In 2024, DC got a slew of thrilling, genre-busting restaurants, from Dōgon to Pascual to La’ Shukran to Moon Rabbit. This past year was different: more safe, less boundary-pushing. Major openings included copies and spinoffs of existing restaurants (Chai Pani, Lucky Danger) and Stephen Starr’s revamp of the century-old Occidental. And 2025 closed out with two flashy new steak spots from big restaurant groups. Not exactly groundbreaking. California restaurateur Michael Mina was one of the first celebrity chefs to open a steakhouse here—Bourbon Steak, in Georgetown—and he’s certainly been the most enduring. (Let’s pour one out for JG and Rural Society.) His nearly four-month-old Italian restaurant, Acqua Bistecca, which celebrates both steak and seafood, is in a more incongruous place: upper Northwest’s suburban-feeling City Ridge development. Sip your $19 Manhattan with a view of . . . Wegmans. In the big, conventionally plush dining room, a gorgeous backlit tower of a bar looks plucked from a West Hollywood hotel. Competing for attention, on a recent Saturday night, was the glow of several kids’ iPads. Learn from my mistakes and avoid the front tables by the service station or your evening’s vibe will be punctured by clattering silverware and stressed-out servers. (Sample quote: “Where the f— are the children’s menus?”) A happier note: slices of thin focaccia prettily presented in a wire rack alongside an array of spreads, such as a vivid, grandmotherly caponata and a lush ricotta. Take the hint and lean into the more rustic Italian side of executive chef (and Fiola Mare alum) Colin Clark’s menu. A spiral of lasagna is another hit—and the menu’s biggest draw. Yes, it’s cool-looking, but its construction has a payoff when it comes to flavor. Each bite of the pasta is beautifully crisped at the edges (much like a corner piece of lasagna). Inside, there’s Swiss chard béchamel, fennel-pollen ricotta, and an Italian-sausage ragu with serious kick. You can also, as the place’s name suggests, get a pretty good steak, such as a Delmonico brushed in Lambrusco butter. If you spring for the family-style “Big Night” menu ($115 per person), a giant 40-ouncer will be served on a wooden board crammed with bone marrow and other goodies. Still, there should be at least a little effort toward presentation for regular diners. There’s something deflating about seeing your $72 steak hit the table all alone, save for a tiny stuffed onion, on a plain, drippy white plate. That said, the only side I’d spring for is the olive-oil potatoes. (The Caesar and the mushroom carbonara are especially worth skipping.) Who is Acqua Bistecca for? Right now, it’s hard to tell. Although our server called us “fam” all night, it’s too pricey for most folks to put into their regular rotation of neighborhood dinner spots. But at this point, it’s hard to imagine the place drawing expense-account diners—or food obsessives—either. A pre-grocery-shopping affogato or happy-hour cocktail, though? Sure, sign me up. Steaks at Brasero Atlántico emerge from a fiery grill. Photograph courtesy of Brasero Atlántico. Over in Georgetown, Brasero Atlántico takes its inspo from the king of steak-obsessed cities: Buenos Aires. And it’s yet another sign that the DC neighborhood has one of the city’s more interesting restaurant scenes right now. Walk into the cozy, century-old space, a former firehouse, and the first thing you see is a big ring of flames in the open kitchen. On the walls are sea creatures drawn by the restaurant’s cofounder, acclaimed Buenos Aires bartender Renato “Tato” Giovannoni, who will soon bring Brasero to Beverly Hills. (There are also versions in Argentina, Spain, and Bahrain.) Next door to this location is his Floreria Atlántico, a cocktail bar hidden inside a flower shop. The gratis bread service is the first sign that chef Manuela Carbone is doing something new and exciting in the kitchen. The bun resembles a hard-edged black cube, like something you might find on a bookshelf at CB2. It tastes far more comforting—a soft, warm Argentinean-style roll called pan de miga (flavorless squid ink gives it the color) that you slather with good butter. Angus and Hereford steaks come from Argentina, are cooked over the fire, and arrive full of savor. They don’t need any sauce, but you can’t say no to chimichurri at an Argentinean restaurant, and the peppercorn condiment is good, too. If only the $27 order of grilled vegetables we got alongside weren’t so gritty. Some of the best parts of a meal here are the bookends, such as plump empanadas filled with rich osso buco or traditional beef, or an arrangement of briny preserved artichokes with drizzles of sweet vinegar and a shower of finely grated Parmesan. An appetizer of avocado and lobster was a head-scratcher: It tasted like guacamole meant to be eaten with a spoon and had just a tiny bite or two of lobster. For dessert, go for the panqueques—crepes filled with warm dulce de leche—which are about as elemental and wonderful a pleasure as a great-quality steak cooked over an open fire. Acqua Bistecca location_on 14 Ridge Sq., NW language Website Acqua Bistecca’s star dish: a spiral lasagna. Photograph by Rey Lopez. Open daily for dinner. Neighborhood: Tenleytown’s City Ridge development. Dress: Dressy-casual–think nice jeans, not athleisure. Best dishes: Focaccia with ricotta and caponata; lasagna; Delmonico steak with Lambrusco butter; affogato. Price range: Starters $10 to $45, entrées $19 to $78. Bottom line: Michael Mina’s neighborhood Italian spot is big, expensive, and still finding its way. Brasero Atlántico location_on 1066 Wisconsin Ave., NW language Website Meaty empanadas at Georgetown’s Brasero Atlántico. Photograph courtesy of Brasero Atlántico. Open Monday through Friday for dinner, Saturday for brunch and dinner, Sunday for brunch. Neighborhood: Georgetown. Dress: Given the neighborhood, most diners exude quiet luxury. Best dishes: Empanadas; preserved artichokes; rib eye; panqueques. Price range: Starters $16 to $29, entrées $27 to $72. Bottom line: This firelit Buenos Aires export–one of 2025’s most exciting openings–lives up to the anticipation. This article appears in the January 2026 issue of Washingtonian.The post How Two Highly Anticipated DC Steak Spots Stack Up first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less