Casa Teresa
Every order of pa amb tomàquet (bread with tomato) at Casa Teresa comes with a card that tells you how to crush the tomato onto the bread and gloss it with olive oil.
Why go
Rubén García spent 16 years with José Andrés's ThinkFoodGroup, where he estimates he helped open nearly 30 restaurants, including the original Minibar. He left tired of other people's ambitions. I wanted to go back to my roots,
he told Tom Sietsema of the Washington Post (Washington Post). In November 2023 he and his partner Richie Brandenburg opened Casa Teresa, named for his great-grandmother Teresa Espinosa Moreno. He started to cook in her kitchen, the warmest room in the house
(Washington Post). What we're serving here is what I've been eating all my life,
he told WTOP in 2024. My aunts, my grandmother and my mother, what they cook for me
(WTOP). Andrés, his old boss, named it to the MICHELIN Guide in 2025: One of the best places for a big, satisfying dinner that will take me back to my own childhood is Casa Teresa
(MICHELIN Guide).
Thomas Rose of The Infatuation described the walk in from 19th Street in 2026: You walk up to a brutalist concrete facade, and enter a Catalan country home
(The Infatuation). He found every main coming off the oak grill. García told Sietsema that he burns oak the way we cook in Spain
(Washington Post). Sietsema found his mother's chicken croquettes exceptionally creamy and flavorful
in 2024 (Washington Post). Rose wrote in 2026 that You can taste the wood fire
on the escalivada, grilled eggplant with onions and peppers in olive oil (The Infatuation). Sietsema's one letdown was the whole roast chicken, without the deep flavor or succulence of the other shareable dishes
(Washington Post). Ken of the KenScale blog was cooler in 2024, calling the meal overall solid, could use a bit more work
and the croquetas slightly too rich
(KenScale).
Finish on the Basque cheesecake. Sietsema, who bakes the dessert at home, called this one the best version I've encountered
in 2024, crediting the tang of goat cheese and a pool of walnut sauce (Washington Post). Ken wanted it a little moister
(KenScale). Washingtonian's critics wrote in January 2026 that the creamy Basque cheesecake is still the best in town
(Washingtonian).
Order this / avoid
- Order: the pa amb tomàquet. Rose in 2026:
we'd put the tomatoes that come with the pa amb tomàquet up against the freshest in the city.
2 - Order: the presa ibérica de bellota, a cut of acorn-fed Ibérico pork from the grill. Rose in 2026: the acorns give it
a nutty flavor that's paired with a subtle garlic and pepper seasoning.
2 - Order: a whole fish on special such as the corvina,
a fatty head-to-tail cut covered in bright peppers with a zesty kick
to Rose in 2026.2 - Order: the piquillo peppers. Sietsema in 2024:
as intense as any I've eaten in America or abroad.
Ken found them underwhelming the same year.1 - Avoid: the whole roast chicken, Sietsema's one disappointment in 2024.1
- Drink: the red vermouth Fot-Li Formula Antiga. Rose in 2026:
something like a grown-up Coca-Cola.
2
Good to know
- The food hall: Casa Teresa shares a building with The Square food hall, where García's team runs three stalls: tapas, cured meats and cheeses, and grilled meats and vegetables. If the dining room is full, Rose suggested moving between those counters with a glass of cava (2026).2
- Booking: book ahead. Ken found the room packed at an early dinner in 2024.6
- Price: Washingtonian put dinner for two at $201 to $299 with tax and tip in January 2026.
- Noise: Sietsema measured 73 decibels in 2024, loud enough that you
Must speak with raised voice.
1 - Groups: a private room next to the kitchen, Teresa's Table, sat up to 18 in 2024.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: New opening. Spanish live fire cooking. Tapas in a food court. Multiple recs and new resto awards
Verdict
should-visit — Go for the Catalan home cooking a Minibar veteran learned from the women of his family, grilled over wood, and keep room for the cheesecake Washingtonian's critics still ranked first in the city in 2026. Dinner for two ran between $201 and $299 that January. Sietsema's one miss in 2024 was the whole bird.