Cielo Rojo’s co-owners Carolina McCandless and executive chef David Perez opened a new Mission-style burrito shop called San Pancho in the heart of artsy Takoma Park in mid-July. Lines immediately followed out the door, with its first fans clamoring for a taste of the West Coast comfort food favorite, made with flour tortillas made in Mexico. Made-to-order burritos and quesadillas arrive with an array of savory filling choices: chile-pepper shrimp, grilled chicken with a homemade rub, chicken mole, carnitas, carne asada, and slow-cooked beef barbacoa. There are also vegan options of homemade tofu and “mushroom” chorizo, as well as mushrooms prepared with tequila and garlic. There are also fresh agua frescas, a frozen margarita machine, and delectable desserts, like chocoflan.

Red Hound Pizza brings Roman and Sicilian-style pies, focaccia sandwiches, salads, and desserts to the popular Maryland neighborhood. A seasonal, rotating menu of square pizzas comes by the slice or whole pie. Co-owners Andrea Alvarez and Charbel Abrache, the former head pastry chef at Seylou Bakery, swear by freshly-milled local flour to create the ideal dough.

From al pastor tacos made on the traditional spit with pineapple to roasted flying ants topping tacos, ceviche, and even cocktails, this Mexican eatery is known for serving traditional street foods and small plates in a fine dining setting. Chicatana opened in a new, even larger restaurant just a few doors down from its original location in August. An expanded menu still showcases tacos like lengua (beef tongue) and Chapulines (grasshoppers), an array of margarita flavors made from scratch, along with some surprising new menu items. 

Adams Morgan’s lively new Brazilian bar and restaurant from the team behind Mercy Me celebrates Brazilian sugar cane and the spirit made from it, cachaça, in an array of caipirinhas and other innovative cocktails. The warm emerald green and wood-paneled interior is filled with music and dancing as DJs spin vinyl on weekends. New-to-D.C. chef Maximiliano Rivera Papic is serving up salt-cod and duck leg croquettes, charred octopus, and hamachi crudo with passionfruit that all pair well with its South American spirits.

Landing in the sunny, glass-enclosed penthouse level of Space Lounge between 13th and 14th Streets NW, Yalla — meaning “let’s go!” in Arabic — serves family-style plates in a party-starting setting. Chef Marcel Chehaieb splits the family-style spread into four parts: cold, hot, grilled, and sweets. First, he whips up three types of hummus: classic, “Beirute” with tomato and herbs, and an umami-rich duck confit variety. Cooked plates include seared sheep’s halloumi over puckery pickled rhubarb, phyllo-wrapped sweet-and-sour shrimp, and jibnet rolls — crispy sheep feta-mozzarella and za’atar sticks with a harissa apricot coulis. 

This fresh Southern spot took over the former space of modern American pioneer Birch & Barley, serving up remixed mashups of Southern comfort foods from chef Hamilton Johnson. Opening items include an elegant plate of shrimp and grits topped with smoked pork, piquillo peppers, and shellfish broth; wild-caught blue catfish with poached oysters, corn, and smoked trout roe; and Berkshire pork trotters. Duck dishes and foie gras naturally makes lots of appearances at Mallard; Johnson sources the namesake ingredient from family-run La Belle Farms in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains.

Drawing influence from a land known for its convergence of cultures, La’ Shukran in Union Market is a confluence of bar, bistro, and back-alley neighborhood joint. Award-winning chef Michael Rafidi digs deep into his bag of Levantine tricks to produce a vibrant space tinged with nostalgia, disco, and pops of color. The beverage program showcases lots of Levantine wines and arak, a popular Middle Eastern distilled spirit with cooling notes of anise and licorice. The opening menu features “end-of-summer” melon with whipped tahini, spicy chilis, and smoked feta; a lamb tartare with shittah and seeded lavash bread; and smashed eggplant.

The award-winning team behind Philadelphia’s a.kitchen and a.bar, one of the city’s hottest dual dining destinations, planted roots in Foggy Bottom in September. Nestled at the base of the sleek new Hotel AKA Washington Circle, a.kitchen+bar imports super-seasonal American dishes the beloved brand is known for. D.C.’s a la carte menu ($16-$45) features familiar Philly favorites filled with French touches. Openers include gougères; a chicken liver tart adorned with a truffle honey glaze and apple mustard; and bavette steak dressed with peanut romesco and vibrant purplette onions.

In an alley off H Street, pint-sized Providencia showcases food and drinks influenced by the partners’ childhood memories in El Salvador and Taiwan in a converted flower shop. One of those ideas is the Pan De Playa, a simple “beach sandwich” filled with Maryland crab and reminiscent of the sandwiches Gonzalez’s mother would make for seaside days in El Salvador. The innovative cocktail list also connects the “signature memories” of the three partners to each drink, including night markets in Taipei represented by a Mexican aguardiente combined with oolong tea; bedtime stories about erupting volcanos recreated with mezcal, cacao, mint, and summer fruits; plus an early gray-infused gin drink with pilsner transporting you to hanging out at the family pupuseria.

The iconic pan-Asian chain out of London backfills the prized Clarendon corner most recently occupied by Australian-themed Oz in August. Wagamama is best known for its ramen bowls starring grilled duck, spicy salmon teriyaki, and chicken katsu curry, all served in a lively, communal setting. The quick-serve menu loops in lots of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean ingredients and cooking styles. Look for gyoza, donburi rice bowls, curries, salads, and teppanyaki, which is sizzling noodles stir-fried on a flat griddle alongside proteins.

Top Chef star Kwame Onwuachi made a hotly anticipated return to D.C.’s dining scene this spring with an Afro-Caribbean restaurant situated at the foot of the 373-room Salamander Washington DC. Dōgon pays homage to D.C.’s late-1700s land surveyor Benjamin Banneker and his ties to the West African Dōgon tribe. Onwuachi’s menu explores his own Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Creole heritage, including barbecue greens with candied Cipollini onions, roasted garlic, and beef bacon; carrot tigua (pickled onion, peanut crustacean stew, burnt carrots); and “H Street” chicken and rice with Ethiopian berbere spices, jollof rice, and herbs.