Start your international tour of DC in Adams Morgan, a neighborhood that’s synonymous with dining and nightlife. Centered on 18th Street and Columbia Road, it’s a hotspot for cuisine from South and Central America, Asia, Africa and everywhere in between.
Just north of Adams Morgan, the Mount Pleasant neighborhood is well-known as the center of DC’s Hispanic history and culture. The former home of the Embassy of Mexico, the Mexican Cultural Institute is an Italianate mansion adorned with beautiful murals depicting Mexico’s history. As a public venue, the Institute also plays host to concerts and exhibitions featuring leading Mexican artists and musicians.
African cultures have also thrived in DC, particularly in Little Ethiopia, located on U Street between 7th and 11th Streets. Ethiopian restaurants are clustered in the strips of colorful row houses, serving savory entrees like doro wat, a spiced chicken stew, and tibi, a blend of beef tartar and house-made cottage cheese.
What DC’s Chinatown neighborhood lacks in size, it makes up for in character. There’s a colorful arch spanning H Street at its intersection with 7th Street, marking the gateway to this thriving neighborhood. Chinese businesses share the street with new retail and residential development, but you can still shop for teas and herbs at grocery stores and watch noodles being tossed by hand in the window at China Kitchen (6th and H Streets, NW).
Another international experience awaits visitors to Little Rome, a corner of Northeast DC that’s home to more Catholic sites than any place outside of the Vatican. It’s here that you’ll find the Catholic University of America, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Pope John Paul II Intercultural Center, the Franciscan Monastery and the headquarters of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
DC’s international flavor also extends into its museums and galleries. There’s a world-renowned collection of African art on view at the National Museum of African Art, located on the National Mall. Next door, the Freer and Sackler Galleries of Art showcase artistic treasures from Asia.
