Washington D.C.’s Most Tourist-Friendly Neighborhoods



D.C.’s political epicenter and beloved museums draw major crowds, but comparatively few tourists venture into the city’s residential areas. The following neighborhoods are District locals’ favorites, guaranteed to impart authentic D.C. to the eager visitor.

Capitol Hill



The Capitol Building is one of the District’s main draws, offering constant guided tours and the occasional high-profile meet and greet. Informed visitors will take in the Capitol and decamp to its surrounding residential area, one of DC’s liveliest neighborhoods. Capitol Hill is one of the city’s most beautiful sections, especially in cherry blossom season, and it’s unbeatable for weekend brunch and browsing.

Best Attraction: Eastern Market, which operates as both Flea and Farmers’ markets on weekends, is a vestige of vintage consumer culture in a modern urban center. Vendors offer homegrown produce, arts and crafts, and assorted antique wares to the local weekend brunch crowd.

Best Bar: The Pour House is cheap and friendly, a favorite of young Hill staffers. Happy hour specials are particularly enticing; the bar offers $3 draughts and $5 appetizers every weekday. It’s a truly inexpensive local and up to date sports bar, housing countless HD TVs and screening games from across the Northeast.

Best Restaurant: Tunnicliff’s Tavern is a regular burger joint during lunch and dinner hours, but its weekend brunch is Capitol Hill’s best. Order a seafood-themed dish, like the salmon platter or Eggs Chesapeake, and Tunnicliff’s won’t disappoint.


Chinatown



DC’s Chinatown is a popular stop for sports fans—after all, the adjacent Gallery Place is the home of the Verizon Center, where Georgetown’s Hoyas and the Washington Wizards play their home games. Though Chinatown is only a few blocks in area, its restaurants are guaranteed authentic and its bars are some of the city’s best.

Best Attraction: The National Portrait Gallery, housed in the Old Patent Office Building, showcases one of the Smithsonian’s most comprehensive collections. Its permanent exhibitions include Presidential portraiture, a performing arts component, and a gallery of sports champions, and it features temporary installations devoted to pop-culture figures.

Best Bar: RFD, which stands for Regional Food and Drink, boasts DC’s most overwhelming beer list. Your humble narrator enjoyed a Brooklyn Monster Ale, a Lagunitas IPA, an Avery IPA, a Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA, and a Rogue Imperial IPA on one particular visit.

Best Restaurant: Of Chinatown’s expected abundance of Chinese eateries, Eat First is the best deal. It’s an especially good choice for tourists, since its menu appears in English and its staff is notably friendly. Its finest dishes include seafood specialties and Roast Duck, all excellent despite its takeout-like aesthetic.


Dupont Circle



Dupont’s eclectic residences house the city’s best mix of inhabitants. Its cafes are beloved of professors and students, while its bars tend to draw hordes of young professionals. Thanks to a recent influx of young residents, Dupont Circle is no longer just a transportation center and traffic hazard. It’s best to hit up the area in the evening before heading to nearby Adams Morgan for late-night entertainment.

Best Attraction: Though the area serves as the city’s primary nightlife and dining hub, there is some DC museum culture to be had. The Phillips Collection, a smallish space housing an extensive private collection, is one of the District’s hidden gems. Its Impressionist and modern holdings include Renoir’s famous “Luncheon of the Boating Party."

Best Bars: The Big Hunt is a popular happy-hour melting pot for the city’s many universities, as it offers the neighborhood’s cheapest selection of decent draughts and bar food. Fox and Hounds Lounge is famous for its heavy pours, sometimes giving patrons a full glass of liquor with a chaser of soda on the side. It’s a great bar, but you’ve been warned.

Best Restaurant: Pizzeria Paradiso puts some odd ingredients on its gourmet personal pizzas, but the results are usually outstanding. Go for the culinary specialties and stay to quaff some brews; Paradiso famously offers a wide range of beers that includes Rogue ales and Delirium.


Adams Morgan



Adams Morgan is where the District goes to party and bar-hop into the early hours; a wise old sage once described it to me as “amateur night." However, beneath its midnight gloss of drunken collar-poppers, the area has a lot to offer its visitors. Tourists regularly flock to the Zoo, though they should be just as eager to explore the Morgan’s wide variety of ethnic cuisines.

Best Attraction: The National Zoo, the home of infamous baby panda and internet superstar Tai Shan, is the area’s most popular tourist spot. It’s extensive, free, and a great way to spend an active afternoon.

Best Bars: 18th street between Columbia Road and U Street is the District’s busiest alcohol-soused drag. The Pharmacy Bar is D.C.’s consummate dive and has the best jukebox in the world. Chief Ike’s Mambo Room, off the beaten path on Columbia Road, is a slightly larger space and hosts the occasional open mic.

Best Restaurants: Mixtec, on the busy corner of 18th and Columbia, has the city’s best nachos and margaritas. The Reef, a slightly pricier option on 18th street, has wild-caught seafood and other eco-friendly fare.


Georgetown



D.C.’s most upscale ‘hood’ houses more than just its namesake university, your humble narrator’s alma mater. GU’s distinctive Healy clock tower looms over a busy waterfront shopping district, an abundance of student-friendly pubs, and blocks of walkable cobblestone streets lined with colorful row houses.

Best Attraction: Shopping. M street’s storefronts and the Shops at Georgetown Park are primarily budget-breaking, but some of the smaller consignment shops offer some relative bargains.

Best Bars: The Tombs, Georgetown’s real life St. Elmo’s, is the University’s favorite establishment for pitchers and study snacks. Rhino Bar, an M street staple, is the neighborhood’s best place to watch a game.

Best Restaurant: The Sequoia is a large waterfront eatery that specializes in intricate seafood dishes. It’s a favorite stop for families visiting the University as well as a haunt for wealthy G-town locals.