Floriana, the Italian restaurant that has anchored 17th Street in Dupont Circle for 47 years, will serve its final meal there on Dec. 31. The restaurant says it is preparing for a new chapter in Old Town Alexandria, where it has been working to open a fourth location.
Founded by Floriana Nestore in 1979, the restaurant described its decision to leave its longtime home on 17th Street as one that was not made lightly, according to PoPville. Floriana said it had become a gathering place for celebrations, first dates, anniversaries, Pride festivities and neighborhood traditions over the decades, and it thanked patrons, neighbors, friends and everyone who shared a meal there. The restaurant, known for its handmade pasta and wine, is listed at 1602 17th Street NW, where OpenTable describes it as serving authentic Italian recipes out of a converted historic brick rowhouse.
Floriana said its restaurant was built on the belief that hospitality should feel personal, like visiting a friend for dinner. That ethos, the restaurant said, will carry into its next location, even as it says goodbye to the 17th Street address that has hosted generations of regulars.
A New Chapter Planned for Old Town Alexandria
Floriana will close its 17th Street restaurant in Dupont Circle on Dec. 31 after 47 years, according to alexandriabrief.com, which reported that the restaurant announced the move in a Nov. 4 post on its Instagram account. The outlet reported that Floriana described itself as preparing to say goodbye to its longtime home on 17th Street while looking ahead to a new chapter in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. The planned Alexandria location is coming to 277 S. Washington St., and the Dupont Circle restaurant has previously referred to it as a fourth location.
That Old Town address sits in the Atrium Building, where Floriana is leasing space, the same outlet reported in earlier coverage. Owner Jamie Branda had said the restaurant was targeting a late August or early September opening, though permitting had delayed that progress. Co-owner Dino Tapper, son of founder Floriana Nestore, is also leading the Old Town project alongside Branda.
What’s Planned for the Menu and the Space
The Old Town restaurant is expected to serve the same northern Italian cuisine found at the Dupont Circle location, with breakfast and lunch service planned in addition to dinner. Pizza, happy hour specials and a raw bar are also expected to be part of the offerings, per the same outlet’s reporting. The new restaurant will occupy space previously used by Virginia’s Darling and Mae’s Market, filling a storefront that had been vacant since Virginia’s Darling closed in December 2024, according to the Washington Business Journal.
It is not yet clear whether Floriana’s Old Town restaurant has opened or what a current opening date might be, as the most recent reporting on the timeline described the project as delayed by permitting. What will become of the 17th Street space once Floriana departs at the end of the year has also not been addressed in available reporting.
Another Dupont Circle Closure Nearby
Floriana’s exit adds to a string of changes along the 17th Street corridor. Trio Bistro and Fox and Hounds Lounge, two businesses on 17th Street Northwest that share a kitchen, announced they would close permanently on Nov. 2, according to WTOP. Those businesses said they were unable to extend their lease and had to close their doors for good. Unlike Trio Bistro and Fox and Hounds Lounge, Floriana has not attributed its own departure from 17th Street to lease issues or any other specific cause.
Dining and Cooking