Formerly located in New york city, this restaurant moved to the capital to join the surging diversified population of residents from all over the world seeking global experiences.
Visit Mekki DC for happy hour cocktails and Moroccan wines after work, have lunch with colleagues, dinner dates or request from our homely catering menu for larger groups for your family or offices. It'll be similar to taking a short trip to Morocco for a few hours.
Safety precautions
- Surfaces sanitized between seatings
- Common areas deep cleaned daily
- Digital, disposable or sanitized menu provided
- Sanitizer or wipes provided for customers
- Contactless payment available
- Limited number of seated diners
- Distancing maintained in common areas
- Extra space between tables
- Waitstaff wear masks
- Diners must wear masks unless eating or drinking
- Sick staff prohibited in the workplace
Amazing up and coming Moroccan restaurant, with great ambience, absolutely delicious food and the most welcoming and courteous staff! Will definitely be back.
Our server was very knowledgeable of Moroccan cuisine and wine, which was fun to learn about! Very flavorful, clean food.
Love everything about this place! Food is always excellent and the staff couldn’t be nicer.
Good lamb tagine and was glad that Mekki had some Moroccan wine, which was yummy. Would love to hear some “modern” Moroccan music instead of club music. Ambiance was so-so. Missing seeing the beauty of Morocco. Maybe some large photo murals or textiles would help. Great grilled shrimp appetizer. Chicken with couscous: chicken was delicious but couscous wasn’t too flavorful. Overall, a place to go when I need some Moroccan food! I’ll go back!
Beautiful restaurant, AMAZING food. As someone who’s traveled to Morocco multiple times, this place is legit. Friendly staff, great atmosphere!
Not the best outdoor set up (no heaters or blankets) but the food was good and it will be a nice place to dine out come summer
Not only was the food excellent, the service my sister and I received was incredible. The staff were informative, attentive without hovering, and incredibly genial.
Good food and decent price. The chef's menu included many options and it was enough food for two people with wine.
Very tasty Moroccan food and desserts. Top notch and very courteous service. They need to light up the interiors a little more though.
I'll definitely go back.
The food was delicioius and the service was great. We were in a rush at the end of dinner and they included the most amazing dessert in our doggy bag. Absolutely love it here and highly recommend!
I went to Mekki for Summer Restaurant Week. I was supposed to meet my homegirl there, but she ended up being a no show. Seeing that I was alone, the manager gave me extra servings of their tapas. Sweet! However, the service was very prolonged; it seemed as if they had limited help with staffing. The manager also informed me that some menu items were limited due to COVID (cook was international and unable to return to work).
Other than that, GREAT FOOD! Will be back soon!
If you’re looking for authentic Moroccan food this spot is for you! The service was amazing. I can’t recommend this place enough.
Wonderful experience. I look forward to my next visit.
Nice date night out. Dunes outside, socially distanced. Large portions of food and great, hospitable service
The service today was subpar but it was very clear it isn’t typically like that. Our server was amazing and very accommodating and for that reason I really liked the restaurant and would definitely return despite its operating difficulties.
Went to morroco two years ago and the flavors were on point with my memories !! So much pride in what they are serving ... I’ve taken two people there and both were hooked. Planning on taking a third friend who’s new to the neighborhood!! The forgot our drinks (were so busy) and as an apology comped them... great service and wonderful addition to the neighborhood - please support !!
Excellent, creative food. Very good service. Worth a special trip.
We haven’t had Moroccan food in a long time and Mekki did not disappoint! The tagine presentation was wonderful and the portion generous. I enjoyed the branzino and highly recommend it. It was a friendly atmosphere and can’t wait to return.
Sat at a high top table which made it easy to share food and hear each other. Enjoyed the small plates, wish we had gotten large size eggplant (to take home extra ) as it was so good. Comp shrimp dish delish. Dessert nachos were different and tasty. Cocktail of day was great. Front room staff and waiters all very pleasant but on a Saturday night, they were a bit overwhelmed and disorganized, so had to ask for some ordered items and took awhile to get them. But it did not detract from a very fun evening.
Moroccan Restaurants are hard to find in my area, and we were delighted with this new restaurant. But, the neighborhood at night near Eastern Market Metro Station is rather 'seedy.' Because of the high ceiling, it is very noisy. The lighting is very dark, and we could bearly see our food. Although I listed what could be improved first, the food was very enjoyable. For appertizers, the lentil soup was very thick, more like stewed lentils, and carrot and eggplant dishes were served cold. Carrots were halfway cooked, and eggplant dish was rather salty for me. We shared the Beef Tagine dish. It was delicious with dried prunes and aprictos, but we wished it to be served in the traditional clay pot. We finished our dinner with nice cup of mint tea. They serve rather big portions, so two small plates of appertizers and one tagine dish, or for the next time, we may try one couscous dish, and one tagine dish to share, would be plenty for two of us. We would definitely go back to this restaurant!
We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and look forward to returning many times to come. I do have a couple comments to share. The tagines are definitely enough food for two. My second comment is for the restaurant - please select other cleaning materials. I appreciate the thoroughness with wiping down the tables, but the scent from the cleaning fluids are not pleasant when we are enjoying the smells of the food we are trying to enjoy..
Excellent food, fantastic service.
Food was incredible! Especially Pastilla and Beef Couscous (still craving it today). Can’t wait to go back. The staff was super friendly and the management goes above and beyond to make it a great experience. Easily noticeable that this place is authentic Moroccan and family run. The only qualm I have about it is the location in Southeast DC. Wasn’t a huge fan of walking around the area alone from where I parked.
Great Service and Food. We have now been there twice and enjoyed it both times. We had the Taktouka (roasted piquillo peppers and tomato) and a Pastillo as a first course and then shared a Chicken CousCous platter. The CousCous was enough for two people by itself. We took home another meal. The service was excellent too.
Our resevation was very late, but we were treated like royalty and the wait flew by. The food was excellent and fairly priced. Would definitely recommend!
Our second visit. Food is fabulous and the service is also outstanding. Food is Moroccan based on the owner's mother' and sister's recipes. It is really delicious.
The wait staff is very friendly and excellant. It is a little noisy.
We will be going back.
Our group had a great dinner last Tuesday. We tried a lot of the dishes and liked most. The owner was warm and attentive and our waitress had good recommendations, We very much enjoyed our experience.
Good food, but if you aren't familiar with Moroccan food, be careful, it is definitely different. The place was more like a little neighborhood bar/restaurant. I was expecting more which is why I only rated it good. Perhaps if I hadn't had my aim set higher I would have rated higher.
I had high hopes for Mekki, and they OVER delivered. The food was absolutely amazing and the service was perfect. Although everything was good, the lamb tagine and the eggplant appetizer were particularly memorable. A fantastic addition to DC and I am particularly excited to have it right here in Cap Hill.
Everything was perfect but most of all the friendliness of the staff made this special
Very good food. Our server was enthusiastic about the menu and gave us great suggestions.
We had to wait a while for our reserved table, and while we waited they provided complimentary drinks and very delicious appetizers. Then they doubled our dessert order at no extra charge at the end of the night. Hospitality was EXCEPTIONAL, food was DELICIOUS, and we are excited to go back!
Also, YOU MUST ORDER THE CHEESE BAWATE (once before the meal and once after, for dessert--soooo good!!!)
This is delicious healthy authentic recipes that make you feel nostalgic even if you didn’t grow up with the food. The staff are very warm and welcoming and even gave complimentary dessert! Portions are generous. Price is great. The flavor is complex. This is a neighborhood gem and winner!
Very good food, excellent service; a bit loud (for my taste).
As on our first visit to Mekki just after it opened, the food, service and value were terrific. But now, even at 6:00, the noise level was so high that my wife, guest and I could not enjoy any of that -- much less could we have a comfortable conversation across our table. On our first visit (also at 6:00) there were few other customers and the owners turned down the sound system to a comfortable level. This time, despite three requests, the noise remained extremely unpleasant for us.
Again: the food, service and value are terrific so those who enjoy very loud music and do not expect to talk with their partners, will have a good meal and enjoy a great staff. My wife and I will not return.
Delicious food and an overall wonderful experience! Many new restaurants are a bit chaotic in FOH, but not at Mekki. The food was amazing and the service was exceptional. The only critique is the noise level. I’m used to loud places, but somehow the acoustics in Mekki make it easier to hear the person across the room than right in front of you. Otherwise, five stars!
We had a wonderful time at Mekki! Our server Nora was helpful, friendly, and offered great food and wine recommendations. She recommended the Zaalouk, Pastilla, and Lamb Tagines, all of which we enjoyed immensely. She also brought us two dishes on the house - a grilled shrimp appetizer and the Milk Pastilla for dessert.
All in all, great service, great ambiance, and great food. We are very excited to have Mekki in the neighborhood and look forward to our next visit!
Very few places beat the type of atmosphere that this place has. Friendly service, and good wine advice, delicious food, and not too loud or too quiet. It is a good thing that my wife and daughter have a different taste than me, because that allowed us to taste many of the delicious dishes. I had the shrimp briwate and had a taste of the lamb a la Mounia and both tasted definitely home cooked and delicious, although you must like a bit of fat on the lamb to really enjoy it. By the way, ask for the Moroccan cookies for dessert, you'll be surprised. Ah, yes, the wine. It was my first taste of Moroccan wine a Petite Ferme Blanc recommended by our server, It went fantastic with our food.
We love this new addition to Capitol Hill's food scene!
We visited Mekki as it is new in the area and we like Moroccan food. Overall it was a good experience. The food was good, we had the restaurant week menu. It's a new place so I think they are still working on details, but there didn't seem to be enough wait staff that night, and there was one big group, so the service was a little slow. It has a lot of promise, so we will be back to try it out again with the regular menu.
FAQs
Mekki offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (202) 525-5472.
Mekki is rated 4.8 stars by 58 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.