Zaytinya

Holy moly! I came here for my birthday dinner and was super happy that I did because everything from start to finish were sooo good! My all time favorite dish of the night was the lamb chops! I could eat several more of them! But had to make room for other dishes we ordered. I don’t recalled all of their names. Just check out my pictures =D I would highly recommend this place for a romantic dinner. Keep in mind that the portions are small, so you might need about 4 orders or so to be full, but I think they are reasonable price. Would love to come back!

You should make reservations at this restaurant. It is busy and you may have to wait for a table. It is also very noisy, not the place to go if you want to have quiet conversations.
The restaurant features little dishes. For example, if you order meatballs you will get about four to a dish.
I did not like the way the tables were set. Several tables were wiped with the same rag or cloth. The dishes were placed on the table without a placemat or a tablecloth. The silverware was placed next to the plates on the table without a placemat. I didn’t think the tables were very clean since they were all washed with the same cloth. I hated to use the silverware, which I thought was crawling with germs.
Some of the food was quite good. Some of it was quite ordinary. We were looking for real Greek food. We got dishes that were rather different from what we expected.
The avgolemonp soup (chicken broth, egg and lemon) was served with a partially cooked egg. You had to stir it into the broth. Weird!

The best meals are the ones are the kind where the wine flows freely and plates arrive in a steady stream so that you can share and sample, without much interruption to the laughs and time you’re sharing with good company.
Meals at Zaytinya feel like this — celebratory. Its menu is made for sharing: dips, spreads, mezze, flatbreads. Each dish is vibrant, flecked with juicy, red pomegranate seeds or bright green herbs or acidic preserved lemons. And a bottomless basket of pitas sits alongside; it’s there when you want to tear off a piece of pita and swipe it through a fishy taramosalata or luxurious labneh.
The mezze menu is extensive and worth strategizing. There are crisp Brussels dolloped with tangy garlic yogurt, warm earthy mushrooms peppered with sweet dates and cumin, red lentil patties and, of course, halloumi. And those are just some of the vegetable mezze. There’s also seafood, meat and poultry. Whatever you choose, be sure to have a glass of one of the many Greek, Lebanese or Turkish wines in hand.

The unlimited pita bread is absolute perfection! Fresh out of the oven! I can just keep eating it. I just couldn’t decide whether to dip it in the olive oil and vinegar or the hummus. Both were just so delicious!
My partner and I tried Zaytinya for Restaurant Week and we are so glad we did! Everything was so delicious and flavorful. I loved the beet salad, the salmon, and oh my goodness the Brussels Sprouts were just divine.
I also ordered the Persephone drink – scotch and pomegranate molasses and lime juice. That was really good too!
I had a great dining experience in this beautiful restaurant and I will definitely be back to eat more!

I wanted to try Zaytinya for a while and coming here for restaurant week gave me the ability to indulge in multiple dishes for a discounted price. Not to mention, my friends and I share food so I was able to try almost everything on their restaurant week dinner menu.
Overall, I loved this place! I would come here again. Their restaurant week menu allows for you to really get a understanding of their culinary expertise here. I will definitely dine here again.
Below is the rundown on each dish I tried:
Hommus — Pretty good.
Elies Tis Elladas — Olives. Some weren’t pitted. Went well with the hommus.
Beet Salata — Beet salad. Loved it and the spiced walnuts added so much to the dish.
—–
Keftedes Kapama — Beef and lamb meatballs… just okay. I was more into the rustic tomato sauce it was served in.
Piyaz — Beans and kale… just okay.
Crispy Brussels Afelia — Brussels sprouts!!! A clear winner. Crispy and flavorful. The garlic yogurt kicked it up a notch too.
—–
Shish Taouk — The chicken alone is forgettable. However, the pairing off caramelized onions, garlic toum and grilled tomatoes made this dish pop!
Adana Kebab — Pretty good grounded lamb.
—–
Seared Halloumi Cheese — This cheese was born to be paired with dates. So freaking delicious. One of my favorites.
Garides Me Anitho –Loved this shrimp!!! I think I may have liked the sauce more than the shrimp itself. One of my favorites!!!
—–
Turkisk Delight — One of the best Turkish Delights I’ve had the pleasure of trying.

One of my favorite restaurants in Washington DC.
Décor: I love the openness and natural lighting in the restaurant.
Food: Great mediterranean food! My favorite dishes are the brussels sprouts, which are perfectly crispy and flaky and complement the garlic yogurt!
Service: I have been here on multiple occasions. During lunch time, there is the option of a set menu, which is nice when you need to go through lunch quickly!
Will definitely return!

It’s a neat spot. I like the pita a lot!!! Had lunch with five friends and we all liked it!
The hummus, salmon, kabob, and dessert are awesome!

Zaytinya is one of my go to places when I’m in the DC area.
One of the biggest draws is that the small plates can allow you to not only mix and match a variety of items, but if you’re a little short on funds or just want a lite bite to eat, the menu allows you spend a small sum of money.
In the warmer months, outside patio dining allows you to sit back and relax, while watching the city traffic. The inside is bright and has an open design with modern décor. The noise level can get loud at time, but overall, it’s a good place to go and have a nice meal and conversation.
One of the best things about Zaytinya is their menu. They offer a nice selection of times, as well as a separate gluten free menu and will walk you through which items have the least likely chance of having cross contamination.
Tips:
+ If you want to dine at a specific time, then make a reservation using OpenTable
+ For a healthier or lighter starter option, the hummus with a side of fresh slices of cucumbers is the way to go.

My boyfriend and I stopped by for dinner after a movie nearby. We made reservations on Open Table and had no problem getting seated!
Their table bread is warmed, puffed pita and is SO GOOD, especially alongside the olive oil and balsamic vinegar they pair it with – you will eat copious amounts of both.
We ordered the hommus ma lahm (so good! super savory and heavy on the lamb), dolmades (yum!), oyster saganaki (would not get again, personally, the ouzo was very bitter and the feta they use is super cream and strong, not a bad thing, but totally drowned out the flavor of the oysters), and the lamb bahar (our favorite! lamb was perfectly done and the tabouleh was fantastic!). We debated ordering another dish, but ended up being stuffed off these 4 dishes (probably all the pita we ate!).
Definitely want to come back and try some things we missed this time!

We visited Zaytinya on New Years Eve. We took the first seating (at 4:30) because we wanted to catch a movie after before going out to greet the New Year. The restaurant wasn’t crowded yet so it was a perfect time.
The sapphire blue and white color scheme of the restaurant reminded me of Greece and set the mood for a great meal.
Among the two of us, we shared the Htipiti (marinated roasted bell peppers and feta), Fattoush (summer salad with pita chips), Octopus Santorini (grilled octopus), and the Lamb Bahar.
I enjoyed the Octopus Santorini, which were sliced grilled octopus served on a bed of yellow split pea purée. The salty capers and the lemony purée were perfect with the light and buttery octopus.
The Htipiti was also a great dip for the table bread — the serving size is bigger than a normal dip you would receive, I think. But the feta and bell peppers really work well together and we easily finished this dish.
The fattoush was vibrant and flavorful. However, the red onions are strong and I wouldn’t recommend if you are on a date. The lamb was just ok — it was slightly tough and I could barely taste the tahini sauce.
Overall, an enjoyable meal and I would come back to sample more tapas.

Food: ⁴⁄₅
Atmosphere: ⁴⁄₅
Service: ⁵⁄₅
Everything we ate was over the top, from the falafel to the hummus to the flat breads. I couldn’t keep my hands off of the seasoned fries. Really delicious and good portion sizes. The staff was extremely attentive and very knowledgeable about their food/​menu, more so than any other place I’ve been to. The restaurant is pretty large so there seems to be 2 – 3 different vibes within the restaurant depending on where you’re sitting. I don’t always like corporate style and branded restaurants but Jose Andreas nailed it with this one.

What better post for my 100^th Unilocal review than one of my top three favorite restaurants in DC: Zaytinya. Jose Andres’ love of food is as apparent in each small plate as it is in the quotes sprinkled throughout the menu.
I’ve yet to have a mediocre dish here — every mezze is distinctly delicious. It’s hard to pick favorites, but I’ll mention a few not-​to-​miss plates:
* Crispy Brussels Afelia: The crispiness of the roasted brussels combined with the tangy coriander garlic yogurt sauce is superb — these are the best brussel sprouts I’ve ever had.
* Bamya Okra: Caramelized okra in cardamom stewed tomatoes. I love okra, but even non-​veggie lovers will appreciate the full, bright flavors of this dish.
* Seared Halloumi Cheese: I’ll say that again — Seared. Halloumi. Cheese.
* Beef Keftedes: Savory beef meatballs with feta and spiced tomato sauce. I never have a photo of this mezze because my husband devours them too quickly.
The simple glass and soft white décor is beautiful in a sleek, understated way. Service is also excellent and polished. On my most recent visit I came with a large group for a weekday lunch. We had limited time, but our server was able to have our food out in short order and even separate checks. I have a never ending list of DC restaurants to try, but I never miss a chance to visit Zaytinya again.
Food 5, Service 4.5, Ambiance 4

Excellent restaurant — good service, delicious food, interesting recipes, good location, good atmosphere, okay prices, recommended!
Went with a friend for a late dinner. This was the first time we were able to eat there without waiting, by getting a table at the bar. Previous attempts we had long waitlists, like 30 – 45 minutes for a table, even on weeknights.
Got the hummus, a cheese dish, and the lamb tongue, all delicious, and served with fresh warm pita bread straight from the oven. All good! Came with pomegranate balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil dip, no extra costs.

We love Jose so were excited to try his take on mezze plates. Everything looked good and we were game for anything so we tried the chef’s experience. At $ 55/​person, it’s a little pricey (at least so I thought) but I was thoroughly stuffed at the end. So I say it’s definitely worth it if you come hungry. It’s comprised of four courses– appetizer, seafood, meat, dessert– and each course is 3 – 4 plates. So we had 13 different dishes!
Appetizers: hummus, roasted red peppers, stuffed grape leaves, and lavash chips. This was the weakest course IMO, maybe because they were more traditional dishes that I’ve already experienced. The roasted red peppers with feta was my favorite!
Seafood: scallops, branzino, and shrimp. The scallops came in a yogurt sauce and were cooked perfectly, shrimp was lemony and light, but the star was the branzino, which had pomegranates and olives. I usually don’t like olives but I didn’t mind eating them in this dish! This was my favorite course.
Meat: chicken skewer, lamb kebab, and hanger steak. All delicious, my favorite was the hanger steak with the fruit and salsa. The garlic sauce with the chicken is so good!
Dessert: greek yogurt, turkish coffee chocolate cake, and galatopita. All delicious too, with my favorite being the galatopita.
The cocktails were also fantastic. Service was ok but a little slow at the end when we were trying to track down the check.

I’m always a fan of Jose Andres and tapa style dinners which drew me to Zaytinya. The menu incorporates popular dishes from all across the Mediterranean with a twist and almost all the wines are from Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, and Israel. I’m a big fan of Mediterranean food and have high expectations. While I enjoyed my dinner for what it was (a trendy tapas dinner), it definitely wasn’t the best Mediterranean food I’ve had.
GET:
Garides me anitho (⁵⁄₅ stars): Sautéed shrimp in the most amazing sauce. Throwing away all dining manners and etiquette, we dipped our bread in the sauce long after the shrimp was gone.
Brussel sprouts (⁵⁄₅ stars): Topped with that amazing yogurt? AND barberries? Perfection.
Artisonal cheese pikilia (⁴⁄₅ stars): An awesome cheese plate. The accompaniments are very unique. Like dates and honeycomb.
Seasonal chocolate dessert (⁴⁄₅ stars): I wouldn’t get this again, but it’s definitely one to try. On the menu Andres has a quote that states ingredients can tell you a story. The ingredients in this dessert definitely told a story. From the tart and sweet cherry bottom, to the kick of cardamom in the chocolate mousse, to the espresso in the crunchy top, and all finished up with the Persian black tea ice cream. Whoa. Flavor after flavor after flavor. As many stories as 1001 Arabian Nights.
GOOD:
Beet Salata (³⁄₅ stars): I always love me some beets. Would have preferred some attention to the walnuts instead of just leaving them raw.
Hummus (⁴⁄₅ stars): My dad ordered two of these for 4 people. So he loved it. My husband and I weren’t impressed, but we are picky hummus eaters.
Shish taouk (³⁄₅ stars): Chicken on a skewer. Meager portion, chewy chicken. I’d categorize it as a skip, but I love shish taouk too much.
SKIP:
Halloumi cheese (²⁄₅ stars): Kind of a let down. The halloumi wasn’t very flavorful or fresh tasting.
Side note: the service was the best we had during our whole DC trip! Very attentive and friendly.

Very interesting place to have food at downtown DC. We went there on a weekend lunch and easily could find a table. We tried:
1) Hummus. Very delicious, if you want to start with something healthy.
2) Falafel. Vey good, and also nice representation. don’t miss it!
3) Lamb Bahar. Slices of meat, quite spicy and smells like curry, but overall tastes good
4) Lamb tongue. Very interesting interplay of spices and vegetables with meat.
Price for all these was about $ 55 excluding the tip and this price is resaonable for an upscaled restaurant in DC.
We had a great experience and nice time at this place. Will be back definitely.

I came here for drinks and appetizers. The food was great! We had the shrimp,
Lamb and flatbread pizza. Drinks on the other hand were not great… I ordered a few cocktails and they tasted good but there wasn’t enough alcohol. I switched over to vodka and things started looking up!
Overall it was nice and I liked the atmosphere. Bit pricey for a quick stop but a great date spot. It was super busy during the week so come early!

Wow. One of the better restaurants I’ve tried in a while! At 4pm on Sunday, this place was already filling up quickly.
To start, the cocktails were amazing, 3pm in Istanbul and Harissa Helps Haydes were both outstanding cocktails. 3pm is for those who enjoy a sour and tart cocktail, harissa is for the adventurous who enjoy a spicy cocktail. They were both made exceptionally well, ⁵⁄₅. It certainly has the wow effect when you drink them.
The food was again, amazing!!! I had the lamb kebob, spanakopita, and bronzino. They had a ever flowing of hot bread to our tables, their olive oil and balsamic is served with a Z (Zaytinya), made with the balsamic. That attention to detail/​creativity was refreshing. Ill be back soon, to try the rest of their cocktails and their food items.

Chef Jose Andres is my favorite chef. He is a magical man that creates food plates that are an experience within themselves. Love that man.
Zaytinya is Mediterranean tapas and offers a variety of options. If you’ve got time and an appetite, go for the Chef Experience. If you show up, they’re slammed, and you end up sitting at the bar — ask for the Bartender Experience. No, that’s not a real thing, but Ben recommended great things to us on Saturday. Ben’s Bartender Experience — not to be confused with the Beverage Experience which is a real thing.
Htipiti — point to it because it’s spelled ridiculously. It’s a roasted red pepper dip. Nice starter.
Crispy Brussels sprouts — between crispy Brussels and garlic yogurt you have a balance between savory and tart.
*****Octopus — my favorite dish of the night. It is meaty yet tender, and the split pea purée is delicate. Perfect combo.
*****Turkish braised lamb shank — other favorite. You can barely pick it up with a fork. It falls apart. Your perfect bite is a piece of meat dipped in the eggplant purée.
Sweetbreads — pretty good. I liked that they had a cornmeal coating because it maintained good moisture on the sweetbreads, and a crunch on the outside.
Drinks — Moscow mule is my go-​to, and they make a nice one here. I’m always disappointed when I don’t get my copper mug and crap ton of ice, but the flavors were there. I’m not sure what my next two drinks were, but they played off the same drink profile. Next one contains gin and thyme. And the 3^rd one was tequila and lemon soda? Ben killed it. He was a 10.
There was a rowdy office party to the right of the bar. It wasn’t disruptive, but worthy of note incase you are looking for group space.

Imagine the scene: you wake up in the middle of the night and see that somehow you’re sleeping upside down with your head at the bottom of the bed, one leg on the wall and the other on the floor. You flip yourself back around and as soon as you put your head on the pillow, you feel yourself slowly sinking into it as the air is pushed out and suddenly, you’re hungry because that’s not a pillow — that’s the UNBELIEVABLE pita bread at Zaytinya! Also, why are you sleeping with it?
The pita is the first thing you taste and the last thing you think about before you go to bed each night (assuming you’re like me). It’s super fluffy and when you hold it it deflates, knowing that it needs to make itself smaller to fit into your mouth covered in hummus or the olive oil they give you.
But then the rest of the plates are also great! Sharing plates are caring plates, so we got some octopus (A+), some lamb (A+), some shrimp (A) and the meatballs (A+). You know how the saying is that people want to retire rich and buy a Greek island? It’s probably because if you live in the Mediterranean you can eat food like this every day, but they should save themselves the time and buy Zaytinya instead.

Hier kann man sehr lecker Mittags essen. Es gibt ein 4-​Gänge-​Menü, das man sich aus einer Auswahl zusammenstellen kann.
Mir hat aber das zusammenstellen aus Tapa-​artigen Portiontellern am Besten gefallen, die man sich einfach auf den Tisch stellen läßt und mit Freunden, das Essen genießt! Man sollte aber schon mindestens 3 – 4 Teller pro Person rechnen, bei großem Hunger sogar mehr!
Top-​Empfehlung!

Excellente!!!