Apéro

Is Apéro Worth Booking in Georgetown?

Yes, if French classics and a serious Champagne list are what you are after. Apéro is the closest thing Georgetown has to a proper Parisian cave à manger: small, considered, and built around caviar and Champagne as a genuine menu philosophy rather than a marketing hook. For that specific experience in Washington, D.C., there is nothing quite like it at this address.

The Case for Booking

Apéro sits at 2622 P St NW in Georgetown, a neighbourhood that skews toward white-tablecloth institutions and expense-account steakhouses. That context matters, because Apéro reads as a deliberate counter-programme: midnight-blue walls, gold accents, a Persian rug underfoot, and sheer curtains filtering the light from the windowed façade. The room is intimate by design. A garden at the rear functions as the better seat in the house for a quieter, more private meal.

Owner and wine director Elli Benchimol built the programme around what she knows leading: France. The wine list runs to 730 selections and 1,700 bottles in inventory, with particular depth in Champagne, Burgundy, and Bordeaux, plus strong Italian coverage across Piedmont and Tuscany. Corkage is $25 if you bring your own. At the $$$ wine pricing tier, expect most serious bottles to clear $100, so factor that into your budget before you sit down.

The food programme, led by chef Jennifer Castaneda-Jones, is French in the classical sense. Caviar is available at multiple price points, served with chopped egg, capers, chives, and crunchy waffle batons. The lobster bisque with croutons and deviled eggs finished with sweet potato, bacon, and brown sugar are among the documented dishes on the carte. Two courses typically land under $40 per person on the food side, which makes the wine list the real variable in your final bill. Michelin awarded Apéro a Plate in 2024, which signals a kitchen operating at a consistent, noteworthy level without yet reaching star territory. For Georgetown, that credential carries weight.

Apéro fills a specific gap in D.C.'s French dining options. La Bise and The Pembroke offer different registers of French-influenced cooking in the city, but neither centres the Champagne-and-caviar format the way Apéro does. If you are travelling to D.C. and want one French meal that leans into the wine programme as much as the food, this is the booking to make. If you are looking for a broader tour of the city's dining scene, our full Washington, D.C. restaurants guide covers the full range.

Georgetown itself adds to the case. The neighbourhood's relative calm compared to Penn Quarter or 14th Street means the walk to and from dinner is part of the experience. Apéro functions as a genuine anchor for the area's food scene, the kind of place that gives a neighbourhood dining credibility beyond its tourist footfall. For context on where else to eat, drink, and stay nearby, see our Washington, D.C. bars guide, hotels guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide.

Booking difficulty is rated Hard. The room is small, the concept is specific, and Michelin recognition draws a crowd. Plan ahead. Walk-ins at a venue this size are a gamble, particularly on weekends. The phone number is not publicly listed in our data, so use the restaurant's own reservation channels directly.