Best Modern Southern American Restaurants in Washington

We went to Mallard's for Valentine's Day weekend. We had seen a great article about it in the Washington Post. It was our first time there and we enjoyed it! The food was great, even though they had a curated set of options for the holiday. We enjoyed what we had, especially the waygu beef entree, and we look forward to exploring the broader dinner menu which looked spectacular. The service was exceptional and our server was attentive, personable, and insightful. Well done, Mallard. We look forward to our next visit!

Excellent host! Manager acknowledged our anniversary noted on our reservation. We received a complimentary appetizer and complimentary mimosa! Our server was superb. She gave us options and ideas for our meaI, which turned out great. I asked for warm blueberry jam and she worked it out for me. The food was fresh and simply delicious. Great overall service. 👌

The place was very small but the ambience was very pleasant. The food was phenomenal and staff were very friendly and knowledgeable about the place. The food took the show because everything tasted so good. We went for their Valentine’s Day five course dinner. We started off with the honey rosemary cornbread, delicious and perfectly balanced. Then we had the melon salad and the Caesar salad, they both were remarkably delicious. Then we had the charred oysters and stuffed shrimp, cooked beautifully. For our main course we both had the seafood risotto and the scallops were cooked to perfection. I’ve been to five star/Michelin star restaurants and they’ve never been cooked to such perfection like this. For dessert we had the peach cobbler pudding and creme brulee cheesecake. The bread pudding had great taste but not much of peach flavor and the texture was a bit on the dryer side to my liking. The cheesecake was the perfect combination. Overall this place is a must go to. I will be recommending it to everyone and will visit again. Thank you for all you do!

Oh my god. I was hesitant to go here at first because of a few negative reviews I read. But, I went and let me tell you, I’ll be going back. From start to finish, everything & everybody was fantastic. The food was delish; came out fast and it was hot; the waitress was attentive and friendly; the ambiance was 100. Can’t say enough good things about YardBird. I’m just glad i didn’t base my experience off of other reviews. Go! You won’t regret it.

Thoroughly enjoyed the food and drinks here. First time but it certainly won’t be my last.