I'm back in the east coast y'all and my first meal happened at MR. And it was a plenty. I'm full. I'm sleepy. I'm good. Hubs thought I'd enjoy an easy place that required little decision-making after my fun bumpy airplane ride. He was correct (btw even the pilot said, "phew" lol). A set menu format is cool with me since all the offerings were basic. Bread, salad, cow, potatoes, and pie. Nothing complex here folks. The highlight was that they carried the Tea Leaves brand. Woo hoo! A tea bag from TL is a treat for me. There were lots of hot water refills during my MR journey for true. Yummy balance in the mixed green salad. The tangy dressing paired well with the naturally bitter greens. Thumbs up. Gets your mouth watery and ready for the hefty entree. Yeah~ the secret sauce over the culotte steak and hand-cut fries were meh for me. Got the job done I guess but it was a grainy textured sauce. Mouthfeel was not ideal. Maybe if the sauce was smoother... idk. I couldn't help but focus on the graininess of the sauce while chewing my medium rare cow. Now the fries were tasty without the sauce. Crispy and comforting. An unexpected surprise? More steaks-a-comin'. Didn't know that. Suddenly a cast-iron skillet arrived with I'm guessing the remains of the order. Plus fries too. Wowza. Packed 'em to-go. Made for a filling lunch the next day. That key lime pie dessert was memorable thanks to the white chocolate rice-krispies-like balls playfully placed throughout. Such a delight biting into those. Just sweet enough. The key lime filling was tarty to my liking. Only remains were the graham cracker crust. Servers were great. Efficient team. Easy-going and friendly also. Good first meal back in MoCo. read more

See all

The total meal is about $25, and you get free bread, a salad, and two servings of the steak and fries. Some people don't like the sauce they put on the steak (my parents hated it), while some like it (me). The steak isn't the best quality and is very thin, but it's still pretty tasty. The sourdough bread and butter is dank. You will definitely get full after eating here. read more

See all

I can undoubtedly say that Medium Rare for dinner is more a hit than a miss. Their business concept is quite ingenious. Much like what everyone has already mentioned, Medium Rare serves one dish that I'm sure almost everyone fancies, which is a plate of steak and a side of fries. Furthermore, after finishing the first plate, you get a second serving or plate at no extra charge. I visited with a couple of friends and the room is dimly lit, giving off a quaint sophisticated yet homily vibe. When ordering, our server didn't have to ask much (a product of their one entree concept); however, for the specifics that we did have to order, she used a crayon to denote it onto our paper table cloth. After so, she brought us a basket of bread as per usual and not too long after brought us our steak dinners. The steak was not perfect but it was closer to outstanding than horrendous. I asked for a medium rare steak and they cooked it as requested. The side of fries was nothing amazingly special but complemented the steak well. Perhaps the only problem with the meal was that the steak portion size was quite small/thin for my liking, yet not too small to really complain. Piece of advice: if you and your party are planning to visit during rush hour/happy hour/brunch times, scratch your reservation and go sometime later. Aside from the slower service, the restaurant seemed to only have street parking and from the looks of it, there weren't many outside its venue. With that said, Medium Rare is still a solid 4/5 star restaurant. read more

See all

Excellent! I've been to the other two Medium Rare locations in the DC area (Cleveland Park and Capitol Hill) and I think their Bethesda location may be my very favorite! We visited for brunch recently and the food is DELICIOUS. The service was also fantastic, and I truly appreciated that our server let us know that we could do their dinner option instead of lunch so we could have double portions of steak and pay $5 less. Very nice of him to let us know! We also were able to still choose from the brunch menu for our appetizer - I still got a salad for my choice (the dinner option), but we also got a parfait. The food is excellent. Medium Rare only has a few select items on the menu, but they do a fantastic job. For dinner ($20 per person), you basically don't have a choice and only get their steak with fries and a special gravy-based house sauce. You get two helpings of the steak and fries. You also get a salad to start. For brunch, you can also choose the steak and fries, but you also have some other options, such as Steak and Eggs, Medium Rare's Famous Benedict, French Toast and Sausage, and Egg Frites and Sausage. They sure do love their steak, and they do it really well! Their brunch is $25 per person, but you get unlimited drinks as well. The Bethesda location has a fun, warm, and welcoming ambiance. It's not super fancy and stuffy, but it's also a solid sit-down restaurant. We had a very enjoyable brunch here and I would certainly love to return! It's located conveniently in the bustling Woodmont Triangle neighborhood of Bethesda and is fairly close to the metro station. read more

See all

Will not be going back due to the lack of consistency with how the meat is cooked. We have been here 3 times, and the first time the steak was delicious and tender, the second time it was decent but not as tender as the first time we went. We decided to give it another shot and had the chewiest steak we've ever eaten at a restaurant. I ordered medium and my fiancé ordered medium rare and his was chewier than mine. The cuts we received had many muscle fibers and connective tissue that made it very hard to chew and we didn't end up finishing our meals. We also got our meals much later than the people around us who arrived after we did. read more

Made a reservation. When we got there they said they were "overbooked" and it was going to be a 25 minute wait. The poor hostess was not getting paid enough to deal with that craziness. But, I think we dodged a bullet. The dishes we saw going past were not even average. Small, thin, fatty slabs of meat on small plates with limp fries and messy sauce. Totally unimpressive. It's amazing this place is so popular. It's a hard no for us. Oh and the place was noisy and chaotic. read more

My friends make fun of me whenever I order a steak with fries at a fine steakhouse. Apparently, a steak with a baked potato is a classier combination. I beg to differ. When I first learned of Medium Rare and their focus on Steak Frites, I was all in. The steak is always cooked to perfection. The fries are crisp and tasty. The customer service is also excellent. Special shout out to their General Manager, Vanessa! I highly recommend Medium Rare. read more

Stumbled upon this place on hump day (Wednesday), for dinner. Its small and quaint. Nice vibe; trendy music over conversation saturated the air.; decor is a rustic / modern blend with brick wall and exposed beams. The menu is fixed, which included bread, salad, steak & frites- not just one, but two helpings. I topped it off pilsner. Staff was proffessional and attentive. Food was good--It was an excellent experience ! read more

Medium Rare - Steakhouses Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

See all

How did I not know about this place sooner?? Bread, salad, and 2 plates of steak and fries for $20! I loved the fries - perfectly crisp. Definitely recommend this place for groups and simple but classic meal. read more

Medium Rare - Steakhouses Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

See all

The food here was amazing! The only negative I have (that's honestly a bit ridiculous) is that we had to wait over 45 mins for a birthday table we reserved several weeks in advance. The staff was less than pleasant in explaining to us why they could not accommodate our reservation (!) time but the overall vibe of the place was good. read more

The food was amazingly awesome especially the gravy. What shocked me was that they refilled your plate. The service was really nice you didn't get one waiter there was a few which was awesome because if you you needed something they would immediately be there. Over all it was a great experience and I will come back soon. read more

*Brunch/Birthday Event Review* The price for brunch is great! $25 a person (20% tip automatic gratuity added to brunch parties) The atmosphere, service and easily accessible parking garages nearby is nice. However the food in my opinion is a 2/5 Mimosa: you get a pitcher to share amongst the table but it's literally all juice, barely any champagne. Eggs: so so horribly raw for poached eggs. The whites on the egg were still very uncooked, you just see the clear slime of whites running off your eggs. Better off getting scrambled, boo. Steak & Eggs dish: extremely salty steak and came out well done, even when asked for medium rare.... the name of the whole resturant... Sausage & Eggs dish: you get only one small sausage, so start thinking of an extra side lol Fruit Parfait: probably the best thing on the brunch menu (my friend who got the salad didn't like it at all and wish she chose this instead) The brunch plate was overall very small in portion and will not get you full. You get full off of the mimiosas before anything else. This is one of those places where I feel like you could cook a better breakfast at home. This was also a birthday outing and they do not give a complimentary dessert even if it's your birthday which isn't necessary, but would be nice. We ended up buying the birthday girl a dessert, but we should have asked in advanced to bring our own cake. read more

See all

Saturday brunch review: I have wanted to try this place for a while after getting a referral from a co-worker. We tried the steak, eggs and frites & the French toast and sausage. Brunch includes bottomless mimosas, bloody Mary's, screwdrivers and coffee for $24.95. I was enticed by the deal since it's a great price. Brunch also included bread and a salad or parfait. The salad was plain (lettuce and tomatoes). The drinks were watered down, especially the screwdriver. The mimosa seemed like it barely had any champagne. The food was ok, but nothing that would make me return. The steak, eggs and frites were ok, but I wanted the drinks to be better. read more

Medium Rare - Brunch item: Steak, eggs and frites - Steakhouses Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

I went this past Sunday and got the brunch with bottomless mimosas. The starter parfait was so good and really fresh. Our server was very attentive and constantly refilling our drinks! I got the eggs Benedict and French toast. I wasn't a super fan of the mushroom sauce on the steak but the French toast was perfect and I'd definitely come back for the dinner menu read more

Medium Rare - Steakhouses Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

Horrible experience. Planned to go here all week for my friends 18th and was so excited for this night. But even with our reservation (that had been booked days prior to our dinner) we were not even greeted by the hostess when we arrived. Instead we had to push through the other upset patrons who also were not being served. I understand that the restaurant was crowded but to have absolutely nobody even attempting to control the crowd and excusing their actions with "well text you when your table is ready" is seriously frustrating. Again totally understandable if the table would have been ready in the 10 minutes they said it would be. But 40 minutes is far longer wait than 10 and in 40 degree weather is irritating. So unfortunate because I had heard such great reviews for this place and was hoping to add one of my own. Would not recommend to any fellow yelpers. read more

Food's okay. Steak is a cheap cut and there is very little of it, salad is flavorless, but ultimately the bread is good. If you're looking for crusty bread then this is the place, but if you're looking for anything else, this is not it! Idk if I'm crazy but I thought it was bottomless steak, it's definitely not! Don't come here if you want a good portion or good food. The service is awful, it feels like they're trying to rush you through and get you out of there and they're incredibly rude. I'd give zero stars if I could but I have to give 1 and I'll give a second just for the steak sauce and bazooka gum. Save your money and make your steak at home or get it somewhere else. read more

This location continues to disappoint. Just had brunch. The service and food quality very low. I ordered a Medium steak but received a very rare steak. After 10 minutes, I asked the server (not our designated server, just the one that eventually came near our table) for the steak to be cooked "a bit more". her response, "you should have asked for "medium". But that's exactly what I ordered (see it's written in crayon on the table!). The ultimate response Was to serve my steak as well well done. As punishment for asking for a change in meat temp , the entire service team avoided our table. Felt like i was being punished to ask for what i ordered. Too many other issues to list here (bad Bloody Mary, no bread...) Used to visit a lot. Now can't justify returning again. Recommend that you avoid this place! read more

My husband and I had our first (and maybe last) dining experience at Medium Rare Bethesda. It was Valentine's Day, perhaps our mistake, but we did have a reservation. Seated immediately and promptly forgotten. We had to flag someone down to get water and place a drink order. She said she wasn't our waitperson but would get us drinks anyway, and take our order. We did not receive ANY food until the patrons at the table beside us (who were seated after us and who were receiving seconds) asked the waiter if he could serve us. Our steak and fries were delivered with apologies for not bringing the salad which would be delivered shortly. The tables around us turned over twice while we were there. I like the concept and wanted to love the experience but I did not. The food was fine. read more

Unsurprisingly, the steak is a pretty cheap cut, but disappointingly it is covered in a brown sauce that was actually pretty bad. I would give them a 3-star review if the sauce had been in a little pitcher and could be added as desired. 4-stars if they also offered a few other toppings on the table so you could put what you want on it. Maybe herb butter, or red wine and onion, or just about anything other than that awful brown sauce. read more

I came here with a friend after doing a weekend workout at Soldierfit Bethesda down the street. I'm so glad we decided to eat here because we were pleasantly surprised. For $28 (plus tax of course), you get bread, an appetizer (salad, fruit salad, or parfait), your entree, and bottomless drinks (mimosas, screwdrivers, bloody mary's coffee, etc). The food was high quality. The portion sizes were just right. The drinks were good! The service was amazing. I had the parfait, steak frites with eggs, mimosas and coffee. I can't wait to return! read more

Medium Rare - Steak frites with eggs - Steakhouses Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

See all

I had very high hopes for this restaurant but was utterly disappointed. I came here for brunch for my friend's birthday. The waiter (I think it was Jake or Jacob) seemed a bit overwhelmed with the amount of tables he had to serve and wasn't very attentive to our table at all. Our party all arrived at different times so it was understandable at first but once we were all there it took awhile for him to get the bread to our table then we had to bring up to him if we could order our side which was either a fruit salad, yogurt parfait or some type of salad. I got the yogurt parfait and it was the only thing I really enjoyed. I def recommend getting that. It took a long time for our orders to be taken then a good amount of time for the food to even come out. Majority of us at the table orders the steak and eggs and were asked how we wanted our streak we each said something different (like medium well, medium rare, medium). When our food finally arrived we noticed that everybody's steak was cooked the exact same which was like well done it seemed like. The steak was extremely dry and flavorless and the only thing that helped me to finish it was the gravy which wasn't even that great either. To top all of that off it comes time to pay the bill and our waiter says we can just give him the cards and tell him what to charge on each card. Bottomless brunch is $28.99 I believe, so when I saw my check said $44 dollars I was confused. I asked him how this added up and he said because he split the carrot cake between myself and two other people but the carrot cake was only $9, so split between 3 people is only $3. Then I understand tax but it still doesn't add up. I didn't want to go back and forth and everyone was already ready to leave so I just decided to pay the bill. Overall this was a very bad experience and I don't see myself going back to this location again. read more

Medium Rare - Steak and eggs with fries - Steakhouses Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

See all

Holy sauce for the secret sauce! I'm in love. First time at Medium Rare and I was pleased with my experience. Prix fixed menu for $20.54 that can't be beat! For starters you get bread, salad, and steak (cooked of your choosing) with frites. At first you look down to your plate and think to yourself...how selfish? SURPRISE! You get a second serving of the steak and fries! The bread was okay and the salad was drenched with the dressing. The steak and frites totally made up for it. The meat was cooked perfectly and the frites were crispy! The server left a little container of the secret sauce and found myself dipping my fries in it. All of a sudden I forgot about my love for ranch with my fries, again this sauce is everything! I came here for dinner after work one evening and the place wasn't packed at all. I made reservations just in case. I definitely want to try the D.C. location next time! read more

Medium Rare - Bread and salad for starters. - Steakhouses Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

See all

I've visited this location a few times and the service was great! My company hosted our holiday party at Medium Rare and everyone had a lovely time! The servers were attentive, the food was excellent and the drinks were flowing. We really enjoyed the shared dessert course with flaming ice cream sundae. The restaurant was decorated for the holidays which was a nice touch. I recently visited in January with another couple who had never been and they really enjoyed their meals! You can't beat the price for salad, bread and two courses of Steak and Frites. The wait was long for a Saturday night but we had a drink in the bar to pass the time. read more

Medium Rare - Steakhouses Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

See all

Love the simple menu and you can get a good portion of food for a decent price. Start off with lots of bread and butter for the whole table, followed by mixed greens salad (average at best). Steak with fries and "secret sauce" for the main course. You can get up to two servings of both steak and fries included. Steak is made best at, obviously, medium rare, but they can cook it for you however you like. Not the best quality or most tender steak but the flavor is good with the sauce. They don't have a vast alcohol menu either which is a bit of a disappointment. But the cocktails they do have are good. read more

Medium Rare - Steakhouses Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

See all

I like to think I'm too cool for a local chain-like place like this... but I'm not and I love it. They do one thing- culotte steak frites with a dreamy brown sauce. I have no idea what it is but I cover my steak and fries in it and would bathe in it if that were an options It also comes with a mixed greens salad with a great vinaigrette and crunchy bread and butter. They have a solid wine list which is a little overpriced but considering the menu is so reasonable, I don't care. Their desserts are also large enough to serve two or more if you have room for that! While this review is for the Bethesda location, we've been to the others and have literally never had a bad experience. read more

The food is reliably good but I think that was my last visit. They pick loud rock music and play it loudly, to the point that it's incredibly hard to hear. I was hoping the Bethesda location would be quieter than Cleveland Park, but it's just as loud. When I've asked them to turnbit down, I've been told that they won't because they purposefully make it loud so people won't overhear eachother. How do other restaurants stay in business with everyone hearing eachother's discussions, I wonder? Too much. No more. read more

I heard great things about Medium Rare, especially in the Cleveland Park location, so when Bethesda (Woodmont Triangle) opened up, I had to try it. The food wasn't memorable, we were still hungry afterwards, the service was uneven, though the bathroom experience was very interesting. Setting: the 5 of us tried their bottomless brunch, which lets you choose from a variety of drinks (mimosas, screwdriver, fresh OJ, and a few others), one from the yogurt/salad/fruit section, as well as one from the brunch entree section. Note bottomless only means your drinks, you don't actually order as many dishes as you like. So for $25/person, I thought the brunch menu wasn't worth the price. The good stuff: - Nice atmosphere - Easy free parking on weekends (nearby garage) - Fresh OJ was actually fresh - The frites were good The not so good: - Steak was nothing to write home about, with some Chinese tasting brown sauce gravy - Besides OJ, other drinks (screwdriver and mimosas) were watered down - Table bread outer crust was rough to bite into, so it's perfect if you have sensitive lips and need a sand paper treatment - Service was uneven, and that's with 3 tables (including ours) and lots of staff standing around - You can't get a pitcher of screwdriver, mimosa and so forth, unless enough people drink it. This policy is annoying because it took 10 minutes to flag down a wait staff, so refilling became a chore, rather than a brunch feature. - Poached eggs were cold, like dangerously cold The weird: - Bathroom played these great and cheesy Pepe Le Pew lines, where you get strange and erotic French language immersion language lessons as you do your business. This is the only reason why it's not a 1 star rating, because it's so strange that it's brilliant. I can't recommend Medium Rare for brunch. But I would recommend getting a drink from the bar and use their bathroom just to experience it. read more

Medium Rare - Steak and frites - Steakhouses Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

See all

Tables too close together. I'm not even going to review the food because the experience was shared with the couple right next to us. Spread it out!!! Nothing like spending 200 dollars to share dinner with another couple! read more

They don't pick up their phones. The bread is burnt to the max. The major con about their Brunch is you can only order one food item, however, the mimosas are unlimited. They also did not have parfaits because they ran out of fruit so they gave me a salad instead which I didn't want. & the steak on the egg benedict was really salty. The staff is extremely slow with every order you place. Overall, terrible customer experience. I would not come back or recommend this place to anyone. read more

This restaurant overbooks their reservations on opentable,I reserved for two people and stroller called ahead and they said that a table is ready for me, I showed up and had to wait for over 45 minutes without any help from the hostesses. I hope opentable and yelp delists this joke of a business I dont recommend coming here read more

Bread was stale to the point you can't chew and salad was just pure SALT so were their mushrooms- NOT EDIBLE. Why is this okay? Not going back to this place. read more

This food is gross. I gave this place a try before the pandemic and it was just ok. I could tell that it was just over priced cheep warehouse steaks beating to a pulp and served with soggy french fries. Despite this, I let my friend talk me into have dinner there again. Big mistake! What they lack in good quality food, they certainly don't make up with rude staff and huffy management. Sorry you're short staffed, but that's no excused for burnt food. Avoid this place unless you like getting ripped of for Salisbury Steak! read more

Really unsatisfied! The yoghurt is good, definitely recommended. But the orange juicy is not fresh made, coffee is just ok. I came here for the steak, the steak itself is good, I ordered medium rare, but the sauce is so salty! And the fries is also oily, soft and salty! read more

See all

Nightmare. We had a reservation for 5:30, but had to wait 50 minutes to be seated because according to the hostess "we took too many reservations." Not sure how that is possible, but that's what she said. When we were finally seated, the manager took our drink and food orders and said "I'm not sure who will be taking care of you this evening but I'll put this in for you." Apparently no one was taking care of us. He never returned and no other waitstaff took responsibility for our table. Eventually the waitress who had the table next to us saw our empty drinks and took pity on us and got us refills and checked on our food (which was taking forever since no waitstaff had our table). When the food finally came, the steak was over cooked for two out of the four of us. While the hostess apologized for the wait when she sat us, the manager acted like everything was fine. The whole experience was terrible, and having management not even acknowledge it was a slap in the face on top it. Happy Mothers Day to me, I guess. read more

Had a great time brunching! I love having screwdrivers with my steak & eggs. I'm a big fan of medium rare and it's no fuss dining experience. Servers and staff was very personable and professional. This location is refreshing and a great spot with int Bethesda downtown. read more

My boyfriend and I frequent their D.C. locations and were thrilled when we heard they were opening up another closer to home, in Bethesda. The place is as good if not better than their other locations. It was a particularly busy night, we did make a call ahead so we were fortunately seated quickly. I don't know if that would have been the case if we didn't call ahead. The hosts were friendly. We noticed right away that our table was wobbly. That, as you could imagine, was annoying. Our server came by right away and poured us ice water. We ordered a bottle of wine, told her how we would like our steaks cooked (medium rare, thank you very much), and we were in business! Our glassed never emptied as our server consistently refilled our glasses of wine and water. Salad was perfect as always, not too much dressing. Fresh, never wilted salad mix. Pro-tip: Save some of the crusty pieces of your bread to make "croutons" for your salad. Main course did not disappoint. The gravy was succulent and the meat was tender. The fries perfectly salted. And when you finish the plate, get ready for round two. Medium Rare you have done it again. Excited to frequent this place from now on. read more

Medium Rare - The salad and said DIY crouton. - Steakhouses Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

See all

How awful of an experience. I feel bad for their staff that nobody took the effort to train them. Really really bad food. How dare they call it a STEAK house? A mystery meat with sauce of some kind. Served with wilted salad that had a higher temperature than their steak and fries. All tables wobbly that no one could fix. Nothing was served correctly in timely manner. A so-called manager sitting at the bar with no worries. )) And at the end, bad lukewarm coffee. Honestly, even one wanted to fail by design, you couldn't do a better job. This restaurant should be closed. Immediately. A nightmare. Medium rare? Mediocre at best. read more

My family and I came in for my Great Aunt's Birthday celebration and for starters the server didn't know the menu very much at all. We asked if there was any cheese we could add to our eggs and she said there was no cheese in the building at all. But when our food came out all of our eggs were made with cream cheese. One of our family members has a dairy allergy and when we alerted the manager "Gunny", to what took place he brushed off our concerns as if we were just complaining for fun. I would not recommend this restaurant based on service and the food was just okay at best. Many family members sent back there plates upon receiving them due to the miscommunication's with the ingredients. The manager "Gunny" was absolutely of no help at all and it felt as if he was blaming/expecting us to have complaints when we spoke with him. The staff needs to be better trained on the menu and the manager needs to be retrained on how to deal with respectful customers. read more

See all

Steak was decent. Of course asked for medium and got well done... it's literally called "medium rare," you think they'd get it right. Hate being crammed between people 3" apart. Make as much money as you can. Slow, bad service. They wrote our orders on the paper table cloth like it was Chuck E. Cheese's... I mean really. One and done on this place. read more

If it were possible, I would give them 2.5 stars. Overall this was pretty average-mediocre at best. When I was taken here I understood that they only sold steak and fries. But I wasn't under the assumption that you couldn't choose the type of steak or fries. I didn't say to myself, "If they're gonna serve the Same exact thing to everybody here, it better taste phenomenal"... it did not (but I ate my fill nonetheless). It's also over priced. I ended up getting sushi afterwards read more