The Monocle

My brother and our wives went to the Monocle for dinner on 12 October 2018. From the moment we walked in to the time we paid our bill we were treated as family by the host and waiters. The menu is outstanding and the drinks are phenomenal. Plus, the place has an air of old-school charm and ambiance that has a cool factor you can't in many any other restaurant in the city. We'll be back!

Always a great restaurant. Superior service and food. Highly recommended.

Classic place near the Capital and the DC attractions. Mingle with your legislators and thier staff while enjoying good food at a reasonable price.

The restaurant looks dated rather than classic. We felt rushed. Main course arrived while we were still eating our starter. Food was filling rather than tasty. The wine was the highlight of our dining experience.

The service was great! Couldn't have asked for better. Food was delicious as well.

Restaurant week was s good experience here!! A couple steaks were not delivered with the rarity ordered but it was overall quite good food. Waiter and staff were welcoming and very friendly. Very glad we tried this spot!!

Great service, convenient location, good traditional food, quiet. Great value.

This is our go to place for Restaurant Week. I wish we could afford to eat there more often. Did see one celebrity this time. Quintessential Washington, DC.

Excellent food, friendly waiter (Joel), and awesome history!

Standard business lunch spot on the hill

This restaurant was a quick Uber ride from our White House area hotel. It was somewhat quiet since Congress is in recess this week. My husband had the Salmon and I had the Chicken Milanese - both were excellent. We split a Ceasar salad - also very good. Service is exceptional so I would definitely go back the next time we are in DC.

Nice place for a business lunch. Short walk from Union Station

GREAT experience, we were greeted as soon as we walked in, sat down right away. The staff was excellent, food was amazing. Definitely will be returning when we visit the area again.

Overall a good experience. The happy hour is fantastic.

Amazing experience! Service was great. They were attentive by always clearing our table when we were finished and refilling drinks without having to ask. This made our first night in DC memorable. I’ll definitely come back.

All of the employees were very friendly and made us feel welcome. (We were tourists.) I have celiac disease and need to eat gluten free, and the waiter was very helpful with that.

I always love bringing folks to the Monocle when in DC for advocacy work.

Great restaurant in a very good location in close proximity to the Senate office buildings. Staff highly professional and always helpful. Food very consistently excellent. A pleasure to dine at the Monocle.

A classic DC gathering spot. Excellent food and service. Great location to watch for politicians

Fantastic!

A unique American restaurant right on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. Classic American dishes (steak, seafood) well prepared. Attentive service and great people-watching!

Wonderful food and great service. Will definitely go back for lunch.

The Monocle is an old school D.C. steak and seafood restaurant. It certainly lives up to its rave reviews! The Monocle is housed in a building that was built in 1885, and the interior decor is elegant simplicity. The service was outstanding. We began with the Jumbo Crab Meat Imperial appetizer. My friend, as is her wont, had a crab cake for her entrée. It was served with summer veggies and a unique sauce. I had a 14 oz New York strip steak, although 10 or 12 ozs would have been sufficient. The meat just melted in my mouth. My steak came with potatoes au gratin. We also shared a side of zucchini, red peppers & grilled onions served in shallot butter. We completed our repast with slice of dark walnut cake á la mode in a cognac syrup. It was the perfect dining experience.

Great food and service.

The Monocle is one of Washington's first and surviving power lunch locations. It's on Capitol Hill on the Senate side. You will see Senate staffers and senators eating here. The food is good.

Having said that, we went because a retired friend and I decided to get together for lunch, and he said the Monocle was on his bucket list. We both had a glass of red wine and ordered the chopped waygu beef stuffed with a mild, local blue cheese. I ordered mine medium rare, but it was only a little pink. Maybe that's unfair because the chopped beef was fairly thin.

Service was attentive, and it was easy (but not rushed) to be finished in an hour.

I probably will get back there before I retire in a year or two.

We dined at the Monocle on a Friday night after a long drive to DC. It was the perfect choice. I ordered the Chicken Milanese and my husband had the pork chop. Both were excellent as was the warm shrimp over pesto bean salad appetizer. The wine list had lots of good choices. If we lived in the neighborhood we would dine at the Monocle frequently.

The food was delicious, the service was incredible, the people were wonderful to be around! One of my favorite memories from our trip to DC! I will be eating here every time I visit our nations capital.

Delicious lunch at this old-school movers and shakers local haunt!

I was disappointed, on how the ""soup container"" was bought too the table, I wanted too taking the rest of the soup home with me and I was shocked at how it was brought to me in a paper box, not a plastic container for my soup to go.

Kind and welcoming! Great food variety! Fun spot near Capitol Hill -- never know who you might sit next to!

Outstanding place, great food, good wine and service

This was the first time my wife and I had dined at The Monocle in at least 35 years, but the food was as good as we remembered. Although The Monocle seems to have undergone several renovations over the years, the service is still splendid. We wondered why we waited so long to return, and we will definitely visit again soon.

From the appetizers, to the main dishes and desserts, the food could not have been better. We had a great meal and will definitely be back. And for any people who love calf liver, it was the best I ever had!

A unique restaurant on the Senate side of the Capitol. Great food and attentive service. Fun people watching when the Senate's in session.

Relaxing, historic and conversational provoking atmosphere. Excellent quality ribeye steak, salad and desert. Diverse wine varieties by the glass and bottle. Our waiter was very attentive, and provided helpful advice on best food selections. Comfortable seating and desert perfect.

The Monocle is a must lunch stop on every trip to Washington DC. Just behind the Senate office buildings make it a good location after meeting with our Senators.

Nice place great food!

This was our first occasion to visit the Monocle. It was a pre-show (Folger, Shakespeare Library). We were delighted with the food and service. It was a 'bit' pricy, but well worth it.

The Monocle is one of my favorite restaurants when I visit DC. Great food, great service are just two reasons I love this place.

Excellent as usual. John, Nick and the entire staff always make dining at the Monocle a very special occasion. Outstanding food and great service in a splendid location.