9 New Restaurants To Try In D.C. This Summer

Wednesday marks the official start of summer, and with a new season comes a host of new options in D.C.'s booming dining scene. From new seafood joints to poke shops to fast-casual spots, here are nine restaurants that have opened since April, or are preparing to open, across the District. 

Mason Dixie Biscuit Co.

• Address: 2301 Bladensberg Road NE
• Opening Date: April 15
• Type of food: Southern fried chicken and biscuits

D.C. residents craving a warm biscuit can stop by the drive-thru to grab a breakfast sandwich in the morning, or step into the sit-down area and dig into a bucket of fried chicken in the afternoon. Mason Dixie Biscuit Co., born out of food incubator Union Kitchen, opened its first location this spring on Bladensberg Road NE. The company is partnering with ice cream maker Milk Cult after the owners met at Union Kitchen. 

Mola

• Address: 3155 Mount Pleasant St. NW
• Opening Date: June 7
• Type of food: Spanish

Mount Pleasant neighbors welcomed a new Spanish eatery last week in the three-story brick building formerly occupied by Radius Pizza. Mola comes from restaurateurs Karlos Leopold and Erin Lingle, who opened Mediterranean restaurant Nido in Woodridge in 2015. Leopold is also a co-owner of Boundary Road on H Street.

The Salt Line

• Address: 79 Potomac Ave. SE
• Opening Date: June 1
• Type of food: Seafood

D.C.'s newest seafood restaurant opened earlier this month in MRP Realty's Dock 79 development in Capitol Riverfront across from Nats Park. The Salt Line was called a "hot summer attraction" in a rave review from notoriously tough Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema earlier this month. Dock 79 also will be home to the second location of Dacha Beer Garden, the popular drinking establishment in Shaw. MRP is going through the Planned Unit Development process for Dock 79's 253-unit Phase 2 and hopes to break ground next year. 

Farmbird

• Address: 625 H St. NE
• Opening Date: June 5
• Type of food: Fast-Casual Chicken

Born out of D.C. food incubator Union Kitchen, Farmbird opened its first brick-and-mortar location last week. The fast-casual chicken spot features healthy options made with hormone-free, humanely raised chicken and fresh vegetables. It is opening in the ground floor of H Street's new Anthology apartment building, which Jair Lynch delivered in the fall and then sold to Bentall Kennedy for $160M. 

Stable

• Address: 1324 H St. NE
• Opening Date: April 4
• Type of food: Swiss

Two Switzerland-born chefs are bringing their home country's cuisine to the 1300 block of H Street NE. Stable opened in the space previously occupied by Peruvian restaurant Ocopa, which closed in December after a year in business. The storefront is not lacking foot traffic, but restaurant-goers have a ton of options with Maketto, Granville Moore's, Toki Underground, Smith Commons and several others all within the same two-block area. 

Siren

• Address: 1515 Rhode Island Ave. NW
• Opening Date: April 25
• Type of food: Seafood

Award-winning restaurateur Robert Wiedmaier, teaming up with chef Brian McBride, opened a new seafood restaurant in Downtown D.C. in late April. The restaurant is in The Darcy, a newly opened hotel from Hilton's Curio Collection. It will feature a constantly evolving dinner menu and will open for weekend brunch. Streetsense designed the space, which is expected to include an outdoor patio. 

Bibibop Asian Grill

• Address: Seven new D.C.-area locations
• Opening date: June 6 (Dupont Circle location)
• Type of food: Asian fast-casual

Where one Asian fast-casual joint failed, another will try to succeed. Bibibop Asian Grill took over seven of Shophouse's D.C.-area locations after Chipotle ceased investment in Shophouse. Bibibop's seven eateries will be in Dupont Circle, Chinatown, Union Station, Georgetown, Rockville's Pike & Rose, Downtown Bethesda and the Columbia Mall in Bethesda. Founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 2013, the Korean grill is also expanding to Los Angeles, Chicago and Cleveland. 

Three new poke shops

• Address: 1920 L St. NW, 906 F St. NW, 806 H St. NW
• Opening Date: All three opened this spring
• Type of food: Hawaiian Poke Bowls

D.C. residents looking to get a taste of Hawaii without sitting on a 12-hour flight have three new options close to home. The craze of poke bowls has begun to sweep D.C., with new poke shops opening this spring in Downtown D.C. and Penn Quarter. The shops serve fast-casual style bowls with rice or noodles, vegetables and fish like ahi tuna, salmon and shrimp, or tofu. Abunai Poke, previously a food truck, opened at 1920 L St. NW in April. Poke Papa, which also features poke wraps, opened at 806 H St. NW in March, and Poke District opened at 906 F St. NW in May. 

Sushi Gakyu

• Address: 1420 New York Ave. NW
• Opening Date: Late June
• Type of food: Sushi

Chef Yoshi Ota is preparing to dish up modern sushi and sashimi when he opens at 1420 New York Ave. NW later this month. Ota had looked at neighborhoods such as Capitol Hill, Chinatown and NoMa, before settling down one block east from the White House.