H Street NE Restaurants and Bakeries in DC

H Street NE restaurants in Washington include Argentine bakeries that sell empanadas and syrup-painted croissants, Taiwanese and Cambodian kitchens and Ethiopian restaurants at the western end of the corridor. Walk the street from west to east, eat three small meals and rate each by the dish.

This page covers the Argentine pastry shops, the Taiwanese and Cambodian dishes, Ethiopian meals and the empanadas along the corridor, with what to order and how to plan the walk. Menus and hours change, so check before you go.

Which H Street NE restaurants should you try first?

Start at the west end, where Ethiopian restaurants serve their food around 4th and H. Further along are Argentine pastry shops and Taiwanese and Cambodian kitchens.

That order gives you lunch, a pastry and a late dinner without doubling back much. The street is long, so wear comfortable shoes, and note the stop in each rating.

Where can you find Argentine pastries on H Street?

Argentine pastry shops list empanadas, choripan, facturas, medialunas, pastafrola and sandwiches de miga, along with coffee and cookies.

Order an empanada for savory, a medialuna for sweet and a coffee, and split them. If the case is full, ask which items were baked that morning, since fresh pastry is the point of a bakery stop. DC empanadas vary from place to place, so note the filling and the pastry in your rating. A quick stop like this is easy to fit between two bigger meals.

What is Taiwanese Cambodian food on H Street?

Some H Street spots serve Taiwanese and Cambodian dishes alongside a small shop of clothing, accessories and books. Hours vary, and some offer pickup and catering.

Because the menu changes, ask the server what regulars order and share a few plates. A shop attached to a restaurant makes it a good place to linger, so budget extra time. Rate the food and the room separately.

Where is Ethiopian food on H Street?

Ethiopian restaurants at the corridor's western edge offer vegetarian, meat, poultry and fish dishes.

Ethiopian meals are shared from a large plate with injera, a spongy flatbread used to scoop. Go with at least two people so you can order a mix of vegetable dishes and meat. If you do not eat meat, the vegetarian dishes make a complete meal. Order together, agree on a mix, and rate the dishes you shared rather than the meal as a whole.

What are DC empanadas and other street snacks like?

An empanada is a baked or fried pastry filled with meat, cheese or vegetables. At Argentine pastry shops the savory side includes empanadas and choripan, a sausage sandwich.

Eat one standing up on the sidewalk, then compare it with another from a different stop. A note about the pastry and filling is enough.

How do you plan an H Street food walk?

Park at one end and walk, or take a bus along the corridor if your feet give out. The street has a long, mixed stretch of places, so decide in advance which three you will visit. Start with something small, such as a pastry, then take a longer break for a sit-down meal.

Evenings and weekends are busy, so go on a weekday if you can. If you are traveling with a group, pick one shared plate at each stop rather than separate orders. Small places close on different days of the week, so ask before you set out. Carry a small bag for leftovers, because an empanada keeps well and a pastry makes a good snack for the walk back. Write a quick note after each stop while the taste is fresh, so you can compare the three at the end of the day.

Pace matters on a corridor like this. Eat half of every dish and carry the rest, since three full meals will end the walk early. Choose seats by the window if you want to watch the street, and ask for water as soon as you sit down, because spicy Ethiopian stews and salty pastries both call for it.

How do you track H Street food with Mosey?

Rate each dish by name. Mosey needs only the place and stars; then you can name the empanada or the stew, add tags such as Bakery, Vegetarian or Great Value, and attach a photo. A rating that says "chorizo sandwich, warm bread, good with coffee" is useful to a stranger.

Make a list called H Street walk with a bakery, a lunch and a dinner, and send the invite link to a friend so they can add their own. Follow friends to see what they rated and saved, and use the Friends' picks layer on the map to see where they have been. The ratings page covers rating by the dish.

What else should you read?

For more of the city, the Adams Morgan guide covers another neighborhood, the food halls and markets guide covers indoor markets and the brunch guide covers the morning. See the Washington page, the District of Columbia page and the US food guides.

On your next H Street walk, get the Mosey app, rate every plate by the dish and save the best stops to a list.