Rockville Town Square’s massive pan-African restaurant from Yomi Ajao and Francis Odiase transports diners to Nigeria’s vibrant and largest city of Lagos. Now open for lunch, dinner, brunch, and late-night service, the 250-seat spot is drawing notice for its roasted goat, pepper soup, beef, chicken, and seafood suya, and generous slices of layered banana and chocolate cake.

Feel-good Planta recently made its Mid-Atlantic debut on Bethesda Row, turning diners on to vegan spins on ahi tuna sushi (thanks, dehydrated watermelon), indulgent pastas, and crab dip constructed with fresh hearts of palm flown in from Hawaii. Bright, fun tipples include a “Herb Your Enthusiasm” — lime and Thai chili-infused tequila with cilantro herb syrup, pineapple (leftover from pineapple pizza and coconut ceviche). The chic, 140-seat restaurant flanked with lush greenery and soothing tones joins locations across Florida, Toronto, and New York.

From chef Caleb Jang and his mentor Kevin Tien, the playful new restaurant explores Jang’s Korean American roots in the storied Petworth space where they once worked (former Eater D.C. Restaurant of the Year Himitsu). With a small, green-tiled bar and tables nestled along a rustic wall, the cozy, 22-seat space lets the dishes take center stage. The pocket-sized menu includes just 11 food items, such as crispy, cheesy Korean potato salad, and three drinks, like a sweetened rice punch with malted barley.

Mexico-born restaurateurs Alfredo and Jessica Solis (El Sol, Mezcalero, and Anafre) bring Logan Circle a color-soaked seafood project that casts a huge net across Latin America. Mariscos, which means “seafood” is Spanish, opens with a treasure trove of fresh fish, crustaceans, and bivalves prepared various ways (raw, fried, and grilled). Citrusy ceviches, crab cake sandwiches, empanadas, and other Latin dishes harken back to Alfredo Solis’s days running downtown’s Ceiba for Passion Food group. Sizable mains include a whole grilled red snapper and Puerto Nuevo-style lobster that’s deep fried, split open, and painted with chipotle butter sauce. A 12-seat bar sends out a pisco sour, caipirinha, mojito, and other Latin-hopping cocktails that follow the food’s lead. Coronarita — a Corona bottle draining into a frozen margarita — warms diners up to the idea of summer.

Chef Paolo Dungca showcases elegant Filipino tasting menus at his ambitious weekend perch inside downtown’s the Block food hall. The eight-course affair ($95 per person) pays homage to his native Philippines, growing up in California, and chefs he met along the way. Foie gras and shrimp dumplings, for instance, speak to his time at Baltimore’s Nihao with chefs Peter Chang and Pichet Ong. The latest lineup also loops in spring delicacies like ramps and soft shell crab. The glamorous space, dressed with gold leaf decor and soft pink seats, is the fine-dining counterpart to his new Piccoletto stall below that specializes in pastas with Asian flavors.

Three years in the making, Midtown Center’s scene-y Japanese showpiece brings D.C. a symmetrically pleasing sushi counter, wide Japanese spirits selection, and robata grill that cooks an array of fish, meats, skewers, poultry, and produce. London-based restaurateur Arjun Waney’s collective of brands also includes Zuma, a high-end sushi and izakaya concept with 18 locations around the world. The group’s go-to designer, Noriyoshi Muramatsu of Tokyo-based Studio Glit, is behind a luxe look largely assembled and sourced in Japan.

Chef Frederik de Pue pays homage to his Belgian roots with a glamorous European bistro he designed himself. Downtown’s 8,000-square-foot new power spot — complete with a private entrance for office neighbors — opened in February with veal cheek stew, rotisserie mains like venison sausage, potato croquettes, and wild boar lasagna. Named after his grandfather, the 60-seat restaurant with a 50-seat bar doubles as a gallery of sorts, with artwork made by locals and famous friends. Private dining rooms surrounding a central open kitchen are themed around each season of the year.

A bright, 50-seat raw bar tucked off the Rosslyn Metro station brings a taste of the Atlantic coast to the center of Arlington’s skyscraper-filled neighborhood. The full-service addition to Rosslyn’s Assembly food hall, which sports its own entrance off Fort Myer Drive, opened last month with three types of shucked-to-order East Coast oysters to start. The glossy, nautical-themed setup also serves Maryland crab soup; salmon “flights” of the fish prepared three ways; and non-seafood options like chicken paella. Cocktails include a Grey Goose martini, negroni, French 75, and spins on classics like a mint julep engineered with reposado and yellow chartreuse. For dessert, homemade pies include key lime, caramel apple, and chocolate banana.

Beuchert’s Saloon chef Andrew Markert takes more of a refined approach at his chic, modern American restaurant on Capitol Hill, where tasting menus start at $80. A parade of plates embrace Mid-Atlantic ingredients and Markert’s cuisine-hopping resume at places like Michel Richard’s Citronelle and Gracie’s in Providence, Rhode Island. Newland, named after the Baltimore road where Markert lived as a kid, sends out charred scallops with crab fat powder, crispy pata with kumquat ragu and peppercorn jus, and dry-aged koji strip steak with beet bordelaise. Beuchert’s longtime beverage director Mackenzie Conway plays up lesser-known cocktails and spirits behind a sleek, five-seat bar.

In a 40-seat parlor saturated in jade green, buoyant shrimp dumplings and colorful daiquiris fuel evening games of mahjong. Nested in the rear of Bun’d Up, Sparrow Room comes from Scott Chung and Bun’d Up chef Andrew Lo, who was inspired by the late night mahjong games played in his parents’ Missouri dim sum shop while he was growing up. 

The Max set from trend-setting SoCal sitcom Saved by the Bell is the muse for Westpost’s energetic new pizza pad and brewery. The 10,000-square-foot addition to Arlington, packed with geometric lines, arcade games, and graphic odes to its clawed mascot, comes from Reverie chef Johnny Spero, Arlington bar owner Scott Parker, and Northern Virginia brewery Aslin Beer Company. Saddle up to the color-soaked bar or QR code-enabled communal tables to order low-ABV lagers and IPAs, orange crushes, wagyu beef hot dogs, thin-crust pies, wings, loaded tots, root beer floats, and smash burgers.