Day-by-day eating plans for Washington DC. weekend classics, family routes, vegan plans, on-a-budget editions.

Day-by-day plans

Washington DC weekend: the classics, done right ★ 4.6

First-time visitor, two days2 days

A weekend built around DC's invented foods, the rooms that codified them, and one Michelin tasting menu to close.

  1. Day 1: Saturday: half-smoke, museum lunch, Penn Quarter tasting

  2. Day 2: Sunday: Eastern Market, Capitol Hill, U Street wine bar

Washington DC family three days: monuments and food, paced ★ 4.3

Family with kids, three days3 days

A three-day plan for a family with school-age kids: tactile food experiences, kid-friendly tables, plenty of doughnuts along the way.

  1. Day 1: Day 1: Smithsonian morning, half-smoke lunch, brasserie dinner

  2. Day 2: Day 2: museum, market, pizza night

  3. Day 3: Day 3: bagels, monuments, family brunch

Washington DC on a budget: under $40 a day ★ 4.3

Budget eater, two days2 days

A two-day plan to eat Washington DC well for under $40 per person per day, leaning on half-smokes, pupusas, falafel and Ethiopian platters.

  1. Day 1: Day 1: half-smoke, pupusa lunch, jumbo slice

  2. Day 2: Day 2: pho, soul lunch, Ethiopian dinner

Washington DC date night: two evenings of cocktails and tasting menus ★ 4.5

Couples, two evenings2 days

Two evenings built around DC's bar-and-tasting-menu pairings: a cocktail-first Penn Quarter night, a Shaw fire-cooking dinner with a late wine bar to close.

  1. Day 1: Day 1: Penn Quarter cocktails and Spanish tasting

  2. Day 2: Day 2: Shaw fire-cooking and a late wine bar

Washington DC top-to-bottom: half-smoke to Michelin ★ 4.7

Food traveller, three days3 days

Three days that swing from Ben's Chili Bowl half-smoke to the deepest Michelin tasting menus, with the Penn Quarter and 14th Street tasting clusters as the spine.

  1. Day 1: Day 1: invented DC

  2. Day 2: Day 2: Ethiopian and 14th Street tasting

  3. Day 3: Day 3: tasting-menu spine

← Back to Washington DC food guide