Grazie Nonna unleashed lunch for the first time this week.

These D.C.-Area Restaurants Now Do Lunch

Break up the work day with a new midday meal

by Tierney Plumb Updated Sep 28, 2023, 10:59am EDT

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Grazie Nonna unleashed lunch for the first time this week.

| Rey Lopez for Grazie Nonna

by Tierney Plumb Updated Sep 28, 2023, 10:59am EDT

With more 9-to-5 workers continuing to return to the office, a crop of D.C. restaurants just unleashed or rebooted lunchtime menus to cater to comeback crowds. Leave the boring brown-bagged lunch at home — or escape the remote grind — to feast on one of these brand new or few-months-old midday meals.

Charley Prime Foods

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The lakefront American bistro debuts a three-course lunch menu with a choice of an entree or sandwich, and any two items from the raw bar, appetizers, wine, beer, cocktails, or dessert ($29.95). Lunch highlights include tuna tartare with avocado and fried green tomatoes and mains like steak frites and rigatoni alla vodka. Cocktails include an Anna’s Gibson with dry gin, dry vermouth, and charred citrus-thyme pearl onions and boozy Quack-Quack-Erac with duck fat-washed St. Germain.

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Washingtonian Center, Rio Lakefront, 9811 Washingtonian Blvd L9, Gaithersburg, MD 20878

(240) 477-7925

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Charley Prime Foods now does prix fixe lunch.

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Brookland's Finest Bar and Kitchen

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The neighborhood restaurant just expanded lunchtime hours with end-of-week service on Thursdays and Fridays beginning at 11 a.m. New seasonal dishes include burrata and peaches, fried Maryland catfish, grilled octopus risotto, and fried green tomato BLTs.

3126 12th St NE, Washington, DC 20017

(202) 636-0050

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Pupatella

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Pupatella Dupont’s new daily lunch service kicked off in May with pizzas, salads, and panini served indoors and out starting at 11:30 a.m.

1801 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20009

(202) 506-1999

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Joon

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Tysons’ hot new restaurant from Persian cookbook author and chef Najmieh Batmanglij and D.C. chef Christopher Morgan recently added lunch. Sharable dishes offer a snapshot of the dinner menu, and the midday meal also brings soups, salads, kabobs, rice dishes, and sandwiches to the table from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. (closed Mondays).

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8045 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22182

(571) 378-1390

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Le Clou

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Lunch service entered the fold this spring at chef Nick Stefanelli’s months-old French eatery inside Noma’s Morrow Hotel. The fine-dining affair includes seafood towers stacked with lobster, oysters, shrimp; French onion soup; pates built with pork and bacon terrine, port-braised prunes, watercress, and brioche toast; and steak frites. Reservations are available through OpenTable.

222 M St NE, Washington, DC 20002

(202) 742-9777

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Le Clou’s beef bourguignon (12-hour braised short rib, chubby Thumbelina carrots, Hakurei turnips, button mushrooms).

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BOURBON STEAK

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Bourbon Steak launched a three-course lunch menu ($60) in May that includes a choice of apps, entrees, and desserts. Options include shrimp cocktail, tuna tartare, a prime burger, Ora king salmon, and chef Michael Mina’s cookies. View full menu here and reserve here.

2800 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007

(202) 944-2026

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Bourbon Steak’s patio recently reopened for the season.

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Grazie Nonna

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The Italian-American restaurant debuted weekday lunch service on Wednesday, August 16 starring unlimited soup, salad, and focaccia breadsticks. Standout sandwiches include an Italian Speciale (mortadella, calabrese salami, sharp provolone, Calabrian aioli, lettuce, tomato, red onion, banana peppers, evoo and vinegar) or Nonna’s house-roasted turkey, honey mustard, bacon, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and pickled peppers. Salads can be jazzed up with herb roasted chicken, steak, shrimp, or antipasti. Sharable pastas include a shrimp scampi and Sunday Sauce (lumache, short rib, hot sausage, fennel, carrot, pecorino romano), and two of its popular nighttime pizzas join the midday meal too. Lunch runs 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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1100 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20005

(202) 989-0307

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Grazie Nonna packs seeded homemade focaccia with imported prosciutto cotto, burrata, cracked pepper, and olive oil.

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The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.

Estuary

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Lunch at Conrad hotel’s essential seafood restaurant isn’t new, but its weekday “rush hour” tasting menu is. From 11:30 a.m. all the way to 3:30 p.m., choose from a Caesar salad, braised short rib, carrot cake, and more from chef Ria Montes (three courses for $50). And stick around for a new happy hour at its glitzy bar (4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.) for discounts on beer, wine, cider, and light bites like roasted oysters, hush puppies, and crispy pig ears.

950 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001

(202) 844-5895

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Dirty Habit at Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC

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The stylish Penn Quarter restaurant just revamped summer lunch service within its zen “Glass House”—a 1,400-square-foot pavilion with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the interior courtyard. The new “Healthy Habits” three-course power lunch includes a homemade juice, salad, and entree ($30). One menu option includes a Green Dragon (cucumber, green apples, kale, celery, Spirulina), citrus salad (baby kale, fennel curls, grapefruit, crunchy salsa vinaigrette), and wild mushroom ragu, poached egg, charred spinach on sourdough. Reservations can be made via OpenTable.

700 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004

(202) 628-7177

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MI VIDA

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The Mexican eatery at the Wharf, Chinatown, and 14th Street NW, debuts a “Locals Who Lunch” to get remote workers out and about during the day. Choose any entree for $14.99 or make it a three-course meal for $24.99 (appetizer, entree, dessert or side).

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98 District Square SW, Washington, DC 20024

(202) 516-4656

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All-Purpose Riverfront

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Swing by All-Purpose Riverfront for lunch on Fridays. Chef Mike Friedman’s recent menu revamp near Nationals Park extends to its midday menu with a new sandwich packed with Italian meats and another chicken Caesar variety with a buttermilk-marinated fried chicken thigh, plus a seasonal deck-oven pizza with basil pesto, mozz, asparagus, smoked bacon, spring peas, lemon, arugula, and more.