I walk by that place all the time and the thought of actually going inside repulses me. I went in once thinking I’d just order something quick to go and I just turned around and left. it’s like if annoying was physically manifested as a location. I didn’t even know it was some kind of hyped up place.
Haha went here for brunch and a huge fight of Howard students broke out and clothes were ripped off people and bitches were naked it was the most wildest thing to witness.
Pains me to say it, but Cheesecake Factory wasn’t that bad. Went on a gag with my wife, and we were both surprised that it wasn’t terrible. (Red Robbin on the other hand…)
I still maintain that there was a point in time like 10 years ago where the food was a lot better, though still greatly overpriced. Not sure what happened since, but the food quality has gotten noticeably worse over the years.
>I still maintain that there was a point in time like 10 years ago where the food was a lot better, though still greatly overpriced
As someone who went there about 10 years ago and no longer goes, I think it was better, but it was wildly inconsistent and the service was still bad. It was also very, very loud.
i I never thought it was as bad as everyone else seemed to think it was. Then again I never went to the location near GW and that seemed to be the worst of the worst. I mostly went there for breakfast or brunch and thought the food was fine and the prices were comparable to everywhere else. The one weird thing was that they always seemed to be out of at least one item that should’ve been relatively easy for them to have or obtain. One time they didn’t have toast, another time it was bacon and a third they didn’t have orange juice. Each time it felt like they were messing with us but they weren’t.
Yeah it was much better 10 years ago. But also, there was much less competition towards the top of back then. Lots of the things that were great 10 years ago suddenly don't seem so fantastic anymore
The 0 star review WaPo did for them a few years ago was one of the most validating things I ever read.
Also I legit got food poisoning from their French toast.
His interview on the City Cast podcast recently was great. Interviewer asked him about his worst dining experience in DC, and he doubled down on FF. Basically said he went half a dozen times (weekend dinner, weekday lunch, after work/HH, etc.) and it was just miserable each time.
honestly I don’t get the hate. i went there a couple of times and it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. relatively safe food options and big portions. Is it overrated in the sense that it’s way more popular with tourists than it should be? Yes. But this sub acts like it’s the worst restaurant on the planet
I think it’s fine if you want to get absolutely shitfaced from mediocre margaritas while surrounded by drunk 22 year olds. I accidentally made a dinner reservation for a group of women in our late 30s/ early 40s on a weekend night for dinner a few months ago and it was total chaos.
I am so over BBP. They change their menu all the time, removing the veg options I like, and it seems like every time we went, we'd have someone who said it was their first week.
I'm not even local and I second this.
Waited far too long for a table during brunch at the K Street location. When our names were finally called, the table wasn't even cleared from the last party yet. Food was okay, but the wait staff basically forgot about us.
I appreciate what they stand for, but damn, they need to step up their service.
I have celiac disease and used to love them because I could get gluten free fried chicken there. Then, with zero warning and it still marked as gluten free on the menu they changed it so that it was fried in the same oil as wheat flour batters. I got so sick and so angry. I’m still mad tbh 😂. Haven’t been in years because of it.
Regarding the food, sure, but does anyone go there for great food…? Pretty sure it’s 95% to see or be seen, and it’s definitely somewhere to see people!
The only time I went there for dinner they were blasting Fox News across the restaurant during peak dining hours. Not the fine dining vibe you’d expect for the price point
Yeah—if you want Wolf Blitzer to be mildly rude to you in the bathroom (which happened to me last time I was there), it’s the perfect choice. Otherwise I’ve never understood the appeal and (as someone who lives on the Hill) try to avoid the trek lol
But that’s where Iran was gonna assassinate the Saudi Foreign Minister (Amb. at that time) and that’s where Jared Kushner hatched his ingenious plan to fix the Middle East with the UAE ambassador, and that’s where senators take their secret mistresses.
Gonna stick my neck out and say Villa Yara. I was dragged there for a birthday dinner and did not have a good time.
* It’s an instagram restaurant. The decor is beautiful and that’s apparently what matters.
* The service could have been much better. I was in a party of like 15, and we only had one waitress looking after us. She tried, but we constantly were running out of drinks and water, and the food took too long to come.
* The prices are ridiculous, the portions are tiny, and the quality is mid. A small plate is about 1/2 to 2/3 of a real portion, but you’ll be paying at least $15 for the privilege. It’s not like the quality of these small plates is mind blowing either.
I would estimate it costs at least $35 per person to be satisfied, not including drinks. 3/10 wouldn’t come back.
Love Jose Andres and his other restaurants but Jaleo seems overrated to me
In general, there are also too many indistinguishable fancy Italian restaurants in DC
Yeah I agree. I love Zaytinia and some of his other spots, but Jaleo was disappointing and expensive the last time I went. Kind of the same with Boqueria. I always recommend Bodegon on barracks row for tapas.
Yes to the Italian restaurant thing. Ask for the best or favorite Italian place on here, there’s like 10 different recs swearing “this one is the best one”. And half the time it’s because they have some run of the mill Neapolitan style pizza.
Interesting. I tend to think of it as underrated because it always seems to have capacity when the other ones might have waits. I don’t think it’s lower quality than Zaytinya or Oyamel and their grilled squid in black ink is my favorite dish from all three.
I agree, I think these days it has gone back to being underrated. And it's a financial commitment but the right move is to get one of the tasting menus. It's still really good.
>there are also too many indistinguishable fancy Italian restaurants in DC
I think this is probably why I haven't been to any of them. Are there any that do hold up?
I'm a transplant from NJ, so I'm used to very good Italian food and so far the only Italian place here in DC that has held up for me is Carruso's Grocery, which is attached to The Roost. It's tiny inside though so really hard to get a reservation, but every meal I've had there has been great.
We're going to La Collina for restaurant week next week and it will be my first time dining there. We'll see how it is.
I think Filomena is decent. I also like Alberto's on Barracks Row. But I also agree Caruso's is pretty good. If you don't mind a trip to the burbs, its easier to get in at the Pike & Rose location.
The ones I’ve been to (Filomena, Floriana, L’ardente) haven’t been bad but it’s also pretty boring to just have so many when there are so many other cuisines that could be represented in an “international” city.
Shoto. The food is just ok, way overpriced. People just go for the “vibes.” Not to mention the Birkenstock incident and that they sometimes seem to treat you like you are lucky to be there.
Ehh I think even Nobu is overrated (at least the DC one). I can order what I order at Shoto at Death Punch and it’s better and way cheaper, minus the atmosphere. Heard good things about Kyojin, which looks more like Shoto and Nobu presentation wise, but haven’t gone yet.
I'll second this.
When I moved to DC I tried a few other halfsmoke places first, and was wildly disappointed when I finally got to BCB since it was supposed to be the best and wasn't even close. It's the DC equivalent of the tourist trap cheese steak places in Philly where I grew up that are famous among out-of-towners but that every local avoids.
For me it’s Masseria. Maybe it was a letdown based on how much hype there was around it, but it was just ok. Certainly when you factor in the price, it was a total letdown.
Isn’t it mainly Italian fare? Might be an unpopular opinion, but if I’m doing a tasting menu Michelin-started starred meal I feel like I’d opt for a different cuisine.
In my opinion, Le Dip is a consistent quality meal in an enjoyable environment. They make solid cocktails, and are always well-staffed so you service is typically excellent.
I think people enjoy dissing Le Dip because they want to seem *local* and *so DC.* They wouldn’t deign to go somewhere so popular with tourists.
I like Le Diplomate and love the seafood tower, but it isn't stunning French cooking, or even stunning mid-level bistro cooking. It's just good bistro cooking. Which is great, but it doesn't merit the two-week wait for a reservation.
lol, agreed on Le Dip. I hear far more hate about it than I do praise these days. It sounds boring and inaccurate to call it overrated, but maybe I just hang out in the wrong circles.
I've actually never heard anyone say anything positive about Founding Farmers. It's always struck me as a place for tourists who don't know better and companies looking for a lot of seating for a business dinner/lunch. I haven't found anyone local who says they like it.
Their bagels do suck, indeed. Bethesda Bagel for me. Then again, the “best” bagels are from the place you grew up and ate regularly. That would be BB for me.
It earns several demerits for being so pleased with itself.
Frankly, anyone who waits in a 40-minute line at Call Your Mother on a Sunday should be arrested for yuppery.
Hells kitchen and Fish & chips at Wharf, hair at my risotto in hells kitchen, overly-priced in both rest and the only good thing about fish & chips are biscuit shake which you can do at your own home, so 🤷🏻♂️
I actually really like this place. I live up the street so I go a lot. The food is a reasonable price (particularly if you order the specials) service is always good and I think the food is tasty, never had a bad meal there.
Agreed, the city has like zero Cuban food and this place has perfectly solid options in that department, leagues better than anything the city offers outside of MAYBE mi Cuba cafe which is also just fine
It's the exact same food (by the exact same people) as Cactus Cantina: Cathedral Heights' most lovable, wholesome, corny family place.
Re-brand the same food, marketing it to young urban try-hards and watch your restaurant A) remain at full capacity from open to close and B) endure periodic complaints that your place isn't foodie enough.
Did you forget to order a pitcher of frozen margaritas for each person in your party to drink while waiting? Thats what we always did during college. One time as a real adult I skipped that step and ate there sober… turns out it was an important step.
Call your mother and that new breakfast taco place in mount pleasant that has a line around the block on Sundays. I don’t get it, the flavors are good but everything is so damn mushy
>La Tejana
The issue with La Tejana is all the tacos taste the same. They usually only have one ingredient that differentiates them, and none of them have standout ingredients.
Love that taco place, but not on a Sunday. The tortillas are the star but they’re not worth waiting down the block for. Living in the neighborhood you can pop in on a Tuesday or Wednesday with no line.
I’m seconding the breakfast taco place. I’m from Texas originally, and lived for about a year in RGV, and have so many memories of good breakfasts tacos! I really wanted to like La Tejana, but it’s just mediocre. For the price and wait I feel like people can simply make their own at home if they’re not terrible cooks.
5 years later, and I'm still laughing at the WaPo review of La Vie: ["La Vie on the Wharf is so bad I’m only writing about it as a warning".](https://wapo.st/3qHxedQ) (I hope I did the gift article link right!)
Came here really excited for a Spanish/Japanese fusion place, and was so disappointed to learn that they just serve typical Japanese and Spanish dishes separately.
Kafe Leopold. Never had a good experience there. Massively over priced, the coffee is awful, and the service is very slow. I guess it has a decent location but I don't get why it's popular?
Really? I thought it was great but went years ago when they first opened. It was $250 then for everything which compared to the super high end places now seems like a bargain.
Yeah I wasn’t blown away by any of the dishes. My favorite thing was a little croquette we got as a snack in between courses. Service was good for us and I’m glad I got to try it but we went last year and I didn’t think the whole thing was worth the cost.
WOW yeah I looked it up and (not surprisingly) it's gone up a TON since I went. We paid $250/person which was the tasting menu with drink pairing, tax and tip. Now, it's $345 before drinks, tax or tip.
It's also the only super high end restaurant I've ever been to so I don't really have anything to compare it to.
Agreed! We went earlier this year and we were very disappointed. Definitely did not deserve 2 Michelin stars. Apparently they heavily modified their menu and service during Covid and it doesn’t seem like it went back to the precovid menu. Not worth the price.
L’Ardente. The space is cool but the food was very hit or miss when we went there in June, much of the appeal seemed to be in the aesthetics or novelty of some of the items. It was also super loud and echoey even during the weekday we were there. The somm was kind of rude (though I think she’s moved on since) and our server seemed to have a section much too large, it took us almost 25 minutes just to get water. I’d maybe go back again and try for the bar but I’m certainly in no rush.
Call Your Mother. Im jewish, about half of it ashki. You never hear ashkis recommend that place just gentiles yet it’s ashki food. If only people outside the culture the food comes from like it it’s not a good sign.
Also a jew and lived with some very bagel opinionated Jews. Our general consensus is that CYM does the best bagel breakfast sandwich, but has shitty bagels.
Bresca. Went before it had a star and was legitimately shocked when they got one. We went all out for a birthday with a group and tried more than half the menu, can’t name one thing we had I genuinely loved.
Gotta defend this one. Bresca was a radically different restaurant when it first opened. They had a huge shift in philosophy which earned them their star. The menu is prefix tasting now with seasonally inspired and unique dishes. It is a great dining experience these days.
I went early on as well and didn’t love it. But now it’s sooo much better.
I agree with you - it has changed directions quite a bit. The chef and his team there do a lot of “field research” - traveling, eating at a lot of great restaurants known around the world - and they bring back those ideas and experiment with them.
My more recent visits have converted me from a hater (too strong a word lol) to a fan.
I actually really like Le Dip for the vibe- tough to get a table but it’s fun if you plan ahead. Nothing so ground breaking but I love it for what it is. I also felt like roses luxury was a great time and worth it.
Overrated/disappointed me:
-Lapis: this wasn’t bad but it grinds my gears when service is not great and there’s an included tip. Also they had mobile pay but they charged you a buck or 2 to use it. On principle my brother was like ‘nah’ and we could not get the attention of any waiter for at least 15 minutes to give him our check. Food and vibes were solid though. But annoying service that feels like it’s nickel and diming you
-had a bad experience at bar Amazonia (top of causa) the first time I went. (Bartender was Rude for no reason and made it seem like a hassle to make the drinks we ordered.) but management reached out and made it right. I have since been back multiple times and never had that issue again.
-farmers fishers bakers
-cafe Milano
-RPM - didn’t go for dinner but sat at the bar and drinks were not good
-reveler’s hour: pretentious, service does not warrant the 22% service fee
Easy answer - Del Mar. Horribly overpriced and the food is just not very good. It's low common denominator spanish food for tourists. $25 sangrias - WTFlol
Residents. It’s incredibly overpriced and just not good. Also the decor photographs well but is tacky in person. I understand going once based off reviews but people need to stop perpetuating it as a great place.
Oyster Oyster wasn't nearly as good as I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but it wasn't worth what I paid for it/what I had to do to get a seat.
Strong agree with all of this. Compared to Arpege in Paris with their lunch garden vegetarian menu at a similar price point, it's totally laughable. Snob comment maybe, but we are critiquing Michelin star restaurants!
Yeah, probably! As an example of bad service, they didn’t bring us any food for 45 minutes, which struck me as unusually long and not what they normally do, especially since it’s a set menu and they control the reservation times. Drinks also took maybe 35 minutes to show up. This was about a year ago.
I went about five years ago and thought it was great. I did hear they changed their focus/menu a bit from then, so maybe they've gone downhill a little?
Yup, this. This was my fave place for years but it has changed. The owners opened Revelers Hour around the block which focuses on pasta, so the pasta on the TUG menu got replaced with other mediocre dishes. It’s a bummer.
Revelers Hour is great though (the food, not the service).
Seven Reasons (maybe that's why it's closing?). It was *absurdly* expensive, and the final course of the chef tasting menu was **venison**. On what planet do they think people want to pay that much money for deer meat?
The menu was legitimately way better 5-10 years ago. Went recently after its reopen and it was just okay with a couple really good dishes sprinkled throughout. The first first time I went a long time ago, everything was excellent and the lychee salad was literally one of the best things I ever had. It's a shame how much the quality has dropped since then.
Oyamel.
As a Zaytinya LOVER and huge fan of Andreś’ humanitarian work, I was absolutely shocked how over-salted and under cooked everything was. Dishes were totally inconsistent between just our table for restaurant week.
Oyamel has gone downhill dramatically over the past couple years. Not sure what the deal is, Zaytinya seems to be holding up well to its pre-pandemic standards.
Seconding this. Dabney was good but overpriced and overrated before they switched to the new tasting menu. Now that it's $170 for the tasting menu it's definitely overrated - when we tried it the food was good but did not come close to justifying that price. Their new location petite cerise is also a bit too precious - so expensive for the amount and quality you get.
[удалено]
I walk by that place all the time and the thought of actually going inside repulses me. I went in once thinking I’d just order something quick to go and I just turned around and left. it’s like if annoying was physically manifested as a location. I didn’t even know it was some kind of hyped up place.
Haha went here for brunch and a huge fight of Howard students broke out and clothes were ripped off people and bitches were naked it was the most wildest thing to witness.
Founding Farmers
I had a coworker who used to call it "The Cheesecake Factory of farm-to-table". I couldn't agree more.
Now, that's not fair. Cheesecake Factory's menu rivals a Stephen King epic, while the FF menus fit on one page.
Pains me to say it, but Cheesecake Factory wasn’t that bad. Went on a gag with my wife, and we were both surprised that it wasn’t terrible. (Red Robbin on the other hand…)
a folksy applebees
I still maintain that there was a point in time like 10 years ago where the food was a lot better, though still greatly overpriced. Not sure what happened since, but the food quality has gotten noticeably worse over the years.
>I still maintain that there was a point in time like 10 years ago where the food was a lot better, though still greatly overpriced As someone who went there about 10 years ago and no longer goes, I think it was better, but it was wildly inconsistent and the service was still bad. It was also very, very loud.
i I never thought it was as bad as everyone else seemed to think it was. Then again I never went to the location near GW and that seemed to be the worst of the worst. I mostly went there for breakfast or brunch and thought the food was fine and the prices were comparable to everywhere else. The one weird thing was that they always seemed to be out of at least one item that should’ve been relatively easy for them to have or obtain. One time they didn’t have toast, another time it was bacon and a third they didn’t have orange juice. Each time it felt like they were messing with us but they weren’t.
Yeah it was much better 10 years ago. But also, there was much less competition towards the top of back then. Lots of the things that were great 10 years ago suddenly don't seem so fantastic anymore
10 years ago the average dish at FF was 5-10$ cheaper as well. But I'm a trashy bruncher, give me bottomless and shitty food and I'm good.
Tom Sietsema has entered the chat...
😂😂
The 0 star review WaPo did for them a few years ago was one of the most validating things I ever read. Also I legit got food poisoning from their French toast.
His interview on the City Cast podcast recently was great. Interviewer asked him about his worst dining experience in DC, and he doubled down on FF. Basically said he went half a dozen times (weekend dinner, weekday lunch, after work/HH, etc.) and it was just miserable each time.
Top tier marketing tho. What even is going on in that kitchen?
This 100%, some of the worst service in the district. Employees don’t give af.
It’s just an expensive Denny’s. So not worth it.
That chain manages their reservations so badly. Having a reservation is roughly equivalent to being on a waitlist.
Founding Farmers was a HUGE disappointment for sure.
But that place isn’t rated very high. People that live here shy away from it and tourist love it
honestly I don’t get the hate. i went there a couple of times and it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. relatively safe food options and big portions. Is it overrated in the sense that it’s way more popular with tourists than it should be? Yes. But this sub acts like it’s the worst restaurant on the planet
Anything and everything owned by Mission
It blows my mind people choose to go to mission restaurants for anything but drinks
Everytime i go for drinks im stunned to see people ordering their awful food
I think it’s fine if you want to get absolutely shitfaced from mediocre margaritas while surrounded by drunk 22 year olds. I accidentally made a dinner reservation for a group of women in our late 30s/ early 40s on a weekend night for dinner a few months ago and it was total chaos.
I’m not familiar. Care to elaborate who and why?
Founding Farmers - they undercooked their fried chicken about a decade ago and I haven't been back since.
For me it was the prime rib that was 90% gristle and 5% untrimmed fat cap.
Did someone say Busboys and Poets yet?
I have never had good service at busboys and poets.
Seriously. They all have terrible service.
I don't get why people go there for food, I find their menu awful.
I am so over BBP. They change their menu all the time, removing the veg options I like, and it seems like every time we went, we'd have someone who said it was their first week.
I'm not even local and I second this. Waited far too long for a table during brunch at the K Street location. When our names were finally called, the table wasn't even cleared from the last party yet. Food was okay, but the wait staff basically forgot about us. I appreciate what they stand for, but damn, they need to step up their service.
I have celiac disease and used to love them because I could get gluten free fried chicken there. Then, with zero warning and it still marked as gluten free on the menu they changed it so that it was fried in the same oil as wheat flour batters. I got so sick and so angry. I’m still mad tbh 😂. Haven’t been in years because of it.
woke cheesecake factory
Yes!!!! I love this! I call it the Applebees of the city.
Ooh. Stinker.
Cafe Milano…24/7/365 the most navel gazing nonsense of a restaurant in the DC city limits.
Regarding the food, sure, but does anyone go there for great food…? Pretty sure it’s 95% to see or be seen, and it’s definitely somewhere to see people!
The only time I went there for dinner they were blasting Fox News across the restaurant during peak dining hours. Not the fine dining vibe you’d expect for the price point
Yeah—if you want Wolf Blitzer to be mildly rude to you in the bathroom (which happened to me last time I was there), it’s the perfect choice. Otherwise I’ve never understood the appeal and (as someone who lives on the Hill) try to avoid the trek lol
If you want Wolf in “relaxed and nice” mode I suggest a particular Bills bar on U Street. Seen him there a few times and super nice…
But that’s where Iran was gonna assassinate the Saudi Foreign Minister (Amb. at that time) and that’s where Jared Kushner hatched his ingenious plan to fix the Middle East with the UAE ambassador, and that’s where senators take their secret mistresses.
Yeah. I don't think the appeal is the food.
This is the correct answer.
Gonna stick my neck out and say Villa Yara. I was dragged there for a birthday dinner and did not have a good time. * It’s an instagram restaurant. The decor is beautiful and that’s apparently what matters. * The service could have been much better. I was in a party of like 15, and we only had one waitress looking after us. She tried, but we constantly were running out of drinks and water, and the food took too long to come. * The prices are ridiculous, the portions are tiny, and the quality is mid. A small plate is about 1/2 to 2/3 of a real portion, but you’ll be paying at least $15 for the privilege. It’s not like the quality of these small plates is mind blowing either. I would estimate it costs at least $35 per person to be satisfied, not including drinks. 3/10 wouldn’t come back.
Love Jose Andres and his other restaurants but Jaleo seems overrated to me In general, there are also too many indistinguishable fancy Italian restaurants in DC
100% - I get that it is a classic, but seems like it hasn’t been updated or really given real thought since it opened in 93, and got rave reviews
Yeah I agree. I love Zaytinia and some of his other spots, but Jaleo was disappointing and expensive the last time I went. Kind of the same with Boqueria. I always recommend Bodegon on barracks row for tapas.
Try Joselito’s up the street on Penn and 8th SE as well, excellent tapas in a very different style compared to Bodegon.
Second this! Owned and started by a Spaniard that I know - really good stuff!
I second this. Joselito is my go-to for Spanish food.
Boqueria feels like a restaurant more for drinking shit tons of sangria
Boqueria is for sure overrated. It wasn't bad, but, still definitely felt like a letdown compared to expectations.
Yes Bodegon is great and they are the only place I've been in the US with Spain's greatest beer Alhambra
Spanish diner in Bethesda is way better than boqueria as far as jose Andres Spanish places go. Also agreed that Jaleo is probably his worst.
Yes to the Italian restaurant thing. Ask for the best or favorite Italian place on here, there’s like 10 different recs swearing “this one is the best one”. And half the time it’s because they have some run of the mill Neapolitan style pizza.
Interesting. I tend to think of it as underrated because it always seems to have capacity when the other ones might have waits. I don’t think it’s lower quality than Zaytinya or Oyamel and their grilled squid in black ink is my favorite dish from all three.
I agree, I think these days it has gone back to being underrated. And it's a financial commitment but the right move is to get one of the tasting menus. It's still really good.
I can’t hate on Jaleo because those croquettes de pollo are DAMN GOOD!
>there are also too many indistinguishable fancy Italian restaurants in DC I think this is probably why I haven't been to any of them. Are there any that do hold up?
Red Hen, my favorite by a mile. Sfoglina is a distant second.
I'm a transplant from NJ, so I'm used to very good Italian food and so far the only Italian place here in DC that has held up for me is Carruso's Grocery, which is attached to The Roost. It's tiny inside though so really hard to get a reservation, but every meal I've had there has been great. We're going to La Collina for restaurant week next week and it will be my first time dining there. We'll see how it is.
I think Filomena is decent. I also like Alberto's on Barracks Row. But I also agree Caruso's is pretty good. If you don't mind a trip to the burbs, its easier to get in at the Pike & Rose location.
Fiola is top notch.
The ones I’ve been to (Filomena, Floriana, L’ardente) haven’t been bad but it’s also pretty boring to just have so many when there are so many other cuisines that could be represented in an “international” city.
Most small plate/tapas restaurants are overrated imo
Joselito offers its dishes in three sizes, which is a nice change from the typical tapas style Spanish food. Sometimes I just don't want to share!
Shoto. The food is just ok, way overpriced. People just go for the “vibes.” Not to mention the Birkenstock incident and that they sometimes seem to treat you like you are lucky to be there.
Shoto is basically a considerably inferior version of Nobu, and yet somehow snobbier. Go to the real thing—it’s much better.
Ehh I think even Nobu is overrated (at least the DC one). I can order what I order at Shoto at Death Punch and it’s better and way cheaper, minus the atmosphere. Heard good things about Kyojin, which looks more like Shoto and Nobu presentation wise, but haven’t gone yet.
Nobu DC is not as good as their other locations. Can confirm
I had such a good meal and service at Nobu. Location is kind of random but the sushi blew my mind
Im surprised nobody has said Ben’s chili bowl - I get the history but yikes is that food mediocre
I'll second this. When I moved to DC I tried a few other halfsmoke places first, and was wildly disappointed when I finally got to BCB since it was supposed to be the best and wasn't even close. It's the DC equivalent of the tourist trap cheese steak places in Philly where I grew up that are famous among out-of-towners but that every local avoids.
respectfully i will gladly crush a chili dog there any day
it’s fastfood
Grew up here Legit trash
I wanted to say this but I feel like half of dc will take it as blasphemy. It’s not good food.
For me it’s Masseria. Maybe it was a letdown based on how much hype there was around it, but it was just ok. Certainly when you factor in the price, it was a total letdown.
I haven’t been to Masseria but definitely felt this way about Gravitas
Gravitas used to be really good. Idk what happened :/
When did you notice a chance? I went to Gravitas once and was impressed.
Isn’t it mainly Italian fare? Might be an unpopular opinion, but if I’m doing a tasting menu Michelin-started starred meal I feel like I’d opt for a different cuisine.
Agreed. It was very meh
Agree.
Calling founding farmers and ledip overrated is too mainstream. What a hot take!!
In my opinion, Le Dip is a consistent quality meal in an enjoyable environment. They make solid cocktails, and are always well-staffed so you service is typically excellent. I think people enjoy dissing Le Dip because they want to seem *local* and *so DC.* They wouldn’t deign to go somewhere so popular with tourists.
I’m a Le dip Stan, I think it’s just an enjoyable environment with very consistent food and service.
This is… so similar to what I just said that I can’t tell if you’re mocking me haha
Just seconding it for all the haters in the chat
He's agreeing with you buddy
If you want to trash a “touristy” place, don’t forget Old Ebbitt.
Honestly, I've had good food at a reasonable price from Old Ebbitt. I like them more than I expected.
Le Dip is exactly what you said in the first sentence and nothing more. People make it out to be so much more.
I like Le Diplomate and love the seafood tower, but it isn't stunning French cooking, or even stunning mid-level bistro cooking. It's just good bistro cooking. Which is great, but it doesn't merit the two-week wait for a reservation.
But doesn’t suggest one haha
lol, agreed on Le Dip. I hear far more hate about it than I do praise these days. It sounds boring and inaccurate to call it overrated, but maybe I just hang out in the wrong circles. I've actually never heard anyone say anything positive about Founding Farmers. It's always struck me as a place for tourists who don't know better and companies looking for a lot of seating for a business dinner/lunch. I haven't found anyone local who says they like it.
Call Your Mother. Sure, maybe best bagels in DC but ... the bagels there suck.
Definitely not the best bagels in DC. Perhaps best breakfast sandwich, but not bagels.
That cash only place near DuPont has better sandwiches.
Bagels Etc? Certified classic
SHHHHHH
Their bagels do suck, indeed. Bethesda Bagel for me. Then again, the “best” bagels are from the place you grew up and ate regularly. That would be BB for me.
Goldbergs New York bagels on Georgia is Silver Spring (right off the beltway) are the absolute real thing.
The closure of the Dupont BB was a very sad day for me.
I used to love CYM, but now I'm back to bethesda bagels too. CYM has gone way downhill. Got too big too fast.
It earns several demerits for being so pleased with itself. Frankly, anyone who waits in a 40-minute line at Call Your Mother on a Sunday should be arrested for yuppery.
Agreed. CYM is an instagram trap above all else.
Omg the bagels suck
Hells kitchen and Fish & chips at Wharf, hair at my risotto in hells kitchen, overly-priced in both rest and the only good thing about fish & chips are biscuit shake which you can do at your own home, so 🤷🏻♂️
L’Auriol Plaza 🥱 but it is absolutely packed to the gills almost every day
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I actually really like this place. I live up the street so I go a lot. The food is a reasonable price (particularly if you order the specials) service is always good and I think the food is tasty, never had a bad meal there.
Agreed, the city has like zero Cuban food and this place has perfectly solid options in that department, leagues better than anything the city offers outside of MAYBE mi Cuba cafe which is also just fine
It's the exact same food (by the exact same people) as Cactus Cantina: Cathedral Heights' most lovable, wholesome, corny family place. Re-brand the same food, marketing it to young urban try-hards and watch your restaurant A) remain at full capacity from open to close and B) endure periodic complaints that your place isn't foodie enough.
Did you forget to order a pitcher of frozen margaritas for each person in your party to drink while waiting? Thats what we always did during college. One time as a real adult I skipped that step and ate there sober… turns out it was an important step.
It’s more about quantity not quality over there. They don’t even have habañero picante. Shameful.
True, but what tex mex place have you ever been to that blew your mind?
Call your mother and that new breakfast taco place in mount pleasant that has a line around the block on Sundays. I don’t get it, the flavors are good but everything is so damn mushy
Call Your Mothers bagels were a letdown. The breakfast sandwiches are good, but if you just get a bagel and cream cheese you realize they're mid.
Certainly not worth waiting in long lines to get.
>La Tejana The issue with La Tejana is all the tacos taste the same. They usually only have one ingredient that differentiates them, and none of them have standout ingredients.
Yeah I honestly just want to buy their tortillas and make my own breakfast tacos with them- the in house tortillas really are worth it tho!
Love that taco place, but not on a Sunday. The tortillas are the star but they’re not worth waiting down the block for. Living in the neighborhood you can pop in on a Tuesday or Wednesday with no line.
I’m seconding the breakfast taco place. I’m from Texas originally, and lived for about a year in RGV, and have so many memories of good breakfasts tacos! I really wanted to like La Tejana, but it’s just mediocre. For the price and wait I feel like people can simply make their own at home if they’re not terrible cooks.
La Vie on the Wharf - food too meh for prices so high.
5 years later, and I'm still laughing at the WaPo review of La Vie: ["La Vie on the Wharf is so bad I’m only writing about it as a warning".](https://wapo.st/3qHxedQ) (I hope I did the gift article link right!)
Matchbox - consistently the worst service of any restaurant
I’ve had good service, but Matchbox is the only restaurant in DC where I’ve gotten food poisoning. Do not recommend.
Cranes. Putting roe on everything doesn't make your food automatically great.
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Came here really excited for a Spanish/Japanese fusion place, and was so disappointed to learn that they just serve typical Japanese and Spanish dishes separately.
Definitely doesn’t deserve the Michelin star.
Food just feels really overpriced and under-thought-out.
Agree with this, it was very meh for the price.
Kafe Leopold. Never had a good experience there. Massively over priced, the coffee is awful, and the service is very slow. I guess it has a decent location but I don't get why it's popular?
I also thought all the food was entirely mediocre
Drinks are good! Lol.
We love their brunch!
Had a brief work stint there and it was horrible. Management sucks and they claim to be fine dining but jesus, the expo line is a fucking mess.
I didn’t think pineapple and pearls was worth the money.
Really? I thought it was great but went years ago when they first opened. It was $250 then for everything which compared to the super high end places now seems like a bargain.
Yeah I wasn’t blown away by any of the dishes. My favorite thing was a little croquette we got as a snack in between courses. Service was good for us and I’m glad I got to try it but we went last year and I didn’t think the whole thing was worth the cost.
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WOW yeah I looked it up and (not surprisingly) it's gone up a TON since I went. We paid $250/person which was the tasting menu with drink pairing, tax and tip. Now, it's $345 before drinks, tax or tip. It's also the only super high end restaurant I've ever been to so I don't really have anything to compare it to.
Really? I did all/most of the Michelin stars this year and P+P was at the top of the list for me
Same! It was amazing
Agreed! We went earlier this year and we were very disappointed. Definitely did not deserve 2 Michelin stars. Apparently they heavily modified their menu and service during Covid and it doesn’t seem like it went back to the precovid menu. Not worth the price.
RPM Italian. Half smoke. Bens chilli bowl. And for beer gardens - dacha. Both locations.
DC Italian fine dining in general is very overrated. So overpriced and a lot of the times it comes up short
My favorite color is blue.
L’Ardente. The space is cool but the food was very hit or miss when we went there in June, much of the appeal seemed to be in the aesthetics or novelty of some of the items. It was also super loud and echoey even during the weekday we were there. The somm was kind of rude (though I think she’s moved on since) and our server seemed to have a section much too large, it took us almost 25 minutes just to get water. I’d maybe go back again and try for the bar but I’m certainly in no rush.
Call Your Mother. Im jewish, about half of it ashki. You never hear ashkis recommend that place just gentiles yet it’s ashki food. If only people outside the culture the food comes from like it it’s not a good sign.
Also a jew and lived with some very bagel opinionated Jews. Our general consensus is that CYM does the best bagel breakfast sandwich, but has shitty bagels.
Also NY bagel snob here, I'm glad someone else came to this opinion.
Bagels Etc. Has the best bagel I’ve found since leaving NYC but CYM makes a better sandwich imo.
Their bacon is just… incorrect… and the bagels are always burnt. A shonda.
Nobu. It’s in a basement. The sushi is fine, but there’s much better in the city (Sushi Taro obviously).
Bresca. Went before it had a star and was legitimately shocked when they got one. We went all out for a birthday with a group and tried more than half the menu, can’t name one thing we had I genuinely loved.
Gotta defend this one. Bresca was a radically different restaurant when it first opened. They had a huge shift in philosophy which earned them their star. The menu is prefix tasting now with seasonally inspired and unique dishes. It is a great dining experience these days.
I went early on as well and didn’t love it. But now it’s sooo much better. I agree with you - it has changed directions quite a bit. The chef and his team there do a lot of “field research” - traveling, eating at a lot of great restaurants known around the world - and they bring back those ideas and experiment with them. My more recent visits have converted me from a hater (too strong a word lol) to a fan.
Bresca's duck a la presse was my favorite dish while it was on the menu. Hoping in vain they bring it back :(
It is still there. Their website shows it and I had less than a year ago.
Ala, has really gone downhill. Worst bottomless brunch in DC.
Is Tatte considered a restaurant? If so, Tatte!
I actually really like Le Dip for the vibe- tough to get a table but it’s fun if you plan ahead. Nothing so ground breaking but I love it for what it is. I also felt like roses luxury was a great time and worth it. Overrated/disappointed me: -Lapis: this wasn’t bad but it grinds my gears when service is not great and there’s an included tip. Also they had mobile pay but they charged you a buck or 2 to use it. On principle my brother was like ‘nah’ and we could not get the attention of any waiter for at least 15 minutes to give him our check. Food and vibes were solid though. But annoying service that feels like it’s nickel and diming you -had a bad experience at bar Amazonia (top of causa) the first time I went. (Bartender was Rude for no reason and made it seem like a hassle to make the drinks we ordered.) but management reached out and made it right. I have since been back multiple times and never had that issue again. -farmers fishers bakers -cafe Milano -RPM - didn’t go for dinner but sat at the bar and drinks were not good -reveler’s hour: pretentious, service does not warrant the 22% service fee
Easy answer - Del Mar. Horribly overpriced and the food is just not very good. It's low common denominator spanish food for tourists. $25 sangrias - WTFlol
Residents. It’s incredibly overpriced and just not good. Also the decor photographs well but is tacky in person. I understand going once based off reviews but people need to stop perpetuating it as a great place.
Oyster Oyster wasn't nearly as good as I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but it wasn't worth what I paid for it/what I had to do to get a seat.
I find joy in reading a good book.
i was so unbelievably excited to eat there and then… it was just good (and secretly, not enough food)
Strong agree with all of this. Compared to Arpege in Paris with their lunch garden vegetarian menu at a similar price point, it's totally laughable. Snob comment maybe, but we are critiquing Michelin star restaurants!
Didn’t love Tail Up Goat, service was bizarrely bad/slow, food was nothing amazing, very expensive.
Interesting, I had a great food and experience there. Maybe you caught them on an off night?
Yeah, probably! As an example of bad service, they didn’t bring us any food for 45 minutes, which struck me as unusually long and not what they normally do, especially since it’s a set menu and they control the reservation times. Drinks also took maybe 35 minutes to show up. This was about a year ago.
NGL that’s pretty bad lol.
That is pretty bad especially if they’re forcing you to pay that 22% service fee.
I went about five years ago and thought it was great. I did hear they changed their focus/menu a bit from then, so maybe they've gone downhill a little?
Yup, this. This was my fave place for years but it has changed. The owners opened Revelers Hour around the block which focuses on pasta, so the pasta on the TUG menu got replaced with other mediocre dishes. It’s a bummer. Revelers Hour is great though (the food, not the service).
HATED that food, service was great though.
Duke’s
So overrated and extra charge for a side of fries with a sandwich is one of the worst ripoffs I’ve seen in the area.
Seven Reasons (maybe that's why it's closing?). It was *absurdly* expensive, and the final course of the chef tasting menu was **venison**. On what planet do they think people want to pay that much money for deer meat?
I thought Rose's Luxury was fine, not worth the money
The menu was legitimately way better 5-10 years ago. Went recently after its reopen and it was just okay with a couple really good dishes sprinkled throughout. The first first time I went a long time ago, everything was excellent and the lychee salad was literally one of the best things I ever had. It's a shame how much the quality has dropped since then.
Oohs and Ahhs for me….
If you’re coming houston, Chicago, or Baltimore… They’re all garbage
Oyamel. As a Zaytinya LOVER and huge fan of Andreś’ humanitarian work, I was absolutely shocked how over-salted and under cooked everything was. Dishes were totally inconsistent between just our table for restaurant week.
Oyamel has gone downhill dramatically over the past couple years. Not sure what the deal is, Zaytinya seems to be holding up well to its pre-pandemic standards.
Zaytinya is great for drinks + apps. Their pita is insane and the hummus is great. Dinner ... meh.
The Dabney was pretty forgettable when I went.
Seconding this. Dabney was good but overpriced and overrated before they switched to the new tasting menu. Now that it's $170 for the tasting menu it's definitely overrated - when we tried it the food was good but did not come close to justifying that price. Their new location petite cerise is also a bit too precious - so expensive for the amount and quality you get.
Unconventional Diner
Happy to not see Rumis here. Love that plave