Annabelle — Restaurant in Washington

Update: My spouse and I called the restaurant a couple of days after our visit requesting to speak with management about the experience. We thought it would only be fair to offer the well known establishment an opportunity to make things right at which point we could in good faith amend our review. Our intent notwithstanding, our call was met with acrimony. The same sommelier that contributed to the failures of our experience answered the phone and proceeded to snidely apologize “sorry my Italian pronunciation was so poor…,” and went on to request our address to send a gift card. Here we are nearly two months later and the gift card never arrived, given our treatment I doubt it was sent.

The core requirement for any establishment in the restaurant and hospitality arena is a desire to work with people, all people, and we were made not to feel welcomed.

The sommelier seemed more upset about his Italian not being perfect than he was about his restaurant providing a poor experience.

We stand by our initial review!

01-23-2025

This place was pretty bad. We visited yesterday for Thanksgiving for a 7:45 dinner reservation and regret the experience. The restaurant is so beautiful, the lighting strategy, decor, mix of simple lines, and texture of the furniture is well done. Everything else was subpar, most especially the service. Our waiter left us alone without checking in on us for various points of extended time. We were served a salad course and the food sat in front of us for nearly 15 minutes before the waiter came back and realized that WE DID NOT HAVE FORKS TO EAT WITH!!! While our waiter was lost other staff was walking by us, making eye contact and ignoring us as they just kept going. We were interested in a dessert wine which triggered the company of a wine sommelier who went into a long winded and mispronounced rant about a Sicilian wine we were interested in having. When he realized that we speak Italian, he finally dropped the act and answered the question about whether the one wine would be much sweeter than another (nice guy just putting on a performance of some sort). We extend some grace to the staff because it was a holiday and they were working with us instead of home with their families, but we were treated poorly. We note this especially because we observed that the staff gave complimentary cookies to all parting patrons at the end of their meals and we DID NOT GET COOKIES!!!! Our turkey entre was so bad; the turkey had an over reduced/burnt fennel/bitter taste. A sampling of sides was part of the pre-fixed menu: carrots, stuffing, and Brussels sprouts. The Brussels sprouts were not charred, they were burnt, the stuffing did have an acceptable texture but no flavor or seasoning of any sort, the carrots were fine. We also had the grilled roseda angus steak which was very good and cooked to our exact requested temperature. Our bill was $388 which included a 20% service charge for pay equity, we tipped $60 on top of that out of grace given the holiday, but the staff was so bad; they forgot about us, they ignored us, and they treated us differently than other guests (cookies). Also, there was a young lady working who had bright red highlights in her hair who attempted to collect our plates while we were still eating which caused a perplexed look from us and she excused herself but seemed uncomfortable somehow. Also, this same individual was literally slamming the plates onto the tables she was setting around us. We hate how we were treated, we are not snobs, we are regular hard working people who did not have time to make thanksgiving and chose to eat out. We observed some snobbery from many other guests, we observed how some of the other guests were dismissive and unkind to some of the staff, yet those guest seem to have received good service and attention,...

Annabelle provided one of thee BEST restaurant experiences I’ve ever had!

The feng shui was pure perfection! We were seated in one of their private rooms and it felt like we were in a literal greenhouse. The air was so fresh and the natural light made the atmosphere feel like a movie! The gold accents and pops of color were so pleasing to the eye in the main dining area as well!

The staff was attentive and informative. They welcomed us with smiles and insight regarding the menu! They were so polite!

I want to give a HUGE shoutout to the restaurant Manager Dina and our waitstaff Arin! The took good care of us! When I say I LOVE them! I mean it. They made us feel like we were the only guest and more over they made us feel like more than just dining guest! Dina and Arin are perfect examples of what 5 Star customer service looks/feels like!

The food was nothing short of extraordinary! The oysters were ridiculously fresh and slightly sweet. The mignonette and lemon were a perfect pairing.

We also had the Braised Pork Belly and the Roasted Leaks! The pork belly was seasoned so well and the hosin ju was a match I never knew I needed! The leaks we new for me and they were DELICIOUS! They melted in my mouth. I could’ve eaten 10 more LOL!!

Our cocktails were also good, it tasted like they were made with fresh ingredients. I could taste how fresh the basil and mint was in my Mojito. My friend got a Mezcal Paloma and you can tell it was a fresh squeezed grapefruit, they smoke flavor wasn’t overpowering. Light but deliberate. Extremely well crafted cocktails!

For our entrees we got the Branzino with watercress salad and King Salmon with roasted fennel! The branzio was cooked to perfection! The watercress salad was light but the flavor palette was excellent! The king salmon was tender and moist! Paired with the rusted fennel, grape tomatoes and sauce vierge, I felt like I was on a cloud! Everything was SO good!

To finish it off we had the Vanilla Bean Peach Cheesecake and the Lemon Blueberry Poppyseed Cake. The cheesecake was by far the creamiest cheesecake I’ve ever had an I don’t even like cheesecake! It was a great balance. The lemon blueberry poppyseed cake had the right amount citrus and blueberry. They poppyseed brought a great texture!

Literally EVERYTHING I ate was amazing!

I definitely plan on going back and recommending to everyone I know!

Thanks for an amazing experience...

All I can say, is that this was fine, but nothing special. Not worth the price tag.

The best thing they had going on a Saturday evening was indoor dining available for our party of 4 - especially without a reservation.

They weren’t eager to have us, and/or they seemed genuinely surprised that anyone would show up with out a reservation?! (Our friend just moved in a block away and we thought we would try this restaurant as our new “local go-to.”) They tripped all over themselves, literally 3 staff member fussing over our party of four, in the very small entryway, as another couple arrived (who had an rsvp)... each of the 3 staff asked me if we had an rsvp and how large our party was and if we were all there. It was just an odd “welcome.”

I got the impression that they were actually hoping we would turn and walk out, but we didn’t, so after about 4-5 minutes of this keystone cops welcoming dance, they managed to find us a table. It was a large table set for 6, just inside and up three steps - and in the breeze every time the front door opened. But hey, this is what we get without any reservation - that part of the evening is on me!

The bread was made in house (I think) and it was delicious!

We ordered a variety of items: steak tartar, pasta with duck, scallops and steak. I had the steak and it was very disappointing for $38 - nothing wrong, but it was oversold on the menu, as tri-tip and sirloin. It was about a 4 Oz cut of tri-tip and two small slices (maybe 2 Oz each) of beef loin. Nothing fancy, nothing special.

They had a great wine list and wines by the glass for $12-18. I had a nitro stout and it was delightful, despite the $9 price tag.

The dessert selections were good and the ladies enjoyed them.

The food was fine - a bit overpriced and the staff took themselves a bit too seriously - or perhaps I did, but I just never felt that we or our business was really welcome.

Lastly, the water in the restroom was so cold I couldn’t wash my hands... it was probably 35 degrees. Not good esp...