José Andrés opened Bazaar Meat DC at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC on Thursday, March 19, replacing Bazaar, his Spanish-Japanese restaurant that had occupied the lobby-level room at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW since 2023. For Andrés, the move is his first new D.C. restaurant in years and gives Washington the country's fourth Bazaar Meat, a fire-led format built around large-format beef, advance-order pork, wagyu cooked at the table, and tasting menus.
Andrés's Washington history began three decades ago in nearby Penn Quarter with Jaleo. The Spanish chef and World Central Kitchen founder now has 40 restaurants around the world; here, he and his team put the work on heat, timing, portion, and the table's appetite for shared cuts. The change took weeks inside the historic Old Post Office Pavilion-turned-clocktower-topped hotel, with the kitchen retooled for steaks cooked on-site.
"This is about creating a place where people come together to eat, drink, and celebrate," Andrés says.
Bazaar Meat DC Keeps the Old Frame, Rebuilds the Kitchen
Andrés left the old Bazaar frame largely intact, adding fresh art installations and gilded signage carrying the new name. The sharper change sits behind the scenes, where his team retooled the kitchen for steaks cooked on-site. For diners who knew Bazaar, the room will feel familiar; the pass now works toward beef, fire, and shared portions.
The address has a long Andrés thread. In 2015, he pulled out of a planned restaurant there after inflammatory remarks about immigrants from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. The hotel later lost the Trump International Hotel flag in 2022. A year later, Andrés opened the 150-seat Bazaar in the newly minted Waldorf Astoria, replacing BLT Prime by David Burke and joining Sushi Nakazawa in the building.
Andrés Sets the Pace With Cuts by the Pound
Under Our Big Guys, Cooked José's Way, Andrés and his team work in pounds: bone-in New York strips from Oregon and rib-eye chuletons from Texas, priced from $105 to $115 per pound. Bring a table ready to share; the menu begins with scale.
Other sections widen the format. Sections like The Meat Bar, Meats From The Fire, Not So Big Guys, and Tasting through Japan each ask for a different order of attention. The Japanese section brings wagyu beef cooked tableside on ishiyaki stones, priced from $50 to $60 per ounce.
Andrés also carries a jamón experience, with legs displayed at the entrance, plus a raw bar and seafood selections. À la carte dishes include "beefsteak" tomato, beef tartare, carpaccios, and a Waldorf salad.
Andrés Puts Suckling Pig on the Calendar
Andrés requires 24-hour notice for Spanish suckling pig, putting the dish on his kitchen's calendar before it reaches the dining room. The whole feast costs $540; a quarter-sized portion costs $160. If that is the table's anchor, book with the lead time in mind.
Two tasting menus, priced at $165 and $195, give Andrés's team a controlled route through the spread. In a room built around weight, fire, seafood, jamón, and advance planning, the format lets his kitchen set pace and contrast.
Andrés carried over several Bazaar signatures: bite-sized sticks of foie gras hidden in cotton candy, José's taco topped with gold leaf and caviar, and the Eisenhower Stew, priced at $32, with braised beef cheeks, potatoes, carrots, and demi-sec tomatoes.
The Bar and Wine Program Read the Meat
The D.C. cocktail list includes the Stamp Collector Sazerac at $45, built with 15-year Whistlepig rye. A freezer martini costs $22 and uses olive oil fat-washed vodka or gin. Ben Franklin's milk punch also joins the bar. Choose the drink with the cut in mind; fat, salt, char, and long-format eating set the terms.
Andrés keeps his Spanish lineage in view on the wine list while bringing Mid-Atlantic producers into the same cellar conversation.
What to Know Before Booking Bazaar Meat DC
Dinner runs from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Weekend brunch runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The practical choice begins with format: a single large cut, a tasting menu, an à la carte table, or a planned order that needs lead time. Bazaar Meat DC is now a fire-led room on Pennsylvania Avenue, measured by scale, notice, and Andrés's team's handling of shared cuts.
