"Among Georgetown’s hub of mass-produced faux nipple bras and perfume stores spilling clouds of Cashmeran into the cobblestone (looking at you, M Street), Green Almond Pantry offers a retreat. The small Mediterranean restaurant inside the Grace Street Collective food hall is only open until 3pm, making it an ideal spot for a quick lunch or a weekday business meeting. The chilled tomato and corn soup is a stunner, with sweet heirlooms and earthy EVOO, and the lamb kofte in pide is a hearty standby made with tender lamb medallions, tangy tomato-pepper relish, and flatbread with a chew-to-crunch ratio that could trigger ASMR. In a rush? There’s an open-air cooler with grab-and-go items perfect for picnicking on the river steps. Just know that “to go” means missing the quietude of the collective’s communal seating area and the very particular DC-style white noise of two middle-aged men comparing their security clearances." - Ashlee Green
"Shaw’s hit Mediterranean lunch counter run by Cagla Onal-Urel made the jump to Georgetown in 2021, bringing along excellent focaccia, salads, eggplant confit sandwiches, and heat-at-home dinners like beef bolognese or stuffed peppers. Online ordering is available. Right next door, Onal recently added a sit-down sibling full of Turkish-Mediterranean influences called My Little Chamomile." - Tierney Plumb
"Jessica Sidman and Angie Duran both mentioned it as a notable venue in Georgetown." - Adele Chapin
"Excellent focaccia and salads at Green Almond Pantry." - Tierney Plumb
"Nearly five months after a fire forced her to close the original Shaw location of Green Almond Pantry, chef Cagla Onal-Urel is reopening the critically acclaimed Mediterranean lunch counter at a new location in Georgetown. Starting Thursday, May 13, customers can place online preorders to pick up Onal-Urel’s outstanding focaccia, Kennebec potato frittata, salads, and dips from the former Sundevich stall inside the shared space at 3210 Grace Street NW." - Gabe Hiatt