June's hottest D.C. restaurant and bar openings
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New England classics at the Salt Line. Photo: Greg Powers
June is primetime for restaurant and bar openings, and a bunch of exciting concepts are debuting around D.C.
🌮 Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ: Tacos and barbecue come next week to Del Rey, Alexandria, with NRG’s Tex-Mex spot in the backyard of Evening Star Café. On tap: Chef Nate Anda’s smoked meats, creative tacos, 25 drafts, and frozen cocktails.
Josephine: A warm, Parisian-style brasserie opens June 7 in Old Town, Alexandria, with ex-Mintwood Place chef Matt Cockrell at the helm, French classics on the menu, large-format wines, and caviar martinis.
🍻Whitlow’s: The family-run pub has bar-hopped locations around Arlington and D.C. for decades — and lands on a prime U Street corner (formerly Brixton) next week. Expect the same casual vibes and bar fare, music, and a huge rooftop like the “On Wilson” days.
Philippe Chow: Manhattan’s glitzy Beijing-style hotspot — known equally for its celeb-spotting and duck-carving — expands for the first time outside NYC. The 270-seat Wharf restaurant and waterfront patio will open on June 14.
🦪 Salt Line Bethesda: A third branch of the New England-style, Navy Yard-born seafood restaurant is headed for downtown Bethesda in late June. Go for oysters and lobster rolls, stay for cold drinks on a cozy patio.
The Heights: Chevy Chase, Maryland’s long-anticipated food hall, is slated for late June with ten stalls, a Tex-Mex restaurant, and a speakeasy-style bar. The lineup mixes up-and-comers with established names: a sushi stall from Kevin Tien and a spinoff of Union Market’s kebab bar, Yasmine.
🍣 Kyojin: Georgetown will get a chic sushi cave from the team behind Yume in Arlington. On offer: whimsical sushi, imported Japanese fish, izakaya-style dishes, and a deep sake list.
Kitchen + Kocktails: Dallas-based restaurateur Kevin Kelley opens a third location of his upscale Southern dining room near Franklin Square on June 16. (Coming later: Kanvas cocktail lounge). Look for jerk lamb chops, Cajun crab cakes, and drinks highlighting spirit labels with Black owners.
Editor's note: This story was corrected to say Evening Star Café is in the Del Rey neighborhood of Alexandria, not Old Town.