All-Purpose and AP Pizza Shop
location_on Bethesda, Navy Yard, Shaw
Pepperoni pizza with honey at All-Purpose. Photograph by Scott Suchman.
Crisp-bottomed, deck-oven pizzas are the thing at All-Purpose in Navy Yard* and Shaw, which also sends out spiffed-up Italian-American favorites like arancini flecked with broccoli and sided with honey aïoli. Pies are made with long-fermented dough, which means you won’t want to leave any of that savory crust behind. (Get a side of feta ranch with chili oil for dipping.) Counter-service AP Pizza Shop in Bethesda has a pared-down menu but also boasts things its siblings don’t: pizza by the slice and a giant chicken-parm sandwich.
*The Navy Yard location is closed for the season through February 28.
Aventino
A spread of Roman-Italian dishes at Aventino in Bethesda. Photograph by Scott Suchman..
Mike Friedman, the chef behind the beloved Red Hen in Bloomingdale, oversees this clubby Roman-inspired dining room—easily the best upscale restaurant in Bethesda. The emerald-green bar sends out ace spritzes and Negronis, and the kitchen excels with the snacky stuff that goes so well with them, whether cheesy risotto fritters, honey-kissed ricotta, or a simple tomato flatbread. The centerpiece of the menu is pasta, and we love the lumache all’amatriciana and squash ravioli. During the day, you’ll find a wild card: a fantastic cheeseburger.
Bar del Monte
location_on Mount Pleasant
Pizza at Bar Del Monte. Photograph by Evy Mages.
The vintage toy car holding down the check signals that this hip restaurant in a former auto shop wants diners to have fun. And there is plenty of it on Oliver Pastan’s ever-changing menu (one constant: pristine ingredients that show the kitchen’s dedication to the Italian way). We reveled in specials like housemade ricotta ravioli with lamb ragu and tagliolini with butter, sage, and good Parm. Happily, lamb skewers with chili oil, beautiful greens in anchovy dressing, outrageously good bubble-crusted pizzas, and gelati and sorbetti piled skyscraper-high are an every-night thing.
Caruso’s Grocery
location_on Capitol Hill, North Bethesda
Fettuccine Alfredo with wild mushrooms at Caruso’s Grocery. Photograph by Stacey Windsor.
It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten excited over a simple salad with creamy Italian dressing, but that’s Caruso’s—a pair of Italian-American restaurants that take dishes you’ve probably had a million times and make them their best selves. Think great garlic bread, a standard-setting chicken parm, and extra-lemony scampi. Even the dirty martini is a standout: The housemade tomato gin is garnished with an antipasti skewer of mozzarella and olives.
Cucina Morini
location_on Mount Vernon Triangle
Sicilian seafood soup at Cucina Morini. Photograph by Nina Palazzolo.
Caruso’s Grocery chef Matt Adler leans into bold, spicy Southern Italian flavors at this Mount Vernon Triangle dining room. We never skip his Sicilian zuppa di pesce, a fragrant seafood-loaded pot that easily feeds four. Half portions of pasta—tagliolini gilded with chili butter, rigatoni with lamb ragu—allow for plenty of sampling. Kick off the coastal feast with bright crudos and smooth gin-and-vodka martinis. At the moodily lit bar, they’re our favorite drink deal in town at $7.
Fiola
Duck-filled cubetto pasta at Fiola. Photograph by Aliche Trabocchi.
Fabio Trabocchi’s Italian dining room exudes luxury, even when it comes to the humblest ingredients. Chef Antonio Mermolia turns Yukon potatoes into a silky olive-oil-whipped custard with crispy lentils, while pasta mista (traditionally, a mix of pasta scraps) is elevated with caviar, sea urchin, and other prized seafood. Five different tasting menus—including those devoted specifically to meat, seafood, or vegetables—let you choose how splurgy to get. (À la carte is available some weekdays or at the bar.) Whatever you choose, the kitchen’s pastas always wow, including cube-shaped ravioli filled with 15-day-dry-aged duck.
Gemini
location_on Dupont Circle
Pastas at Gemini. Photograph courtesy of Gemini.
Johnny Monis and Anne Marler—longtime masters of hospitality—are behind this pizza-and-pasta counter and wine shop, a standing-room-only spot where we nonetheless want to linger over orecchiette and skin-contact Pinot Gris. Monis’s meticulous cooking has echoes of Komi, the couple’s Mediterranean tasting room, which shuttered during the pandemic. The best olives in town and fluffy griddled pita are a given, and surprises abound—an umami-rich Japanese sweet potato with koji butter and feta, or eggplant “meatballs” that somehow taste meaty. Ice-cream flavors such as Nola coffee and vanilla swirled with polenta and cassis seal the deal.
Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana
Truffle-topped pizza at Inferno. Photograph by Scott Suchman.
Some of Washington’s best pizza can be found at this strip-mall destination. It would look unassuming if not for the line that forms long before doors open, when foodies from across the area descend for former fine-dining chef Tony Conte’s blistered neo-Neapolitan pies. We dream of the rosemary-scented potato-and-onion version, and his Margherita gets two thumbs up from kids and adults alike. Start with a perfect green salad with truffle vinaigrette, and don’t leave without a swirl of soft-serve with coffee caramel.
L’Ardente
location_on Judiciary Square
L’Ardente’s tiramisu. Photograph by Rey Lopez.
Forty-layer lasagna is this chic Italian spot’s Instagram darling, but on our last visit, branzino was the dish of the night. Deboned, stuffed with fennel and kalamata olives, and drizzled with a bright salmoriglio sauce, it sets the city’s standard for the ubiquitous whole fish. Pasta is still a must-get, whether cacio e pepe, strozzapreti with Bolognese, or pappardelle with serrano-chili-flecked white ragu. Like that lasagna, tiramisu flambé is another showpiece that delivers in flavor.
Martha Dear
location_on Mount Pleasant
Pizza at Martha Dear. Photograph by Farrah Skeiky.
A lively bar scene gives this sliver of an eatery the feel of a neighborhood hangout. But this is no pub-grub joint. Greek-inspired small plates and wood-oven pizzas are all about herbs, crunch, spice, and tang. (The owners are Tail Up Goat alums.) Classic cheese pizza is everything it should be, with a gutsy red sauce and hits of mozzarella and Parmesan, while variations such as a halloumi-spinach-squash pie also wow. And don’t forget bookends like lemony gigante beans with crispy breadcrumbs or caramel-drizzled walnut-apple cake.
The Red Hen
Inside the Red Hen. Photograph by Scott Suchman.
Reclaimed wood and moody lighting give this Bloomingdale dining room a Tuscan-farmhouse feel, the perfect setting for robust Italian plates. We could make a meal of snacks like mushroom arancini, whipped-ricotta crostini, and chicken-liver mousse on toast. But pastas beckon, whether the much-loved rigatoni with sausage or a newer gnochetti tossed with bacon, miso, and creamy squash. And then there’s the perfectly crispy pork Milanese. Sweet tooth raging? Apple cake with cider “caramel” and mascarpone gelato is just the thing.
Reveler’s Hour
Pasta with pork-belly ragu at Reveler’s Hour. Photograph by David Andrews.
This date-night pasta house and wine bar has a new chef: Mariane Kolchraiber, an alum of Pineapple & Pearls. She brings experience working in Italian kitchens—from her hometown of São Paulo to Qatar and beyond—to a rotating slate of seasonal plates, but the menu hasn’t strayed too far from the six-year-old spot’s original vision. You can still get insanely good garlic knots and plenty of housemade pastas. Trust us and order the blood-orange-and-hot-honey-glazed fried half chicken, too. Also, no trip would be complete without somm/owner Bill Jensen turning you on to some of the best wines you’ve never heard of.
2 Amys
location_on Cathedral Heights
Pizza at 2 Amys. Photograph by Scott Suchman.
This Cathedral Heights fixture has an exuberant following that makes the black-and-white-tiled dining room and snug bar feel like a dinner party that never ends. There’s a steady roster of longtime favorites like green-sauced deviled eggs and garlicky pizza with cockles, but innovation shows up on the daily specials menus. Our latest feast included such hits as Sicilian chickpea fritters, porchetta with Tarbais beans, and a superb candied-pine-nut ice cream.
Dining and Cooking