Ristorante Piccolo

I would strongly recommend this establishment and I frequent it often. In winter, they dark paneled dining rooms are warm and cozy and in summer the four small outdoor balcony tables overlooking 31^st Street are a real treat in nice weather. The pastas are solid, although typically unspectacular. But will enjoy them, but maybe not rave about them. My favorite entre is the grilled chicken breast on a bed of spinach. Yum! (Note though that the amount of chicken is about equal to only one medium breast), but it comes with a side of pasta and the spinach is plentiful.

Excellent customer service, delicious food, and great atmosphere. What more could you ask for!

Amazing, my chicken Parmesan was superb and my family says their meals were delicious too. Also the service was very fancy. I would recommend this to anybody. ¹⁰⁄₁₀. You have to go here!

The manager, a bald man in a light suit speaking with an accent, kept storming in and out of the restaurant ranting to someone on the phone. not speaking but yelling as stalked the restaurant including going up and down the stairs. i have never experienced anything like this. it ruined the experience. then he opened the front door and yelled at three servers for being outside and sent one home. it was soooo awkward. i cannot express how much i would tell anyone and everyone to avoid this place if for only the lack of respect by this manager. We mentioned something to a server who apologized but clearly looked too afraid to mention anything to his manager. HORRIBLE

Went here for my best friend’s graduation dinner and it was lovely! Ambiance and service was great, and everyone seemed to really enjoy their meals. The bread they serve was awesome and we couldn’t get enough! My only critique is that the portion sizes could be bigger for the price of the dishes, but otherwise it was a nice evening.

My fiancée and I tried this restaurant out the other day. We are torn about how to rate this place. On the one hand, the food was pretty tasty. The bruschetta, while slightly overdone, remained delicious, especially in light of the fresh-​tasting tomatoes and perfectly light vinaigrette. The wine selection is fairly robust, and my Cannelloni alla Piccolo was cooked just right and was filled with excellent cheese and coated in a wonderfully yummy sauce.
However, on the other hand, the service here was pitiful. Our server, who was not particularly friendly, visited our table a total of approximately four times, two of which involved our request of the check and our payment thereof. Moreover, my fiancée noticed on two separate occasions that he was standing behind the bar and staring at his phone rather than tending to his customers. For the amount that we pay for food in Georgetown, we expect far superior service than this.
Despite this service, I give this place 3 stars because the food was pretty good, but if the service is consistently as poor as it was on this last visit, then we will have to forego becoming repeat customers in favor of places where we feel more appreciated.

I’m surprised at the great reviews of this place. Maybe it was just for the brunch hour, but I came here with my boyfriend and :
1. The table we sat at was smushed between two other tables
2. The waiter treated us like shit, maybe because we seemed on the younger side? No smile, seemed annoyed at our presence. It really made us feel uncomfortable. He practically threw the menus at us and seemed irritated.
3. The lasagna we ordered was hard as a rock and literally had to be sawed…
4. We asked for bread and literally got a tiny slice each. This wouldn’t have been a big deal, but at least a decent bread basket would have salvaged some of this experience ;)
Food-​wise, maybe we didn’t order the right things, but what shocked us the most was how we were treated by the waiter. It really just made us want to eat as fast as possible and leave ASAP. The fact that I’m even writing a review says something; generally I’m not a picky restaurant go-​er.
If you’re going to eat in the area, I would recommend going to Il Canale across the street instead :)

I got the lasagna with meat sauce. It was pretty good. Bread served before the meal was fresh. I see this place as a bit overpriced, however, for what we get, but the quality was pretty good.

I had a very disappointment experience. I was surprised since it has such good reviews and that is the very reason why we chose this place for an important get-​together.
The salad (with squid) was too vinegary. The pasta (with mushrooms) had no flavor –I had to use salt! The coffee was lukewarm. The cake was the only one that was pretty good.
In addition, our conversation was cut off by a guy who was playing the violin. He did not ask the permission but just jumped into our conversation! We met long-​distance friends whom we rarely see, and our time was limited. And the player kept talking. I thought that was quite rude.
I will not go back.

I had a small grilled eggplant app I shared, and grilled red snapper with steamed vegs. My food was good enough, but not so good test negatives could be overlooked. My husband had calarmari and an unspectacular spaghetti w/​meatballs.
Service was awful: server forgot multiple items we ordered, didn’t care and rushed us when they were not busy, and the restaurant was dark and noisy. And it was expensive! The trifecta of bad.
Really bad.

My coworkers and I got out of work after a long day and we walked into the restaurant after many other restaurants had a long wait. Immediately after walking into the door, a server approaches my coworker and pushes her aside as if she were invisible. I’m already put off by this but we gave him the benefit of the doubt. We stood by the door for a minute longer and the host approached us. We asked if he could seat three. The host looked my coworker up and down, stuck his nose in the air, and said flatly, «No». I’ve never seen or experienced this refusal of service before. I would never step foot in this place again if I were you. Unbelievable.

Love this place — great for date nights and holidays too. We have been several times when in DC area and always have a great experience. The food is wonderful, the servers are always friendly and helpful, good wine choices. Highlight on Valentines was the violinist, he was so kind and created a memory for us we’ll never forget.

We happened on this little gem while We were visiting in Georgetown. It was FANTASTICO! My daughter and I had Risotto made especially for us us even though the kind we asked for (mushroom & asparagus) wasn’t on the menu. It was fabulous! Salad was great. Service was great! Prego to you!
Highly recommend

This place is sooooo delicious! The service is fantastic. The food is amazing. The wine is great and so reasonable! They have gluten free options which rocked my works. I ordered the Spagetti so Frutti Di mare al cartoccio and the antipasto do verdure which were both so good. I could eat them again right now. I had a white and red which I thoroughly enjoyed and pair well the respective courses.
The hospitality is great, they are kid friendly but somehow it also has a romantic setting. This is a family run business with a great staff and I really highly recommend this place.

Soy de Venezuela y cada vez que vengo, no dejo de visitarlos ya que se come muy sabroso.

My daughter brought me here for my birthday. We both had seafood pasta with a red wine. Such tasty food followed by a smooth, warm wine. The ambiance is classic. When in Georgetown eat here.

The night started with a bad taste in my mouth the second I arrived. There was a man standing on the steps of the restaurant and asking everyone who approached if they have a reservation like this was a private club or something. The people in front of me asked if they should tell him the reservation or needed to go inside, and they were greeted with a snooty response about if they wanted to have a conversation or wanted to be seated. Which I thought was not only rude but quite strange.
After we were seated for 30 minutes without anyone even taking our drink order, one of the managers said «oooh I’m glad you haven’t ordered yet, I’m going to move you to a better table» and since we were seated right next to the hostess stand/​front door we were okay with the move… until they sat us under the stairs and moved us to a table that hadn’t been set and didn’t even have enough chairs. One person in my group stood for TEN minutes before they brought over a chair for her.
After another 20 minutes passed, I had enough, I marched up to the hostess stand and told them we had now been at the restaurant 50 minutes, been moved, and hadn’t event SEEN our waiter, let alone ordered a drink. They said they would be right over, which they were, a manger who I explained the situation to who merely said «okay well I’m here now, what do you want».
We started to place our order when his phone rang and he excused himself again and another waiter came out to finish helping us. Now the restaurant did comp some of our meals but the 50 minute wait, moving of tables, and INCREDIBLY rude wait staff will keep me from ever returning to this restaurant again.

I never write a review for anything EVER, but I had to write this one. As my friends and I were walking into the restaurant we were not greeted and I had to get the hostess attention, which let me add… WAS RUDE (he had an attitude problem). Second our waiter took forever to come up to our table, he did not even greet us or say hello… he took our orders after 20 minutes of being there and our food was rushed and he never once came over to our table to ask if our food was ok. (I am Italian and i know good food, this food was disgusting and i don’t understand why this place has a high rating). The waiter also walked by with a bottle opener and ripped my BRAND NEW shirt and did not even apologize, he shrugged his shoulders and walked away.
Overall service was terrible, worst restaurant experience I have ever had. do not go here.

After shopping through Georgetown and looking for an Italian place for dinner, my friends and I stumbled upon Ristorante Piccolo on a side street.
The restaurant wasn’t very packed but we decided to make a reservation for an hour later and keep walking around until we were really hungry. The décor is very beautiful and the restaurant has a very cozy atmosphere.
The wine list in my opinion is a bit of a rip off. The cheapest bottle is a $ 40 house wine which I found to be very steep and quite ridiculous for house wine. There are no half bottle or carafe options.
We each tried a glass of the house chianti wine which was $ 8.50. It was ok but nothing I’d spend $ 40 on a bottle for.
The dinner options average about $ 20 – 25 an entrée. I decided on the Spaghetti con Fruti di Mare cooked in parchment paper, a Sicilian tradition. My one friend had the «award winning» ravioli, and my other had the papparedelle del fungi.
My meal was very good but to be honest, nothing special. The flavor was good, the pasta was fresh, but it was unfortunately nothing to cheer over for $ 25.
My friend who ordered the «award winning» ravioli quickly asked what kind of award it was winning. The sauce was bland and the portion size (4 ravioli for $ 20) was a rip off. Definitely would never order myself or recommend. I don’t mind small portion sizes as long as the food’s flavor is to die for and this definitely was not that.
My other friend was happy with her papparedelle fungi. She said the sauce was rich and the mushrooms were delicious.
After we finished our food our waitress rudely threw the check on our table without asking if we wanted or needed anything else. I don’t like the feeling that because I am young I am not willing of polite service… especially when I’m spending over $ 40 on dinner and a drink.
Unfortunately for us, I don’t think we’d return to Ristorante Piccolo. There’s much better Italian food throughout Georgetown and clearly better service.

From my three separate experiences at Ristorante Piccolo, they have consistently demonstrated excellent service, an irresistible romantic ambiance, and excellent food at a reasonable price.
Each of the three different waiters I’ve had always offered excellent suggestions about the menu and were checking in throughout the meal. I never felt like I was nagging the waiters when I asked questions about the food. Be sure to ask about the wine pairings! The list is so extensive you’ll need some navigation if you aren’t a oenophiliac. Also, my water glass was filled when it was even half way full. That’s a huge indication that they are constantly scanning the floor to help whenever patrons need.
Probably one of my favorite qualities of Piccolo is the ambiance. This quaint little Georgetown restaurant has a cozy romantic feel. It’s absolutely perfect for date night. In addition, the last three times I have visited there has been a live violinist. A nice touch for a special dinner.
Three dishes I’ve had at Piccolo included the lobster, lasagna, and gnocchi. Prices were between $ 15-​$ 40 (lobster) per dish. Of the three, surprisingly the gnocchi stood out. It was covered in a modest amount of sauce and the pasta was prepared to my palate’s idea of perfect pasta.
Bottom line: Very charming and romantic Georgetown Italian restaurant; try the Gnocchi.

The food here is just average albeit a little pricey for the quality and the portions. It’s not the best Italian restaurant in the area, let alone the best one on its street, but it is still enjoyable.
I ordered the pollo alla parmigiana ($ 19) and wasn’t too crazy about it. The chicken was fine although it didn’t have a great texture. I like my chicken parmigiana to have a bit of crispness to it, but this one was quite the opposite and was actually somewhat chewy/​rubbery in spots. The pasta it was served with was fine as well although it was particularly small.
Overall, a nice yet unmemorable experience at a restaurant that I could see myself revisiting but is not at the top of my list.