Albi earns NYT’s first four-star review outside New York

For 63 years, the New York Times has been handing out four-star restaurant reviews. Every single one went to a restaurant in New York City. Until now.

Albi, a Palestinian restaurant in Washington D.C.’s Navy Yard neighborhood, received the paper’s coveted four-star rating on June 16, 2026. It’s the first time the Times has bestowed its highest honor on a restaurant outside of New York since formal dining reviews began in 1963.

A tradition broken by bread and fire

NYT critic Ligaya Mishan awarded the rating to chef Michael Rafidi’s restaurant, which centers its menu around open-fire cooking and Levantine culinary traditions. Rafidi’s approach is built on two elemental pillars: bread and fire.

Rafidi has built Albi around Palestinian dishes and hospitality traditions, using local ingredients filtered through Levantine techniques. The restaurant first opened around 2020, but underwent a significant renovation in 2025 that redesigned both the physical space and the menu. The refreshed version leans even harder into Palestinian cultural identity.

The D.C. restaurant that kept stacking accolades

Albi claimed the top spot on Washingtonian magazine’s 100 Very Best Restaurants list. Then it did it again the following year. Two consecutive years at number one.

The restaurant also holds a Michelin star.

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