Matisse

Excellent in so many ways...service, food, ambience. Well done!

Relatives from out of town raved about the food and presentation. She had the ahi tuna cooked just as she liked, he had the canard confit and was over-the-top impressed. I had the gnocchi, excellent paste with the perfect crème sauce. Service was perfect! Drinks were well crafted. Always a pleasure to dine at Matisse!

Very nice experience although the Glass of champagne at $ 18 was overpriced by about double.

food was good but not great. Omelette did not have much flavor, potato sides same. fresh fruit which came with it was not fresh and mostly applies!

Food was excellent as usual. It is important that the taste of the food doesn't vary from visit to visit.

We always love Matisse. We are just so happy that it is in our neighborhood. Thank you for being there Matisse!

We have enjoyed Matisse since it opened 18 years ago. Delicious, clean cuisine. Always fresh and seasonal from veggies, fish and meat options. Our favorite DC NW restaurant!

As always, the food was delicious and accompanied by excellent wine and attentive service. Matisse remains one of our favorite restaurants.

Assured we would have one of two window tables we booked the reservation. Upon arrival we were told both of the window tables were reserved for others. Worsening our disappointment was being seated close to a table with a guest with a voice that could be heard throughout the restaurant. My wife an I texted our conversation to each other.

A very nice and attentive wait staff helped smooth the wrinkles of seating and noise level challenges.

A recommended wine was so so. A salad listed as bib lettuce turned out to be 2 large wedges of iceberg, an unfortunate beginning. My wife’s appetizer was a very good presentation of tuna with guacamole.

The entree’s were excellent and good. My soft shelled crab almandine was superior while my wife’s scallops were good but not outstanding.

Desert was amazing. A very nice mixed cheese plate with a generous serving of a very famous bourbon PAPPY VAN WINKLE. I’ve never before found PVW on a restaurant menu. This was the crown jewel of the dining experience.

Creative menu in a nice setting. Good wine selection.

Service was a little slow to start.

Wonderful as always - it’s always enjoyable to dine here!

Always a perfect dining experience!!!!!

One of our favorites
No one would expect ambiance to be so charming
Great food...service...bar

Once a favorite, this was a big disappointment. Everything was wrong starting with being unable to get into the restaurant at five when it was supposedly open. We had to hang around for a few minutes till somebody came and unlock the door with no apology whatsoever. My salad arrived with one of the key ingredients featured in the menu missing. It eventually came when I asked for it The bread did not arrive until we were well into our salads. When my fish came it was undercooked although I had ordered medium well. We had to chase down the waiter to get my check. I d never had to work so hard for my supper. We won’t return soon.

We dropped in for Sunday brunch and loved it! The staff are friendly and professional, the atmosphere very classy and so relaxing. I had the Ahi tuna salad — absolutely perfect; my friends had French toast and the crispy banana pancakes — both loved their choices. Wonderful coffee. We enjoyed every minute of our visit and will definitely be back.

Met old friends where we knew we could great great food and service in a relatively quiet and attractive setting. Soft shells were perfectly sautéed and served on a delicious bed of succotash. Shrimp puttanesca was also quite good. Everyone was pleased with their dinner and the service. Parking was available for free on Wisconsin Ave directly in front of Matisse. As seems to be the case everywhere these days, wine as expensive (3x markup if not more).

I would have given a 5 star rating for the food if the soft shell crabs weren’t so small. We dine at Matisse because it is that rare restaurant that serves excellent food and is quiet enough that patrons can actually have a conversation without shouting. Especially important for those who, having reached a certain age, no longer hear as well as before.

First time eating here. Superb meal will definitely return!

Matisse is the perfect place to dine, no matter the occasion! It is casual enough to meet a friend for lunch and elegant enough to celebrate a special event. The food is always superb, the service impeccable and the atmosphere is elegant, yet comfortable. The owner, Fritz Siegfried, makes you feel like you have been invited to his home for dinner!

Fritz is an amazing host and proprietor, the food is uniformly excellent, and the ambiance is great for conversation..

Had a lovely brunch with friends and enjoyed great food and excellent service. It's a gem of a restaurant.

Excellent food and service always--Definitely a place to return and highly recommend

Always delightful

It being our fifty-seventh wedding anniversary, my wife and I (and our son) decided to give ourselves a treat. So we chose Matisse because we know from experience how very good their kitchen is. And once again we were not disappointed. On the contrary, we had a delightful, leisurely, lunch with half a lobster substituted for the tuna in a salad nicoise and a lot of white wine, all followed by poached pears with chocolate sauce and espressos. The windows were open, but it was not noisy or dusty; a perfect summer lunch nearly al fresco. Matisse is an especially good restaurant if you have experience of dining in Europe, like that sort of food and wine and are looking for something above the usual experience. I haven't mentioned the service, but I should. The staff are as pleasant, attractive and just competent as I have seen anywhere. They have nice manners and great charm, all of which was greatly appreciated. I look forward to a return visit soon.

Very nice, elegant, but not over the top. Food, service, ambiance were all great.

Very pretty restaurant with attentive service. Great dinner menu including daily specials are complemented by an extensive wine list that includes many reasonable choices.

Great upscale french food. Neighborhood gem. Lovely decor.

Excellent service and food, especially the desserts!

The food never disappoints .. the service is outstanding .. the ability to be at your desire but never interrupt a great evening of conversation is an art they have down to science .. this my go to place for dates, buiness and life celebrations .. and I have never regretted the choice!
One of DC gems for food and fun!

Always fresh and delicious. I love Matisse and have been a frequent diner there for 16 years.

Wo glad we tried this adorable restaurant! The food was very good, as was the service. We had a watermelon, basil, feat salad and ahi tuna to start. Both were very good, although I like my tuna a little rarer. For dinner we had sea bass and salmon with roasted vegetables. The sea bass was especially good. An apple tart for dessert, a nice bottle of wine - we will definitely be back.

Incredible food! Highly recommend the octopus, the Branzino and the duck breast (like butter!).

Always great

Generally tasty offerings, although the gnocchi was not to anyone's liking (we all tasted it); good service; nice atmosphere with windows open to the outside on a nice day.

Food was good but pricey. I made a point of letting management know in the reservation notes that we were celebrating my parents wedding anniversary, but no mention was made of the occasion during our meal. Even after I mentioned it again to our waiter (after dessert), there was no acknowledgement. We won't be back.

We have dined at Matisse many times over the last 15 years and thoroughly enjoy everything about the restaurant.
However, on this visit we were disappointed and surprised that our server kept spilling drops of red wind on the table cloth and on our plates. I gently noted the wine drops the first time but the server never figured out a way to avoid that problem during the entire meal so I just poured the wine myself. Not a big problem but my wife was wearing a white dress and had to keep wiping things around her to pick up the wine before it spotted her dress.
It is a small matter but annoying and the owner can easily correct the problem with a bit of staff education.
It will not stop us from returning nor will it discourage us from recommending the restaurant to our friends.

Matisse is my go-to restaurant for quality dining in DC. First on our list were martinis that were crafted to perfection and served iced cold. The Spanish octopus was an excellent appetizer and as I follow-up we shared the beet heirloom salad which was fresh and complimented with a light dressing. She had the snapper and I the shrimp putanesca. Poached pear for dessert and two espressos. Service superb and the staff is friendly and helpful.

Great food and service was friendly and efficient.

A pleasant interior with a nice menu that turned out to be a disappointed (minus the creme brûlée)

Poor service, attentive but clueless on the proper method to present and clear the table.

The salmon entree was marginal in flavor, but nicely presented.

Perhaps an off day? Hope so, because other seem to have had a better experience.

A hidden gem! For neighbors and special occasions. Excellent quality food with generous portions.