Matchbox - Pentagon City

This restaurant has an issue with service dogs and persons who are disabled. First time they put us far away from everyone, hostess was a hostile about the service dog, and I had to ask for a different table. The table they put us at had a weird ledge and there was no way to place my service dog under the table because of it. That time the service and food made up for the hostess initial poor service.

Today was similar where we were placed all alone in a section that looked closed. I just didn’t want to make a scene and ask for a better table. I had just encountered a young person who fist up started to hit me when a command I gave my dog was misunderstood as a comment to them. Sigh.

Anyway, they put us in a part of the restaurant unassigned. It took almost 10 mins to have anyone come by the table and another 15 mins to get water which ended up being sprite (it was supposed to be club soda). The liquor was delivered before the water....that wasn’t water. Then the food took forever. My water wasn’t refilled. And the two waiters had a discussion nearby on who was supposed to be our server. The manager did come by with offers of free food, drinks etc... but in reality all we wanted was to be treated like everyone else. Not placed in a far away empty part of the restaurant because I am disabled. And a couple glasses of water. How hard could that be? I can’t recommend this restaurant and won’t likely return.

Great food; great staff and service. Highly recommend.

Love it here. Had the beef Rigatoni. Great service. Nice job Erik!

The food was pretty good, and if you have a smaller party you might have a different experience with the service. Our group of 6 had poor service, including incorrect orders, forgotten orders, no drink refills (cocktails, iced tea, or water), various people delivering food or drink to the table, and then never returning with any requests that were made (such as boxes or refills) and the waiter never once came back to the table to ask how things were once we had our food. I definitely wouldn't recommend this restaurant for groups who have to split a check, the waiter just dumped a pile of checks on the table for us to sort out, and then dumped a stack of credit cards and receipts on the table after he rang up our orders. Skip it and head to Epic Smokehouse where they can accommodate a group.

I find the food at Matchbox to be nothing special and usually served lukewarm but it is convenient in Pentagon City. It’s not bad but I go for the convenience and the outdoor dining upstairs.

Must have had a new waiter and this delayed our drinks and food

I ordered a gluten sensitive pizza and was brought out a regular pizza. I asked about whether or not it was gs, and I was told that I never ordered gs. I know that I did. I even requested a gs menu when I sat down and notated in my reservation. This attention to detail is crucial when you're dealing with allergies /dietary restrictions.

When I placed another order for gs pizza, it took about 20mins for it to be brought to me. By that time, I was ready to go so I asked for the check and a box. The food was delicious, however. I'm not sure if it was a server or kitchen issue but there was a disconnect.

Expensive for moderate quality food. Ordered soup - no soup spoons. Good for bar fare. Best options appear to be pizza and wheat based products. Filet was moderate quality. No raw horseradish. Shrimp and grits were good. Dinner for two w/ one drink each was $120 with tip. High price for the quality of food. They do have gluten sensitive, but options are limited. Better options nearby.

I enjoy this Matchbox location. The food is always good. However, I was a bit disappointed that our waitress did not explain that the braised rib dish was a pasta entree. She should've said more but she didn't.

In addition, it was not good that there was only one toilet working in the Ladies' Room and only one sink as well! That is super nasty and unacceptable

Fabulous as always! Our go-to spot for lunch. One thing...bring back the scallops!!!

Great food and service and great options for teens, kids and adults. One of our go-to places.

Great experience, great waiter, and yummy food!

I loved the relaxed feel of this place and would definitely return to try more dishes. I had the BBQ Baby Back Ribs, which came with an amazing piece of Cornbread. I shared the Cornbread with others at the table and all agreed that it was delicious. The cocktails were also delicious :-).

Food was very good and made to order. Slow to get served initially but sped up as the dinner went on. I reserved through matchbox but for some reason the restaurant reported that I did not make my reservation. I think this error was corrected.

Restaurant ran out of our appetizer of choice at 7:00pm on a Friday night. Service was about the worst we have ever experienced; server seemed more interested in socializing with other staff than with checking on customers. When our drinks were empty, server did not even ask if we wanted something else; when dinner plates were removed, server did not offer anything else (like dessert menus maybe). We had to hunt for the server to finally get our check. Overall, a disappointing visit. We have been to this restaurant a few times before, but this visit may have taken it off of our list of options.
We went to the Ritz Carlton lounge for after dinner drinks and dessert and had a much more pleasant time there.

First time at this location.... crust wasn’t fully cooked.

Bar staff is slow and wait staff can get overwhelmed easily

Good food and ambiance but this time the service was surprisingly poor. The server got our orders wrong repeatedly (forgot our appetizer, got the wrong drink), took very long intervals to check on us, didn’t even refill my water, and when we finally managed to get to the check, we found things we didn’t order on the receipt.

I was extremely disappointed both in the range of food that was available and in the quality of food we got. I'm a vegetarian who's gluten- and dairy-free. Matchbox offers very little that satisfies my dietary restrictions. It does have pizza with gluten-free crust, but doesn't provide vegan cheese, so essentially if I want pizza at Matchbox I'm stuck with a disk of dough with vegetables. My friend and I split a gluten-free pizza anyway, and the crust was really soggy, to the point where we were fighting over who would eat the last piece ("You eat it." "No, you eat it." "No, I don't want it." "Neither do I.") I'm only saying I'd recommend the restaurant because I know that other folks who don't have my dietary limitations like the place, and the atmosphere was fun and relaxing. But the food was a thumbs down for me.

A bit disappointed, looking forward to the menu advertised Berry Sangria, they were out. If it is listed on the menu, they should plan better to meet customer needs. May not return. Waiter apologetic. Sorry, if they can’t plan a menu better it is not worth my time or money!

We went for brunch and the food was incredible. However, the experience was ruined by some of the worst service I have ever had. It was unreasonably slow, especially for a small plates meal, and on multiple occasions we received food we did not order and did not get what we did. The water claimed they ran out of coffee but then it came out a few minutes later. We were the only table seated in the restaurant at the time and we could not figure out why the wrong order consistently kept coming out.

The food was great, will definitely be returning.

Excellent food good for Saturday brunch

This was the worst service experience ever. We sat on the deck. It took them fifteen minutes to come to us and that was only after we hailed a non waiter down and asked what was going on. The host went to the waitress and told her we were waiting. On our way to our table she was stopped by another table upset because they hadn’t been helped. The host comes back by with water and I am like we still have not seen our waitress. Next thing I know, we see the host speaking with our waitress and another waitress. The second waitress who was supposed to be working another section comes to our rescue. Lots of apologies happen but then our food takes almost an hour to come out. I told the waitress, LuLu, that we were leaving but she said the food was on its way out. Horrible experience. LuLu was very apologetic and helpful but she could not overcome what turned out to be a bad choice of restaurants on our part.

Our wood fire pizza was awesome. Some of the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. My only complaint is that it took a while to get our drinks. Kids portions are decently sized.

Food was great but I paid a higher price for my saunas than was quoted on the menu. I didn’t say anything because it was a business lunch.

Went for brunch and did the unlimited special. Great way to try a lot of different things. Had a little bit of everything, so you know going back if you want a full portion.

Great food and service. Nice value for $31 per person and nice variety if options. We went on a quiet sunday so we got everything quickly and missed the rush.

Very nice. Food was delicious. We both had the chicken sandwich, one of which was Nashville hot. Our waitress was polite and professional, but the hosts when we arrived were standoffish.

Really like going there for happy hour--prices are reasonable and atmosphere always lively/fun. It feels as if we have privacy in the midst of a buzzing atmosphere.

Good nite out! The waiter Ryan was a little “stuffy” at first and seemed tired.

i would not use the word energetic in a positive way to describe the noise level. It was absolutely too loud music found self having talk loud to friend.

As always, Matchbox hits the spot! Yummy pizzas and wonderful service! I recommend the Margherita Pizza; had never had it and loved it! Sweet Potato fries also make a great pre-pizza snack!

This is not my first time dining at Matchbox and as in previous visits the food was delicious and the service excellent. Initially we were placed upstairs but when we requested a downstairs table we were instantly and happily moved. We didn't feel that our request to move tables was imposing at all. Well done team. We'll be back.

Our food was cold. Our expensive top-shelf drinks literally had ice melted almost to non-existence. I asked for mayo and never received any.
Meanwhile, our waiter stood beside our table and chatted away with a co-worker, but never asked us if we needed anything after he dropped off our original order.
I understand the hefty price tag has a lot to do with their storefront rent, but that was a terrible culinary experience. We will not be returning.
#notworththemoney

Food was great, hot and reasonable. Staff was very accommodating and always came by to check to see if we needed anything.

Jill was AMAZING!!!!

Engagement

Food was good, but service was not. Staff is inattentive to customer needs. Staff also openly complained how tired they were...

This is a cute place. Too bad the service was horrendous and the food marginally better. Our waitress seemed to have nothing going on upstairs, she literally never brought us water or silverware/napkins. Even after our appetizer was brought out and I asked her for napkins/silverware. I had to ask a totally different server for those things and he obliged. Then half our dinner order came out. Only half. We waited over 30 minutes for the other entrees (2) to arrive. Awkward. Rest of food finally came out and I ordered a glass of white wine. After 15 minutes our waitress brought me a glass of red. 15 minutes later I finally had the white wine I had ordered 30 (!!!) minutes prior. At that point I’d had enough and asked to speak to a manager. He agreed that a 30 minute wait for a glass of wine was unacceptable but that was it. He encouraged me to write a review but to “ be kind”. Whatever. Our food was marginal (but VERY expensive), service was terrible, cannot, will not recommended this place.