

EatWell DC’s Logan Circle restaurant pairs honey pineapple-glazed ham and herb-roasted turkey meals with holiday fixings like butternut squash bisque, beans, and apple raisin crisp ($50 for two, $100 for four, $169 for six to eight). There’s also sticky toffee eggnog ($15) and two bottles of wine for $24. Order by noon on Monday, December 21, for pickup Christmas Eve from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Christmas brunch for four to six is $35, with $15 mimosa pitchers. Everything is available for carryout or delivery.

The District Fishwife

Union Market’s seafood vendor celebrates the Italian-American Feast of Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve with all the ingredients to make a cioppino stew (white fish, squid, clams, and mussels), to go along with shrimp cocktails, shucked oysters, and a whole salt-baked dorade. Open until 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Cod, mussels, clams and squid at District Fishwife.
Fredde Lieberman/District Fishwife

Tiger Fork

The Hong Kong-style restaurant in Blagden Alley has a five-course holiday menu full of favorites that feeds three to four people ($80). It includes dishes like Chinese barbecue platters — full of char siu (pork shoulder), crispy pork belly, soya quail, and pickles — along with dishes like soy-braised mushrooms in creamed tofu. Prix fixe preorders for pickup are open on Tock until 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve for pickup Christmas Day (noon to 6:30 p.m.) An a la carte menu with eight options will be available for takeout and delivery via DoorDash.

Chinese barbecue from Tiger Fork
Chinese barbecue from Tiger Fork
Tiger Fork [official]

The Dabney

The Michelin-starred Mid-Atlantic restaurant in Blagden Alley doubles up on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day eats with a $125-per-person carryout set. Homemade charcuterie, seasonal crudité, dips, and canapés join Seven Hills prime rib, winter root vegetables, roasted and glazed sweet potatoes, and more local fare (menu here). Order on Tock for pickup Wednesday, December 23 between 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

Andrew Cebulka/Dabney

Brasserie Liberté

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (starting at 11 a.m.), the sprawling Georgetown brasserie runs an all-day, three-course meal for $54.95, with options like burrata and beet carpaccio, mussels, and chocolate mousse cake. Reserve a seat on its sprawling, heated patio or indoors.

Steak frites come with a $15 upcharge for its three-course holiday meal.

Cut by Wolfgang Puck

Wolfgang Puck’s recently rebooted steakhouse in a Georgetown hotel offers two-person takeout meals from chef Andrew Skala. Christmas Day dinner calls for scallion and Vermont cheddar Parker House rolls, a pair of 14-ounce Seven Hills prime ribs, various sides, and sliced Bûche de Noël paired with Catoctin Creek Rye eggnog for dessert ($235), with add-ons like Perigord black truffles, Alaskan king crab. Place orders on Tock with 24-hour notice for pickup on Christmas Eve or Day. Other two-person options include regional-themed ($160), Peking duck ($145) and veggie-heavy meals ($120).

Rosewood Hotel [official photo]

Kinship

Chef Eric Ziebold’s upscale, Michelin-rated restaurant goes on a holiday dine-in break from December 21 to January 13, but Christmas brunch and dinner are still available for pickup on December 23 and 24. Choose from a three-course menu ($75) or à la carte entrees, salads, soups, sides, desserts, cookies, snacks and appetizers ($8 to $150). Milk punch, Champagnes, and wines are also available. Order online.

Whole roast chicken from Kinship
Whole roast chicken from Kinship
Kinship [official]

Georgia Brown's

Downtown’s recently renovated Lowcountry restaurant plans a family-style Christmas feast with a la carte options ($15-$125) like roasted turkey or ham, roast beef, Carolina gumbo with red rice, baked mac and cheese, cornbread stuffing, buttermilk biscuits with peach butter, cognac bread pudding, and pecan pie. Order online by 8 p.m. on Sunday, December 20, for pickup on Christmas Eve from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Slow roasted, 20-to-24-pound turkeys that get an apple cider brine come with a pint of gravy ($125).
Georgia Brown’s [official photo]

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The Bombay Club

Ashok Bajaj’s classic, pan-regional Indian restaurant downtown has a three-course Christmas Eve menu from Nilesh Singhvi available for on-site dining, carryout, and delivery. It features smoked lamb fillet, crab masala, duck curry, and more for $55 per person, with a la carte picks available, too, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Cane

Eater DC’s Chef of the Year Peter Prime taps into his Trinidadian roots for a to-go Christmas dinner filled out by a whole Berkshire ham marinated in pineapple chow and quart-size portions of pigeon peas stewed in coconut milk or pepper pot, a rich holiday stew full of oxtail, brisket, and beef tendon. Pre-order (catering@cane-dc.com) by Sunday, December 20, at 5 p.m. for pickup on Christmas Eve from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab

A classic power dining room downtown, Joe’s is open from noon to 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve, slinging favorites like Florida stone crab claws, Madagascar shrimp, prime steaks, and homemade pies (limited dine-in, carryout or delivery). And dinner for two, available for pickup December 23 and 24 (11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.), includes a chopped salad, beef Wellington, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and key lime pie ($179.95, plus tax). Order by Sunday, December 20.

Joe’s [official photo]

Immigrant Food

The casual restaurant near the White House that fuses all kinds of global cuisines is selling gift baskets from chef Enrique Limardo, who also leads the standout Latin dining room at Seven Reasons. Baskets include pan de jamón, a ham and cheese loaf full of olives and raisins, as well as sweet German lebküchen bread), Moroccan Sfenj doughnuts, a pitcher of mulled sangria, and more. Baskets ($135) feed at least four people. Preorder here for pickups on December 10th, 18, or Christmas Eve. Every basket sold sponsors a donation for family meal dispersed in a local immigrant community through the restaurant’s impact partners.

Téa Ivanovic/For Immigrant Food

Ambar (Multiple locations)

The Balkan eatery on Capitol Hill and Clarendon sends out a generous Christmas Eve spread of orange roast beef and seasonal sides like honey-garlic cauliflower and beet tartare ($55 per couple) for delivery via third-party apps. Its meze meal (4 p.m. to 10 p.m.) is $35 per person in Clarendon on Christmas Eve, with a $19.99 bottomless option at its newly renovated D.C. location.

Both locations will serve its unlimited small plates brunch and full dinner service on Christmas Day.

Ambar Clarendon’s new wintertime huts.
Ambar/official photo

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