Acacia Food & Wine

Our meal at acacia was nothing short of excellent. We came by for dinner on Saturday to try the southern food special and were extremely impressed from end to end. Fried green tomatoes, with red pepper sauce and Gumbo which were decadent, flavorful, and portioned just right to keep us from filling up before our main course. Great as the drinks and appetizers were, our entrees were the stars of our meal. I had the Glazed short Rib, which was full of flavor and was served with stone grits which I love Ii. My husband had the blackened salmon and loved it, and while I'm normally not a fan, these were an exception on account of their unbelievable sauce (barigoule sauce?). Again, the portions were perfect--both of us were quite full at the end, but were able to polish off almost everything on our plates without too much of an issue. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your philosophy, this kept the proverbial door open for dessert. Per the recommendation of our waiter/manager, we got the strawberry short cake and mango sorbet, Both were dangerously good but we both agreed that the mango was the best we've ever had. Service was attentive (but not overbearing), friendly, knowledgeable (but not pushy), and extremely generous. We were completely impressed by the quality of service of everyone we encountered, which, when considered along with the tremendous quality of our food, makes acacia bistro an obvious choice for a nice evening out and a five star review.

My cousins and I went here in August to celebrate my birthday. The experience was memorable in every way, from the quality of the food to the service to the airy and comfortable ambiance. Highly recommend. I was also here about four years ago, with a coupon, and had a very unhappy experience. Unexpectedly, part of the discount applied only to alcohol. Since neither of us was drinking, we felt we had been misled about how much to expect would be discounted off our tab. The restaurant was unbudgeable. We decided not to come back. I only came this August because the restaurant was close to where my relatives were staying. I'm very glad I gave the restaurant another try, though not sure whether their coupon policy has change.

My friends and I just had a superb birthday lunch at Acacia. The service was excellent and the food was delicious. I also thought it was very cozy with great lighting and decor. The chef was so sweet an gave us a complimentary amazing dessert. I had not been to Acacia in several years and learned they have totally revamped their menu. I highly recommend if you have been there before to check it out again and if not to visit it!

First went for dinner with my daughter. Food was delicious wine tasty and service good. Since it is in my neighborhood I now frequent the bar area and patio. Friendly place with excellent wine options and drafts. Service first rate. Food items I have tried have all been excellent.

LOVE this place. Always friendly and warm environment. Great food. Menu has a lot of variety, but all items are seasonal and prepared in an interesting way. I've sat at the bar for happy hour and felt comfortable alone and have been here with friends for brunch, lunch and dinner and have always been impressed. Great neighborhood location.

Delightful neighborhood restaurant, reliably delicious food, appropriately proportioned as well as tasty, wonderful wine list and an always pleasant and welcoming atmosphere. Plus they remember my birthday with a dessert of my choice annually!!! Very civilized though I often forget Sundays they are dark!

Our visit to Acadia was outstanding in all ways . It is a simple pleasant locale with quite reasonable and tasty choices of food, especially the nice and creative selection of small plates. It is a treat to go somewhere for dinner that is virtually free of extraneous noise and be able to hold a conversation without shouting! Unfortunately the service was OK our $35 Prix Fix Menu was delicious and Creative, The new chef does fabulous job . Everything we ordered was delicious. Hopefully this was an off night in that respect as otherwise it was well worth the visit.

Food was delicious. We had expertly fried calamari and stuffed grape leaves for appetizers and ordered the specials, seared tuna and veal picatta along with a black and blue steak. Service was a little uneven with a pleasant but seemingly new waiter. One appetizer was forgotten, and the main courses came too quickly after the first course. The issues were corrected with comped desserts to share; creme brulee and fantastic Turkish baklava. This is a great neighborhood restaurant that is a lower cost alternative to Sofglina across the street.

Came in here and realized they were short staffed… still felt like they were rocking in full force. The gentleman behind the bar provided excellent service. The food was great, ambience even better. Would recommend 10/10 times.

The service was great, the drinks were really good, food was pretty quick and the staff was super welcoming. Sometimes brunch in DC feels pretentious but this environment was great and laid back! Can’t wait to come back.

Great bistro food! We had dinner there, tryed some nice Chardonnay from California, and had a great Salmon Terryaki Salad and Lamb Tagine! Appreciate all wine recommendations pared with the food. Atmosphere is relaxed and very welcoming! Nice place to go for dinner with friends!

Friendly service with quality food and great ambiance for outside seating. The staff wore masks and maintained social distancing responsibly, creating a safe and fun experience to dine out.

This is a small bistro, and the menu is not large, but the food is pretty good and the wine list is respectable. In nice weather, it's pleasant to sit outdoors.

I throughly enjoyed my meal and experience at AFW The steak,, was prepared perfectly, and the plating of a simple dish was pleasing. I would definitely make a return trip!

1st Visit here earlier this week. Quickly seated and well served by the staff. I opted for a penne pasta that was excellent. my companion had a fish dish that was good. Nice selection of wines and a nice space. I thought the prices were fair and would definitely try again next time in that area looking for a mix of Mediterranean and Italian type dishes.

My wife and I had a nice dinner here the other evening. They have great outdoor seating when the weather is nice. The music that was being played was good enough for us to dance a little bit on the brick patio. The food was good, and the service was friendly. A little bit slow because they were full, but it was a relaxing evening.

Excellent food. Enjoyed the leg of lamb from the specials menu. Service was a little less-than-attentive but we were at the very beginning of the dinner service and were the only patrons for most of our visit. The quality of the food was superb; it more than made up for the lackluster service.

If you're looking for a good place to gather with friends, this is the place... Though the waiters weren't to familiar with our drink orders. They did give you a good amount of drink. Would like to see more drink options on the menu and maybe see more following of the recipe

Several vegetarian options which range from good to very good. Good wine selection. Quick and friendly service. Prices seemed reasonable to low for the quality. Also, with free WiFi, it's a great place to work and enjoy a glass of wine.

I've been here a handful of times but keep giving them another chance.. the food is hit or miss but I've had decent experience with the service and the bartender was friendly every time. Van Ness is disappointing when it comes to variety of good places to eat. Brunch is not really Acacia's forte it seems. Ordered medium rare steak and over easy eggs this last time which were super over-cooked and they couldn't figure out how to make an Irish coffee which was disappointing at brunch. I'd maybe go back for drinks/happy hour but I think I've given up on dining here.

Still not entirely sure how to pronounce the name of this place, Acacia Bistro has a small but intimate environment. Their tall ceilings make it appear bigger than it actually is. From my experience the food has always been good and they have a great wine selection. With Van Ness not really having much to offer in terms of restaurants or bars, it's nice to have something like Acacia Bistro in the neighborhood.

One of the workers was very rude and gave my party of 6 lousy drinks. One of the other workers took over after we expressed our dissatisfaction, and everything got a lot better. His customer service was wonderful, and they corrected our drinks without any extra charges. Overall, it was ok, but we probably will not return.

The food was great; ok wine selection. The bartender had a little attitude, & then I got wind of the owner. That guy seemed like an irrational tyrant. The owner guy complained to a couple sitting next to me that customers complain. The owner told a story and seemed incredulous that somebody might be particular. I thought that was very unprofessional, and so I understand why the bartender was aloof.

Extremely frustrating experience. Came in as a large group and they sat us, not informing us that they were desperately short of staff. To be clear, we had made reservations and confirmed when we arrived that they had capacity and they said yes. We proceeded to order 45 minutes after sitting. We got our first food over an hour after sitting, and for the next two hours they served a dish every 10 minutes. A few of our members went on a ten mile run after finishing their meal before the last of our group was served. All in all our meal took 3 hours. Not to mention, the food quality. They apparently did not have any pasta which knocked off 1/2 of their main courses. The garlic bread, which cost around $9, was two hamburger buns with some garlic and oil on top. The burgers we ordered were burned. Acacia placed us in an incredibly difficult situation. As a group, do not come. If you are a small group, seriously consider whether the quality of food is worth the price. There are many delicious restaurants in DC and no need to spend your money at this one. The only reason I’m giving it 2 stars instead of 1 is because you’re likely to have a better time if you’re to come.

The food and wine were very tasty, but the service was the worst I've had in a year. Our order wasn't taken for a full half hour after we sat down, we had to find a waiter to refill our water multiple times, our waiter was confused about their available wines, they would come to our table only to interrupt themselves and say they needed to help someone else first, and they messed up our drink order. All that being said, I will complement the chefs who made all our meals both quickly and delicious.

Bottomless brunch was very uninspired. Food was bland. Menu was boring. Drinks were ok. Service was decent. Though, the second order of salmon Benedict was missing the salmon. The place at least looked nice. Won't be returning.

We have tried over 3 years to like this place but every visit has been a disappointment. The service is usually indifferent, drinks are blah, and the menu shrinks with every visit. We ordered the hummus as it’s always been good - until this last visit. The portion is 50% of what it used to be and now tastes and looks like mustard. It was served with 6 small, stale pita triangles. We’re done with Acacia.

UPDATE: Two years later, Acacia’s owner has responded to my review below. If you needed any additional reason to avoid this place like this plague, look at the reply I received (attached in the picture). This is a second-rate establishment run by utterly unserious people and I will continue to go out of my way to let people know how awful this place is. And now, my original review: Thoroughly terrible experience. We requested a seat outside (2 people at a table for 4), and after a few minutes the manager came outside and told us he was very busy and we needed to move. Acted like we, his paying customers, were some kind of burden to him. We then ordered 2 drinks (we were there for happy hour) and were informed that we weren't eligible for happy hour specials because specials didn't apply to the back of the restaurant -- but they were going to make a "special exception" for us even though they were the ones who moved us past their arbitrary no-happy-hour line. After a long wait we finally received our drinks, only to find that my girlfriend was given only half a carafe of wine. It was very clear to see that everyone else with wine had a full carafe. The charcuterie we ordered was -- you guessed it -- terrible, with wilted greens and sweaty, warm meats and cheeses. To top it all off, upon receiving the bill we noticed they hadn't applied the happy hour deals to anything we ordered. Oh, and the table we sat at originally was still empty when we left. This place is an absolute disgrace and I pity anyone who spends their money here. Bad food, terrible service. Don't let the rating fool you -- they bribe customers into leaving stellar reviews (look them up on Yelp to read what Yelp discovered). Will never, ever go here again and will make to sure to steer anyone and everyone clear from this god awful place.

I waited until my third visit to this restaurant before writing this review. The location and atmosphere have potential but the food is bad and the service is nonexistent. I’ve ordered the steak and eggs (delivered cold and very well done with scrambled eggs after I ordered medium rare with sunny side up), an Acacia burger (unseasoned and dry), and a fish dish (fantastically mediocre). The waiter won’t bring a drink menu unless you specifically ask for it and came to our table only to take our order and to drop off the check. I strongly recommend that ya look for dinner/lunch elsewhere along Connecticut.

This place was terrible. The food was so bad. The waiter had no clue how to handle a large party. Little nats were flying all around and into our food. I will never return to this place. It's very expensive also. Don't eat here. Take your money to a better restaurant. DC has way better options.

Well.Iguess I should have paid attention to the reviews on open table.This restaurant added a charge for a credit card payment on a large bill.??If it weren't for the good service of Hannah from Aruba I would have been more vocal to owners who had no connectivity to his customers.I bet he is close to being out of business.Plus the food was marginal. Steak was well done instead of rare and Greek salad was OK for rabbit food.Bet he is sold or closed soon.Get a job joker.

Really bad. Just went for a few drinks and small plates. Forgot we were there after after they took our order. After 20 mins got our first drinks. Another 10 got 1 of our 2 small plates. When the second came (a mushroom flatbread) it was disgusting. Asked for hot sauce or salt even and they never brought it. Finally got them for a check and it was completely incorrect. He just smiled and then redid it. Sucks.

Poor service. I'm not so certain that some of their wait staff treats certain demographics equally [with the same level of care, friendliness, or respect]. This place is filled with an older, more white demography and not an environment for young people. Aside from that, the food/drinks are average.

Food is terrible, personnel is good though. I took burrata and mozzarella caprese salad and falafel. It was hard to say which cheese is in the salad - burrata or mozzarella, tasted so-so. But falafel was the worst, it was sour and with unbelievably disgusting taste. So I couldn’t finish even a half. I love falafel, tried it a lot, but never smth like this

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME! The ambience of this place is very weird. They had a disco ball and electronic euro music blaring in a casual bistro setting. Food was ok, nothing special. Our waitress was sweet, but management is absolutely atrocious. The manager and owner were extremely unprofessional and downright rude to my friends and I when we went in for a casual dinner on a Friday night. The manager offered us shots (which were disgusting) and sat with us chatting and then when the bill came and we questioned why we were charged for the shots that he offered (meanwhile the rest of our bill was $230+) he went ballistic and made a scene. He demanded we leave after paying and it was overall embarrassing and unnecessary. These people have zero idea what customer service is it was a horrible experience.

Poor service and food not good (probably just frozen food). It took them more than 25min (even though the restaurant/bar wasn’t crowded at all!) to serve us the mojito which only consisted in water with lemon and mint, the alcohol taste was totally missing. I won’t even get started on the food, more than 1h wait for pizzas, garlic bread (2 small slices at 9$) and 4 shrimps for 13$! Very disappointing!!

I want to start by saying I never actually tried the food - I tried twice through UberEats, but they cancelled my order both times. First time, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Second time, I went in person to pick up the food and they told me they had cancelled the order (didn’t register in my app). The bartender gave me an attitude and said they were too busy - I looked around and the place was half empty. Why are you guys on UberEats if you’re not gonna serve any mobile orders?

I’ve lived in DC for two years and I have never felt so victimized by a plate of risotto. It’s an insult to Italians everywhere. The “risotto” was $24 and I can honestly say Acacia may have broken the laws of physics (props) because I have never encountered a risotto with this kind of texture. It couldn’t have just been obscenely overcooked to reach this offensive texture. I’m convinced that the chef is really a high school chemistry teacher getting a little too experimental in the kitchen, because it also tasted like an abomination to the natural world. Despite their remarkable ability to break the laws of nature with their ungodly risotto, the polpette was extremely unremarkable — $11 for meatballs that were freezer burn flavored. The texture was like a gritty, hard bouncy ball and unfortunately covering them in a bath of Prego and a hunk of half melted cheese does not change that. Maybe their other food isn’t as repulsive, I’m not sure. I am sure that I won’t ever try it though. And I’m also sure that this place should take any Italian food they have off their menu, as Italian grandmothers are rolling in their graves as I write this review.

I had high hopes stopping in, saw some great reviews- and BOY WAS I DISAPPOINTED! I have been all over the world and to all kinds of eating or drinking establishments and I must say I have never felt so invisible as I did here! Empty drink for 20 minutes while seated at the bar with not a peep or inquiry from the three men working if I was wanting another or would like an appetizer, to cash out, or anything! If you wish to sit at a nearly empty bar with an empty glass of budget busting drink- this is your place! If you want to pay a fortune for terrible, uncaring, completely lackluster- and nonexistent service- please go here! I had very high hopes of a nice evening with a friend I hadn’t seen in years- instead I left paying an embarrassingly shocking bill for the worst service at a bar or restaurant I ever had. This place has no soul, ambition, pride in what they do, nor care for possible patrons that wander in hoping for a happy experience.

I would not recommend going to this place but if you do decide to go don’t pay with a card because they will steal from you. The waiter stole 15 dollars off my card as a tip even tho I left a cash tip. I called and spoke with a manager who claims they will send my a refund and give them all my information and still had the receipt to prove it and yet it’s been almost 2 months and still no refund. Now I have to fight with the bank just to get my 15 dollars back so unreal. It crazy how they treat there customers would never go back again. It was under my name it was under the name Nastasia