Son’s 15th Birthday celebration.

A group of ten of us dined at Carmine's for a birthday celebration. I was happy they offered us a large round table that easily accommodated our group; long tables often make it difficult for group conversation. Carmine's has several of these larger tables, which is a big plus.

Our waiter started off quite attentive and then his enthusiasm dwindled by the end of the meal. We clearly did not overstay as there was no one waiting for tables and every large table near us was empty. In any case, the food was good with the exeption of the rigatoni, which was really unappetizing in taste and appearance. We ordered two hot antipasto platters which were great and more than enough to satisfy our group. Particularly good were fried ravioli, artichoke dip, mussels and clams. The cold antipasto platter was similarly good, with thin slices of proscuitto, seafood salad, and eggplant tapenade. The only downside to these platters is that they are incredibly heavy and large and that made sharing difficult. We had to serve each other since the platters were far too heavy to pass. For entrees we had chicken cutlet, shrimp and chicken parmagiana, spaghetti and meatballs and the aforementioned rigatoni. Everything was delivered hot and the food was good; nothing special, but it was good and plentiful.

Now back to the rigatoni. We were really sorry we chose that one. Unfortunately, none of the dishes on the menu has a description and we didn't know it would be packed with white beans and stringy hunks of sausage. Definitely not what we hoped for. Our fault for not asking more questions!

Carmine's is good for groups, but a bit on the pricey side for what you get. I Parking is available around the corner in a lot that takes you right to the restaurant, but at $25 for the evening, it might be worth driving around to find something less expensive. Valet would have been available for $11 after 5, but our reservation was for 4:30.

Doc was our waiter, he was great. Kept us informed. I had gone years ago to Carmine’s in New York on the upper west side and have been dying to eat there again.

Carmine's is our go-to place when going out with a small or large group of friends or with family. Good food with portions served family style.

Our first time to Carmine’s! It was a Saturday evening. The main entrees are not quite as big as you think. Plates are made for sharing but the quantity is not there for the price. Salad was very good. Ravioli’s are plump and tasty. Chicken Parm was tasty - evenly thin. Coating of cutlets were not as flavorable as expected. Garlic bread was very, very good. Bread basket of plain white bread..... saw many of baskets coming out in main dining room. Server did not bring us any if it was standard fair. Server was pleasant but looked overwhelmed. We were in a room with three other groups. He was bouncing from one table to the next. Wine and sangria good. Ordered 1/2 order of cannolis. Three small ones for $9. Full order of six $18. Overall it was Ok.... prefer Maggiano’s.....

Our dining experience was top notch from beginning to end! We were seated promptly, had a fabulous waiter named Doc who was courteous, attentive and so friendly, food and drinks were terrific, service was great and a great time was had by all! We will be back again when we visit DC!!

Good ambiance, big food entrees, nice for large group.

Delicious Italian food served family style. Great place to bring a group.
Large bar area with tv, if you want to catch the game.
Good specials during happy hour

Great place for a large group. Huge portions. Excellent quality!

Carmine's is very busy, wonderful Italian fare served family style, expensive but very large portions. This is a better place for parties of 4 or more, given that the portions are so large they will overwhelm a couple. Nevertheless, we ate there. After a hiccup with the hostess who didn't seat us right away, whilst seating others who came in after, we were seated and had to wait a bit to get an order in and quite long to get our drinks. Food came quickly after the order, however, and it was hot and very tasty. We had the Veil Parmigiana, with thin veal and rich marinara sauce and cheese topping. The Carmine salad (anti-pasto) was also quite good.

Our server, Nigel was great and did a great job with his recommendations and our service and our lengthy meal. Nice overall atmosphere and fun evening.

Everything was fantastic.... but the HUGE portions were wasted on only 2 of us. You pay for the huge portions and then waste half of it😰

My only disappointment was that the food prices were not posted. The special for the evening was more than $100 for the platter. I believe that a price that much above the "typical" menu items should have been posted. Otherwise, our waiter was awesome and the food taste and quality were top-notch!

Meatballs were great. Enough food for a couple of meals. Outstanding service. All of the staff was very friendly.

We went to the restaurant Prior to the event at the capital one center. The service was very good and pretty fast even though there was. large crowd. I would go there again.

Overall great. One of our favorites

It was pretty good but I wish there was an alternative to the huge portion sizes. Dinner ends up being very expensive for a lot of food you'd rather not take home.

Too loud this time.

This was our first time dining at Carmines. After looking at the menu on-line, we were not totally sure how it worked ---- thought the list of dishes sounded totally wonderful!! It was when we got there and our amazing waiter (Mike), explained the various options and how all the items you could order generally fed at least 3 and more often then not 4 people that we truly came to appreciate the comfort-food and relaxed nature of this wonderful dining experience. My wife, who is very much a critic of food said this was the best lasagna she ever had (and that included her own!!!)

We arrived at about shift change, 1st waiter mixed up our drink order and made us feel as if we had to order bread off the menu and not the free basket, 2nd waiter was an excellent server, helped us with every question we had and gave great recommendations.

Super fast service and super great food! Huge portions!

Great family style Italian food place! Extremely loud so be prepared to work to drown out the table next to you.

Excellent Italian food, served family-style in enormous portions. We had a dinner salad and chicken marsala; large enough for four. Very noisy, bustling place with Bronx-like atmosphere. Expect nothing fancy but bring your appetite!

Excellent meal! On college tour with son, he'd been before in NYC. We had a great experience! Our waiter was wonderful, cocktail yummy, food delicious. We were seated, greeted and served our meal in a very timely manner. Only wish we had more people with us so we could try more dishes.

The one in New York came highly recomended by a friend, so we wanted to try this out. We were disappointed, from service (had to ask for bread!), to portions (claimed to be enough for 2 persons, but it was more for four!). The food was good, but not better than, let's say, Olive Garden - and at almost 3 times pricier! We might try the one in NY, hopefully better than the DC one!

Did not disappoint! The service was excellent. The food was divine. The Blood orange margarita was outstanding. Our waitress was friendly and attentive.

Great experience, service, and food. Great for a large group.

Excellent food and great value

Service was sub par. Food is family style that feeds at least 3-4. Food was kinda blah and not very tasty. We went when most people where leaving for a Caps playoff game. Was not impressed and will not go back when in DC.

Excellent food and a great option when dining with a group.

Food portions are gigantic. Waiter asked us if we wanted garlic bread for our table, then charged us $18.50 for it. Food was very good. We had enough food for eight people between the two of us. Good place for large groups to share portions.

This place has always been very good. Went there on 4/9/18 and the service was horrible and the shrimp scampi with angle hair was so dry it wasn’t even eatable. Told the waiter but he didn’t care and we paid for a crappy meal. I will go back because it has always been very good.

Amazing staff, food, and place. Would come back anytime in any city.

Unfortunately, as soon as we sat down the restaurant's fire alarm went off. After a bit of confusion whether diners need to exit or not, we were reassured that the alarm was triggered by apartments above the restaurant. We then had to sit at our table and listen to the alarm go off for the next 30-45 minutes--flashing and repeating an ear-piercing announcement over and over. No way to celebrate a family birthday. To add insult to injury, the waiters then proceeded to dump tomato sauce all down the back of my father's jacket! It was perhaps one of the most unpleasant dining experiences I've ever had.

Had a reservation for 8:30. Finished prior engagement earlier and called to see if we could get seated earlier. Was told to come in they would see what they could do. Got there about 6:30 and was told by the hostess, who couldn’t find my reservation, that no it would be closer to my reservation time which they had at 8. Left and cane back at 7:30. Was still told no we had to wait. So we waited at the bar. Had a male in the party check in the reservation and was told we would be seated right away. Go figure. Placed our food order and about 15-20 minutes in the fire alarm goes off. We are in a small room with five other tables that seat large parties. Once the alarm goes off the table behind us and our table are ready to leave. Coming from NY and never forgetting 9/11 when an alarm goes off the first instinct is to exit. The waiter comes in and says no you don’t have to leave this happens all the time. The building fire alarm goes The manager Ashley comes to both our tables and pretty much says the same thing. No apology no sorry this noise and flashing stone light is ruining your meal what can I do to make it better , nothing. Just yes it’s okay to continue to eat as the building is not actually on fire. The table behind us decided to ask for their food to go as they all worked in health and safety and did not feel comfortable staying. So the alarm continued for at least another twenty minutes to the point that our food came but it was difficult to enjoy it much less the company as the alarm kept blaring. We decided to leave as at this point everyone at the table was miserable and asked to see the manager again. This time Ashley came to the table. Again she reaffirmed that this happens all the time they have no control over it. I just think if this happens all the time management reaction should be better. Our evening was ruined and won’t be going back there.

I had a reservation I was seated a few minutes after the time which was fine. The waiter was terrible and had a very nasty attitude. We had to ask for bread when asking him a question he would respond very nasty. It was a very unwelcoming feeling we were a happy group minus his personality. Other then that the food was great and I would return. If you don't have the personality or patience for a large groups don't do it.

My wife and I had an early dinner at Carmines before the show at the theater across the street. This was our first visit to the restaurant. Everyone made sure we were comfortable and accommodated to the fullest extreme. The food was fantastic. Can't wait to visit again in the near future. Will bring friends the next time for sure.

The waiter was almost rude and not helpful with our questions. Family style buffet was confusing. The food was ok but kind of overpriced for what was offered. We chose the restaurant as kids friendly but not even a coloring activity was offered for the kids. Overall probably not going to revisit this restaurant in the future.

Worst food I ever had lasagna tasted like chef Boyardee from a can. Not sure why this place was so highly rated but I would move on to some other small local places that actually care about the quality of food they supply.

Great location, great food, and excellent service !!!!!