Breakfast is served all day at Ari’s Diner, the new outpost from restaurateur and chef Ari Gejdenson. Slide into an old-school booth and order a classic diner plate with scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, and hash potatoes — or a modern-day staple like avocado toast.
2 Atlas Brew Works
Atlas Brew Works serves flights, pints, and growler fills in its tap room and offers free brewery tours too. Food trucks are known to stop by, and a Guerilla Vending machine in the tap room is stocked with fancy stuff like artisanal pork rinds and freshly-made Broodjes & Bier sandwiches.
3 Big Chief
This gigantic, industrial space includes three bars spread out over 7,000 square feet, including a party-ready rooftop outfitted with a vintage Airstream trailer. There’s a New Orleans theme here, as in Abitas and Sazeracs at the bar and regular performances by brass bands.
4 Dock FC
Soccer fans have their own dedicated hangout at Dock FC, where matches from around the world play on multiple televisions. (The bar also screens football, college basketball, and hockey.) Order beer and cocktails, as well as fare like nachos and tacos from the adjoining kitchen at La Puerta Verde.
5 Ivy City Smokehouse
A lot is happening at Ivy City Smokehouse: There’s an open-to-the-public retail fish market and smokehouse, a roof deck, and a bar and restaurant serving fried shrimp po’boys and pastrami smoked salmon tacos. Diners will even find live music practically every weekend (Eater listened to a versatile singer who covered both Taylor Swift and Al Green).
6 Jos. A Magnus & Co
A cocktail bar within distillery Jos. A Magnus & Co, dubbed the “Murray Hill Club,” looks out over the production room and serves up concoctions from bartender Nicole Hassoun. The bourbon and gin distillery also hosts free tours and events like “Yin and Gin” yoga classes.
7 La Puerta Verde
The newest edition to Gejdenson’s Ivy City-based empire is La Puerta Verde, which opened Jan. 17. The colorful Mexican restaurant’s menu includes favorites like chile relleno and flautas, as well as nods to Mexican coastal cuisine like grilled whole fish in banana leaves and guajillo marinade. And who doesn’t love $2 happy hour tacos?
8 Naked Lunch
Vegan and vegetarian bowls and organic juices are the mainstays at Naked Lunch, a tiny healthful eatery tucked into the corner of Mom’s Organic Market. Vegan and vegetarian bowls and organic juices are the mainstays at Naked Lunch, a tiny healthful eatery tucked into the corner of Mom’s Organic Market.
9 New Columbia Distillers
Founded in 2011, New Columbia Distillers helped kick off D.C.’s distillery boom with its Green Hat gin. The distillery is open for free tastings, tours, and sales Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
10 One Eight Distilling
One Eight Distilling is the second distillery to open in D.C. since prohibition, debuting in 2015. It’s open Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. for tours and tastings, and bartenders are happy to whip up cocktails using One Eight’s vodka, gin, and rye whiskey.
11 pidzza
Fast-casual pizza spot Pidzza just opened this month in the Hecht Warehouse building, offering a Turkish take on pizzas. Get your pide customized, or try signature “pidzzas” like The LMC (ground beef, tomato, onion, parsley, green pepper, garlic and spices). There’s salads too, and breakfast and dessert pide options.
12 Republic Restoratives
Republic Restoratives serves its own vodka and bourbon in its cocktail bar, dubbed the Ivy Room. The women-owned distillery’s industrial tasting room is right next to its production room.
