Ulah Bistro

We popped in for drinks on the 4^th. There weren’t too many payrons, but there were plenty of staff. We initally sat out side since the weather was so nice, but it began to rain. We were offered another table as soon as we ran inside. We kept our waiter and did not have any problems maintaining our drinks. I’d go back and try it out again.

Greatest appetizers! I highly recommend the pear bris appetizer. I also recommend the pear martini; sounds weird but it’s incredible. The pizza is amazing. Service is great. Honestly NO COMPLAINTS.

My go to spot for Sunday brunch. Never a wait. I always get the Chesapeake eggs Benedict, which is pretty consistent. Can’t speak much about other items on the menu. Customer service is always good. Overall, pretty solid.

Yeah, basically what Ross S. said. I was the first of us to arrive. I immediately asked for the other table by the window which I guess they save for those who are wheelchair bound. Mind you, our reservations were for 8:00 PM. So I warned my compadres while I eyed a spot right next to me. When they arrived, they agreed that our current table was situated weird. It’s the one RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE ENTRANCE, and flanked by traffic going in and out, as well as a drink station on the other side.
So yeah, when we were denied any other seating inside EVEN THOUGH WE HAD A RESERVATION, they could not accommodate us.
So yeah, when left. They’re lucky I didn’t just burn it down.

I wasn’t able to eat here. I’m giving a review on how they entertain guests.
I reserved for 3 people. There were multiple tables that are vacant. They seated us near the door where everyone pass by. I asked if we can seat on a lower table next to it and the hostess said that they are reserving it for people who are in a wheelchair. So I asked if we can be seated on an adjacent table and she said no. Well, guess what, we left!
We decided to give this restaurant a try besides the bad review but oh well.

The Ulah Grilled Cheese sandwich – a tiny slice of heaven? A taste of the forbidden? – who can know… but more importantly why try?
Believe you, me, I’ll be back for more…
Delicioumous…you heard me!!!

I stopped by Ulah with some friends during the U St Funk Parade. We sat out on the patio. The have a decent sized menu. I started off with the French Tea, which was delicious and refreshing. I decided to go with the mushroom pizza. I often say it is hard to find decent pizza in DC and this was quite good so I was pleasantly surprised. I ate nearly the entire thing and it was pretty good sized. I saw several other things on the menu as well as on the tables around me that would interest me in coming back. The patio is quite spacious for being in the middle of the city and seems like a great place to kick back with friends on a nice day.

Attempted to go for happy hour today. Bar seating was sparse, but we found a couple of spots in the back – only to be informed by the two ladies sitting there that they were saving the seats for their friends who would get there in about twenty minutes.
We made our way back up to the hostess and explained the situation. She lackadaisically told us… basically, too bad. I asked her if she’d be able to rearrange some seats, or perhaps even seat us at the tables that are two feet away from the bar. She said no, and at that point my boyfriend had lost interest and we decided to make our way to another spot down the street.
Half the rating is food; half is hospitality and ambiance. Down to 2.5 from my original 5. Disappointing treatment of loyal customers.

I’ve been a fan. Just getting around to review. I love this place for happy hour, but for dinner/​date night this was excellent! The drinks were large, so you don’t feel as bad for paying $ 10 for a long island. The food was cooked perfectly. It was deliciously prepared and seasoned.
Our waiter was new, but accommodating and attentive. I liked the 360 service, meaning all the people who work there are there to ensure your visit is worth it. I would suggest they enclose the patio, since folks smoke out on U St.
All in all, great spot.

I had the salmon and my friend had the scallops. Both delicious. Waiter was friendly and attentive. We also had dessert; bread pudding and crème brûlée. No disappointments.

This happy hour is absolutely phenomenal.
Drafts/​drinks and even food is all incredibly priced. Burgers are about 5 bucks with fries! Wings are delicious as well and service at the bar has always been on point and attentive.
They also get crunk certain nights which turned out to be a great time.
DEFINITELY recommend for happy hour drinks and bites.

I really liked this place: cosy, comfy, rustic and warm with enough sitting space in 2 floors. We went there for a sunday brunch and I think they did not have enough servers so we had to call the server several times for coffee refile, etc. The server was really nice and friendly though, so no big complain about the service.
I had the challah french toast which was topped with strawberry preserves and mascarpone cheese. The mascarpone was sooooo good i can still taste it. My friends tried the mac n cheese, crab egg Benedict and salmon egg Benedict. They all liked their dishes especially the fried potatoes in the side.

My friends and I were looking for a good brunch place in the U Street area and we decided on Ulah Bistro.
We were all feeling the after effects from a full night of debauchery in the city, and brunch was just what we needed. It was crowed for a Sunday afternoon so we were seated at the bar. The service was quick, and efficient.
I ordered the Challah French Toast and a side of over easy eggs with bacon. The french toast was thick, but a little too soggy for my taste. I ate mostly the crunchy parts, but it could have been my current hungover state that threw off my taste for food. The raspberry sauce and homemade butter added a nice touch; the aforementioned soggyness was my only concern. I devoured the eggs and bacon, however.
The latte I ordered was great, very creamy and put my throbbing head at ease. Nonetheless, my friends enjoyed their meals, and Ulah did the job of bringing us back to life.

Went here for brunch last weekend and it was FANTASTIC! The food was amazing, they ended up having a live band, and the service was great too.
Split the mac n cheese with my date and it was AMAZING! I’m usually a blue box kinda girl and don’t dig restaurant type mac, but this had a great scallop-​potato-​type crust and the cheese was creamy and flavor-​packed. For my main, I got the french toast — it was supremely rich, yet fluffy too and came with a perfect dollop of mascarpone. The sauce and syrup were perfect and barely needed — yes, the bread and mascarpone were that good. I suspect there was cinnamon involved. My date got the Crab Bennie — the crab was pure crab chunks (no filler), and the English muffin was perfectly toasted.
About half way through our meal (maybe 11:45ish), a live band showed up. It was a bit loud for conversation, but the idea was nice — just wish we had been seated downstairs instead of right next to them. My only complaint from the whole experience was that although water refills were plentiful, the waiter didn’t ask if I wanted another mimosa at ALL. Odd.
Long story short: Can’t wait to go back!

This place has a wonderful brunch combo for $ 29; endless mimosas for two hours. Great food– great dining experience, and great music.
It also has nice bar area but if you want to go upstairs you may need a reservation if it’s busy. You will love upstairs and they usually have a live local band playing.

So, it’s been a while since I’ve been to Ulah and I probably won’t be back anytime soon unless some big changes are made. Where do I start? The easy part.
The restaurant is pretty nice. Nothing fancy, but nice casual atmosphere and lively. They have a full service bar downstairs and have dining upstairs and downstairs.
The service… The waitress was very nice and attentive, but she was fighting a losing battle with the food and drinks. There was not enough nice in the world to counter the bad food and drinks.
Ok​.So, not to why Ulah only got two stars… Like I mentioned before. the food and drinks. We were there for brunch. We ordered the eggs Chesapeake and the eggs Benedict. Both came with potatoes. To be honest, the potatoes were very flavorful. The hollandaise sauce was the perfect texture and well seasoned. The problem… everything was room temperature… to almost cold. Had the food been warm/hot…this review would be completely different. Wellllll… I take that back.
So, let’s move on to the bottomless mimosas and bloody marys. I know that no one uses quality sparkling wine for mimosas, but i’ve never ever passed up the opportunity to drown myself in a bottomless mimosa brunch. Well, I didn’t even finish one mimosa! Not a one! The sparkling wine was the worse! They went super cheap. Never had anything that bad. Also had the temperature on the bad sparkling wine been more than room temperature than the mimosa MIGHT have been better, but that is a big might. lol. So, I switched to ta Bloody Mary. Just as bad. Cheap vodka and tomato juice make for a bad Bloody Mary.
Don’t think I will go back to Ulah or recommend it for anything other than a quick beer.

I’m surprised this establishment doesn’t get higher marks. I went with my wife and good friend (who had a newborn with her), and the restaurant was very helpful. They asked if we needed any special seating. They let 2 of us sit and wait at a table for 15 – 20 minutes without bothering us for any reason or asking us to wait for a table.
They prepared the food special for all 3 of us, who had different digestive issues, and it was all very elegantly prepared (for a lunch), and tasty.
Solid, overall, if a tiny bit warm inside.

Came here on a Friday night for dinner with some friends and actually there were more pros than cons during the meal but I would oddly still come back. We sat upstairs which definitely wasn’t as lively as the patio or downstairs bar area but not a big deal. First, we ordered a bottle of wine for our group and our waitress poured three heaping glasses to the first three girls and then there was no wine left for my glass. What should have happened was the waitress comp me a glass of wine but instead we all just awkwardly poured wine into my glass and spilled wine everywhere. For my meal, I ordered the parpadelle with braised short ribs which was cooked perfectly and tasted delicous but my meal was an unsatisfying luke warm … I was close to sending back but just didn’t care enough to and was too hungry.
That all being said, another waitress, sitting downstairs, and checking out brunch all could have the potential to make this place 4 stars so I recommend checking out.

I dined at Ulah with a medium-​sized group of about 15 people for a friend’s birthday brunch. It was nice that a U-​Street Corridor spot allowed a brunch reservation for such a «large» party; it was even nicer that our two tables were preset for us upstairs, so it felt almost like a private event, with our own waitstaff. While it was nice to be up and away, the temperature upstairs was ice-​box cold (better than sweltering, I suppose) and very uncomfortable. The restroom situation was also a little dire, as one restroom didn’t have any functioning soap dispenser, and the other one was only providing ice-​cold water. Hmm…
Although our servers were efficient in taking care of our group and refilling those bottomless mimosas without us having to ask, I was appalled when I was told they couldn’t give me a Nutella Croissant because «they were out» — strange, considering we got there when they opened. And, were they out of Nutella, or croissants, or both? I sure would have been happy with a side of Nutella with my toast. #firstworldproblems.
Coffee was decent and refills were also prompt. The $ 30 bottomless mimosa brunch option made sense, although I really was hoping for a more plentiful selection of more breakfast items. Keep in mind that if you’re dining with a group, this is a good thing, since you’re likely to have some folks who have to have their breakfast-​specific items, and others who want the sandwich/​pizza options.
I was pretty happy with my crab cake benedict; eggs were perfectly poached, although Hollandaise was pretty bland and could have used more of a lemony kick. My husband ordered the California Club sandwich, and enjoyed it, especially the quantity of avocado. The French fries were also plentiful and delicious!
I thought about ordering the Huevos Rancheros, but was creeped out at the idea of Provolone cheese on Huevos, and the waitress wasn’t sure if the corn tortillas were fried or not. Alas, my quest for authentic Huevos at a non-​Mexican restaurant continues. :)
Overall, good spot for a group get-​together. The private area upstairs, the service, and the prices were all great. We were prepared ahead of time that they wouldn’t split the check 8 ways to Sunday, so having cash on hand, the payment process went as smoothly as it could have.

Ulah Bistro has great happy hour deals at the bar. I came in recently on a regular weekday and was more than happy with my visit.
They have great happy hour prices. I was able to try the pizza and for 7 dollars you get a nice size pizza that was more than enough for 1 and would be perfect for 2 people to share. The fries were 2 bucks for a very generous portion, fries were hot and crispy, only downside was towards the bottom of the batch the salt was a little too heavy and the fried calamari was well breaded and cooked very well. Food was great all around and the price was more than right.
5 dollar mojitos all night, they come in multiple flavors but I stuck with the classic because that is the kind of guy I am. Mojitos were well made, nice mix of alcohol and flavor.
Bartender was very friendly and attentive. He was a real asset to the trip.
Overall great place to go for happy hour, prices are right, food was good and fun experience.