Zaytinya

Fantastic food, with good vegetarian options. Service was fantastic-best I’ve seen in a long time.

Went for lunch on a Friday and ordered a la carte, though the lunch prix fixe was available. The service was outstanding, the decor was modern, and diners ranged from very casually dressed to power business suited guests. Everything ordered was fantastic. We had: the baba ghannoush, hummus with spiced lamb spread, grilled halloumi, piyaz (giant white beans), lamb and beef meatballs, and scallops with dill and yogurt. That was way too much for a party of two, and fit for a party of three or four. Would go back again!

They better be faster and better. If you end up going there after 9:30 pm. You can’t expect great service.

Tasty as always.

The felafel were excellent, and just as I remembered from my last visit 7 years ago.

Octopus was over cooked, as was most of the meat. Lamb tongue, taramosalata, bidinjan eggplant fritters, and Turkish pastrami were the stars—so delicious. The most unpleasant part was the pace of the meal. Service was very rushed, our waiter was rough. She slammed and squished plates on the table, there was not enough room on our table for the amount of dishes she was bringing at once. She should’ve spaced out the dishes more thoughtfully. Overall, not a “wow” experience.

Very good service and food, but extremely loud inside. Because of the noise, I will not return to this restaurant.

The food is always fresh and delicious, and it is hard to choose from the many enticing offerings on the menu. It is a loud and "energetic" place, so it can be difficult to converse easily. But I highly recommend it!

Food and service are always outstanding.

Every time I travel to DC I always visit this spot. Amazing food! Excellent service!! Outstanding Wine Menu!!

We were a large family party, part Syrian, so we know our Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food. The food was absolutely delicious--fresh, well-seasoned. I loved the dip sampler we got, the mushroom saganaki, the spanikopita, labneh, etc., and we got endless refills of wonderful bread to go with all of the mezze. I would say that the kebab family platter was good, not great--the meat could have been a little juicier. I also had the special cocktail, called the Persepolis, with pomegranate juice and gin. The only slight flaw was that our waiter, while very attentive and prompt, also came off as supercilious and bored with us, and practically rolled his eyes when we didn't order wine or dessert (we were just too damn full--give us a break!).

We’ve been coming to this restaurant for 13 years. Every time we vacation in DC. Food is absolutely fantastic, fresh and flavorful. Service outstanding. Our children ages 12 and 10 love the food. The place is always busy so would recommend a reservation.

Our experience was amazing. From arriving a few minutes early and still getting acknowledged with our reservations. We were seated immediately and had a fabulous waiter. The plating and the flavor of the food was fantastic. Our only feedback is we felt our plates were removed a little too quickly. But would highly recommend this restaurant to everyone.

We had dinner here in a Tuesday evening there was 4 of and we loved the food! We each ordered 3 different items and all tried each other’s choices...so delicious. Atmosphere was nice and our waitress was good. We will definitely be back.

Excellent food, outstanding service. All staff were professional and friendly.

Excellent food and service!

We had a wonderful dinning experience. The food was excellent. My husband ordered the Chef’s experience and it did not disappoint. I ordered 3 vegan dishes that were delicious. The wait staff was delightful. The service was impeccable! I looked around the room and towards the kitchen and for the first time in my life thought about all the things that have to go right in a restaurant to deliver on such an excellent dining experience. Deliver they did! We will return!

Foods are exotic and healthy, prices are reasonable, the place is spacious, the service is great; how can one ask for more! Keep it up Zaytinya.

Always enjoy Zaytinya! Food is outstanding. Service was just ok this time. Noise level is high, which was a little difficult for a member of our party who is hearing impaired. But overall really enjoyed it and will be back

There fir a rehearsal dinner & other than the relative volume of the dining room everything was wonderful! Our server had great suggestions helping us navigate the menu to choose small plates options to share!

Great service. Amazing food with unique twists. The chocolate coffee cake was one of the most incredible desserts I've ever had.

Extraordinary food.

Something is happening to this restaurant. It was brilliant just 2 yrs ago but now the service seems a little slo

Slowest service ever! Finally got our cold food. Overrated in a huge way. Save your time and money. Underwhelming wow. What a disappointment.

Fantastic though a little loud!

This place is phenomenal! The service and food was excellent! This is by far one of the top restaurant in D.C. I highly recommended this place!

The food took a very long time, and came out in waves. Usually I like this but this time the time between the two was too long.

Our waitress was non existent

I went to Zaytinya years ago and don't recall it being this mediocre. Some of the food was good but nothing to write home about. One sandwich had way too much dressing and not enough veg or bacon. The salad lettuce was going off so two people could not finish their salads and had to pick around all the bad lettuce. The falafel was very dry. The arugula salad was okay but I make much better at home. The hot pita bread (gratis) was great, but everything else was disappointing. Service was very good. Ice tea refills were nice, but I would not go there again.

Love coming here. Food is always delicious and beautifully presented. Service was great. They make you feel well cared for. At first we were seated under a drafty vent but when this was mentioned, they seated us in a less drafty spot and later checked that we were comfortable. We love to try new dishes but also have many old favorites (most of the veggie dishes and the Turkish Delight) The mezze lunch is a great value.

Love the food and small plates. Great for sampling. Staff is very attentive.

We enjoyed a wonderful get together . Zaytinya was a great choice for our girlfriend’s lunch . The food was great food, the portions were perfect and the service was friendly and professional. It was a beautiful day so we enjoyed lunch ‘al fresco’. Great atmosphere ! We will repeat this experience ! -Irma and Friends

Great food and drinks options tapas style all with very helpful, friendly service!

We enjoy the food but the noise level is ridiculous. Conversation is not possible. The restaurant was really busy and service suffered. We’ll be back because we admire José Andres and like the location by the Portrait Gallery and Metro.

I would definitely come back here the food was great. If you sit in the lower level it is a bit more mosey. But we where good we sat upstairs

This is hands down my favorite restaurant in DC and one of my favorite in the United States. I am sure to eat here everytime I am in Washington. Amazing food. Amazing service.

We had a business dinner for nine and chose to order the chef's choice, rather than try to decide on individual dishes. The quality of the food was outstanding, the service was excellent, and there was plenty of food for all. It was not the cheapest meal but well worth the expense, given the great experience.

We come here every year for a conference and make sure we have reservations for dinner. Excellent food. I wish they were in my home state.

Such a great spot! My roommate and I went to catch up and we had an amazing time. The free bread and olive oil with pomegranate oil is to DIE for! We got the crispy Brussels which were overall kind of decent, but the crispy eggplant, the house hummus and the fried cucumber with dill cream sauce are all very excellent!! Finished off with the Turkish Delight (so so good) and the Apricot yogurt cream (out of this world and very unique). Plus our server Kevin was at the same time attentive and talkative, but also efficient. Highly recommend this spot!!

One of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to. Jose Andres does not disappoint.

love Andres and Zaytinya. Multiple visits. Food this time was not as good as in the past. Brussel sprouts were soggy. Humus tasted flat. Couscous with mushrooms salty and soggy. Not up to par.
Service was more than graciously attentive -kudos to our guy
Noise level continues to be a problem even though we were upstairs which is better than down.
Was always my go to place, but not so sure after this visit.