Restaurant industry hours don’t follow a typical 9-to-5 schedule. The busiest days are weekends, when white collar workers take off, so many eating and drinking establishments shut down on Mondays to allow employees to recover from Saturday and Sunday shifts. With the staffing shortage, restaurants open on Mondays have become even more of a rarity. But these places are the welcome exception.
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Outstanding D.C. Restaurants That Open on Mondays
Where to find Afghan dumplings, Spanish tapas, and all-day happy hours when many restaurants stay closed

Brookland Pint
Brookland’s casual American eatery, known for its terrific burgers and domestic brews, has Monday hours from 5 p.m. to midnight, with food until 10 p.m.
Lapis
This modern Afghan bistro located in the heart of Adams Morgan opens for lunch and dinner on Mondays. Lapis’s menu offers plenty of grilled meat, but it’s also a vegan and vegetarian-friendly spot, offering dishes like baked eggplant and gulpee, a cauliflower dish cooked in spiced tomato sauce and finished with fresh cilantro. Lapis opens weekdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch and at 5 p.m. for dinner every night. Brunch is available on weekends at 10 a.m.
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Le Diplomate
This bustling 14th Street brasserie is known as a power dining destination for Washington’s political set. But it’s also an everyday stop where vistors can walk in and grab a baguette to go. Le Diplomate’s doors open promptly at noon and stay open until 11 p.m. for French onion soup, foie gras, cheeseburgers, and steak frites. Dorade Royale en Papillote is the Monday plate of the day for $33.
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Commissary
This casual, all-day spot feels a little like Logan Circle’s living room with seating that includes indoor and outdoor tables, comfortable couches, and workstation-style desks. The breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus are a reflection of this anytime approach. From breakfast sandwiches to wedge salads, hearty pizzas, and pasta dishes, there’s something for everyone (including a kids’ menu).
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Chiko (Multiple locations)
Chinese and Korean cuisine fill up the menu at one of D.C.’s favorite counter-service spots, with Chiko locations in Capitol Hill, Dupont Circle, and Bethesda. Each one is open on Mondays, but opening times vary by location. One must-order dish is the soy-glazed brisket with a poached egg. It’s been on the menu since day one.
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Chaplin's Restaurant
Shaw’s beloved ramen house and cocktail bar is open on Mondays. The bar is a top pick for industry regulars, and its kitchen closes at 11 p.m. A daily happy hour shaves half off draft cocktails, beer, and wine. Up the street, sister spot Zeppelin Restaurant & Bar is a prime pick for sushi and yakitori.
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Lutèce
This tasting menu-centric restaurant, which emphasizes biodynamic wines, serves up four course menus on Mondays, as well as dishes like cod with razor clams and parisan gnocchi with wild mushrooms. Note: the restaurant is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
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Tiger Fork
Blagden Alley’s Cantonese standby Tiger Fork adds Monday service starting July 17 (5 p.m. to 10 p.m.). And a new weekday happy hour at its octagonal bar (5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.) features $8 Baijiu shots, $8 beers, $10 wines, and $12 rotating cocktails starting with The White Lotus made with gin, cardamom, jasmine and lime.
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Unconventional Diner
For brunch on a Monday, Unconventional Diner offers slightly upscale takes on classic American dishes like buttermilk pancakes and French toast. Dining room hours extend from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., with brunch available until 4 p.m. Dishes like avocado toast and everything lox stick around for dinner, too.
Swahili Village - The Consulate DC
This basement restaurant focusing on Kenyan food and other African staples is nicknamed “the Consulate” because it attracts embassy staffers from Kenya and West African nations. It’s also open late (until 2 a.m.), making for a reliable Monday night option when many other options are closed. Platters come filled with marinated, grilled beef and chicken, plus sides of collard greens, spinach cooked in coconut milk, and corn-based fufu.
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Le DeSales
French-themed LeDeSales, which revived greatest raw fish hits by Sei’s Japanese sushi master “Noriaki” Yasutake, is now open Monday. They are closed Sunday, though.
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Taberna del Alabardero
This opulent Spanish dining room downtown makes visitors feel as if they’ve been whisked away to Madrid. From tapas to paella, this dining room stays open on Mondays from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. for snacking at the bar, plus lunch or dinner.
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Zaytinya
When workers return to the office, Chinatown can once again be expected to fill up. Zaytina, the Mediterranean restaurant from chef José Andrés, is a local favorite for a working lunch or after-work dinner to cap the day. There are family-style options for dinner, including whole fish, lamb shoulder, and meze spreads. Open on Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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Tonari
Daikaya Group’s wafu-Italian restaurant near Capital One Arena is now open on Mondays. Try all sorts of pastas, salads, and unique pies like a pupusa-inspired variety with summer squash. Don’t skip dessert.
Café Riggs
Penn Quarter’s opulent hotel brasserie manned by Lore Group executive chef Wolfgang Birk and chef de cuisine James Thomas (a Line hotel alum) offers full dinner service on Mondays, when it’s Martini Monday. The restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily.
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SER Restaurant
This Arlington favorite for tapas, paellas, and dramatic sharable plates like roast pig, is open Mondays.
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Ambar Capitol Hill
Balkan cuisine is available at lunch and dinner on Mondays at Ambar on Capitol Hill’s Barracks Row. Lunch runs from noon to 3:30 p.m. and the dinner service starts at 4 p.m. Happy hour runs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. There are also locations in Clarendon (and Belgrade, Serbia).
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The Roost
This Capitol Hill food hall managed by Neighborhood Restaurant Group is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner — all accessible via QR code ordering —on Mondays. Early-in-the-day options include coffee and pastries from Cameo, exceptional New York-style pizza from Slice Joint, and healthy, Euro-themed salads, toasts, and bowls from Leni. Later on, there are Red Apron burgers, sushi from Ako, tacos from Hi/Fi, dumplings from Yoko & Kota, and a beer garden at Shelter. Some vendors open as early as 8 a.m.
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Gatsby
This updated diner serves blue-plate specials throughout the work week, including fried chicken on Mondays. The dining room is open for lunch and dinner service, and the bar serves a $6 whiskey highball at its all-day happy hour (11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.). Other options include a vegan Caesar, Greek omelets, fried Monte Cristo sandwiches, and sides of brisket poutine.
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Kogiya Korean BBQ
This Annandale favorite for Korean barbecue, as well as other dishes, is open Mondays (and every day of the week).
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