Best fine dining lunch deals photo

Best fine dining lunch deals

Justin Rude  |  Updated 01/03/2013

If you need to entertain a client or just want to give yourself a treat, here are 11 fine dining restaurants offering weekday fixed-price specials. Lunch hours are from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

 

Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca

Washington, DC

Sidle up to the bar at this Ashok Bajaj-owned Italian restaurant for a midday fix of chef Nicholas Stefanelli's superlative cooking for $15. The deal includes a choice of pasta, wine or soda and ends with sorbet. Stefanelli's pastas are among the best things on his menu, particularly cavatelli made with burnt wheat and dressed with fennel sausage and kale.

 

Central Michel Richard

Washington, DC

For $21 you can dine at Michel Richard's upscale bistro and get a choice of appetizer, entree and dessert. The frequently rotating menu showcases seasonally appropriate and deftly prepared classics like French onion soup, tagliarini Bolognese and creme brulee. If you want to be the envy of your office, pick up one of Richard's to-go buckets of fried chicken. You get two pieces with six nuggets and an order of mashed potatoes for $19.95.

 

Elisir

Washington, DC

At night, Enzo Fargione's relatively young downtown restaurant turns out glossy magazine-worthy modernist Italian plates for the expense-account set. During the day, the chef offers a more budget-friendly bistro lunch menu at his bar. Choose one of 13 entrees -- including selections like squid ink spaghetti, homemade pork sausage on polenta with cannellini bean ragu, and spice-dusted grilled octopus -- with soda or coffee and dessert, all for $19.

 

Graffiato

Washington, DC

The volume level at Mike Isabella's Italian-inspired Chinatown restaurant can be deafening, which makes lunch a nice time to try the celebrity chef's cooking. The lunch menu at the first-floor bar goes for $20 and includes a selection of any three items from a list that features choices like Jersey Shore Pizza, topped with fried calamari and cherry pepper aioli; fennel-dressed pork ribs; and the restaurant's seasonal market punch.

 

J&G Steakhouse

Washington, DC

The express lunch at this Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurant in the W Hotel is a two-dish, $19 introduction to the cooking of executive chef Philippe Reininger. Naturally, there is beef on the menu, but J&G fans know that Reininger is just as skilled with seafood, making the grilled salmon salad and crispy calamari just as enticing as the steak frites.

 

Mio

Washington, DC

Need a mini island vacation? It won't help your tan, but this McPherson Square Latin American restaurant offers a $20 weekday lunch menu that will at least transport your palate. Think mofongo (mashed fried plantains) with pork cracklins followed by coconut custard.

 

The Palm

Washington, DC

The business lunch at the Palm downtown doesn't mess around. For $25.95 you get your choice of starter, entree, side dish and dessert. The menu includes steak au poivre, chicken parmigiana and the Palm's famous fried onions. Yes, it's as filling as it sounds.

 

Poste Moderne Brasserie

Washington, DC

At this Penn Quarter Kimpton restaurant, it's all about dessert. Sure, your appetizer and entree probably will be good -- a well-prepared seasonal vegetable and gourmet sandwich perhaps -- but I can't help looking forward to the warm chocolate chip cookies, packed to go, that end the $20 meal.

 

The Bistro at Restaurant Eve

Alexandria, VA

It was one of the first fine dining establishments in the area to offer a fixed-price weekday lunch deal, and Cathal Armstrong's Restaurant Eve still does it better than most. The $14.98 Lickity Split lunch menu is offered in the restaurant's lounge and offers any two items from a list that includes Todd Thrasher's incredible cocktails alongside frequently rotating dishes like antelope scrapple, pork belly rillettes with harissa aioli, and king salmon mousse with pickled shallots.

 

Vidalia

Washington, DC

I've never had anything less than excellent from the $19.90 special lunch menu at Vidalia. Sure, the three-course, weekly-updated menu includes options like braised beef cheek, turtle soup and cornmeal-crusted catfish. But I dream about the bread basket: I know how good the food is going to be but I can't put down that golden cornbread and onion foccacia.

 

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