Your Summer Bucket List for Eating, Drinking, and Playing Around DC - Washingtonian (2024)

Things to Do

Take a watery plunge

Fingers crossed DC won’t be the hottest city in the country again anytime soon, but it’s still steamy. Stay cool at hotel poolsthat are open to the public, or keep the kids entertained at spray parks. Not a fan of chlorine? Get in touch with nature at these nearby swimmingholes.

Drink at Washington’s best breweries

We have tons great breweries within a short distance(especially in Loudoun). And it’s not just about the beer (though the beer is pretty awesome). Explore breweries where you can bring thedog along, take the whole family, enjoya concert, or get a beer geek-approvedtour. There are also plenty of beer gardens where you can quaff a cold oneoutside, and explore the globewithout leaving DC.Not an expert? Here’s how to order when you don’t recognize anything on the menu.

Try a new neighborhood restaurant

Bon Appétit magazine just named Washington therestaurant city of the year, thanks in part to the rise of wonderful neighborhood restaurants.A few (of the many) new spots worth exploring:Bindaasin Cleveland Park for Indian street eats; po’ boys and barbecue shrimp at Park View’sTchoup’s Market; All-Purpose in Shaw for crave-inducing pizza; and Cleveland Park’s Casolare, where our food critic discovered a clam pasta worth the splurge.

Take advantage of summer Restaurant Week

No worries if you can’t spend $250 at–over 200 restaurants in the area offer $22 lunches and $35 during summer restaurant week, August 15 through 21. We’re all for exploring new restaurants, but don’t skip over great classic spots.

Feast on the cheap

Eating well doesn’t have to equal a splurge–as we know well from our list of the best cheap restaurants around DC. Embrace the city’s booming fast-casual trend at thenew Buredofor sushi burritos in Dupont, or José Andrés’sBeefsteak(multiple area locations). Try out divine khachapuri(i.e. Georgian cheese breads) at the Tasty Dug-Out, and decide which new pizza joint is your favorite. For dessert:s’mores, no campfire required.

Makefrosé

Impress your party with a frozen roséco*cktail, courtesy of 2 Birds 1 Stone. We also love thisboozy lemonadefrom Ashlar.

Play like a tourist

After lamenting that you’re not the Smithsonian’s next craft beer historian, check out its newest exhibits. Go back to the 1930s with Van Vechten’s Harlem Heroes at the American Art Museum. Pop by the Renwick and enjoy the new permanent collection. Attempt to understand Damien Hirst. And Jimmie Durham. Get a dose of cuteness at the National Zoo’s Giant Panda celebration, becausewhat’s better than a birthday party for three colossal piles of fur named Bao Bao, Bei Bei and Tian Tian? Celebrate 100 years of the National Park Service with 12 hikes around DC.

Explore theChesapeake

The Chesapeake area is full of fun activities to explore, and you can make aweekendof it in one of these charming Eastern Shore towns full of local lore. If you get tiredof seafood, try one of these great restaurants for pizza and barbecue. For all of the above, it helps if you can talk like a local.

Crabs, crabs, crabs

Is isn’t summer without a classic crab feast. We found the topMaryland crab housesfor digging in by the Bay, including a number with beautiful water views. Want to cook your own? Try these Chesapeakeseafood markets, or head down to Captain White’s Seafood Cityin DC’s Maine Avenue Fish Market, where you can pick up live and steamed crustaceans. Another tasty option for the city-bound: Cappy’s Crabs, a pop-up crab house in Petworth that operates through Labor Day. Whatever you do, our guide to how to pick a crab is a must.

Plan a quick escape

Get out of the Districtand take a day trip to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, or the Ladew Topiary Gardens. Take a page from our Delaware beach guide, and plot alast-minute getaway toBethany,Rehoboth, or Lewes.

Eat all the best ice cream.

And don’t forget to treat your puppy!

Shop it out

Embrace your Pinterest tendencies and find some vintage furniture. Shop the insane Rent the Runway sale for designer looks before it ends August 28. Visit the artsy new sneaker store in Shaw for some end-of-summer kicks. Get one last hypnotically bright and detailed manicure that’ll look great while you’re Insta’ing your final poolsidepiña coladas.Take a quick drive to an outlet mall.