Daru

Daru opened in August 2021 at 1451 Maryland Avenue NE, a block off the H Street Corridor, in a space that used to be a neighbourhood grocery. The name is the Hindi word for liquor, which is a pointed joke for a restaurant whose non-alcoholic list is this good. Chef Suresh Sundas cooks what the restaurant calls Indian-ish - a border-defying fusion that takes real risks and mostly lands them, with reshmi chicken kebab served with blue cheese, a creamy spinach lasagna built on paneer, and smoky black dal finished with a dollop of burrata. Beverage director Dante Datta runs the bar on the same principle, taking inspiration from everywhere while staying rooted in South Asian techniques and ingredients; Washingtonian, placing Daru at number 57 on its 100 Very Best Restaurants 2026, described his cocktails - a Bangalorean rum spiked with garam masala, amaro, tamarind and mole - as just as inventive as the food.

The alcohol-free drinks sit under their own heading on the menu, Beverages w/o Alcohol, and the range is wider than most restaurants manage. The Mango Daisy, at $8, is the most popular of them: mango with lemon, sugar and salt, which is the salted-fruit balance that makes Indian street drinks work rather than a sweet purée. The fizzy tamarind soda, also $8, is built from tamarind tea with lime and soda, and it is the sharper, more savoury option. On the simpler side there is a mango and peach lassi made with dahi yoghurt, salt and sugar at $4, and a masala chai at the same price. For anyone who wants a beer there is Clausthaler's non-alcoholic dry-hopped IPA from Germany at $8, and the fridge carries two Indian sodas, Thums Up cola and the lemon-lime Limca, at $4 each.

Practical notes. The room is intimate - roughly forty seats indoors, with additional patio seating - and it serves dinner only, 5pm to 10pm seven days a week, with a happy hour from 5pm to 6.30pm. Because the non-alcoholic drinks are priced between $4 and $8 rather than at cocktail prices, a table that is not drinking here spends noticeably less than at most restaurants of this standard.