Blue Duck Tavern

What a great place! We arrived almost thirty minutes early but since it was a later reservation and there weren’t a lot of people dining, they seated us immediately. We had a great talk about food with the assistant general manager, Nick. He explained us to what the Blue Duck Tavern was all about. I have to say that the dim lighting, hand crafted wood chairs, and the hearty food I had just eaten made me feel as if I were dining at a roadside tavern circa 1800.

Rabbit fricassee is what I came for but I was informed it had just been recently taken off the menu. Nick suggested the pheasant which was the rabbits replacement on the menu. I went with that as it had many of the qualities that made me desire the rabbit in the first place. After the first bite I was disappointed no more. It was the tenderest pheasant I had ever eaten. It just melted in my mouth. It was so good I had to request some bread to sop up the rest. Can you do that at a Michelin restaurant? I wasn’t leaving a drop behind regardless!

Awesome staff! Great food! Unique atmosphere! The star is well deserved!

Had brunch on Saturday and overall it was exceptional. Great service and atmosphere, plus excellent food quality.

Wonderful experience. Our server was fantastic. Frank was engaging and knowledgeable. We had bone marrow and oysters for appetizers, then duck, pheasant and pork chop. Delicious, especially the pheasant. Desserts were creative and very good. Definitely would go back again.

Disappointed about the main courses : cheeseburger was nothing impressive, and spicy pepper is unnecessary, duck confit was tough. Horrible hot chocolate - tastes like too sweet cheap cacao, costs 10$, but good for 2-3 people.
Liked: brussel sprouts and hazelnut mousse. These two were great. Crab cake is good too.

Wonderful service, excellent and delicious portions, great ambiance.

Fabulous meal, foie gras appetizer was amazing!

I had the duck and omg it was out of this world! I don’t say that a lot . Wife had cavatelli and is was made with rye flour

Brunch burger was good overall. However, the egg was not as requested. Requested over medium instead of sunny and it was cooked a tad too long. Pecan sticky bun was dried out almost hard. The fries were great and I also enjoyed the sorbet mimosa. I would return as the service and food was good overall.

It was terrible. The steak was tough and full of sinew. My sister ate two bites. The vegetable pot pie potatoes were undercooked and hard. I couldn’t eat them. The bone marrow was so overpowered by other things it was like eating barbecue. My father’s fish was the only decent thing and it was nothing special. The wine just ok. The restaurant was loud and uninviting. The service was meh. Our waiter was nice but not helpful. Overall, for the price this place is not worth your time. Go anywhere else.

Everything was fantastic! Highly recommend this restaurant.

Excellent food and drink, very knowledgeable and attentive servers. We had a very memorable evening.

Great food and service

Did not live up to the expectations of a Michelin Star restaurant. The Michelin Star review was mostly focused on the decor of Blue Duck Tavern. The food quality was fine for the most part BUT not Michelin star quality at all

Blue Duck Tavern was one of my favorite experiences in DC. The food was delicious, fast and well worth the price. Our server Craig was extremely knowledgeable and made the whole dining experience even better. I would definitely recommend Blue Duck Tavern to everyone.

Excellent service and one of the best brunch menus I’ve ever tried. Also gluten free pastry trio? What’s not to like?

We made a reservation for my sister's birthday and were very impressed. When making the reservation I indicated that it was for a birthday and when we arrived we were given menus that said happy birthday at the top. The service was friendly and prompt and the food was outstanding.

Went here for my brothers wife’s bday and it was incredible! Food, service and everything was a 10!

OUTSTANDING!!! Picked this for a going away lunch with and colleague and was not disappointed.

Excellent farm to table menu with wonderfully prepared vegetables.

Phenomenal food, service second to none. For a birthday they even print your name on the menu. The bass from the SoulCycle studio next door was a little shocking for such a fine restaurant, but it goes away once the classes are over. Definitely worth the time and money.

First time I had a bad experience here, it was disappointing because it’s one of our favorite restaurants and we were entertaining a friend. Seasonal menu changes are great and welcome, but please retain the integrity of the dishes that made you great!

The BDT is consistently remarkable. My favorite restaurant in DC since the day it opened.

Our server Kushma was great, friendly, discrete and quick. Took very good care of our wedding anniversary dinner.
Blue Duck Tavern has increased overall quality, even higher than before.

food was excellent. i don't know that i have had better food in dc

Lovely service and creative tasty food.

When in D.C. I always try to work in visit to Blue Duck Tavern.

The service was impeccable. Some of the dishes were definitely shining stars, but overall the food was a little underwhelming.

This is my third time dinning at the Blue Duck Tavern. Great food, atmosphere, service, etc!

Just plain outstanding! If you're thinking of going to Blue Duck Tavern, stop thinking and go!

Starters were a good start but it was downhill from there.
Decent grub but definitely not worthy of a star.
Sorry.

Wonderful consistent awesome

I took my husband's assistant for an annual special birthday lunch with a glass of champagne to start. I had written that it was a special birthday lunch, so they had it printed at the top of the menu, which she loved. The food was beyond spectacular... each and every dish was over the top in quality, taste and presentation. I will return for the next special lunch I am planning with other friends!

I had a wonderful evening at Blue Duck Tavern. As soon as my significant other and I were seated, our server, David, greeted us and acknowledged our reservation note for our 8:00 pm show at the Kennedy Center which I very much appreciated. I have to say this - what keeps guests returning to a restaurant is not just the food, but the service - David was truly wonderful, very professional yet personable and charming.

As for the food, our appetizers and entrees were delicious. I appreciate the seasonal menu and the unique twists on the food. For instance, the entree chicken dish had grapes in it which you think would be odd but how they were prepared made them taste like a root vegetable, sort of like a radish, so it worked beautifully with the dish.
The seasonal cocktail menu looked interesting, I opted to try the pumpkin pie pisco sour. A bit sweet for my taste but would make a great dessert cocktail.

That said, I would absolutely return to BDT and have already recommended it to my friends and family.

Perfect service and food was delicious. A little on the pricey side but would highly recommend. Staff was super at tentative and catered without problem for food allergies.

Everything was great. The only improvements I would make would be:

1. When serving coffee in carafe/pot, it should be on a burner or wrapped in a cozy to keep the remaining coffee hot.
2. We were seated near the windows on 24th St and it was quite cold. The morning was breezy and cold and sitting there made it feel a bit too cool.

Otherwise, everything was perfect. Thank you.

Expensive, bathroom out of service. Food very average

I had heard about BDT since I moved to DC 2 years ago and all reviews were very positive. Decided it would be a great spot to take family visiting from out of town. I played up the Michelin star and all the great things I had heard. Unfortunately, BDT did not meet expectations.

First Impression: When we first walked in the door the three girls up front looked at us then went back to looking at their phones. Thinking that must not be the host stand, we continued walking until another hostess saw us, led us back to the front, pushed aside the other three and took us to our table. We had a 5:45pm reservation so assumed that they must just be getting into work for the evening or something.

The Food: 1 of the three bone marrow pieces was off and tasted almost like oysters, the other two were very good. The foie gras mousse didn't have much flavor and we did not get the johnny cakes until asking about them. The branzino was nothing special and mostly just tasted like dill. The duck was overly charred. Then the pumpkin and pork side was terrible. The pumpkin was burnt on one side and untouched on the other while the pieces of pork were just charred dry chunks. Only dishes that did not receive complaints from the group were the braised beef rib and horseradish potato puree which were both delicious. Again we had an early reservation and the restaurant was not that busy so I don't understand the quality issues.

My aunt wanted to pay for the dinner so I did not raise any concerns while at BDT. She was happy we were together and really enjoyed the wine we had selected. Today she and my cousin commented that the restaurant was nice but the food was nothing too special. I was embarrassed that I suggested BDT instead of the steakhouse they had wanted to try.

I took my fiancé here for his birthday and had requested in advance that they write a special message for him, perhaps for the dessert. They went above and beyond and wrote it on our menus, and also on his dessert. The food was excellent — highly recommend the bone marrow and duck breast.

Best duck ever!

Wonderful! Pricey . . . But wonderful.