The Fainting Goat

Visited for brunch with a friend, and would definitely return. The goat cheese fondue was decadent, and the perfect size for 2 people (though I easily could’ve eaten my own, ha). I had the avocado toast for an entrée – came with 3 slices of bread, all generously smeared with avocado and topped with arugula and pickled onions. I added a side of poached eggs for $ 2, and ended up with a pretty balanced and delicious meal. My friend got the french toast with nutella, blueberries, and bacon – but there was no nutella, at least not in the traditional sense. When she inquired, our server said something about it being a homemade white nutella-​esque chocolate instead? Still confused, to be honest.
Bottomless mimosas were ok – as others have said, very weak. I liked the white cranberry version, but switched over to the bloody goat and the brunch buzz kicked in shortly after. Service was decent, though we had to ask our server to refill the drinks on more than one occasion. I’d come back to try more of the brunch dishes, and dinner.

Great food and ambience! Minus the bathrooms I highly recommend this place.

This place had been on my list for a while and I’m glad I finally got to visit, but it wasn’t as great as I expected. My fiancé and I visited with one of my close friends and her boyfriend, who were visiting from NYC, last Saturday night. We had already eaten dinner at the Pig (notice the animal restaurant theme of our evening) and visited The Fainting Goat just for drinks. We were willing to get more food, too, if we could sit at a table. When we arrived we were told there would be a 1 to 1.5 hour wait for a table (even though a table was wide open). We went upstairs to the bar area and it was annoyingly crowded. We found a table next to the bar to sit but they told us we couldn’t sit there and would have to stand. That table remained empty the entire time.
The drinks were fine (I got a rose wine, my friend got a red wine, and our guys got something of the beer variety). But the fact we couldn’t sit anywhere when there were clearly tables open and we were willing to even order more food was very annoying.
There are just so many great restaurants in the Logan Circle /​U Street area, so I doubt I would visit the Fainting Goat again for a while, and certainly not on a Saturday evening.

Had dinner with a friend here on a Saturday night. We had to wait for a table for about half an hour. When we got seated we ordered a cheese plate, but the cheese plate was the last thing that was delivered to our table, even after asking the waiter twice about it. We ordered the gnocchi which was amazing, and I would definitely recommend it. We also ordered the goat sausage which was a bit subpar. I would not recommend that. We ordered a bottle of wine and the price wasn’t too bad. Overall a decent experience.

The Fainting Goat is a popular U Street restaurant and bar scene — a very trendy, upscale atmosphere. The bars (one in front and one up and in back) looked crowded all night the Saturday we were there, but our table for 6 was quite spacious and we were nicely tucked into a back corner of the restaurant, which made talking over the moderate din a bit easier.
This place is great if you want punch bowls and a bunch of appetizers to share family style, as the entrée selection is limited to about only 6 items. Fondue and gnocchi starters were excellent, as well as the goat po’ boy sandwich entrée. Burgers that were ordered were average, satisfying but nothing to write home about.
There is a nice variety of cocktails, beer, and wine on offer if you don’t want punch.
Server/​service was very bland — everything came out correctly and in a timely fashion though, which is the most important thing. Overall we wouldn’t be opposed to going back, but Fainting Goat isn’t high on my list of places to return to.

Unilocal photos were deceiving. Based on some photos of eggs rolls and a Year of the Goat menu, I actually thought that this was a late-​night Chinese fusion joint that served huge, flaming bowls of punch with long straws (sounds fun, right?). :(Not in the least.
Expectations aside, still not a fan. This was the third stop on our DC bar crawl (Dogfish Head Alehouse, Churchkey, Fainting Goat, Jack Rose, The Gibson) and it did not impress.
The Cara Cara Whiskey punch, I Ain’t ‘Fraid of No Goats, and Hot Buttered Fun were all cloyingly sweet and lacked balance.
The $ 16 cheese platter was a joke; it was so small.
The waiter was extremely standoffish and quiet as a mouse. He may have uttered 2 – 3 words to us all night. Most were nods.
The atmosphere was nice and intimate though with the low lighting and wood furniture.
Unfortunately did not live up to its namesake.

Oh my gosh soooo good people! I had the goat Po boy and my date had the chicken. We also had the goat cheese fondue. All dishes were delicious. They must make their bread in house but I neglected to ask our server if that was the case. It was soft and buttery with a crunchy crust. Limited menu though but they know how to make the dishes right.
Ambiance is very cool. Of course goats pictures everywhere but not cheesy. Will definitely be going back for brunch and dinner again and partake in some of their cocktails.

This place is perfect for a low key date night or girls night, the cocktails range from super tart to the perfect amount of sweet. Me being me I enjoy the sweet. Out of all of the appetizers they have I think everyone should at least try the goat cheese fondue, it’s a totally different type of appetizer In an awesome way. The entrees are all pretty yummy so your best bet may be to just split some things and get the best of all worlds. :)

Came for brunch and shared a delicious savory and sweet dish! I recommend the following: Coffee crumb cake (very sweet but sooo good) and soft scrambled eggs (the beet toppings were a nice addition). The side of potatoes was crispy and well seasoned.

Ok I may have been a little too drunk for my own good and was not able to capture any of the delicious dishes on my camera. I will tell you this much tho. As a man intoxicated by heavy day drinking I was still able to remember the food that graced my pallet.
Smoked Tea Duck was tender and rich in flavor. Every bite oozed juices I cant even begin to describe. Duck is usually on the saltier side for me and this wasn’t at all the case. I also had the cheese fondue dip. Right before I was interrupted with another shot of TITOS.
I need to come back here! see you never tho… (Californian) The fainting goat was like a one night stand with a gorgeous girl that gave me the wrong phone number.

Got some drinks here the other night, and really enjoyed myself. The spot is popular without being overly crowded, trendy without being cheesy, and an overall great choice for beveraging in the 14^th/​U st corridor without being overrun by 22 year olds and stepping on sticky floors. The music is not obnoxious, there’s enough seating (for the oldies like me), and standing room in the bar area for the youngins. Next time I need to step away from the sweaty, crowded bars/​lounges in the area, I’ll definitely duck away to Fainting Goat again.

(3.5 stars) I wasn’t crazy about brunch here but it was still quite good. Its a cool space, but the brunch menu is pretty limited. Per the waiter’s recommendation, I went with the breakfast sammy. It was enjoyable and different, not perfect but a solid choice. I loved the running egg. Really brought the sandwich together and gave it this awesome texture. The sausage itself was somewhat bland and was really overshadowed by the rest of the components. The potatoes it came with were scarce and pretty much a throwaway. Not that good but helped fill ya up. Definitely a dish I’d get again if I were to return.

Somewhat of a disappointment and a half — I have heard some hype about Fainting Goat for the past few months and decided to pop in on a Sunday for early dinner. Despite there being maybe 4 people in the restaurant when we stopped in to dine for 2 they asked us if we had a reservation working in a restaurant, are you kidding me… There was no one inside. And on a Sunday?
Prices were kind of expensive for what we got. We both ordered the burger but our meals were kind of small. Burger was mediocre — nothing to rave over. The fries were potatoes and you got maybe 5 of them.
Beer and wine selection was good! Unique options. Our server changed partially through the meal but I wasn’t impressed with this place as much as I was anticipating. Sad. For a joint on 14 and U they could do much better. But maybe a brisk football Sunday was the wrong time to stop in

We came here for happy hour and loved it!!! Oh my gosh the calamari, so delish with the yummy sauces that it was plated with. Also the potato wedges I could eat all day, I actually sort of did, I think we ordered a couple of batches of it. And the punches are a must order!
I had a couple of rounds of the melon punch. It was perfect, the only thing was that it didn’t fall under hh and I think it could have been poured in bigger glasses… Does that sound unclassy? Yeah. It was really good.

came here for brunch and would definitely come again!
a) bottomless drinks for $ 15 is music to my ears. especially when they are delicious white cranberry mimosas.
b) the ambience is amazing. i love the exposed brick and trendy décor. i’ve only ever been here late night, so i forgot how awesome it is inside. and how great the service is!
c) food was amazing. i had the soft scrambled eggs goat feta, avocado, tomato confit on grilled bread and it was to die for. legitimately i ate it in under two minutes and my friends were in awe how quickly i took my meal down. pre-​meal, my three friends and i split the goat cheese fondue with fresno peppers, herbs and grilled bread, and my mouth still waters thinking about it.
d) i only didn’t give it five stars because my friends didn’t rave about their meals, just said meh about them. (they had the grilled shrimp quiche and the crispy pork with egg.)
because i love the location of this spot, and because i know how good my food was and how good the other food has the potential to be, definitely coming back — perhapys for dinner?

After checking out Provision 14 and finding it way too loud to hold any decent conversations or think, a couple of people and I headed over to The Fainting Goat.
We lucked out and found a table that comfortably fit the six of us. I can’t speak to the menu as I didn’t order anything but the rest of the group ordered at least two drinks each so I’m assuming it was pretty good.
Service was good; the server came by to check on us a few times during our two hours or so stay and while there was definitely music, we were all able to hold conversations. I seemed to be the only one struggling to be heard, as I usually am at bars, and why I don’t like catching up over drinks, but it was good to see a grad school friend and meet some new people.

The 14^th Street Corridor always looks different in the daylight and it’s nice to actually be able to walk without stumbling over yourself. Anyways, my friend picked the Fainting Goat for her birthday brunch and I was immediately excited to finally try the place out. TFG (I like to abbreviate things) is every DC hipster’s dream place to dine. I’m probably late in the game on eating here, but better late than never right? And I’m always late, I’m Filipino.
I ordered the soft scrambled eggs with goat feta, avocado, tomato confit, atop a beautiful slice of grilled bread. Everything tasted so fresh and exactly what I needed for my first meal of the day at 1 pm (don’t judge, we’ve all been there). My food came out last, but luckily I was able to sample what my friends were eating — I’m so needy sometimes. The special of the day was a breakfast mac & cheese and it was to die for. Creamy penne, bacon, and A FRIED EGG. Genius!
Brunch wouldn’t be brunch without mimosas, and our server made sure our pitchers were always full of the juice & bubbly. Bless her heart.
You’ll find no fainting goats here, only great service, excellent food, and beautiful interiors — seriously if Anthropologie had a restaurant, this is what it would look like. Exposed brick, reclaimed wooden pieces, mis-​matched frames on the wall, and delicate chandeliers. It’s heaven.

Service was fine, though they close the upstairs back bar early some evenings. Glad we got a corner booth! Nice beer list, reasonable spirits list. Welcome To The Rest of Your Life was a little too sour, but I was a fan of the refreshingly smokey Brucey’s Cocktail. It only takes two brunch cocktails to break even on 2 hours of bottomless drinks, and I preferred the bloodies (olive and lime accoutrements) over the mimosa I tried with white cranberry juice, even though the latter was far boozier.
Goat sausage was tender on the thin, unevenly ricotta’d flatbread. Crispy pork had contrasting textures and a nice salsa verde, but I loved the plush eggs in a basket– I was worried that they’d been too shy on gravy, but the beautifully runny eggs made up the difference. We’ll be back to try dinner: octopus, goat po boy, beef shortribs, pork porter house, duck liver parfait, roasted corn & snap peas; Dingus Khan, Derby Day punch.

What a fantastic experience I had Thursday night with LaDonna and Adrienne. A solid 4.5 stars rounded up to a 5.
We went here for Chinese New Year where we tried a prix fixe meal for a flat price of $ 35 per person. We had quite a few options with things I liked and things I didn’t like.
The Menu Items of the Night
— Spring Rolls — crunchy, and a little overcooked.
— Steamed Shrimp Dumplings — these I loved. They were perfectly flavored and stuffed with plenty of shrimp.
— Tea Smoked Duck — my favorite dish of them all. It was tasty, and cooked to perfection with the meat falling off the bone.
— Clams with XO Sauce — I enjoyed this dish. It was bursting with flavor. It could have used less salt.
— Szechuan Goat with Long Beans — I had never had goat before, so I am not fully sure on what I should have expected from this dish. The meat was tender and I liked it combined with the rice. I wasn’t huge on the peppers. I simply worked around those.
— Steamed Fish with Chinese Greens — ask LaDonna how this was. I didn’t try it nor did I want to. I am not a fan of a whole dead fish on a plate… we asked them to remove the head. Yuck… I’m squeamish.
My favorite part that carried this whole night was the atmosphere and our server. I loved the Chinese dragon who went around and interacted with the various customers. The highlight was when the dragon engulfed the entirety of Adrienne’s head. I have photos to prove it, but out of respect I will keep those for her to show if she ever desires to. Just know they exist! Also, check out the video in the photo section on your smart phone to see the dragon and his activities.
Our server Lindsay was a complete sweetheart. I will be the first to admit I was a little high maintenance this night. She was busy tending to everyone, and I kept bugging her for more water and tea because the food was a tad spicy in some parts of the meal. She was a champ and kept up without fault. I commend you and thank you for your amazing service!
Fainting Goat is an awesome restaurant on U Street. I will have to return during brunch on my next visit — I hear it is pretty fantastic.

Fainting goats? I think I saw that on pbs or something. Not sure of the origin of this place’s name… but no matter! Don’t pass by this place. It’s a little questionable from the outside. I was determined!
So went here for brunch with a few friends who were just as excited. We weren’t sure how much to order but the server was very helpful.
We stared with the mackerel and fondue. Omg. So yummy! The fondue came with bread and was warm gooey and cheesey! I want more!!! There was also a side salad. Tasty. The mackerel was also very good. The little pot of it they give you really goes a long why so don’t be shy to pile it on. Good flavor and texture. Flakiness… warning they don’t provide a whole lot of bread to go with either of these and its $ 2 for more bread.
Mains: lemon ricotta pancakes– awesome! Thick. Good texture. Good syrup. Then the chicken hash– i want more of this! So flavorful and good variety of ingredients. And last the lobster quiche. Not as good as the rest but still good.
All in all very good. Would come back. More things need to be tried… I was so full i didn’t get a chance to sample dessert!