New restaurants are springing up all over town.
Tacos, Tortas & Tequila (8407 Ramsey Ave., Silver Spring) is a modern Mexican diner on the first floor, and Buena Vida is a casual, contemporary small-plates restaurant on the second floor.
Sababa (3311 Connecticut Ave. NW), which replaces Ardeo + Bardeo, offers modern Israeli cuisine drawing inspiration from the Middle East, Turkey and Greece. Menu items are priced from $8 to $26.
Executive Chef Chris Curtis has created a French-inspired menu for the National Gallery of Art’s Garden Cafe (Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW) to complement the gallery’s new exhibition of Cezanne portraits.
Lupo Verde Osteria (4814 MacArthur Blvd. NW) has opened its second location in the Palisades, serving rustic Italian fare. Menu items will be priced from $8 to $25. Food-to-go, including fresh and dried house-made pastas, jams and sauces, will be available in a retail shop on the first floor.
MXDC Cocina Mexicana (600 14th St. NW) celebrates Cinco de Mayo for five hours from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday with five special tacos, five appetizers and five different margaritas, each priced at $7.
May 5 is also Kentucky Derby Day. At Acadiana (901 New York Ave. NW) patrons can enjoy authentic $5 Race Track Deals — customary fare and drinks that pay homage to the historic competition — from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Bourbon Steak (2800 Pennsylvania Ave. NW) in the Four Seasons Hotel invites patrons to “Make Your Own Julep” from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The Occidental Grill & Seafood (1475 Pennsylvania Ave. NW) will be pouring a mint julep, the “Official Drink of the Kentucky Derby.” Bespoke Personal Dresser will sell pocket squares and bow ties during the Sunday happy hour from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Pennsylvania 6 (1350 I St. NW) celebrates the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby with unlimited Old Forrester mint juleps, ros, Champagne and complimentary light bites from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the bar and the patio (weather permitting). Tickets are priced at $60 per person.
Red’s Table (11150 South Lakes Dr., Reston) will host a series of special dinners. On Saturday, it’s the Don Julio Tequila Dinner in honor of Cinco de Mayo, priced at $85 per person. On May 26, a beer dinner features local Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. On June 23, a guided tasting dinner showcases a variety of ros styles.
The Dish & Dram (10301 Kensington Pkwy., Kensington) celebrates the Kensington Palace nuptials of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on May 19 at 7 a.m. with a breakfast of bangers & mash, scones, tea and British bubbly. A “prince and princess parade” takes place at 9 a.m.; the best costume will receive a gift certificate for a free kids’ meal.
The Hay-Adams Hotel (800 16th St. NW) will launch its Stylish Entertaining Series on May 12 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Participants will learn about emerging trends in floral design and how to compose a spring arrangement to take home. Tickets are priced at $65 per person, which includes flowers, vase and afternoon tea.
Special Mother’s Day brunches on May 13 offer a variety of dining options from American comfort food to Cuban cuisine.
Ambar (523 Eighth St. SE) offers unlimited Balkan small plates and free-flowing cocktails, priced at $39 per person. At Ambar in Clarendon (2901 Wilson Blvd., Arlington), brunch is priced at $34 per person. Ambar now offers a $19.99 express lunch at both locations Monday to Friday.
Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar (801 Ninth St. NW) offers the “Especial de Brunch” menu of classic Cuban dishes, and nopa Kitchen & Bar (800 F St. NW) offers meats and fish, prepared with a Southern influence, for $45 per person. At 701 Restaurant (701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW), a three-course, prix-fixe contemporary American brunch is priced at $55 per person.
Indian specialties will be served at Rasika West End (1190 New Hampshire Ave. NW) and at Rasika Penn Quarter (633 D St. NW) with three-course, prix fixe menus, priced at $50 per person. The Bombay Club (815 Connecticut Ave. NW) will prepare a three-course, prix fixe brunch menu of traditional Indian specialties, priced at $35.
For a Mother’s Day excursion, the newly opened waterfront Wylder Hotel Tilghman Island (21551 Chesapeake House Dr., Tilghman) on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, offers a special brunch, priced at $55 per adult. The hotel’s Tickler’s Crab Shack, an indoor-outdoor restaurant with a seasonal open-air counter and outdoor seating on the water, specializes in locally caught blue crabs and Chesapeake fare.
To introduce wines from Latin America, Grand Cata wine shop (1550 Seventh St. NW) holds daily complimentary wine tastings from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. during the week, and from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekend.
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