The Dabney
The catfish slider at The Dabney is invasive Chesapeake blue catfish, fried and tucked into a sweet-potato roll proofed with sorghum syrup.
Why go
Jeremiah Langhorne was born in Bethesda and was chef de cuisine at McCrady's in Charleston before he came home in 2013 to build The Dabney. It opened in a Blagden Alley row house on Halloween 2015 (Washington Post). He stocks the kitchen from the region's farms and watermen. At The Dabney we know the names and faces of the people who grow our produce and provide our proteins,
the house says (The Dabney). The hearth is the heart of the whole operation,
Langhorne told Eater in 2025. Probably 90 percent of the items we cook here are going through that hearth and it allows us to impart a level of flavor
(Eater). The MICHELIN inspectors give it one star for the flavors of the Mid-Atlantic with a hint of a Southern accent
(MICHELIN Guide).
For years the only way in was a tasting menu. In 2025 the restaurant switched to a five-course prix fixe and an à la carte menu across the whole dining room. The five courses cost $145 in July 2026 (Eater DC). Washingtonian's critics called it The smartest thing this hearth-lit Shaw dining room has done over the past year
in January 2026 (Washingtonian). They ate cider doughnuts with apple butter and whipped foie gras that looked straight out of a Dutch Master still life
, and pastrami-spiced beef belly made even more luscious by a drizzle of beet bordelaise.
Thomas Rose of The Infatuation ate from an earlier à la carte menu in 2022 and liked the Maryland lump crab and the lobster on a hash brown. He also found the charred turnips overpowered by too much dry and crisp country ham
and told readers to skip a caesar soggy from an absolute drenching of tangy dressing.
His advice: go knowing you'll have to choose your dishes carefully for the kitchen's skill to really shine through
(The Infatuation).
Tom Sietsema of the Washington Post gave The Dabney three stars in 2018 and 2019. His 2019 bowl of Maryland crab soup came with smoked tomatoes and fried cornmeal okra where the oyster crackers would go: The bowl is perfect
(Washington Post). In 2018 he gave away an off-menu secret, fried catfish on a sweet-potato roll so popular that it typically runs out before the night is over
(Washington Post). It has since moved onto the menu. Washingtonian's critics wrote in 2026 that we never leave without at least one catfish slider on a sweet-potato roll, a menu constant since the early days
(Washingtonian).
Order this / avoid
- Order: the catfish slider, Sietsema's find in 2018 and Washingtonian's constant in 2026.1
- Order: the cider doughnuts with whipped foie gras, Washingtonian's pick in January 2026.1
- Order: the pastrami-spiced beef belly with beet bordelaise, from the same Washingtonian meal.1
- Avoid: the caesar with bacon and hush puppies if it is on. Rose in 2022:
Better yet, just skip this one.
2
What locals & experts say
- Michael Rafidi, chef of Albi, who cooked at The Dabney in 2019: he named it one of the best restaurants in D.C. to Condé Nast Traveler in July 2026.9
- Tom Sietsema, Washington Post (2019):
Yes, it's loud and reservations are a challenge.
His answer was to arrive when the doors open and take a bar stool.3
Good to know
- Booking: book on Resy through the house site. The à la carte menu is also served at the bar and on the garden patio.
- When: dinner, Tuesday to Saturday.
- Price: Washingtonian put dinner for two at $201 to $300 and up with tax and tip in January 2026.
- Diets: tell the restaurant ahead. The house says that without notice it cannot handle most allergies or dietary restrictions.
- Before dinner: The Cellar, the bar in front on 9th Street, pours a cocktail before dinner and serves seafood towers. A passage leads from it into The Dabney (Eater, July 2026).
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: Michelin star Mid-Atlantic food.
Verdict
should-visit — Book The Dabney for Jeremiah Langhorne's Chesapeake cooking off a wood fire, now à la carte or as five courses for $145 (July 2026). Start with the catfish slider, which Washingtonian's critics order on every visit. The Infatuation found some plates overpowered by ham and dressing on an earlier menu in 2022.