Zaytinya
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Under the direction of celebrated chef José Andrés and his ThinkFoodGroup team, Zaytinya offers an innovative mezze menu inspired by Turkish, Greek and Lebanese cuisines served up in a sleek and modern setting. Building on Jose’s deep knowledge of Mediterranean cooking and years of research and travel, the menu features shared small plates of authentic and innovative fare, creative cocktails, and unique Mediterranean wines, making Zaytinya one of the most exciting restaurants in Washington DC.
Support Zaytinya during COVID-19
Popular dishes
Lamb Baharat*
spiced rubbed lamb leg kebab, tabbouleh, charred tomatoes, tahini sauce
43 reviews
Octopus Santorini
grilled Mediterranean octopus, marinated onions, capers, yellow split pea purée
28 reviews
Cauliflower Tiganites
tahini, preserved lemon, pine nuts, capers, golden spice vinaigrette
19 reviews
Awesome servers! Was my anniversary they made my day!! Food is delicious and low priced compared to ambience and quality
I would rate overall experience, food & value a 3.5. The taste and freshness of the food was subpar. Not bad by any means, but none of the food made me excited. The cocktails, however, were amazing. Service was extremely slow. It seemed that there was only one waiter for a huge section of the downstairs seating which I empathize with and of course wasn’t their fault.
Nice there was a heater at every table outside
Great patio eating area. Excellent distance from table to table. I think most maybe all of the staff was double masked & wore gloves. Heaters were excellent. Food, as always was yummy.
How was Zaytinya? It was delicious, as always. They have a great outdoor dining setup with plenty of space heaters. Everything we ordered was great. Honestly, the nicest meal we've had since Covid started.
Great! We did the tasting menu and we’re not disappointed!
Top notch creative veggie mezze. And a turkish coffee chocolate cake to die for with delish mastic ice cream. Wow
Love the food here, and a good outdoor setup for winter.
Great food and vibes!
Very good food and presentation and wait staff. The bread as always was fresh but took forever to get to our table. All else was perfect.
Our experience was amazing. The staff was very cautious and took proper protocol with the current pandemic. The food was great, the ambience was spectacular and our overall experience was amazing. We will definitely be returning in the near future.
Food was delicious and would recommend the chef experience 100%!
We sat outside. Appreciate that option.
Been here a few times now but saw a drastic decline in the flavours of food. Didn't like the host. There were so many good seating options and I requested one but she refused to the one we liked. Couldn't understand why, and it was not due to covid policy. The service was really good though.
Zaytinya continues to set the bar for all others.. Great food, first-rate service, real focus on safety and sanitation.. Love the Soujouk Pide, Garides Anitho, and many others.
We did the chef's tasting menu and it was really wonderful. There was a lot of food, so you'll want to go hungry. The service was lovely. Thank you for a wonderful evening.
Enjoyed the first dining experience since COVID breakout. Was pleasantly surprised by the safety measures put in place for diners such as glass separators and distance between tables. Food was great as usual.
Went for lunch with a friend. Originally had outdoor reservations but the inside of the restaurant was empty so we sat inside. They have a small lunch menu but we ordered from the regular menu and shared 3 mezze dishes. Lamb was excellent, chicken and rice was tasty and the crispy Brussels sprouts were great.
They have a nice outdoor area that is covered and heat lamps so you can eat outside safely! Food was good. Out waiter was wonderful despite the fact that he had the entire patio. Tip generously these restaurants need it:)
We went for bd celebration ,no one even mention that to us 👎🏻food okay ,service okay ,ambiance 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻 disappointed
Zaytinya is always incredibly delicious. Best brussels sprouts in town!
Had to wait 30 mins even with reservation, but like it was also valentine's day so it could've been expected
The food was great and the service was fantastic! There were heaters burning in the outdoor patio but it was no match for a District winter. I look forward to going back when the weather is nicer. Tip-Bring a blanket to cover your legs.
We dined outside on the patio for Valentine’s Day and I was relieved it wasn’t one of those enclosed bubble deals. The fixed menu was perfection and we enjoyed every bite! Delicious cocktails as well. Thank you so much! It was our first time and we’ll definitely be back.
The upstairs room should either be removed from service OR the walls should be painted, covered in artwork, fireplace turned "on"...I felt like we were in an empty convention room that no one bothered to put any energy into blending into the lower (main) level of the restaurant. I will go back but will request not to be sat up there....beyond bad- and reflects poorly on the experience of the restaurant!
It was great!! Awesome seating and for Valentine’s Day they offered a special menu. Perfect experience
Fantastic Valentine’s Day dinner. We experienced all the plates in the menu and all are wonderful. It’s worth the price and the hype. Fantastic staffs as well
We ordered the Royal Brunch. The food was Absolutely Delicious!
Had the brunch food was delicious and the price was excellent and included a wine tasting!
Great experience, even with winter outdoor dining!
Great first experience! Went for Valentine’s Day dinner which was delicious. Service was spectacular, everything was timely, they worked around Covid policies well, the only negative aspect was tough to hear through masks, noise level wasn’t bad, but Mediterranean named dishes, plus listening through makes was tough, so we just kept menu up on phone. Very generous amount of food for the prices! Cocktails and plates were fantastic! Defiantly would come back.
AMAZING food, experience, and service. I consider myself a foodie and this was our first time visiting DC. An unforgettable dinner
great food, great service and a great way to celebrate a special day in a way my wife and I felt very safe, thanks
Went for a date on a Friday night and got a corner booth which was great! Decided not to do the valentines day menu which ended up being a good call. Za'atar marg was amazing and the pita did not disappoint. Would highly recommend for a date or night out with friends!
Great outdoor dining during these times. Heaters! kept us warm!
We had to the tasting and it was delicious. A nice amount of food with lots of flavor. The service was attentive, friendly and calm.
After the understandable delay in seating due to Restaurant Week, we were sat in the bar area in the very back. It seemed like a makeshift table that was placed at the end of bar next to the bathroom & kitchen entrance. From that description, that lets you know all the traffic surrounding us from patrons to bartenders to waiters. It was constant, and honestly not ideal. With that said, you’d think due to our proximity we’d be checked on consistently if not even excessively. Instead it was the exact opposite—our waiter barely acknowledged us. I personally don’t recall him stating his name and the one time he came to refill drinks he refilled my friend’s but not mine nor did he check so I had to wait until he finally looked in our direction again to flag him down. He then refilled it but poured so much to where it overflowed. I was trying not to be judgmental, but it came off extremely careless, especially after being ignored almost all night. He did apologize, but he didn’t bring extra napkins to clean the spill. Additionally, not once did he ask how our meal was, asking only once mid-meal if we needed anything. Though in the beginning when we wanted a refill of the complimentary bread, he had to be stopped to request more—only for him to forget. It took a random person walking to the kitchen to ask us if we wanted more.
At the end of our meal, my friend and I were talking. Randomly, the waiter walks by and places the check down without words (again, he never asked our thoughts though we watched him engage all the other tables). I understand not wanting to interrupt, but usually there’s a quick “take your time/whenever you’re ready”. After a few minutes, the waiter returned & grabbed the check, which clearly hadn’t been touched, again without words. He tried to walk off but saw we hadn’t paid so he asked if we needed more time (of course). It was really awkward & impersonal
Overall though the food was delicious but the experience was very poor. Not a good 1st time
We had to wait about 40 minutes even with a reservation.
The small plates were all really good and great sampler size, and the outdoor seating was very covid friendly.
Very good meal. We sat in the bar area, but due to the very large volume of take out orders being picked up at the bar, it was not as pleasant as it should have been.
FAQs
Zaytinya does offer delivery in partnership with Caviar and Uber Eats. Zaytinya also offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (202) 638-0800.
Zaytinya is rated 4.7 stars by 15975 OpenTable diners.
Zaytinya does offer gift cards which you can purchase here https://thinkfoodgroup.myguestaccount.com/guest/egift.
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.