Zaytinya - DC

I have been wanting to try this restaurant for so many years and my husband surprised me with a reservation for my 30th birthday!! We decided to go with the tasting menu so we could get a chance to try a little bit of everything. I am also a vegetarian but my husband is not, and the restaurant made sure to provide adequate options to make us both happy. Additionally, my husband had let the server know that it was my birthday. So they gave a turkish chocolate cake in addition to all the items included in the dessert course. The tasting menu might seem pricy but it definitely was worth it for amount of food they gave us. This was an amazing experience!!

A restaurant that’s always packed. The tasting menu was incredibly generous, but every single dish was delicious. Great atmosphere, and a wonderful place to experience the full spectrum of Mediterranean cuisine.

Zaytinya has great food, but their hospitality needs some help. On two separate occasions they've short changed us on reservations with significant delay prior to seating (first time was a 45 minute wait prior to being seated). This most recent, they wouldn't honor or reservation even though we called because of running late due to DC traffic, and sat us outside in a tent that was extremely cold. Again, great restaurant, but would appreciate some better attention to detail on reservations.

Visited this Middle Eastern restaurant by Chef José Andrés and had a mixed experience overall. The concept of small plates works well, and the food itself was good, with very nice flavors across the board. We ordered a mixed platter along with a few other small plates, dessert, and finished with tea and coffee — everything we tried tasted very good and was well prepared. The service was also decent and professional, especially considering how busy the restaurant was. For the price, the food felt fair and reasonably valued. That said, the restaurant was extremely busy and quite uncomfortable. The seating is tight, and after a while, it becomes tiring to sit there. It’s also very loud, making it difficult to have a proper conversation, which took away from the overall dining experience. Overall, it’s a good spot for trying flavorful Middle Eastern small plates with solid service, but the crowded atmosphere, noise level, and uncomfortable seating make it better suited for a quick visit rather than a relaxed, lengthy meal.

Zaytinya, one of José Andrés’s long-standing DC restaurants, has been a favorite in the city for years. It had been quite a while since I last dined there, but I recently attended a reception and was reminded why it’s still such a Washington hotspot. The restaurant is beautiful and inviting. There’s a striking, colorful metal sculpture out front that immediately catches your eye. Zaytinya is also in a prime location—just a block from Capital One Arena and directly across from the National Portrait Gallery. When the weather’s nice, the outdoor patio is a great option for dining al fresco. Inside, you instantly feel transported to the Mediterranean. The bar, main dining room, and upstairs area are spacious and stylish, setting the perfect tone for a lively meal. We enjoyed a delicious spread that included hummus topped with pomegranate seeds, baba ghanoush, tzatziki, crispy pita chips, falafel, and chicken kebabs. Everything was fresh, flavorful, and beautifully presented. The staff was wonderful, especially Diego, who took excellent care of our group. Thank you, Diego, for making our evening even better! ✨ Zaytinya remains one of DC’s most popular spots, and based on how packed it was that night, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Atmosphere is beautiful, food was totally good, but not spectacular. I think the overall score of 4.5 is fair. The Brussels sprouts were delicious, the babaganoush was just okay. The pita looks cool, but I wish it was a bit thicker. The crunchy vegetables was just raw veggies. If you wanna save 20%, use inKind.

Food was great - we went in a group of 5 so we ordered loads of food including the tasting menu. The food was delicious and some dishes were creative - we were impressed by the bone marrow. The beefsteak was delicious and the salad selection was great. I’d recommend coming in a group so you get to try different things. Service was great - servers were nice and attentive. The only thing i wish was better was the atmosphere - they tried to fit so many people inside the restaurant which made the whole place so loud, impossible to talk and listen to our friends. We got so exhausted of trying to talk to each other for hours and nobody could hear what we were saying.

Really nice atmosphere and food was amazing. It is small plate style so be prepared for that (not a bad thing just not full meals like most expect). Cocktails were on point as well.

I really wanted to love this place, especially given the reputation and the expectations that come with the José Andrés name. Unfortunately, the overall experience fell short—mainly due to the service. We dined on a very busy Friday night and ordered the Chef’s Experience at $85 per person. At that price point, you expect elevated hospitality: attentiveness, explanations of the dishes, some insight into the concept, and at least a quick check-in to see how the meal is going. None of that happened. Our server, Antonio, was not very attentive—we had to ask for drink refills, there were no check-ins during the meal, and no follow-up at the end to see how everything was. When spending over $200 on dinner, small details matter. Even something as simple as to-go containers felt overlooked—we had to ask, and nothing was packed or handled for us, which was surprising given the caliber of the restaurant. As for the food: the first course from the tasting menu was excellent, and there were definitely some well-executed dishes. That said, there were also a few items we didn’t fully enjoy. I understand this is a unique menu and flavor profile, so overall I’d rate the food around a 6/10—good, but nothing that made us say “wow” or felt truly memorable. In the end, there was nothing that justified the price or lived up to the hype we were told to expect. I don’t regret trying it, but I also don’t feel like I received the full experience that Zaytinya is known for.

The atmosphere and vibe were great—very spacious, open, clean, and filled with natural light from the large windows. There were plenty of seats available as well. However, the food quality was disappointing. Maybe we expected too much, but aside from the French fries, which were good, the rest of the dishes fell short. The octopus was overly burnt, and I took one bite of the octopus and couldn’t eat any more. When we mentioned this to the staff, they replaced the dish with a less-burnt version, which we appreciated. The seabass portion was extremely small—smaller than my hand—and tasted like a frozen fish you could easily find at a grocery store. The cost of all food menu here was quite cheap, like the main menu items are around $20–30 each or about $75 for a course menu. We could understand when we see the cost, but I believe that they can definitely improve the quality of the food better. Another thing to note: although there were many staff members, most of them were standing around chatting and playing phone. They didn’t greet or acknowledge customers when entered, Although the servers who took our order and helped us throughout the meal were kind and attentive.