Agora Dc Mediterranean Restaurant — Restaurant in Washington

UPDATE: I was able to return for dinner after being invited by the manager, Ms. Hawk. She apologized on behalf of the hostess and was very attentive throughout our meal. The food, especially the lamb chops and scallops, were amazing. I appreciate the manager reaching out and ensuring I had a better experience at Agora.

My friends and I had a brunch reservation for three. I was coming from Baltimore and was running behind. I tried calling the restaurant three times to let them know and to ask about their grace period. I called once but was sent to voicemail immediately. Then I double-checked the number and called again a few minutes later, someone picked up and then hung up immediately. Thinking that was strange, I called again and was told to stop calling by an angry woman, who hung up before I could respond. Once I arrived, I asked the hostess what was the restaurant's number and she said whatever number is listed. I explained I was asking because I tried calling three times and kept getting hung up on. While she looked up my reservation, I called the number and watched the hostess pick up the phone and immediately hit the End button. I said that was me calling and asked if she was the hostess that kept hanging up on me. She stated she was busy. However, there were two hostesses and one was just standing behind the other on their cell phone. This was ridiculously poor treatment of a customer and I honestly would have left if my friends weren't already seated.

Also, once I approached the hostess stand, neither hostess even looked up even as I stood there (less than three feet away) for a moment. Once I said "excuse me, I'm here for a reservation", the hostess never once looked me in the eyes but only my chest area. This made me feel incredibly uncomfortable, to the point where I bent my knees to hopefully get her to look at my face and stop talking to my chest. She was dressed in a hijab and I can only assume she was offended by my outfit. The hostess' disturbing interaction made me very uncomfortable, as I've never had an experience where someone spoke to and stared at my chest so intentionally.

The service was average and so was the food. I personally prefer Ambar and Zaytinya for these kinds of Mediterranean/Balkan...

Delightful Mediterannean / Turkish brunch spot with great food, lovely drinks (of both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety), and fantastic service. I came with a fairly large (~15 people) group on Saturday morning for their bottomless brunch, and the experience was incredible from start to finish. Before we even arrived at the restaurant, Agora was amazingly accommodating and supportive -- we did a terrible job of planning and ended up needing to make a reservation just a few days before our planned brunch, but Agora's staff was incredibly patient and worked with us to find a time and space for us. Once we arrived, we were warmly greeted and directed to a giant table in their beautifully decorated upstairs dining room. Although we had the option to order individual items, we opted to let the server control the flow of our food, sending out waves of a series of plates that we could all share. The initial course of dips, spreads, and other appetizers was incredible, especially their hummus and smoked salmon. The entrees, which included savory options like omelettes and eggs benedicts, and sweet dishes like their gorgeous french toast, were all delightful as well.

The staff was also incredibly accommodating of dietary restrictions -- I'm dairy-free, gluten-free, and pescatarian, and the restaurant was, admittedly, not particularly prepared to handle someone with so many restrictions, but our server worked with me to make sure that I had plenty of things to eat. Instead of pita, I was given fresh cucumber and carrot slices to sample their dips (mainly the hummus and acuka) with, and they removed cheese and bread from the entrees (i.e., a salmon eggs benedict without the English muffin, or a veggie omelette without cheese). It definitely wasn't the conventional Agora brunch experience, but I still loved everything and was just all-around so grateful that they were willing to swap things out for me.

All in all, I could not recommend Agora enough -- $48 may be a steep price point for brunch, but you absolutely get your money's worth. The food is delicious, they have a great selection of drinks for the brunch (and if you aren't into alcohol, there are plenty of amazing alternatives, including their Turkish coffee and tea), and the service and ambiance and both incredible. This will definitely be one of my new favorite...

I really can’t say enough good things about Agora! This review is based on my experience planning an event there (rehearsal dinner and welcome party the evening before my wedding), but I would highly recommend Agora to anyone looking for an excellent Mediterranean spot for brunch, lunch, or dinner – the food is amazing, the service is top notch, you can’t beat the location – and I’m looking forward to going back for many “regular” meals. From the beginning of our search for a place in DC that would hold both a private dinner for about 50 people and a welcome party for about 125 people afterward, Betul (one of the owners) was incredible. She and her team were super responsive and flexible, and were willing to go above and beyond to give reserve their entire upstairs dining space for us, as well as another space downstairs and half of their patio (on a Friday evening in June no less) for the welcome party. We looked at other spaces for the event, but nothing compared (most places told us we could do a dinner for two hours in a semi-private or not really private at all area, for way more than what it cost to hold both the dinner and party for 5+ hours at Agora). Beyond their flexibility and generosity with their space, Betul and her team also kindly hosted us for dinner at the restaurant so we could try out all of the food options, and then worked with us regularly for months as we confirmed numbers and changed details. The night of, everything was perfect – Anthony (the manager) and his team were friendly, efficient, and professional, and accommodated several last minute requests on our end (including Anthony setting up the dinner tables beautifully with the flowers and other decorations we arrived with only 10 minutes before the dinner start because of crazy traffic, as well as helping us orchestrate several speeches during the course of the dinner). Throughout the evening, our guests commented on how delicious the food was as well as how attentive the servers and bartenders were, and I couldn’t agree more. Suffice to say, I would absolutely recommend Agora for a private event (or just a meal), and don’t think you’ll find a better deal for top notch food, drinks, and service anywhere else. Thank you, Betul and team, for an...