Matisse

Such a lovely restaurant! Elegant decor. Delicious food. (Sunday brunch = Beignets! Yum!) And conveniently situated in a low-key neighborhood with ample parking.

What a wonderful place to have a fine meal! The soft music in the backhground, the fire in the fireplace in the back room, the excellent service, the wonderfully diverse menu and the quality of food....all of it makes this gem my favorite restaurant in DC. Dinner is on the pricey side but well worth it. Brunch on the weekends is an excellent value.

Great in every way

Excellent food, very pleasant service, and we sat outside on a very nice evening. Portions: 2 appetizers (the oysters were very good!), a shared entree, and a shared dessert worked perfectly.

Excellent environment, service, and selection. Matisse does an excellent job adhering to the COVID protocols, but still delivers a fine dining experience.

The food was excellent and generous, creative without being crazy. Matisse handled the coronavirus demands well, except for pushing the cell-phone route to getting the menu. Paper please!

Had dinner outdoors. Great service, socially distant tables, excellent food.

Matisse has a beautiful sidewalk cafe now and we had a magical evening. Fritz, the owner, was most welcoming, our server charming, efficient and the meal perfection. Three of us had the last soft shells of the season and they were fabulous. Please go and support this jewel of a restaurant— it is very safe.

A wonderful French restaurant near Friendship Heights in DC

Matisse is one of the best French restaurants in the Washington area, and I feel lucky--as a lover of French food and elegant service--to have it near where I live.

The chef-owner, Fritz Matisse, has gone to great pains in order to keep the place going during the Pandemic, including lots of distancing between tables indoors and a lovely patio outside. We chose the comfort of sitting indoors. The food we selected--a delicate beet salad, followed by a rack of lamb (for him), a veal chop (for me) and a profiterole (for both)--was superb.

I recommend Matisse for special occasions as well as for those times when you just need a treat. (There are two dining rooms upstairs, which make a lovely setting for celebrations.)

Proper distancing and open doors made this a safe and lovely dining experience. Matisse now has some really nice tables outside as well now. It was so nice to be back!

Love this neighborhood restaurant! We are never disappointed in our meal here. Excellent food courteous staff and charming ambience

Excellent food and atmosphere. Service is also great. Not many customers there because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I and my friends had a wonderful night. The chef made a special duck breast which was not on the regular menu upon my friends inquiry. We are so impressed by it. Definitely worth to go back again.

It was SENSATIONAL to dine inside at Matisse. Martinis were cold and crafted to perfection. Wine list is abundant and they have excellent selection of half-bottles. Appetizers and entrees were served together and at the right temperature. Matisse still has the quality they had before the COVID closure and they are practicing all COVID deterrents to make your evening and meal delightful!!

Always nice. I had written that it was my mother's 83rd birthday (and there were presents), but that was not acknowledged. A little disappointing, but still a nice brunch. Was much quieter than usual, given the pandemic.

We were one of two tables for Friday lunch. Very quiet. Decent service - not particularly engaged but sometimes that’s okay. Calamari was nice; mussels were fine although fries could have been hotter. We shared an apple tart which was yummy could have been a little less thin and more apple-y. But would try again ...

This restaurant has been a favorite of our for over 20 years. It NEVER fails to please!

Matisse is a well decorated restaurant with nice ambiance. Romantic for a date or a great setting for a small group dinner. It was quiet and kind of dark, which added to the vibe. The clientele is a bit older, so they seat earlier and the restaurant clears out around 9:30ish. The food was ok but nothing amazing. I had the pecan crusted seabass and my boyfriend had the shrimp pasta. We shared the octopus appetizer, which was good but we would have liked it to have had a crispier skin. All in all a nice place for a date.

Have always found food and service to be very good and prices reasonable. Noise can be moderate on busy nights but otherwise, it is quiet. Always a real pleasure.

The food was fabulous. We had tuna tartare, calamari, halibut, and snapper, and everything was done perfectly. The only reason not a five-star this time is that we had requested standard seating but when we arrived, there were only high tops. Not the end of the world but not our preferred way to enjoy a fine French dinner.

Appetizers and entrees were fine but the cheese plate for dessert did not have the goat cheese listed on the menu (Brie instead) and no explanation from the waiter. Cheeses should be identified when presented, especially if substitutions are being made.

We picked up my wife's April birthday dinner and it was superb. The lamb chops were extraordinaey

Disappointing meal at Matisse. The standard has dropped and I hope that they can pull back. This used to be one of our favorite restaurants in the neighborhood.

We asked for a table in the front room and were able to get one (not guaranteed) and the service was delightful. The bread and olive oil are always delightful as are the Profiteroles for desert. Two of the four of us had Profiteroles and the other two had Matisse Meringue and it was also over the top. For the first time I had the duck and it had been years since I have had duck - I'll likely get it again next time.

The food was superb! The wait staff is attentive without being intrusive. They have a really good wi e selection. The bread is served warm - crispy on the outside, soft and tasty on the inside. It was a perfect evening with friends.

February 14 Valentines Day. Impeccable evening.

Great scallops! Must eat!

Love this place. Especially at lunch when it's not overly crowded and/or noisy. Food is invariably creative and well-cooked. Service always attentive but not overly so. This last visit we found the soft jazz background music perfect for the occasion. Will always go back.

Nice ambiance, but both the food and wine were bland. We even tried the house favorite - the scallops - no flavor. The noodles and mushrooms w truffles wasn’t better than you’d get from a can. For the prices they charged, we expected flavorful food.

Excellent!

Asked if birthday, did not do anything special for birthday

Delicious food, excellent service, extensive wine list, and great ambiance.

We hadn't been to Matisse for almost a year. We've always had a good meal and a good experience. This time, it was outstanding. The roast chicken (my husband's favorite) was perfectly prepared, juicy, crispy skin, and full of flavor; the french fries rate the best in DC. Our guest's mushroom pasta was fresh and aromatic, in a lovely, light sauce, with (possibly?) house-made pasta. The kitchen also provided a dish of roasted celeriac (a side dish with one of the main course specials) as an appetizer on special request; it was served in a small cast iron baking pot and was heavenly. My Muscovy duck breast - which I regularly order - was the best ever, tender, tasty in a light sauce. The accompanying sides matched well. Desserts (chocolate mousse cake and a merinque of Hazelnut gelato, milk and dark chocolate sauce) were truly melt-in-your-mouth delightful. I don't know if there is a new chef, or they have just upped their game, but if you haven't been before go! and if you haven't been for a while, it's time for another visit. We will be back soon.

I have been going to Matisse for 20 years, and the latest visit was yet another in which the food, wine, service and ambience were all first-rate. There is tremendous attention to detail.

A favorite of ours. Wish it was still open for lunch! We had French toast and shrimp Provençal. Both were delicious.

There was no one to greet or accept us but once that happened the restaurant exceeded my expectations and I have been to your restaurant several times before.

Our first visit to Matisse was delightful and confirmed the high ratings other diners have constantly given this neighborhood gem. Our Friday night meal included a delicious beet salad and a special wild mushroom soup for appetizers. Honestly, the soup was so good it could have been my entrée with a couple pieces of fresh bread. Sea scallops and branzino were our table's entrees -- both perfectly prepared and presented with an artist's touch. Dessert included an incredible honey apple tart which certainly brings acclaim to the pastry chef. An unexpected surprise occurred when the sommelier replaced our requested St. Emilion with a more superior selection at the same price, explaining the bottle we had ordered was not in stock. A very nice touch. With the restaurant full by the time our meals arrived, the noise level was a bit higher than we anticipated, but not overwhelming as other restaurants can be on weekends. The entire experience was perfect from beginning to end. We'll return soon.

For good food and ambience Matisse is the area's "go to" place. The cuisine is consistently good. Service is always professional and the atmosphere is warm and friendly. I sat upstairs this weekend and was pleasantly surprised at how, though busy, it was not noisy and the tables were far enough apart that no one was overhearing us. Always a pleasure to go to this well run restaurant.

V good service
V nice food

Excellent food in a culinary sophisticated environment attended by a professional, knowledgeable wait staff.

My wife and I go to Matisse regularly - it is a good restaurant but I have noticed that the wait staff is very hit or miss. This last time our server was not particularly good however the food remains very good so I guess it was okay.