Restaurants in Bethesda

A couple sits at a table on Ristorante Piccolo's second-floor balcony, peering over the wrought-iron railing at the historic C&O Canal as plumes of heat rise from plates of pasta showered in red sauce. Dishes arrive fresh from the kitchen of the lovingly restored 250-year-old building, where chef Arnaldo Rubio calls on 25 years of experience as he whips up daily batches of fresh ravioli and gnocchi. Around the dining room, Murano glass light fixtures illuminate crisp table linens and the intricate woodwork around a trio of fireplaces. Out on the ground-floor patio, patrons can digest platefuls of lasagna, ravioli, and risotto as the sun looks on enviously.

Blending culinary inspiration from French and American cuisine, Nage's executive chefs craft seafood dishes infused with local ingredients and bistro-style flair. Cooks enhance the American classic mac ‘n’ cheese with chunks of lobster, a three-cheese mornay sauce, and english peas to create one of their most popular dishes. To avoid long waits for tables, Nage recommends patrons make dinner reservations.

Inside a crisp black-and-grey interior relieved by bright yellow flourishes, Eat & Joy’s staff serves food from a menu that combines pizzeria fare with casual Middle-Eastern dishes. Beside calzones and pasta, the kitchen team tosses pizza dough before decorating it with toppings such as chicken, artichokes, and spicy red pepper sauce. Tender slices of kebab—whether made from beef or lamb and veal—fill plates and warm up pita pockets like beef kebabs warming up blue jean pockets. The eatery’s two specialties combine in a kebab pizza, topped with gyro meat and feta, and Turkish-style pizzas that host spicy sausage or chopped veggies.

At Roma’s Pizza, patrons will find something interesting on the menu: Mexican food. Though specialties in hand-tossed pizza and stuffed subs both hot and cold headline the restaurant’s menu, chefs also sizzle fajitas, ladle jumbo shrimp over spanish rice, and slather nachos with cheese. Ten years of experience aids the staff in preparing such a lengthy selection, that, of course, includes both traditional, New York–style circular pies and doughy Sicilian squares. They also bake strombolis and calzones, press paninis, and toss fresh salads.

Within a casual, family-friendly atmosphere, Yen Cheng serves contemporary Chinese dishes among a variety of settings, from fresh dining-room tables and carry-out containers to steaming buffet trays. Waiters ferry specialties such as crispy shrimp drenched in spicy Hunan sauce and Sichuan crispy beef sautéed with with carrots and celery. Items rotate daily at the 10-course lunchtime buffet, where soups, appetizers, and diverse entrees allow diners to practice spinning an unending parade of plates atop their chopsticks.

At Palace Korean BBQ, diners watch as meats sizzle atop tableside barbecue pits, flanked by a colorful mélange of marinated vegetables, rice, and Korean condiments. In addition to Korean barbecue, kim-chi, and bi bim bop dishes, Palace’s expert chefs chop fresh ingredients and simmer them in teriyaki sauce or roll them into fresh sushi and sashimi. Their sharable Japanese shabu-shabu dishes also warm empty bellies.

Decorated with minimalistic earth tones, Asian masks, and dark wooden tables and chairs, the dining room fuses traditional and contemporary elements better than a supercomputer glued to a horse-drawn carriage. Throughout the eatery, bamboo stalks spring up from square pots, glowing in the same neon lights that illuminate the fully-stocked bar.