My friend and I went to a movie in Georgetown and decided to finally try Alara. I had walked by…read morebefore and was always intrigued by it -- the beauty of the space visible through the windows definitely caught my attention. And the atmosphere did not disappoint. Gorgeous, chic, and inviting. The bar is especially beautiful, with warm lighting that feels welcoming while still being dim enough to create a romantic vibe. It's definitely a place where I'd happily linger over cocktails. We're big on sharing, and honestly, I think that's the way to approach a Mediterranean restaurant like this. It gives you the chance to try a little bit of everything. Drinks The Summer in Santorini was my favorite -- incredibly well balanced, beautiful, and fabulous. Definitely a drink I'd order again. My friend had the Strawberries & Cream, which she enjoyed. We also tried the espresso martini, which came with some gorgeous artwork on top. It was a little too coffee-forward/strong for me, but my friend liked it. Food We were served a bread basket, with olive oil and vinaigrette. I liked the idea, but the bread was quite dense and doughy, and a little difficult to tear apart for dipping. The tzatziki was good, although it leaned pretty heavily on the dill for my taste. The chicken kebab was a little salty on its own, but paired wellwith the tzatziki, the flavors worked really nicely together. The feta in phyllo was probably the most interesting presentation. I was surprised that it came more like a spring roll than the traditional triangles I was expecting. The flavor was good, but the phyllo was fairly thick, which made the filling feel a little lost. My friend and I actually started brainstorming how we'd serve it differently -- maybe more like a flatbread/pizza with some hot honey on top. Just a thought! The shrimp, though, were definitely the star of the night for me. That was the dish that really stood out. Overall, I enjoyed Alara and would definitely come back. I don't think everything we tried was spectacular, but there was enough that I want to explore more of the menu. Next time, I'd like to settle in for more of a multi-course dining experience and try some of the entrees. And I'll absolutely be back for the cocktails. Beautiful space, fun atmosphere, and definitely worth exploring -- especially if you're in Georgetown and looking for somewhere that feels a little special.

Second time back, equally as delicious! The cocktails and mocktails are excellent. So good. And the…read morefood is delicious. Needed some dairy free items, so tried the muhamarra, stuffed eggplant, and kibbeh. It was absolutely delicious. Excellent service, street parking is available but not easy, and there is an automatic 20% service fee (that they said is not a tip).

Made a last minute reservation here for dinner with six colleagues. The staff were so accommodating…read more~ and patient ~ with our group. We ordered a variety of things, including their combination appetite platter (citrusy olives with pomegranate seeds was the total standout!), chicken breast, eggplant, filet mignon kebab, and whole branzino. All delicious! The service was fast and friendly. The decor was outstanding ~ even the bathroom became a destination for several of our party members. A delightful experience and I'd happily return and have already recommended it to others.

I came for a friend's birthday and was excited since I have heard of this restaurant before. We all…read morestarted out with a round of drinks and then some dips. I split the eggplant dip with a friend and would recommend doing the same. It was actually quite big for a dip. It was delicious. The fried onions on top confuse me, but the overall taste and flavor was really good at the dip. It also came with bread as well so just a tip. There really wasn't too much from a vegetarian perspective that was an actual meal, so I did eat beforehand. I did want to give this place a try so I did order the pickled plate and a side of rice. Both were really good, nothing groundbreaking, but they were delicious. I really like that the rice had a nice crispy crust. It was really fun to break and it had a really good moist flavor and texture. Our server was good. No issues or complaints with the service received. It was a pretty busy Saturday night though so I don't think I could've expected anything better. The overall restaurant itself is beautiful. There's so many small and unique touches that really make this place its own. There was one wall that was actually draped with rugs, which is really really cool. It was honestly just a really beautiful space to be sitting in. You can tell that they put a lot of time and attention into the decorations. Overall, I probably wouldn't go back due to the actual limitations of food for non-meat eaters. Well, there are quite a few side options, there's nothing that's really substantial for a meal. I will say that my friends that did or order the larger platters really enjoyed the food and were saying great things about it. I would say if you eat meat and you wanna try something flavorful you should give this a try.

I just celebrated my 50th birthday here and it was a phenomenal evening. The staff were all so…read morefriendly and informative, the aesthetic is stunning, the food was incredible and drinks flowed. They gave us their private room for my celebration. Their happy hour options are amazing in taste & value (loved the lamb sliders), we had a Japanese whisky tasting which was amazing. Then the main meal - every dish was delicious. Was having too much fun to take photos of the food. Will absolutely be back to pay more attention to each dish! So if you want a to celebrate a special occasion with a blow out experience meal or just surviving a day in your life with happy hour, then this is your spot.

Some of the best happy hour I've had a minute, everything I had was super tasty. The flat bread was…read morewarm, fresh and soft and they were very generous with it. The best thing I had from the HH menu was the chicken sharwama and egg plant dip absolutely delicious, I really recommend the lamb sliders too. My least favorite was the fish kofte it lacked flavor kinda bland. We also got the butter chicken and it was mind blowing get the cardamom sauce that comes with it. Service was very efficient and our bartenders were really lovely. Loved the vibe in there too not too noisy or crowded really calm, I'll absolutely be back here.

Best of three worlds collide at this Mediterranean Restaurant. Turkish, Greek, Lebanese food. The…read moreHumus w/ground beef, pine nuts and sumac was outstanding. Fresh pita bread with the kebabs added to authentic flavor of Istanbul. Lamb chops were chargrilled to perfection. Not a fan of Greek mythic beer they had a new Lebanese Pilsner beer that was flavorful. Had Kataeffi Dessert and had the right amount of syrup. Orange flavor missing. Interior is nicely decorated and vibe was great. We can see why they have had multiple Michelin stars. A go to for us when in DC.

We usually do the bottomless brunches here but this time We went here for a celebratory lunch. We…read morewere pleasantly surprised by the restaurant week menu since we had forgotten it was restaurant week in dc. We ended up doing that menu since it had everything we wanted. For the mezze, we ordered hummus, red pepper with walnut dip, and tzatziki. For entrees we picked the chicken kebab, the Adana kebab with rice, and the beef kofte with pita. All food items were delicious. For dessert we got the baklava and the Turkish tiramisu. It was my first time trying Turkish tiramisu and it was beyond amazing!!

Hidden down an alley in Georgetown, My Little Chamomile is the right restaurant for a Georgetown…read morecouple on a date, friends wanting an upscale night out, or a traveler at the Ritz Carlton coming for tasty dinner within walking distance. I was the latter, and wow this is now one of my favorite restaurants in Georgetown. Often I feel like the cuisine in Georgetown panders to the comfortable. It is speaking to parents of Georgetown students, think Filomena's or even Osteria Mozza (I know it's great), but so much of the food in Georgetown is hits that your parents would love. My Little Chamomile pushes you a little, with a unique wine list, select cocktails, and some extremely tasty dishes, we get to explore Turkish cuisine in a way that moves you beyond the every day. The labne and all appetizers served with fresh bread are just so good. You must get something creamy or cheesy, it just feels right. The lamb skewers were also oh sooo good, and the lavash was so flavorfull with the tomatoes. I was surprised and enjoyably so. Cocktails were great, and they have Raki which the bartender comped me, because we were having lovely conversation. Every single person I encountered working at the restaurant believed in the mission, the food, the space. It was stunning to see. There aren't many places better in Georgetown. You can argue the food is similar to Alara, but the vibes are not even close. This feels like a real human run restaurant. You've got to try it!

My Little Chamomile has been on our list to try together since it opened last year, and we made a…read morereservation for last Wednesday. Our server recommended some good options for us and was very thorough in making sure there was no cross-contamination with my friend's allergens. TEKMIL FAVA - 14 Incredibly delicious dip that's incredibly dill-forward. The bread that came with it was just OK, but the citrusy and herb combination was addictive. We would definitely recommend it! ZEYTİNYAĞLI ENGİNAR - 24 Not the biggest artichoke fan, but my artichoke-loving friend really enjoyed this. It was soft with the perfect texture, but not my favorite. MERCIMEK ÇORBASI - 14 This red lentil soup had a runnier consistency which was perfect. It came out hot, and topped with buttery bread crumbs that was crunchy and tasty. I love soup and would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good lentil soup. ÇÖP ŞIŞ - 23 The tomato paste/sauce was so fresh and sweet, topped with fresh herbs and lavash (type of flatbread) as the base. Definitely eat this as fresh as possible. Underneath the flatbread were five lamb skewers, which was smoky and flavorful. The combination of the savory lamb and fresh tomatoes was phenomenal. MANTI - 24 These are delicate and small beef dumplings mixed with a creamy yogurt sauce and spices. The dumpling skin was perfectly thin, and the beef was well-seasoned. The sauce was a bit much, but it complements the dumplings well in moderation. KEŞKÜL - 13 The almond pudding was addictive -- not too sweet and slightly nutty, making you want more and more of it. This was definitely our favorite dessert of the night and they were incredibly generous with the amount of almonds they give you! REVANI - 15 A bit dense, sweeter than I'd like -- this is a corn flour cake with some whipped cream and rhubarb jam on the side. Our server said this was one of the "less sweet" dessert options, so the ones we didn't order are probably a lot sweeter. Food was good, and we had a great experience! Nice ambiance, and they were quite packed on a Wednesday evening. They're also on inKind, so we were able to pay with the app and save on our meal.

I've come to Iron Gate for several business lunches, a solo meal, and have hosted a private party…read morehere. I consistently find the food to be great, and the atmosphere is charming, while the service can be hit or miss. It's easy to miss walking down the street, and then you enter through essentially a hallway that doubles as a long slim bar. Through that hallway you'll exit into a courtyard that feels warm - literally and figuratively - year round. There is an indoor converted carriage house to dine as well. It's a surprising setting given the more corporate feeling surroundings. A Mediterranean inspired menu rotates seasonally and they have a great wine and cocktail list. When I held a private event here they were easy to work with and very accommodating to make the evening special. When I've dined with a group or by myself I have sometimes found service to be slow and it hard to get waiters attention.

Fantastic service, mixed results on good and drink, for restaurant week during summer 2026. Long…read morestory short, it was overall a good experience and I'd try it again in a different season. I think I'd prefer to sit outdoors although maybe when it's less hot and humid, as it was a bit loud indoors. The sesame feta with watermelon was delicious and maybe our favorite dish overall. The tomato panzanella was okay but the tomato could have been more ripe. I'd heard about the focaccia but something was off when we went--something was very clearly missing, maybe salt, and it just tasted like a pretty dense vehicle for oil. They change the focaccia seasonally and may have just been having a bad day so I'd try it again but it was not great. The gnocchi was very good and very filling. The chicken was good, and the dill lemon sauce was nice. The desserts were all good--the phyllo cheesecake with peaches, a chocolate pudding, and a cheese plate with blue cheese and a Pennsylvania pecorino. Two of us tried the Hermes drink first and unfortunately it was very underwhelming. It tasted like slightly alcoholic water, but didn't have much flavor. The blueberry lemon cocktail was much more interesting.

Authentic, cool ambiance, great food. Egyptian coffee and…read moreKafta sandwich were amazing. Recommend.

We just don't see Egyptian food these days. This place is not only legit...omg it's super fresh!…read more The ground meat tastes like it was just ground. I don't think there's a canned tomato in the joint (my koshari tasted great). If I were to gripe the hawawshi didn't come with tahini (I didn't ask either...should be default) and the koshari had too much rice in the ratio. But honestly these could be my regional variant tastes. It all tastes like you family cooked it. Don't skip the Karkadee (hibiscus iced tea) and tell the staff alf-shook!

Talk about a hidden gem!…read more Saying that we enjoyed our time at Afghania would be the biggest understatement of 2026. It's a little higher up than some of the more commonly known restaurants but we are so glad we made the trek. Everything we had was a hit, there were no misses and that's rare- especially since our group totaled 6 people. That's a lot of people to impress. We were only a couple bites into our dinner when my mom said "we have to come back here again, and soon" For starters we had the assortment of dumplings. All delicious but my favorite was definitely the pumpkin. Sweet, and flavorful. If you're not a huge fan of spice, like myself, skip the spicy beef dumplings. I mean, it's in the name. Our table bought a variety of things and sampled all of it as dinner. We got the beef tenderloin and chicken, the chicken and ground beef, the Kandahari vegetarian flights, and the Moguhli (the one thing I hadn't sampled (hint, it was also spicy). The beef? Tender. The chicken? Juicy. The difference varieties of prepared rice? Flavorful. The drinks were also a hit. I had a mocktail that was mild in taste, with a hint of sweetness yet refreshing (the name is slipping me at the moment). Dessert? To die for. The cardamom tres leches was the best dessert I'd had at a restaurant in a while. I would make a trip back to Afghania just for it. The service was also amazing. Our server was very patient (we were a table of six, ¼ bilingual, ¼ just French speakers and the rest English speakers), and also very knowledgeable as everything we ate came at her recommendation. The décor is tasteful and in no way overbearing : white table clothes, artwork that depicts the culture, and it was overall a very cozy and intimate vibe. Hands down, a wonderful experience.

The food here is great. We thoroughly enjoyed our appetizer and both entrees. Lots of flavor in…read moreeach dish and the chicken was cooked perfectly. The portion sizes are large as well so we got to take home some leftovers. However, the service is not up to par unfortunately. The staff all seemed new and there were only three servers for all the tables and they were also serving the downstairs bar. When we arrived for our reservation we had to wait at least 10 minutes for them to acknowledge us. There is no waiting area because of the size and layout of the restaurant so it's probably best to just wait outside. Once seated it then took quite a while to receive water and place our order for drinks and the appetizer. When we were eating the appetizer one of the servers came over and asked if we had the bread yet. We said no and then he went and got us the complimentary bread basket that the other tables already had. I will also note I saw a few cobwebs in the ceiling corners upstairs. If the service improves I think I could give this another chance.