Iron Gate

This is Mediterranean food taken to the next level. The portions have the typical tapas size with fabulous taste, which makes you want to try everything. I never had such good octopus. The Burrata and fenel was amazing, the eggplant very well cooked with a great sauce with pine nuts, the gnocchi with the porc ragu was super tasty. The sommelier was very knowledgeable and helped us pair everything.

Outstanding cuisine, service and atmosphere!

We visit Irongate with frequency and first time that experienced bad service.

September 11

Staff a bit too casual, not so friendly, at the front desk and bar. Waiter was wonderful. Food superb.

We love Iron Gate. My friend and I did family style and we were not disappointed. Staff were super friendly and accommodating. Looking forward to my next visit.

The food, atmosphere and service were perfect for my sister’s baby sprinkle! Can’t wait to return!

The first time I went to the Iron Gate in 2001 we sat in a small table for two outside in the patio. The storm on Friday did not let us do that so sat in their beautiful dining room inside. The charm of the place has not changed, from the food to the service everything last night was a memorable as I remembered it. I took my son with me and mentioned to the waiter that it was my anniversary with my late husband and my son's first time there. After all the wonderful dishes we had I did not have much space for dessert but decide to order the Kefalograviera cheese with the honeycomb. It was perfect, so delicate. In addition to it they brought us a chocolate cake which was so good, not heavy, just delicious. But most importantly it had a little sign made of an incredible chocolate that read Happy Anniversary. That detail made my heart melt and put a huge smile on my face too. An unforgettable and very special evening thanks to the people who work there. Mr David, the previous owner, was a very special man and made you feel like family every time I went there with my husband. It felt very much like that last night too!

Great food and drinks. We were not able to dine in the patio area like we requested (it looked like there was a large private party), so we sat inside the back area. Everything was great, but it was extremely hot and stuffy inside as if there was no air movement or air condition at all.

My wife and I had a superb brunch at Iron Gate. The outdoor setting is very pretty although it can get surprisingly noisy thanks to the hard walls and floor. All of our food was excellent. We loved the doughnuts, the corn chowder, and the two mains we had (fried blue catfish and baked eggs in a cast iron pan). The coffee granita dessert was particularly good on a warm-ish day (like tiramisu without the cake). Our server was delightful. The only knock on the day was that the food arrived very slowly. As it happens, my wife and I enjoyed our conversation all the more for it being longer, so we were particularly pleased when the server offered complimentary glasses of rose to apologize for the tardiness. We can highly recommend Iron Gate for brunch - we’ll be back.

The burrata, gnocchi and risotto were unbelievable. Flourless brownie with caramel glass was also addictive. Service was excellent, patio provided great ambiance.

We had a very knowledgeable server and the food was good but not phenomenal. I expected more. There was an odd tension at the front of the house/hostess stand. One of the waiters/managers was rude to their colleague (female) who I'm guessing it was her first day or she was new. It wasn't the best way to start our experience. Something needs to tighten up with service .... it impacted our experience.

Well, it could have been better. First, the server had an attitude like we should have known what’s on the menu without reviewing it. Second, we were then informed they did not have branzino and there was no alternative fish item. We ordered soft shell crabs and the server can back 10 minutes later and informed us they were out of the crabs. She asked us what we wanted as an alternative, but didn’t provide a menu until we asked for it.
Disappointed to say the least. However, the food we did order was very good and up to the standard you expect from Iron Gate. Service which used to be exceptional was a C- at best.

It was very hot outside so we could not sit in the outdoor area, which is probably the nicest from what I’ve read. So, after waiting more than five minutes , we were seated at a table near the bar (all the tables inside are near the bar) and it was very loud. The host seemed confused, at best. There was no silverware & it took a long time to have anyone come over to our table. There was a long time between anyone coming back to the table, even to pour water or offer second glasses of wine. Even after we got our food, we still had to ask for the rest of our silverware. The chili dip was good but small. The grilled octopus was tiny. It seemed more like a bar that had food as an afterthought, at least when sitting inside.

Delicious meal - alas, I felt the portions could have been a bit more generous - especially when it came to the pastas. The gnocchi is the best in the city. Forgive me for wanting a larger serving...

Consistently excellent in both food and service. Different menu for diner and lunch, as it should be.

The meal was wildly inconsistent. Dishes ranged from exceptional to inedible. Catfish that was perfection to shrimp that was so over cooked it was like trying to eat an eraser. Very odd experience. Terrificly interesting wine list.

The food was good, but not exceptional. The service was slow and the noise was terrible! They were playing loud, rock and roll music! That destroyed the ambiance!

Very nice restaurant tucked away on N St NW near DuPont Circle. We ate outside on the patio which was beautiful. Good food and good service. About average prices for downtown DC.

Extremely romantic, food was amazing, service was good, just don’t come here if you’re particularly starving. The food is incredible it’s just served in small quantities.

Recommended on EATER. For my review See Trip Advisor.

It was my birthday and I had a wonderful experience at Iron Gate! They have a customer for life in me.

I went for the restaurant week and it was my first time dining here. As many other have said, the ambience is phenomenal...loved it! But the food, not so sure. I ordered catfish for my entree, and I had to politely ask my server if I could get a different dish instead - the fish was very bland and abnormally fishy aftertaste (weird as it was a fried dish). The server was very kind to replace it with one of the other entree options, and I got ravioli. Again, I was very disappointed - the edges of every single ravioli were very hard. Not sure if they weren’t cooked all the way through or I just happened to get a bad batch. Overall, loved the cocktails, but the food can be better. Not sure if I’d come back.

This was my second time and Iron Gate and the food was just as delicious as it was the first time. The service was excellent and the courses were well-timed. Both the main dining room and outdoor patio have an intimate, romantic feel making it great for a date or anniversary. I’m vegetarian and their summer beet salad was incredible. I’ve always been pleased with the vegetarian options here.

The flourless brownie was way too rich and fudgy, with nothing to compensate like a dab of ice cream or whip cream.

The food was very flavorful. The service was great informal but not intrusive.

I requested the Restaurant Week three course menu since it was lunch. Rissotto Arancini, Riccotta Gnoccis and mini donuts with orange glaze. Everything was delicious but the Ricotta Gnoccis were very spicy. On the description of the dish they did not mentioned this. Our waiter was kind but we had to wait a lot for everything which is not nice when you are in a business lunch and need to go back to work.

I would recommend this place for everyone. From beginning to end the experience was great!

Amazing service and food.

Here for restaurant week dinner. Food was good but portion was small!

We had to wait a considerable amount of time for our first course but the waitstaff was incredibly apologetic and compd our meal which made up for the delay.

I have been Dying to try Iron Gate- unfortunately the food was only mediocre! We were so disappointed. We went for restaurant week- it honestly tasted like something I could make myself. The positives- our waitress was wonderful- made some awesome wine recommendations and allowed us to try a couple tastings before we ordered wine.

Great for special occasions! The patio is very nice and romantic. Thanks for the complementary champagne!

Anniversary

Great food and ambience for a causal or romantic date

It was our anniversary, and the restaurant went above and beyond to give us a truly amazing experience. Truly memorable! Highly recommend.

They have a wonderful outdoor patio under a 150 year old Wisteria Tree with vines and branches overhead. Very cool atmosphere. We had Sean as our waiter and he was very knowledgable, food was outstanding and we were even able to bring a bottle of wine to celebrate my husband's birthday (corkage fee applied).

Would go back anytime!

Our second time there this summer and it was still amazing. We got the same server who was once again fabulous and the food can't be beat. Amazing flavor in everything. This has become my favorite restaurant and hope to be there again this fall when I visit the area again.

Wonderful! It was our first time and the family meal was a great option to try a number of things in the menu. We celebrated a birthday here and it was romantic and delicious.

Great food.