Ambar Capitol Hill

Wonderful restaurant--extremely hospitable staff, great variety of food offerings, mostly delicious.

The Balkan Experience brunch was great. The service was fantastic. Looking forward to taking other friends there!

The service was excellent and the food was great, especially for the value! My boyfriend and I came for a late Valentine’s / anniversary date and we were given an extra dessert on the house. We will be coming back!

food, drinks, and service were all outstanding but spouse hated the noise level and will not go back.

The food was amazing. We went for Valentine's Day and it did not disappoint. It was a little hot inside the restaurant, but nothing that was too uncomfortable.

I love the atmosphere. The foods were great. I did the $49 all you can eat and drink. I was full and tipsy at the end of the night. Cocktails are strong. I didn’t like any of the wine. The wine was not impressive. The service was on point. I never had to look for a server. This place fills up quick. Reservation is recommended in the evening. Two hours is the limit per table. They brought my date a small cake for her birthday celebration. It was a great experience.

Casual ambience, fancy food, excellent service. Went on a semi formal date, most definitely coming back again.

Ambar is always reliable. In this case we presented a particularly challenging table -- one omnivore, two pescatarians, one vegan, and one person with an esoteric food allergy. In a small plate environment that is a server's nightmare. There were tons of delicious choices for all of us, the service was prompt, friendly, and efficient, and it goes without saying that everything was prepared perfectly. Of course the most important thing is the food, but Ambar went the extra mile and created a great evening for a group that had to have presented substantial additional work.

Fabulous food and service. A wonderful experience from start to finish. We plan to return!

Recognized our anniversary from Open Table reservation and immediately welcomed us with courtesy champagne!

Every dish was outstanding. Just a great Balkan experience for the meal!! Wonderful service throughout!

The best restaurant in Washington DC. Food is absolutely amazing, service wonderful, thank you very much to Milos, he was outstanding!

Service was amazing, food delicious, highly recommend it

We weren’t hungry enough for the Balkan experience but we had a number of dishes - all great. Really liked the almond crusted chicken.

Excellent place for lunch. Authentic cuisine, great service.

We decided to do the Ambar Experience and were so glad we did. The food was delicious, and it was a lot of fun to be able to try so many different dishes.

Chris was a knowledgeable, gracious host, able to recommend great dishes for me who was not familiar with the culture.

Excelente ambiente, comida y atención

The Ambar Experience is an unbeatable deal for such delicious food. An awesome time with a group and, in our case, was the perfect fit to celebrate a special occasion!

Amazing experience. Great food. Excellent service. Employees incredibly helpful navigating the menu with incredible recommendations! Definitely will be going back.

Excellent evening for a very special occasion. The staff was very accommodating with our tables and the ability to combine them. Food was fantastic! Great experience. Thank you!

Ambar consistently has an amazing brunch and wonderful service. They always go above and beyond and the food and drinks are delicious

The Ambar experience is the best way to try this restaurant. Some dishes were great , others just ok. We ate upstairs which could use some TLC. Staff was friendly! We probably won’t go back but glad we tried it!

We enjoyed Ambar for brunch. And while the food was certainly good, I would not say that it lived up to the expectations that we had based upon excellent reviews we had seen elsewhere. Perhaps it was just the type of food, but we weren't overly impressed. The opportunity to try different foods in the "Balkan Experience" is certainly fun and filling, though. Just don't have heightened expectations!

Excellent food, drinks, and atmosphere

This was a first time for all of us and we couldn’t be more pleased. We had a wonderful evening and all of our food was delicious. The wine was excellent. Relaxed without being rushed. Thank you for outstanding food and service.

My best friend from NY was stopping by during a road trip. She first visited Ambar in September 2018 and wanted to visit again this time. Tamla was a great server, very attentive. The food selections and drinks wee excellent. One of my favorite brunch spots!

My husband and I went to Ambar for my birthday. We have dined there on multiple occasions, at both the Capitol Hill and Clarendon locations. The service and the food were excellent as usual. We always order the Balkan Experience, as their unlimited small plates and drinks is a great value at $49/person. We did, however, notice that this time many of the small plates came with bread. I’ve wondered for months how they make money at this place, so maybe they’ve added the bread as a filler to help counter their relatively low prices! Anyway, despite the added carbs it was a great meal and we will certainly dine here again. Hands down my favorite restaurant in the area.

Amazing food and great service. Definitely a loud, spirited environment but fun and good for friends.
Small plates, tapas style and a good value!

Excellent all around. Looking forward to returning next time I am in DC.

Food is delicious as always. Unfortunately, the service was quite slow despite the fact that the restaurant did not appear very busy. We waited 20+ minutes to get a standard cocktail multiple times, and did not receive the last drink we ordered. Someone should check the thermostat too; it was well over 75 degrees inside!

A great place....and the Ambar all you can eat experience is well worth the price. Perfect for meat eaters and vegetarians!

I normally come to Ambar with my girlfriends for brunch. This visit my boyfriend and I came for restaurant week dinner. The food is always yummy and the variety of drink options are plentiful. However the service this time was lacking. We had to search for our server many times. The small plates are ordered and then come out as ready but we could not take full advantage and often sat with finished plates or needed more bread for dips but no server. I will return but not for dinner.

We went during restaurant week in DC and the food menu selections were generous and beyond tasty. Hard to pick favorite items but the quality is top notch, flavors unique, and leave with the desire to come back.


Great experience

Delicious food and drinks! Great service! Nice atmosphere! Can’t wait to go back!

Went for the first time, interested in trying something new. Had no idea what to expect. Luv the ability to try different selection of tapas. Great variety. We enjoyed it all! Would definitely go back!

It was awesome perfect for date night

Tried Ambar for the first time. Wait staff was excellent; you get to try multiple small plates for a set price. They can be hit or miss depending upon your taste. A great find.

We've been going to Ambar since it opened, and the food and service has been outstanding every time. The almond encrusted chicken and pork chops are phenomenal.

Too dark, even can’t see food in my plate, too close to other tables, too noisy, too simple.

I was nervous that with "unlimited food and drink" that the food and drink would both be so-so - I was totally surprised with how fresh and delicious everything was. It didn't seem like there were hundreds of plates of each dish in the back, but rather that each dish was to order. Everything was hot, fresh, and really tasty. I'd never eaten Balkan food before so this was a great experience to taste several new things (and get seconds of favourites!) The staff and server was amazing, always refilling our glasses when they were empty so we were never waiting for a next drink - including giving us an extra drink refill while we were paying our bill. We even got a delicious dessert for free that we thought we hadn't any room for, because it was our anniversary - a thoughtful gesture!