Julii — Restaurant in North Bethesda

2.5 stars

TL;DR: food was so extremely disappointing, especially for the price point. Service was okay.

We came here for our anniversary dinner and had high expectations for the food. Inside is very cutely decorated and perfect for a date night; however, it was very loud in there that it was difficult to hear our server/each other.

SERVICE: ~I guess we started off on a bad note - when we arrived at the door, it was swung open aggressively by a server (not ours) going to the patio and made me stumble, and the server just gave us a look and kept walking, no pleasantries, even though we reactively said "sorry". ~Our server was nice enough, but a little awkward. Also forgot my wedge frites.

FOOD: ~Blackberry Blossom (5/5): really tasty - nice balance of sweetness

~Passionfruit Ginger Soda (1/5): This tasted like pickle juice, or if anything pickled ginger juice, but maybe it's just my palate so I did not want to complain. Our server saw I didn't drink any of it and asked if there was something wrong and told her what it tasted like. She apologized. I was maybe hoping they'd remove it from the check, but it wasn't.

~French Onion Soup (5/5): I really liked this soup. Lots of flavor and good amount of cheese.

~Scallop Crudo (2/5): wished it was colder. I feel like they were trying to do too much with this dish, but it was not working. Couldn't taste the scallop and the various sauces/toppings muddled the flavors

~Mushroom cavatelli (3.25/5): The pasta was very doughy and not pasta-like, but I liked it. If you were expecting more pasta texture, you may be disappointed. The mushrooms were tasty, but wish there was a tiny bit more sauce to coat the pasta better.

~Lamb tagine (3/5): lamb itself was 3.9/5. Tender near the bone with a couple of dry spots toward the ends. The cous cous that came with it was 1/5. It was finer grain style of cous cous, but it had a sandy mouth feel and just tasted burnt. Originally, I thought it was breadcrumbs, which would have been preferable.

~Crispy trout (2/5): the trout was so soggy. The skin was not crispy at all except a little bit on the edges. It was bland itself, and the sauce did not help much. With trout, I do have an expectation of having some bones, but I had about 10 in my first 2 bites along with some scales.

~Wedge Frites (?): ordered these to come out with our entrees. When they did not come out with our entrees, I assumed either it was taking a bit longer or our server forgot. After our appetizers and tasting our entrees, I did not bother asking her about them because I did not want them at that point.

Personally, this place was very disappointing,...

Every now and then a restaurant surprises me with great food, atmosphere and service. That is how I felt about Julii. This little bistro captured all three elements we all want in a restaurant. Delicious food, great ambiance and impeccable service.

The setting is 50% indoors and 50% outside tables and umbrellas. It sets in a quasi park environment even though this is Pike & Rose. We ate outdoors on a gorgeous night under umbrellas. Families played in the park with their young children. It was not loud, instead their presence added to the feeling of warmth. French music played softly in the background. No issues holding a quiet conversation and spacing between tables was appropriate. Not that feeling of being jammed into a small space. We were told in the colder months the tables/umbrellas are removed and igloos are placed outside. The waiter assured us it was warm and fun…..

Speaking of the waiter….Daniel was a professional. He knew the menu and had clearly worked there for a while. His presence was attentive but not intrusive to our meal. It is great to experience excellent service.

Now for the meal….being our first visit and having not spoken to anyone that had previously dined here we went with basics. Just to benchmark the food. We shared a Caesar Salad with avocado. It was a nice portion and easily shareable. The restaurant is owned by the founders of Cava…..so they know fresh salad. Perfect.

For the main course my wife selected Cod that was prepared on a bed of couscous and topped with shaved fennel. It was a Mediterranean masterpiece. She only allowed me to taste it once. Delicious.

I wanted the lamb given that we were eating g at a French Mediterranean restaurant…..but decided to approach the basics and went with a hamburger. Those of you that have been to Le Diplomat or Michael’s downtown know the burger is a true test. Well no surprise - Julii presented me with a perfectly prepared and juicy burger. Not over sauced - the burger was the feature. Very good.

We paired the meal with a glass of Sancerre. I wanted a bottle but wife refused. Wine list was short but maybe they have a reserve list. They had some fun looking cocktails on the menu and through the window we saw a large and lovely bar for a Monday night.

We closed the meal with a cappuccino that took me back to Paris or Florence or Split. A great way to end a nice surprise...

Tl;Dr: My family had a bad experience at Julii's due to poor service and the mediocre food. At the end of the meal, my dad said he rather go to Wendy's. Go to nada's next door for good service, drink & tacos. I will not be going back to Julii's. My family and I went to Julii today at 5pm on 4/29/22.

Service 0/5: nonexistent I've never felt so completely ignored at a restaurant in my life. When we sat down, it felt as if we were an inconvenience to our server for sitting in his section. I would include a name, but he never introduced himself. Aside from taking our order, our server was MIA throughout the meal. When it came time to pay, again, I couldn't find our waiter. After around 10 minutes I got up, got the attention of a manger and he handled our check. The saving grace is that the food runners and managers were attentive. They asked us how our food was, refilled our water and brought out our food. Honestly, what was the point of our waiter? He never introduced himself, explained the menu, barely check in on us or did any service. I really hope my 18% tip (which is lower than I usually give but I was debating on whether or not to tip at all) went to the food runners, not our server. He didn't deserve it.

Food 1/5: The food is mediocre and overpriced. Most things were overpowered by oil and salt. It looks nice in picture though. -The crispy trout: the taste was nothing special, but it was solid The burger: Burger and fries were pretty good. The brussel sprouts: Tasty, but very greasy, very small portions. -The French onion soup: Bad, avoid, do not get. It was a glob of cheese over extremely salty broth and sour tasting. I had better french onion soup in my middle school home economics class. -Mushroom Cavatelli: Bland, mushrooms tasted fresh though. Again, over powerful by the oil and very salty. You get tired after a few bites, not worth it. I overheard the table next to us say the scallop risotto had a ton of...