Croix Is the Rooftop You’ve Been Waiting On

Golden hour, Buzzard Point. The Douglass Bridge lit up on one side, the Capitol dome on the other, and a rum drink in your hand that was infused with fever grass upstairs from where you’re sitting. This is new. This just opened.

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Croix landed August 14 on top of the Cambria Hotel at 69 Q Street SW, and it’s the first real reason to be in that part of Southwest after dark. It comes from Keem Hughley, the man behind Realm in Shaw, and this one’s personal. His family is from St. Croix.

That’s the difference. This isn’t “Caribbean-inspired.” Chef Malika King’s menu is Crucian, and it goes where the real food goes: callaloo with a fungi ball, goat pepperpot with cassareep, saltfish layered with johnny cake. Food your auntie would recognize, plated like it belongs on a rooftop.

Start at the Botanic Bar. There’s a lit-up wall behind it holding ten Caribbean botanicals infusing in-house. Fever grass, sorrel, bois bandé, tonka bean, soursop leaf, and every cocktail runs through it. Get the Sorrel ($17), a Negroni built on aged Crucian rum and house sorrel cordial. Or the Guava Blossom ($16), already the crowd favorite. Not drinking? The spirit-free list is $12 and it’s real, not a sad cranberry situation.

Then order for the table. The Croix Casabes ($9 to $11) are cassava bites and the smartest thing on the menu. Get the goat pepperpot and the jerk chicken. Add macaroni pie, coconut rice and pigeon peas, and the curried goat loin with cassava roti ($26). Finish with the rum-soaked black cake.

Two moods up there: the dining room inside, deep green and sit-down, or Croix Veranda outside, open air with its own bars and DJs. That’s where the night goes.

One note. It’s a week old and the kitchen is still finding its rhythm. Go for drinks and casabes now, come back for the ribeye in the fall.

But go.

Croix | 69 Q Street SW, Washington, DC 20024 Tues to Thurs 5 to 10:45pm · Fri and Sat 5 to 11:45pm · Sun 4 to 10pm · Closed Mondays croixrooftop.com · 202-948-2968 · @croixrooftop