Graffiato

Went here today (Wednesday, February 3^rd, 2016) for lunch and had an amazing experience. Amazing food and exceptional service! The food was super delicious and fresh. Highly recommend if you’re around and looking for good Italian pizza and dishes!

There’s a lot to like about this place. I’ve been twice now in relatively rapid succession, with the first visit near perfect. The tagliatelle ragu is just amazing – the creaminess and heat hit that sweet spot of familiarity and novelty. I’ve only tried the meatball pizza among their options, but it was great – excellent tomato sauce and hefty, savory meatballs. There’s good value in both items. Less so for the arugula salad, which claims to have cauliflower but if it’s there, it’s invisible. The gnocchi is just OK.
The second visit exposed some flaws in the service that I think I noticed the first time but were lost in a wine-​drenched fog. The main annoyance is the water guy, who insistently leans in without asking and fills glasses reduced by just a fifth of their volume. And again and again. Our food was delivered by a train of different kitchen staff, never the waitress, who didn’t seem to have a firm hand on quality control. Water man was busing and wiping down our table before my guest and I were even out of it, giving the impression that we were just oversized dirty plates to be swept away in favor of new guests.
It’s a bummer to end on a sour note. I have a sense that this place may be better enjoyed at the bar, enjoying happy hour drinks and cheap nibbles, rather than the rushed, haphazard dinner service experience.

Tried it for Restaurant Week… wow! First off, we had a 9:15 reservation and when we walked in the place was packed, people standing around everywhere… but, within 10 minutes we were at the table and ordering. We all got the $ 35 taster menu, but I can say nobody walked away hungry. The roasted cauliflower was fantastic, followed by pappardelle with sausage, then the chicken thigh… all absolutely sublime. I have to say the dessert course was a consistent disappointment; our cannollis were largely tasteless and dry, and the chocolate brownie was very dry and clearly had been sitting around for awhile. In sum, all the dishes we had except for the desserts were outstanding.
Service was amazingly efficient, even more so because of the crowd they were dealing with. Our waitress always seemed to appear just as we finished or needed something… just the way I like it!
Will we go back? Yep, no question. One drawback (not their fault) is no parking, you will be a victim of the Parking Garage mafia in DC and subject to grossly inflated parking fees ($ 20+)

The pizza was good. But the other Restaurant Week items were greasy and tasted just okay, certainly not worth the value paid. The sorbet and fudge desert, for example, on the RW dinner menu had been simply pulled out of the fridge minutes before they were given to us. They were not fresh or good.
The wine we ordered was listed as a 2010, but we discovered it was actually a 2011 after our waiter had already opened it. They said that false advertising (that year makes a difference) didn’t affect the price or the service of it.
I was sick all morning after eating here. We called and they refused fault and refused to refund anything.
We will not be returning.

I had been to Graffiato before (on a busy weekend evening), and I think my experience was probably a 4…
I just had lunch this past Wednesday @12:30, and it was nice and quiet with about half of the tables occupied. And I would rank my my experience as a 5 for the quality and quantity of food for the $ 22 lunch special (starter, main and dessert). I had a beet salad, gnocchi with ragout and the zeppole (which was a cut paper bag of like 8 that came with fresh cream w/​strawberries).
Awesome deal for a lunch downtown…
*The only thing I would recommend is that the servers check on beverages and water as well as inquire about fresh ground pepper or cheese once your appetizer and pasta are each served.

I am surprised to see people complain about the service here because I thought it was great, maybe better than the food. We started with the grilled asparagus, which was ok but mostly disappointing. It was covered in balsamic, seriously drenched. They had no grilled flavor at all. Too sweet and acidic.
Thankfully the goodfellas pizza was a major step up. It is a pretty traditional cheese/​tomato sauce based pizza with meatballs. The menu has a large and eclectic mix of creative pizza options that are of the very thin crust variety. If you want to try one that is more fun than your plain jane pizza without stepping too far out of the box, goodfellas is a good choice. It is flavorful, tasty, and the meatballs almost taste «light,» as if they are seasoned with something subtly lemony. But good. Plus the outside crust has that nice slightly burnt flavor. That’s my favorite.
Bonus points for very nice décor, with an open kitchen with seats around it so you can pull right up and eat while you watch the chefs in action, but also booths against the walls. We got a booth on the first floor, but they are quite uncomfortable. They have hard wooden seats and backs with no cushion for the pushin.
Overall, a solid meal and nice spot but not going on my list of faves.

I originally thought I’d give this just 4 stars, since I had a thought that I didn’t really had the feeling that I was fully satisfied, but then I realized that I was just distracted by the company I had. In other words, if I were there just focusing on the food, I probably would have given it the full score. So I am giving it the full score.
We made a reservation online for 7:15, and when we got there a few minutes early, they asked for a couple of minutes waiting time and then we were seated soon after. This is a modern Italian fusion place: there are more Italian-​inspired contemporary dishes than the traditional Italian fare.
There were 3 of us, and some of us were very hungry, while others were not too much. So we ordered 4 dishes to be shared by the 3 of us. This is more tapas-​style, so the dishes were larger than appetizers, but smaller than main dishes. They also had a very large drink selection.
What I liked the most here is the innovation: the White House Pizza, composed of mozzarella, ham, and black pepper honey was absolutely divine. I was definitely quite impressed with a sweet pizza. I also liked how food comes out fast here, so they have a relatively good grip on the timing of things.
So yes, I was fully satisfied, and I would consider coming back here again if I am in town.

Dined here last Friday night for dinner and we were all pleased but not blown away. I ordered the Monica pizza, and my two friends ordered the Porky’s revenge and the Rucola. Also we ordered two Caesar salads. Everything about my pizza was fine and tasty but the crust was a little too thin for my liking. That seemed to be the general consensus at the table. However my friend an I did order the Zepole (donuts pretty much) and thought these were delicious! Could have split with 3 people as it came with 6 donuts but we’re glutinous :) I wish there was more Bavarian cream and fruit though as it came with a really small portion compared to the amount of donuts. I would come back during happy hour for their specials and another pizza or before a caps/​wizards game.
One thing that kind of irked us was that my friend ordered a scotch with dessert and asked for two ice cubes and the waitress asked if she just wanted one large sphere icecube… «sure makes no difference to me» my roommate responded. Come to get the bill and we were charged $ 2.00 for the sphere ice cube (own line on the check)! Of course we didn’t say anything because it’s $ 2.00 but we were laughing more out of the silliness of being charged for an ice cube that she didn’t even ask for in the first place.

Came for brunch on New Years Day with a group of 5.
Had bottomless mimosas (can switch between orange, pomegranate or grape fruit, but orange was by far the best), which the waitress was pretty good about keeping full. We ordered plates to share, and while some were absolutely delicious (uova, gnocci), some were middling at best (egg scramble, steak & eggs).
Would still recommend, as it’s a good ambiance and a fun spot for brunch. Haven’t had dinner or lunch yet, but would be willing to try!

My wife and I arrived 10 minutes early for our pre-​hockey game dinner and were seated promptly upstairs. While ascending the stairs, the scent of dirty deep fryer oil permeated everything. It was early, and I thought that maybe they had just fired the fryers up and the smell would mellow-​out after a while, but it was there throughout the meal.
We were happily greeted by our server who explained to us the small shared-​plates menu and took our drink order. I ordered a gin martini, my wife a dirt vodka martini. Our drinks arrived and mine was good. My wife took a sip of hers and winced. I gave it a shot and we agreed that that was not a dirty martini. Our server returned and asked how the drinks were, my wife said that hers was not a dirty martini. Our server then said «really, that’s what a dirty martini looks like». We agreed and said that it wasn’t a dirty martini. She rolled her eyes and took it away.
She returned and said that the bar was making another martini, and we ordered some food. Padron Chilis, chicken thighs, gnocchi, poached char. All of the food was really good. The fish was cooked perfectly, the gnocchi and chicken was flavorful, and the chilis were spicy.
After the food began arriving, the new and improved dirty martini arrived with apologies from the bar staff member that delivered it, letting us know that there was no simple syrup in this one. Our server, who went cold on us after we returned the martini with simple syrup in it, pretty much avoided us the rest of our meal. That’s okay, we weren’t full, but I was getting a headache from the dirty fryer oil stank anyway.

We’d been wanting to try Graffiato for a while, but it kind of slipped off our radars. At the last minute yesterday, we realized our current dinner plans weren’t going to work, and switched to Graffiato when we saw they had an opening.
The restaurant is on the other (more quieter) side of the Verizon Center. We walked, but it is easily accessible from both the Chinatown and Judiciary Square metros. We were seated upstairs promptly after checking in and were really relieved to be away from the small, loud bar area. Seems like holiday meet ups were in full swing last night! The upstairs is much quieter and the walls had some pretty neat art painted on. Our waitress explained that the menu was Italian share plates, however we were actually really surprised at the large portions!
We started off with cocktails which were generous portions and delicious. I actually didn’t finish line in time for the food and sipped it throughout the meal. We started off with the Brussels sprouts appetizer and it was amazing! They were roasted and coated in a sweet and tangy sauce. I highly recommend! We each picked out a pasta and decided against getting the potato appetizer since we had a feeling we’d be too full.
At this point my husband switched to wine. The by the glass selection is okay, and the bottle selection is a bit expensive. However it worked out for us because my cocktail was so big that I didn’t want any wine at all. I ordered the spinach ravioli with lemon butter sauce, and it was out of this world. All of the flavors were perfectly complimentary, and the butter sauce was surprisingly not super heavy. The pistachios on top added a savory crunch to each bite. My husband got the tagliatelle with short rib ragu which was also delicious. It was perfectly balanced and the chilies added a nice kick to each bite. We were stuffed after the pasta, and asked for a short break to finish our drinks before dessert!
In lieu of actual dessert, we opted for one of their Christmas cocktails. We each ordered a «some like it hot,» which had apple brandy, cinnamon, cardamom, and brown butter. It was served hot and was a great replacement for an actual dessert.
We will definitely return and work our way through the menu — looking forward to trying a pizza next time!

The food here was great but the service definitely left much to be desired. We came for brunch and it wasn’t super packed upstairs but I felt like our waiter didn’t really care much about us. It took us forever to get menus. Also, we had empty water glasses for the longest time and he just walked right by us. The busboy was more of a waiter in my opinion.
On to the food. We had the roasted cauliflower, the gnocchi, and the pork belly hash. I liked everything. The roasted cauliflower was actually really light with pickled onion, lemon, and grated cheese. Definitely inspired to try at home. The pork belly hash was delicious too. I see this so often on menus but this one really stood out, both presentation and taste. They say you eat with your eyes first and this had bright colors from the veggies and the yellow from the saffron aioli. Really appealing. I didn’t even mind the sweet potato. The pork belly was tender and juicy too.
As good as the hash, the real star is the gnocchi. We saw this on Top Chef and it was worth the visit. So decadent, rich, and creamy! It was just a tad bit salty for me but I still savored every bite.
Food is great, unfortunately service is a –1 star.

I went in one night for dinner and had high expectations due to all the other reviews and I wasn’t let down. We made a reservation so I can’t talk much about wait times. When I arrived (because I was running late, which never happens) we were seated within a few minutes. The staff was super polite and energetic which was a great start to the night. We were seated sorta near the kitchen area which was open so I can see people prepping the dishes which was kinda cool. Even though it seemed to be a busy night our waitress was awesome, checking on us multiple times and spending a lot of time going over the menu and making food and drink recommendations.
The food did not disappoint! I had a Caesar salad (which was not your normal salad) and split one of their recommended pizzas with my dinner companion and everything tasted great! Drink wise I was impressed as well, the drinks were well made and presented well! I would like to go back to try a few more things on the menu but for a first visit it lived up to the hype.

I came here with friends for a Saturday brunch. Unlike other restaurants, everyone at the table doesn’t have to order bottomless mimosas if 1 person does, so that was a plus in my book. I focused on ordering different foods rather than drinks, while everyone else enjoyed their orange, peach, and grapefruit flavored mimosas. One mimosa is $ 9 whereas bottomless is $ 18, so yea… My friends used Gilt vouchers and were able to order and taste multiple things off the menu while enjoying 5 mimosas per person. Their mimosas glasses are wine sized and not champagne flutes. The waitress was slow refilling their drinks, but my water stayed full. Lol! Everything on the menu is small plates style and was made to order. I’m assuming at least because it took a while for each item to come. We were also seated near the kitchen upstairs and had a beautiful burst of fried rosemary hit our noses. I would say to come with at least 4 people, so u can try some of everything on the menu. I thought the restaurant was a little fancier, but it’s pretty casual.
Note worthy foods:
–Short rib pappardelle– SO DAMN GOOD! This is why I complained about the portion size. $ 14 and I inhaled it. As soon as it hit my tongue I said «mmmmm!!!» Because it was that good and everyone looked at me. Lol!
–Carrot cake pancakes– tasty with the savory icing paired with it. U receive 2 fairly large pancakes for $ 11.
–Potato gnocchi– yum! I only had 1 bite from a friend’s plate, but would order this next time. They also gave us the recipe when the check came on a printed out card.

Came here for dinner and we decided to order from the Restaurant Week menu. $ 35 for 4 courses? Sold!
The dishes were relatively small, but eaten altogether had us more than satisfied with leftovers to spare.
First Course
Baby Arugula Salad– It was rather… oily. Was that dressing prosecco vinaigrette or 100% olive oil? Seriously. Though I must say, the nectarines and radishes helped to balance the flavors, so I did enjoy it collectively.
Broccolini– A great starter. It had bits of feta cheese (one of my faves) and walnuts which were delightful complements.
Second Course
Blackened Blue Fish– Probably one of my favorite dishes. It was perfectly cooked with a buttery texture and a smokey flavor.
Potato Gnocchi– I’m not a pasta person but this dish was amazing! The pork ragu was tasty, the gnocchi was perfectly cooked and pillowy soft. The whipped ricotta was a great element too.
Third Course
Amish Chicken Thighs– ALMOST perfect. The skin was crispy and the flavors were delicious, but the chicken was a tad bit dry. The braised kale was amazing & garlicky which was a plus.
Hanger Steak– The tomato relish didn’t really do anything to the dish to be honest. And while perfectly cooked at medium rare, the steak could have been a bit more seasoned. it was lacking a «wow» factor.
Fourth Course (Dessert)
Fudge (Chocolate Cake) — YES. JUST YES. The cake itself was very moist and the icing, while decadent, wasn’t too sweet. It tasted almost like a rich, dark chocolate which I loved. The chocolate gelato was delicious and had just the perfect consistency. The bits of peach worked well with the richness of the cake.
Panna Cotta– Pretty good. Not too sweet or heavy on the palate. Perfect for the non-​sweet dessert lovers. The balsamic, strawberry, and pine nuts worked well with it. It was a nice and light dessert.
I also had the D.C. Mule to drink (a play on the Moscow Mule I think?) it consisted of Absolut Elyx vodka, grapefruit, lime, & ginger beer – delicious! A bit sour, but great flavors altogether.
The service was good and attentive for the most part, given we ate during the dinner rush and it was Restaurant Week. Also, the guys that refilled our waters were seriously on top of their game. I swear not a minute went by that homeboy didn’t keep us hydrated LOL.
Loved the venue – plenty of seating and a relaxed environment.
Overall a great experience– Definitely worth checking out!

My two dining companions and I got the expression lunch, which is a $ 20 three-​course meal. Everything was delicious and presented artistically, and I love small plate restaurants because the sharing and smaller portions means you get to try lots of dishes.
We enjoyed:
— Melon and prosciutto salad
— Caesar salad (loved those cream cheese croutons)
— Crispy chicken thigh with kale (chicken was very tender)
— Potato gnocchi with pork ragu (hard to stop eating to leave room for dessert)
— Chocolate cake with fudge, peaches, and chocolate gelato (the cake was on the dry side but went well with the fudge, gelato, and chocolate sauce on the side)
— Zeppole (recommended by our waitress, 6 fresh donut-​like pastries plus delicious vanilla bean Bavarian cream on the side plus a few strawberry slices)
With all that food (9 plates for 3 people), we were stuffed and left half our dessert unfinished. Their pizzas also look generous in size, so if you get one of those, you may not want to get the 2 – 3 small plates per person that they recommend.
Service was fast, efficient, and friendly. I definitely recommend and would come back if I was in the area again!

Prosecco on tap! UHH hello!
I’ve tried their seasonal cocktail and it was really good, it was made out of watermelons.
There plates are tapas style so order 2 – 3 plates each and share!
I started with the flatbread with pepperoni sauce and it was surprisingly good. Then had the potato gnocchi, which was my least favorite – it was overcooked. The beet and pear salad was my favorite! The colors were so pretty and the flavors were amazing! The cheese and meat board was good, can’t really go wrong with that. I finished off with a coffee and the zeppole – dangerously good.
My overall experience was good and it was a double, triple plus that I got to meet Mike Isabella himself. Score!

After hearing about Graffiato for a few months from my girlfriend and other Top Chef fans I finally got a chance to pay Mike Isabella’s place a visit on a Friday night. It certainly did not disappoint.
First off, when we walked in I could tell from the vibe downstairs at the bar I was going to enjoy myself. I don’t know if I got lucky with that feeling but the meal was awesome.
We started with the roasted cauliflower with pecorino cheese and mint. The texture of the cauliflower was excellent. Exactly what I want when I’m eating cauliflower. The pecorino and mint went together with it really well too.
Next we had the flatbread and Mike Isabella’s famous pepperoni sauce! My girlfriend wasn’t a huge fan but I thought it was great. It literally tasted like liquid pepperoni. Served hot! Loved it.
The low point of the meal unfortunately was the strip steak. It was a pretty sizable portion with rosemary potatoes, pearl onions, and horseradish crusted strip. The steak was sort of fatty and wasn’t all that tender. It did taste fresh off the grill though which I appreciated.
Getting to the highlights of the meal — the piquillo pepper risotto and the potato gnocchi. The risotto was served with pork belly robiola, a quail egg, and onion ash. The dish was so pretty to look at. The risotto color was crazy red/​orange. The risotto itself ate amazing. It was cooked perfectly and we shoveled it in. The bright spot of the dish was the robiola. We mixed it in a little bit with the entire dish and you could pick up the flavor in each bite you had. Great dish.
The absolute star of the night was the potato gnocchi with pork ragu, ricotta, and rosemary. The only way I can describe the dish as a whole is RIDICULOUS. The good kind though. I’ve had some pretty decent gnocchi’s before but this took the freakin cake. You could put a few of the little gnocchi pillows on the fork and they would literally just collapse and melt in your mouth. It was mine and my girlfriend’s favorite dish of the night by far. I would come back for this dish only. One of the best things I’ve eaten in DC. I definitely recommend this place to anyone who is a fan of Mike Isabella or great small plates!

Seriously, how have I never reviewed Graffiato? I was first introduced to it because it’s near my workplace and offers a fine happy hour, and in addition it’s a great place for lunch or dinner. But back to happy hour…
$ 5 draft Prosecco. Let me repeat: $ 5 Prosecco!!! If everything else sucked, that’s all that would be needed to put me into one of their uncomfortable metal bar chairs. But everything else doesn’t suck! My friends assure me that the rest of the happy hour drink menu (beer, red and white wine, cocktails) are good too. I can vouch for some of the cocktails, on the few occasions I’ve strayed from my beloved bubbly.
The other star of their happy hour is the flatbread and pepperoni sauce. Seriously, I’d drink this stuff by the cup if I could. It’s like rich, liquid pepperoni extract. Ok, it tastes much better than my description of it. Just get it. And then get another one for every person you’re out with, because you won’t want to share at all.
Many of the other small bites are also great — the olives, most of the arancini (changes regularly), the mozzarella when it’s on the menu. I personally didn’t love the pan pizza we got — it’s tiny and way too greasy because of its confining pan. Just pull out the dinner menu and order a full pizza, and gorge yourself on their yummy crust and fresh toppings. I haven’t had a pizza there that I didn’t like.
The décor of the place is nice and modern, but it can be LOUD, so be aware if you plan on having an intimate chat with someone. This is not that place. Go here for drinking Prosecco and laughing wildly at your lunatic friends. Also, it’s generally quite crowded got happy hour, so get there early!
So why not five stars? I hate to say it, but it’s the waitstaff. At least at the bar, they are preoccupied and not very friendly. This has been the environment every time I’ve gone, so it’s not just one bad night. I wish they would be a bit more responsive and warmer.

(3.5 stars) Came here for dinner with a group of friends and had a very good meal. I wouldn’t say it was great, but it was a lot of fun because Graffiato is an Italian small plates restaurant and so we were able to sample a bunch of different items off the menu.
Some dishes were great, others were okay, and one was «why did I just pay $ 11 for a small plate of oily plain spaghetti?» (don’t bother getting the spaghetti). The best of the night was hands-​down the red snapper. A juicy piece of fish served in a deliciously light broccolini pest sauce with leeks and charred grapes. The fish and sauce on their own were really lovely but the rest of the components added some nice texture. It was a relatively dish than I was expecting, and is a must-​have for any fish enthusiast.
I also enjoyed the Amish chicken thighs. Even though it was a tasty dish, I thought it had a few issues with it. The best part was definitely the sweet corn grit cakes, lovely texture and a nice base for the chicken and sauce. The chicken though had a disappointing texture, somewhere in-​between rubbery and crispy, and the pepperoni sauce for me was too bland to complement the chicken and grits cakes well. Not nearly as good as the red snapper but still a solid choice.
Our table shared two pizzas, the countryman and the Jersey shore. The countryman was definitely the better of the two; it didn’t have the most appetizing appearance but it was quite good and had a really rich taste. The Jersey shore on the other hand just didn’t feel like it should have been a pizza. The pepper aioli completely dominated the pizza and although I enjoyed the sauce with the calamari, you couldn’t at all tell from the taste that it was atop a pizza.
For dessert, we shared the coconut cake as well as the zeppoles and both were delicious. The coconut cake was served with coconut gelato and some kind of crumble. Really enjoyed it except for the lemon sauce that was streaked on top. The zeppoles were hot, fluffy, and great with the accompanying cream sauce.
Beyond those dishes, the charred brussels and potato gnocchi were also solid choices. Overall, a fun dinner option with a number of delicious options and a few not so great ones.