Where to eat

Chinatown Express

One of the more popular Chinese restaurants in the neighborhood lures diners with a view of long noodles being pulled in the window. Chinatown Express is known for those noodles — served fried or in soup with roast duck, roast pork or vegetables — as well as perfect little purses of steamed bun filled with pork, and stuffed dumplings. The menu is filled with the familiar (General Tso’s chicken) and unfamiliar (pig’s belly with preserved mustard green casserole), and service can be brusque, but the basics are both delicious and affordable. 746 Sixth St. NW. chinatownexpressdc.com.

Clyde’s of Gallery Place

With locations across the area, Clyde’s is a byword for fresh seafood, crab cakes and burgers in an upscale saloon environment. Its Gallery Place location leans hard on the sports theme, with enormous oil paintings of figures ranging from Babe Ruth to the Hogettes, and what feels like acres of wood and brass, stained glass lamps and high-backed booths. There are multiple bars — the front room is cozier, the back more spacious — and you’re only steps to the arena’s doors after a meal. Of note: The daily oyster happy hour runs from 3 to 5 p.m. and then at late night, and the kitchen closes no earlier than midnight. 707 Seventh St. NW. clydes.com.

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Dirty Habit

The Hotel Monaco’s restaurant, which includes a large courtyard with fire pits, a greenhouse-like “Glass House,” and a long bar and lounge in addition to the dining room, is a versatile spot, with bottomless brunch on weekends and weeknight happy hour from 3 to 7 p.m. It also offers a three-course “pre-theater menu” that works as a pregame menu, especially if you’d rather have truffle Amish chicken or cacio e pepe instead of bar food. 555 Eighth St. NW. dirtyhabitdc.com.

Hill Country

Hill Country made Tim Carman’s “10 best barbecue joints in the D.C. area” every year from 2015 through 2020, even topping the list in 2017. More than 330 can fit in this space, which includes a bar, dining room and meat counter on the first floor, and a stage for live music in the basement. Hill Country’s primary serving method is selling barbecue by the pound, alongside sausages, sides and desserts, cafeteria-style. But before games, it’s just as easy to sit at the bar and order from the happy hour menu: smoky, chili-rubbed wings for $1 each; a portion of chips and queso that can easily serve three for $10; and margaritas, rail drinks, draft beers and wines for $6 each. 410 Seventh St. NW. hillcountry.com.

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New Big Wong

It can be tough to find restaurants open after the game, especially on weeknights. Extended hours and an extensive menu have made New Big Wong a favorite of chefs and bartenders, who go for dishes like dry scallop fried rice, spicy pork chops, salt and pepper squid, and eggplant in garlic sauce. There are hundreds of dishes to peruse, but when the restaurant stays open until 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4 a.m. Friday and Saturday, you’ve got time. 610 H St. NW. newbigwongtogo.com.

Chef José Andrés built a mini empire around Capital One Arena: Jaleo, Zaytinya, Oyamel, China Chilcano, Minibar. You could pick any of those and dine well, though Minibar’s 20 or so courses might make it tough to make tip-off. But pregame, our choice is Oyamel, Andrés’s Mexican outpost, where happy hour starts at 4 p.m. with discounted tacos, tamales and margaritas, and servers offer free crispy nachos and salsa to every table. Make a reservation for the early side — you won’t want to rush through authentic tacos, garlicky shrimp or flavorful, tangy ceviche. And if you don’t get one, the bar area spans two rooms, making it easier to find a place to perch. 401 Seventh St. NW. oyamel.com.

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A member of Tom Sietsema’s D.C. Restaurant Hall of Fame, Rasika is a four-star celebration of Indian cooking, helmed by James Beard Award-winning chef Vikram Sunderam. The good news is that reservations are frequently available at 5 and 5:15 p.m., which leaves plenty of time to indulge in tandoori lamb chops, Goan shrimp curry or the fragrant, spicy paneer mirch ka salan before the game. But if time is limited, head straight to the bar, which is first-come, first seated and includes clever cocktails that draw on the same spices used by the kitchen. 633 D St. NW. rasikarestaurant.com.

Reren Lamen & Bar

First things first: It’s “lamen,” not “ramen.” This Seventh Street restaurant specializes in fresh pulled Chinese noodles, described as “the forerunner of Japanese ramen.” Options include the hot-and-spicy kung fu noodles, the more delicate grilled chicken lamen and funky dan dan noodles. Lamen is the star, but the menu also features Chinese dishes such as handmade soup dumplings, fiery pork wontons and Uyghur cumin lamb. 817 Seventh St. NW. rerenlamen.com.

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Chef Edward Lee’s Southern cuisine won plaudits at restaurants in Louisville and National Harbor before he moved into Penn Quarter. Succotash transformed a former nightclub into 9,500 square feet of dining and drinking, including a mezzanine that offers the neighborhood’s best people watching. Don’t miss the dirty fried chicken, which gets its heat from honey gochujang sauce; the Delta rice bowl, packed with smoked tofu, grilled corn, kimchi and eggplant; and Lee’s legendary smoked chicken wings, bursting with spice and drizzled with a white barbecue sauce. The chef’s Louisville background comes out in both the by-the-glass bourbon selection and the number of whiskey-focused cocktails, including a stellar Milk Punch, which, yes, includes clarified milk alongside bourbon, rum, pineapple and lemon. The bar can get congested after work, so reservations are recommended. 915 F St. NW. succotashrestaurant.com.

A “wafu Italian” (literally “Japanese-style Italian”) restaurant from the owners of neighborhood ramen staples Daikaya and Bantam King, Tonari offers enticing fusions you won’t find at your neighborhood red sauce joint: tagliatelle with clams, miso, olive oil and chili flakes, and Detroit-style pizza with brick cheese topped with a corn sauce and kewpie-cod roe cream, or barbecued eel, dill labne and green peppercorns. The pasta is chewier than you might expect, and sourced from the same Japanese company that sources Daikaya’s noodles. Hit the bar between 5 and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday for half-price pizzas, discounted cocktails and house wines, and $5 Sapporo beers. 707 Sixth St. NW. tonaridc.com.

Fast-casual options

If you’re running late, or have kids in tow and don’t want to deal with a full restaurant meal, don’t resign yourself to eating on the concourse. The blocks around the arena are full of restaurants designed to get you in, fed and out as quickly as possible while offering a step up from the now-closed McDonald’s. The most recent arrival is Dos Toros, a New York City-based chain (now owned by Chopt) that specializes in giant, cheese-filled Mission-style burritos, in a space that used to be a bank at the corner of Seventh and G streets. A few steps to the north is HipCityVeg (712 Seventh St. NW), a popular restaurant offering 100 percent vegan burgers, cheesesteaks and seasonal milkshakes that got its start in Philadelphia before arriving in Chinatown in 2016. Other options include Bindaas Bowls and Rolls (415 Seventh St. NW), a sister spot to Rasika; the ubiquitous Sweetgreen (624 E St. NW), Nando’s (836 F St. NW), Shake Shack (800 F St. NW) and, putting the “fast” in “fast casual,” 90 Second Pizza (708 Seventh St. NW) from the owner of Georgetown’s Il Canale.

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