Best Authentic Restaurants in Capitol Hill

From the moment I stepped into La Grande Boucherie I felt welcomed. The ambiance of the restaurant is so enchanting from the decor to the professionalism of the staff. I arrived alone waiting for the rest of my party to join and still felt attended to and was sat. Our server, Christopher immediately greeting me with water and recommendations of the menu. Once my friend joined me my experience really took off. I was guided through the menu with the best cocktails and appetizers to start. We went with the bottomless bubbles . After the first mimosa you could tell the juice was fresh and the champagne crisp. We followed with a lobster bisque that you could tell upon the first spoonful it was full of marinated seafood stock flavor. The bread that they brought to the table with salted butter complimented it so well as if it was necessary considering the soup came with a fresh croissant . I’ll probably be dreaming of the soup tomorrow. We enjoyed the Wagyu Carpaccio which was well balanced with the rich marble of the wagyu and the saltiness of the capers on the plate. I was reaching a point of fullness and then my entree came out. I opted for a classic, Eggs Benedict, not being a huge fan of eggs I appreciate a well crafted Hollandaise, and that is exactly what I got. The English muffin tasted fresh and the Canadian bacon thinly sliced with the perfect balance of saltiness to pair with the best poarched egg. We finished our meal with a Lemon Sorbet unable to fully commit to a big dessert but even the simplicity of the 3 scoops absolutely exceeded my expectations. A perfect finisher to a meal I’ll probably be talking about for the next few weeks. I am so excited to continue to recommend this restaurant to my friends and traveling family. A truly picturesque experience where I don’t have to worry about the service or the food matching the high standards of what is seen online. They truly deliver.

This was a tremendous meal, and a can't-miss restaurant when visiting Washington D.C. It was my wife and I, and we shared six plates: hummus, falafel, rice pilaf/barley, fried eggplant, brussels sprouts and (essentially) french fries. We were uncomfortably full when leaving, and this ran us a whopping $72 dollars before tip. Obviously if we had gotten drinks or wine, the price would have gone up considerably, but I can't imagine this kind of quality food in a metro area for $36/person in 2024. Plus endless homemade pita that was a cross between pita and naan was provided -- crazy delicious. The french fries had a house-made mushroom salt with a yogurt dipping sauce. The serving size on those were substantial, but basically they were just outstanding french fries. In terms of going for authentic Mediterranean food, we could have swapped this out for something else, but that was probably more our fault than theirs just having something a little more neutral on the menu for less-adventurous eaters. The other five items were all significantly above average, with my favorite being the sprouts and my wife favoring the barley/pilaf. Also, the speed with which we got through our meal was noteworthy -- one hour as they rotated through plates one at a time. It was a well-oiled machine.

I went last night for my birthday dinner. Where the record, there is a caveat to my 4 star review. There was only one area I can’t genuinely give the place a 4 star, but everything else was absolutely wonderful and deserves all the five stars that they can get. I will start with the one area where I can’t give 5 stars, and that was the food. My friends and I all shared food, so we got to try a lot of items on the menu. The standouts were the lamb meatballs, the Hamachi crudo, the fusilli, and the tiramisu. All of the flavors in each of these dishes were very distinct, and delicious. However, given this is an Italian restaurant, we were underwhelmed with the ravioli and the clam pasta. While the portions weren’t tiny, I do feel the cost of the dishes was a little high relative to the amount food you received and what the fish itself was. But then again, we are also in DC. IMHO, and as others have said, where this restaurant really shines is the ambience and the service. First off, the holiday decor was gorgeous, and they were giving ornaments to all the diners, so it definitely set a festive mood. All of my party, except for two of us, were fairly late to the reservation. It was super crowded, but the staff were very accommodating and patient while we waited for our whole party. Additionally, our waitress Mariah was absolutely wonderful!! She was knowledgeable and charming while still being efficient . As the Birthday Girl, I appreciate the restaurant went out of its way to give me a special book about the restaurant. Mariah even managed to scrounge up a few sparklers to make my dinner extra festive in addition to my happy birthday dessert message. All in all, this is a great place for a casual yet slightly elevated dining experience. I’d come back for the customer service and ambiance alone, and despite the few disappointing pasta dishes, there were enough other star dishes I tried to make me interested to try more.

Great food, great service. Some interesting variations on usual preparations. Will definitely be back.

All the food was delicious. Great service and couldn’t believe how low prices were. Wine and cocktails $12-16 great value.