Things To Do
|
Newsletter
|
Fraylife+
|
Fraylife+
  • Play

    Play

    • A Beginner’s Guide to Soccer
    • You Spin Me Right Round: D.C. Roller Skating 101 in 2021
    • Leading the League: The WNBA’s Natasha Cloud on Breaking Barriers + Inspiring D.C.
    • Spring Has Sprung: 10 Ways To Get Outside in the DMV
    • Play Week Combines Games + Social Impact
    • High and Go Seek Illustration
    • O Captain, My Captain: Washington Spirit’s Andi Sullivan
  • Life

    Life

    • Local Entrepreneurs Infuse CBD into Wellness
    • 19 Entrepreneurs Shaping D.C.’s Cannabis + CBD Industries
    • Upcycling in D.C.: Transforming a Culture of Consumption
    • The Green Issue: Experts + Advocates Make Case for Cannabis Legalization + Decriminalization
    • The District Derp Story
    • Grassfed Media Champions Cannabis Clients
    • Nat Geo Explorer Gabrielle Corradino on Plankton, the Anacostia + Conservation
  • Eat

    Eat

    • The State of Takeout in the District
    • A New Twist on Food Delivery: MisenBox
    • Next-Level Home Dining Experiences in D.C.
    • Foxtrot Market Is Officially Open for Business in Georgetown
    • Food Rescue + Assistance Programs Fill the Gaps in a Pandemic Food System
    • Hungry Harvest Helps to End Food Insecurity
    • Notable Summer Bar + Restaurant Reopenings to Try this Spring
  • Drink

    Drink

    • Pandemic Drinking: Derek Brown Leads the Way to Low-ABV Future
    • D.C.’s St. Vincent Wine Creates Covid-Conscious Experience
    • A New Way to Binge: Sobriety Anchors Business + Being for Gigi Arandid
    • King’s Ransom + The Handover in Alexandria Celebrate a First Year Like No Other
    • Wines of the World Are Just Around the Corner
    • Open-Air Drinking + Cocktail Delivery Changes in the DMV
    • Denizens Brewing Co.’s Emily Bruno: Brewing Change for Community + Industry
  • Culture

    Culture

    • The Artistry Behind D.C.’s Cannabis Culture
    • The Best Movies of 2021…So Far
    • The Survival of the Brutalist: D.C.’s Complicated Concrete Legacy
    • Plain Sight: A Street-Front Revolution in Radical Arts Accessibility
    • A Touch of Danger in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s “Romeo & Juliet”
    • Artgence + Homme: Where There’s Art, There’s a Story to Share
    • 21 D.C. Makers + Curators to Follow
  • Music

    Music

    • Emma G Talks Wammie Nominations and the D.C. Music Community
    • J’Nai Bridges: A Modern Mezzo-Soprano in a Changing Opera Landscape
    • Punk Legends The Go-Go’s Talk Four Decades of Sisterhood, Resilience + Zero Fucks Given
    • Ellen Reid “Soundwalk:” Exploring the Sonic Landscape at Wolf Trap
    • SHAED Releases First Full-Length Album in a “High Dive” of Faith
    • Obama + Springsteen Present “Renegades”
    • Christian Douglas Uses His “Inside Voice” on Pandemic-Inspired Debut Album
  • Events

    Events

    • Play Week 4.17-4.25
    • Midnight at The Never Get 4.30-6.21
    • Cannabis City Panel Presented by BĀkT DC + District Fray
    • Browse Events
    • DC Polo Society Summer Sundays 5.9
    • National Cannabis Festival’s Dazed & Amused Drive-In Party
    • Vinyl + Vinyasa 4.30
  • Fraylife+

Fraylife+
Nicki Bluhm Brings Roots and Realness to Her Jammin’ Java Debut
Paul Simon Returns to the Stage at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center This Summer
🎶 Feel the Pride, Hear the Power: WorldPride Choral Festival Hits DC
The Avett Brothers Return Under the Stars at Wolf Trap
Turn Up Your Thursdays: Carlyle Crossing’s Happy Hour Concert Series is Your Summer Soundtrack
Summer Vibes Only: Why Your Next Sunday Funday Should Be with the DC Polo Society
Home » Articles » Eat » D.C.’s Mercy Me is Back – With a New Identity

Eat

Mussels. Photo by Hawkeye Johnson.

D.C.’s Mercy Me is Back – With a New Identity

Share:

December 1, 2023 @ 1:00pm | Abi Newhouse

From braised pork belly with fried rice to a new Patagonian-themed chalet, the downtown restaurant is switching things up with its reopening.


The new iteration of Mercy Me offers a full sensory experience — one you can feel as soon as you walk through the doors of Yours Truly, the downtown hotel it’s housed in. Inspired by South American flavors, culture and dress, the space is alive with jungle-like plants all over, Latin beats, intimate cozy seating and low lighting. Here, the space and the menu play off each other so well, it almost seems effortless.

But for the Unordinary Hospitality Group, consisting of founders Radovan Jankovic, Marko Bogdanovic and Chef Robert Curtis, the planning was meticulous.

“We were more than happy to jump in with this project and really embrace the name and the concept, but really put an effort in to make a new identity there,” Jankovic says.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mercy Me DC (@mercyme.dc)

Mercy Me started as a “sorta South American” style dinner service in 2020, and evolved over the years until ownership transferred this year. Unordinary Hospitality Group worked to keep this theme up, researching and learning more about different South American dishes and drinks.

“We’re injecting energy and life and joy into the experience,” Curtis says. “It’s about taking something we all have a loose idea of, and building, writing that concept to be a little bit finer.”

By day, the space is a casual coffeehouse. At night, the team rearranges the area, curates the playlist and prepares for dinner service.

“For people who didn’t know this place, they associate it with daytime, sipping coffee out of a paper cup,” Jankovic says. “That’s the biggest challenge for us: to change perception for people that know, but also introduce a new space to new diners.”

If nothing else, their thoughtfully prepared menu will introduce previous diners and new diners alike to the new Mercy Me. Appetizers like crudo, ceviche, mussels and gnocchi make way for entrees including lomo — a lamb tenderloin with potatoes and puffed rice — and chaufa — braised pork belly and fried rice. There are also entrees meant to share: large portions of Peruvian chicken, roasted bass and tomahawk steak send diners below the equator.

“I don’t want to say that it’s your mom’s moqueca, but you’re not gonna be disappointed,” Curtis says.

You won’t be disappointed with the drinks, either. Jankovic says they started the espresso martini revolution in D.C. a few years ago, so Unordinary Hospitality Group had to bring it here, where they add a twist to a classic by using Brazilian blend ristretto and Amazonian cacao. They also worked to incorporate different nutty flavors, rounding out drinks in surprising and new ways.

“In every South American dessert, they use a ton of coconut,” Jankovic says. “So, I was like, ‘I want to keep some kind of piña colada assets here.’”

An unlikely pairing was born: a Negroni colada. Jankovic started by making the Negroni, mixing it with lime, pineapple and clarified coconut milk.

“It’s not as bitter as a Negroni, but not as sweet as a colada,” he says. “It’s a great balance.”

These drinks are joined by innovative mixes on the cocktail menu, like the El Nut Sour, made with aged pisco, amaretto and young coconut and the Stirred with Tamarind, made with bourbon, sour tamarind and ripe banana.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mercy Me DC (@mercyme.dc)

At the beginning of December, you’ll be able to sip cocktails and sample cuisines on a new patio with Patagonia-inspired touches, and also in a new Patagonian-themed chalet, where the smell and taste of fresh pineapple cider will add a new element to the overall ambiance. A fire pit will add warmth to the new spaces, and other hot drinks will complete the experience. A private dining space will also be available for groups of 10-14.

The new Mercy Me builds on D.C.’s overall dining scene, adding upscale South American offerings to its repertoire.

“There was a time when people would go out to eat and genuinely be happy and enjoy,” Bogdanovic says. “It was a convivial, joyful experience to eat. So, we’re looking to bring that, adding more to the weight of the concept itself.”

Mercy Me: 1143 New Hampshire Ave. NW, DC; mercymedc.com // @mercyme.dc

Want to discover more of D.C.’s delicious food scene? Join the District Fray community for exclusive access to culinary experiences citywide. Become a member and support local journalism today.

Abi Newhouse

Abi Newhouse is a writer based in Washington, D.C. A recent MFA graduate from George Mason University, her work can be found in The American Scholar, Mud Season Review, and Sediments Literary-Arts Journal, among others.

Interests

Food + Drink

Neighborhood

Foggy Bottom

Share with friends

Share:

Related Articles

<h3>No Articles</h3>
COMPANY
About United Fray Team Hiring: Join Our Team!
GET INVOLVED
Become A Member Corporate Wellness Contact: Media Pitches + Advertising Inquiries
EXPLORE
Eat Drink Music Culture Life Play Events Calendar
OUR CITIES
Washington D.C. Jacksonville Phoenix United Fray
Sign Up

Get the best of D.C. delivered to your inbox with one of our weekly newsletters.

Sign Up

© 2025 District Fray – Making Fun Possible.