"No chain chophouse energy." That's how Axios summed up Ox & Olive, the steakhouse chef Ryan Ratino opened in Georgetown this spring. It's a strange thing to say about a restaurant that serves $50 strip steaks and charges for tableside beef presentations. But the line makes sense once you know where the restaurant actually sits: not on M Street, where Georgetown's tourist economy lives, but down a cobblestone alley most people walk past without noticing.
That alley isn't an anomaly. Georgetown has long had businesses in tucked-away locations, and Ox & Olive's opening this spring adds another restaurant to that mix. If you live here, these spots offer another option for a night out.
Inside Cady's Alley
Cady's Alley has been doing this longer than almost anyone. The entrance sits in the 3300 block of M Street, between the big-box storefronts that most people associate with Georgetown shopping, and it is easy to miss if you're not looking for the gap. Step through it and the noise from M Street drops away almost immediately. You're on Belgian block pavement, walking past restored stone row houses that once served as warehouses and stables, now home to more than twenty design showrooms and specialty boutiques anchoring what locals call the Georgetown Design District.
The retail mix here has always skewed toward people furnishing a home rather than browsing on vacation: Waterworks, Ligne Roset, JewelersWerk. But the alley has quietly built a dining lineup to match, including Kafe Leopold's Austrian menu, the Japanese-Thai-French sushi counter at Kyojin, and Clyde's of Georgetown for something more familiar. None of it is trying to catch foot traffic off M Street. It's built for people who already know the alley exists.
That includes Relish, the women's clothing boutique that marked a quarter century in Cady's Alley with an ownership change, as The Georgetowner reported. Founder Linda Pearlstein opened the store when the alley was still being built out. The Georgetowner quoted her saying:
"The landscape of high-end women's stores in this area was nonexistent at the time."
Pearlstein retired in 2025 and handed the store to Lindsay Rieling, who had worked there as a sales associate for eighteen years before taking over. The business didn't move, didn't rebrand, didn't chase a bigger footprint on M Street. It just changed hands quietly inside the same hidden alley where it started, which tells you something about how durable that model has been.
Ox & Olive Opens in Another Georgetown Alley
Ryan Ratino didn't need to hide. He's the chef behind Bresca, the District's first carbon-neutral restaurant, and Jônt, the sixteen-seat tasting counter that Washingtonian ranks second on its list of the city's hundred best restaurants. He became the youngest chef in Washington D.C. history to earn two Michelin stars, and this year he had his pick of splashy addresses as a citywide steakhouse wave brought in national names like Jose Andres's Bazaar Meat and out-of-town arrivals such as RPM Steak and American Cut.
Instead, Ratino took over the former Reverie space at 3201 Cherry Hill Lane, another alley tucked just off M Street a short walk from Cady's Alley, and opened a fifty-seat steakhouse there on May 7. Axios quoted Ratino saying:
"It's just time for the next generation of steakhouses, a more youthful, neighborhood experience."
Ox & Olive sources beef from more than a dozen small producers, from Japanese wagyu to a family farm in Ratino's home state of Ohio, dry-aged 28 to 60 days and presented tableside by what the Washington Post described as a beef sommelier in a red suit carrying a silver platter. The staple cuts hover around $50, deliberately positioned as approachable rather than the $95-a-steak formality of an old-guard chophouse. Ratino told Axios the goal wasn't a special-occasion destination. It was a spot for regulars.
Two Alleys, Different Stories
Relish's ownership change and Ox & Olive's opening offer two recent updates from Georgetown's alleys. Relish has been in Cady's Alley for more than two decades, while Ox & Olive opened nearby this spring. M Street draws tourists, students and weekend crowds heading to the waterfront; the alleys add restaurants, boutiques and design showrooms to Georgetown's mix.
The alleys offer a different setting from M Street. Ratino described Ox & Olive as a neighborhood experience.
If you live in Georgetown, here's what that means in practice:
- Cady's Alley enters from the 3300 block of M Street, or from M and 33rd or 34th Street, with a stone walkway running parallel to the C&O Canal.
- Cherry Hill Lane sits a short walk away, off M Street near the 3200 block, in the space that used to house Reverie.
- Neither alley has convenient Metro access or much parking, so visitors may want to plan how they will get there.
- Reservations at Ox & Olive have been moving fast since its May opening, so a weeknight booking is a more realistic bet than a weekend one.
What the Alleys Offer on a Wednesday Night
The alleys offer options for a low-key dinner or an afternoon of browsing in Georgetown. You can try a Michelin-adjacent chef's steakhouse on a Wednesday or spend time at a boutique that has been part of Cady's Alley for more than two decades.
M Street's shops and waterfront photo ops remain part of Georgetown's visitor-facing identity. The nearby alleys add restaurants, boutiques and design showrooms to the mix. That's worth knowing whether you've lived here five years or five months.
If you're weighing a move in or around Georgetown, or thinking about what a Georgetown property is really worth once you factor in blocks like these, Mandana Tavakoli can walk you through it. Let's Connect.
