Restaurant in Washington DC, United States
$$ dinner that outperforms its price tag.
Ellē holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024) and an OAD Cheap Eats North America ranking, making it one of D.C.'s clearest value propositions for creative dining. The daytime café is a solid neighborhood stop, but dinner is the main event — chef Nick Pimentel's fermentation-focused kitchen produces food that consistently outperforms the $$ price point.
If you're in Washington, D.C. hunting for a $$ dinner that punches well above its price point, Ellē in Mount Pleasant is the right call. It earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2024 and ranked #273 on Opinionated About Dining's Cheap Eats in North America list that same year, improving to a still-strong #338 in 2025. For solo diners, couples, or small groups who want genuinely inventive cooking without the $$$$ price tag that comes with most of D.C.'s acclaimed restaurants, this is one of the clearest value propositions in the city. If you want a quick, satisfying sandwich and pastry, it also works for that — but dinner is where you should focus your attention.
Ellē runs a split operation: café by day, fermentation-forward dinner spot by night. Understanding that split is the most useful thing you can know before booking.
During the day (Monday through Sunday, 8 am to 3 pm), the kitchen serves sandwiches and pastries. The daytime offer is well-regarded locally , good enough that the café has built a loyal neighborhood following inside the former Heller's Bakery space on Mt Pleasant Street. But the daytime version of Ellē is not the reason it has a Michelin recognition or an OAD ranking. If you're visiting from out of town, or if you're specifically here because of the awards, lunch alone won't justify the trip.
Dinner is a different calculation. Tuesday through Sunday, from 5:30 to 9 pm, chef Nick Pimentel's kitchen shifts into a more composed, creative register. The OAD write-up calls out specific dishes , orange carrots with shio-koji and rye miso, Nashville hot duck with buttermilk biscuit, Thai iced tea tres leches , as evidence of a kitchen that takes fermentation seriously and has a clear point of view. These are not incidental details: fermentation as a through-line gives the dinner menu a coherence you don't find at many $$ restaurants in any city, let alone D.C. The OAD note that "it's at dinner when this kitchen truly comes to life" is a direct steer. Take it.
The practical upshot: if you're choosing between lunch and dinner, book dinner. If you're already in the neighborhood at midday, the café is a solid stop, but don't treat it as the main event.
The address , 3221 Mt Pleasant St NW , puts Ellē in a residential neighborhood rather than a restaurant row, which shapes the feel considerably. The venue occupies the former Heller's Bakery, a local institution, and the OAD description flags a "retro-chic décor" with a "cool staff" atmosphere. The energy reads more neighborhood spot than destination dining room, which is part of the appeal at the price point. Don't expect the hushed formality of a $$$$ tasting-menu room; do expect a lively, casual space where the food does the serious talking. For diners who find the performance of fine dining exhausting, that's a feature. For those who want occasion-dinner grandeur, look elsewhere.
Google rating of 4.4 across 790 reviews adds a layer of confidence here: this isn't a place that's well-regarded only among critics. The volume of reviews at that score suggests consistent execution, not just good nights.
At the $$ price range with a Bib Gourmand, Ellē sits in the category of places that fill up faster than their price point would suggest. The OAD ranking and Michelin recognition have widened its audience beyond the immediate neighborhood. Book ahead for dinner, particularly for Tuesday through Saturday evenings. Sunday dinner slots may have more give. Monday is café-only, so there's no evening service to plan around. If you're flexible on day of week, a Wednesday or Thursday dinner is likely your easiest path to a table.
Ellē sits at a price point well below most of D.C.'s Michelin-recognized restaurants. Bresca and Gravitas are both $$$$ operations with tasting-menu formats; they're the right call if occasion spending is on the table, but they're a different category of commitment. Oyster Oyster at $$$ offers a closer comparison in terms of creative ambition , it's the better choice if a plant-focused menu appeals. Albi and Causa are both $$$$ and serve distinct cuisine profiles (Middle Eastern and Peruvian respectively), so the comparison is more about budget than style. For $$ creative cooking with genuine critical recognition in D.C., Ellē has very few direct rivals.
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Dinner, clearly. The café lunch is a good neighborhood option for sandwiches and pastries, but the Michelin Bib Gourmand and OAD rankings are based on the dinner kitchen. Chef Nick Pimentel's fermentation-driven dinner menu is the reason to make a specific trip. If you're already in Mount Pleasant at midday, stop in , but don't treat it as your primary reason for visiting.
The OAD write-up specifically calls out orange carrots with shio-koji and rye miso, Nashville hot duck with buttermilk biscuit, and a Thai iced tea tres leches as representative of the kitchen's approach. The menu has a fermentation focus that runs across courses, so lean into whatever reflects that through-line. The desserts are described as particularly strong.
For weekend dinners, aim for at least a week out. The Bib Gourmand recognition and OAD ranking have expanded demand beyond the neighborhood. Midweek dinners (Wednesday, Thursday) are more forgiving. Monday is café-only with no dinner service.
Yes, with a caveat on expectations. The food quality and critical recognition make it a legitimate occasion dinner, and the $$ price point means you're not paying $$$$ for the privilege. But the atmosphere is casual and neighborhood-oriented, not white-tablecloth formal. It's the right call for a celebration where the food matters more than the setting's ceremony. For a grander room, consider Bresca or Gravitas.
Ellē is not confirmed to run a formal tasting menu format in the available data. The dinner menu at $$ pricing is the draw, and the OAD and Michelin recognition speak to value at that tier. If a structured tasting format is what you're after, Jônt and minibar are the D.C. options to consider for that format.
No seat count is confirmed in available data, and the space is a converted bakery rather than a large dining room, which suggests limited capacity for larger parties. For groups of four or more, contact the venue directly to confirm availability. The neighborhood café format is better suited to smaller parties of two to four.
For creative cooking at a similar or slightly higher price point, Oyster Oyster ($$$) is the closest comparison in terms of ambition and critical standing. For Middle Eastern cooking with serious credentials, Albi ($$$$) is worth the step up in spend. For Peruvian, Causa ($$$$) is the D.C. answer. If you want tasting-menu fine dining elsewhere in the country for context, Lazy Bear in San Francisco and Atomix in New York represent what fermentation-focused tasting menus look like at a higher price tier.
For comparable value at the $$ range, Oyster Oyster (plant-forward, also Bib Gourmand territory) and Causa (Peruvian, similarly neighbourhood-scaled) are the closest matches. Albi steps up in ambition and price. Bresca and Gravitas are both $$$$ tasting-menu formats — a different commitment entirely.
Ellē is a small neighbourhood spot inside the former Heller's Bakery space in Mount Pleasant — not a large-format venue. Groups of 2–4 are well-suited; larger parties should check the venue's official channels to confirm capacity before assuming availability.
The OAD listing specifically calls out the orange carrots with shio-koji and rye miso as a standout opener, Nashville hot duck with buttermilk biscuit as a signature main, and the Thai iced tea tres leches as a dessert worth saving room for. The fermentation focus runs through the dinner menu, so lean into those dishes rather than defaulting to the café side at night.
Book at least a week out for weeknight dinners; weekends warrant two weeks minimum. A Michelin Bib Gourmand at $$ pricing means demand consistently exceeds what the price point would normally imply — this is not a walk-in-friendly dinner spot.
Yes, if the occasion calls for something personal rather than formal. The Bib Gourmand recognition and OAD ranking confirm the kitchen's quality, and the Heller's Bakery setting gives it character. It won't fit a celebration that needs a grand room or a multi-course tasting format — for that, Bresca or Gravitas are more appropriate.
Dinner, without qualification. The OAD entry notes the café does well by day, but states explicitly that the kitchen 'truly comes to life' at dinner with its fermentation-forward menu. Lunch is sandwiches and pastries — worth knowing if you're nearby, but not the reason to make a trip.
Ellē does not operate a traditional tasting menu format — it is an à la carte dinner operation at the $$ price range. The value case is strong precisely because you get Bib Gourmand-level cooking without a fixed multi-course commitment. If you want a tasting menu in DC, Bresca or Gravitas are the correct referrals.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
