Axtondo is a small Spanish cuisine restaurant that knows how to fill a space, and your appetite.

by Yuliya Panfil

Rufino Bautista, former Executive Chef at Estadio and Asia Nora, had long dreamed of opening his own restaurant where he could be the boss and serve the dishes he loved.

He knew exactly the type of cuisine he would serve: northern Spanish. And he knew what he would name his restaurant: Atxondo, after the Basque city where he had the best meal of his life.

Bautista had once lived on upper 14th Street NW, and had loved that quiet stretch just above Columbia Heights ever since. The area wasn’t bustling and it wasn’t trendy, but he dreamt stubbornly of opening his restaurant exactly there.

And so, after years of waiting and planning, Bautista finally got the keys to 4724 14th Street — on March 1, 2020.

“I didn’t know how bad it would get. I was so excited to open, I didn’t pay attention to anything that was coming,” Bautista laughs, recalling his epically bad timing of opening what some are calling Petworth’s best new restaurant.

“That week we found out that the city was shutting down because of COVID. And I thought, ‘oh, what did I get into?’”

Some days, Bautista recalls, not a single patron came in. Some days, just one. But somehow Atxondo held on, and as pandemic restrictions lifted word began to spread about the unassuming restaurant that delivered Michelin Star-worthy food.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup, Spanish Olives, whole almonds, green apple salad (summer salad), homemade potato chips with ground chorizo

On a recent Friday night Atxondo’s outdoor patio was full. A guitarist played flamenco music as couples and families dug into grilled octopus, mussels, patatas bravas and cauliflower a la plancha.

Then the guitarist launched into Bamboleo by the Gypsy Kings and everyone began clapping and singing along. A toddler tumbled out of his parents arms and danced happily on the sidewalk. It felt like a place where you could do that.

Bautista said he hopes Atxondo will be “a restaurant the neighborhood deserves” serving great food, unpretentiously delivered in a relaxed, community atmosphere.

Asked about his favorite dish on the menu, Bautista demurred, “The other dishes would feel bad,” he said, if he chose a favorite. Instead, he offered that some of the most popular dishes include the patatas bravas, tortilla espanola, gambas al ajillo, the ribeye steak and Atxondo’s take on a cheeseburger, with manchego cheese, caramelized onions, piquillo peppers and crispy jamon serrano.

Despite a rocky start, Bautista said he is thrilled to have opened in the location he had dreamt of, and excited to see customers return time and again.

“[During the height of Covid] I knew that once people started eating my food they’d want to come back,” Bautista said. “That’s what gave me hope and made me happy. And now, the customers keep coming back. We’re building a bigger family every day.”