Fiola Mare — Restaurant in Washington

My husband and I booked an event in the Aston Martin room to celebrate our elopement with our families. The Aston Martin room required a food and beverage minimum of $800 and a 5% service fee. During the event planning process with coordinators Cristina and Sarah, they offered a variety of options ranging from decor customization (all which seemed complimentary since there were no costs mentioned) to billing options. I opted out of all of the decor offerings after learning how much they would actually cost. As for billing, l elected 3 options - to have valet parking added to the bill (I assumed for convenience), to not have the bill presented to me at the event (since everything had been selected prior to), and to select gratuity AFTER our event (it's wild that they even offered gratuity selection prior to the event happening).

When we arrived in 2 vehicles, the valet driver told my husband it would be $20/car. I told the employee that Fiola Mare was to add the fees to our tab. The valet employee responded saying that they work for a separate company and that Fiola Mare was supposed to have informed them of any patrons that were having their valet charges put on the restaurant bill instead, which had obviously not happened. He then rushed inside to check with one of the Fiola Mare staff and came back telling us we were good to go.

We were guided to the Aston Martin room which had a faint moldy smell to it. After a few minutes of being seated, we realized how stuffy the room felt and ask the waiter to lower the temperature. After getting approval from his manager, he informed us that the temperature had been dropped and it would take some time to kick in. Even after half an hour, the room was still as stuffy as when we arrived. We ended up asking the waiter to adjust the temperature again; he apologized and again told us it was being addressed and would take some time. The temperature never got better.

The food itself was subpar and nothing to rave about. The dessert was enjoyable but the portion of it was huge compared to the appetizers and entrees. For the amount we were paying, I was not impressed. For context, if you want to add bread to your even menu, it'll cost you $7 A PIECE.

When we were ready to head out, I asked the waiter if he needed anything from us. He said OUT LOUD that he just needed to know the gratuity amount. I expected, at that point, to be handed a piece of paper of some sort to write it down.. so I asked, "okay, do you need me to write that somewhere for you"? His response was that I could just tell him. So.. in front of the entire party, told him 20% was fine.

The next day, I received our itemized receipt which included the $40 valet charge and the service fee. I then calculated what items we had been charged tax for. Low and behold, we were charged 10% tax on the valet charges and the 5% service fee. I figured this was a mistake, so I responded back to their event coordinators and asked them to verify the tax amount and adjust as necessary. Sarah informed me that she checked with their accounting team and the charges were accurate. I asked her why we were being charged sales tax for valet parking and the event fee; her response was that they are required to charge sales tax for anything that appears on the check. I shared with her the conversation we had with the valet driver upon our arrival on Sunday. Had we not elected to add valet charges to the bill and instead paid the valet service upfront, the fee would've been $40 flat, not $40 + tax. As for the service fee, I'm aware that DC sales tax can be charged for any item or service provided by a business, but I'm assuming the 5% event fee covers the tax Fiola Mare would owe on that service, so to charge additional tax is just distasteful.

The purpose of my questions and complaints was not to get a few bucks back; it's about the principle of charging tax on something that would not have been charged had we elected a different payment method, especially on a service that wasn't...

My family and I went for brunch. It was fine. I didn't feel ripped off, but I wasn't blown away either. Maybe they do a better job at dinner, but I won't be going back.

Food: Hits and misses. The granita on the Amalfi Coast appetizer was very sour, possibly to mask the taste of lackluster kampachi. The salad had half and avocado in it, which one of my companions appreciated. The tartare was rich, but not exceptional. I did like the roe in that one. The mains were pretty good, but once again, not exceptional for the price. I had the "liquid caccio e peppe" which turned out to be tortellini which was only marginally better than the stuff you get at Sam's Club. The spring vegetables in it were nice though, fresh and well prepared. The carbonara looked grainy, but the ramp sausage ragu was tasty. The smoked salmon scrambled eggs were also pretty good. All of the pasta was fresh and cooked correctly. The desserts were also mixed. The strawberry dessert was basically just strawberries and cream, not fantastic. I liked the waffle dessert, but people who don't enjoy the agrodolce experience will think it's burned. The best single thing on the brunch menu was the doughnut holes. (bombolini) Tender pasty, delicious raspberry sauce and a clever panna cotta like accompaniment in a coffee cup on the side. The small cake they comped me for my birthday was also pretty good. The included pastries were business hotel quality, perhaps because they were sitting around for a while. The restaurant only includes one basket for a 4-top, which I thought was chintzy, but no one went hungry.

Also, the oysters sucked. Don't bother.

Drinks: Came with the price of the meal. Nothing terrible, nothing exceptional. I ended up with 4 because the waiters double ordered, but everyone else got 2 or 3. The waiters also did not charge us extra for mocktails or San Pellegrino, which was decent of them.

Service: The waiters worked really hard, especially the woman who had to bring everyone on the patio drinks. However, small things were missed. (I didn't get a fork for the oysters at first, I received an anniversary card instead of birthday card, and I had to keep my own water glass filled at times) Also, the service was pretty slow. I'd say we waited about 5 minutes too long per course. Not things I would complain about in an Olive Garden, but something to consider on a ~$500 check. I think they were just understaffed.

Ambiance: It was a beautiful day and we ate al fresco. The outdoor area wasn't entirely shaded though, and I ended up with a sunburn. Watching people promenade up and down the waterfront in their Sunday best was an enjoyable experience. Also, if you like to watch small boats load and unload passengers, this is a good place to do it as many tour boats and water taxis dock in front of the restaurant. There were also VIP helicopters practicing on the Potomac, which was kind of fun to observe. However, I think the experience was best summed up by the bikini clad women sunning themselves on the yachts as we walked out. Expensive and a little tacky.

Value: Depends on what you're looking for. I didn't feel taken advantage of, but I found the 3% "service charge" galling. The restaurant was doing at least $5000 an hour in business which makes me less than sympathetic to the "high cost of doing business in DC", especially since the charge wasn't included on the web site menu. It's a shame to damage a nice experience with dishonest pricing, especially since it only amounted to $13 extra. Very much like an airline, not much like a fine dining restaurant.

As I said at the top, I will not be going back. As a special birthday experience, it was not spectacular. There are definitely better restaurants in DC. However, if you live in the neighborhood and can afford to drop a few hundred here once or twice a month, there are worse places to...

Mix of wonderful and terrible plus pay extra for disinfection fee

👎Miscommunication on reservation The problems began when I made a reservation today at noon for 1:15 And specifically discussed the pricing over the phone while making a reservation. I was directed to the website while on the phone call and I asked whether or not the lunch for $28 per person was being served. The woman confirmed that it was available yet once we got to the restaurant they only served brunch for $85 per person. We spoke with GIUSEPPE FORMICA, the general manager about the conversation and I even remembered the name of the girl who took my reservation (wow! ) 👍Great recommendations Our waiter was very nice and gave great recommendations 👍Uniforms are wonderful I am a highly visual person and I absolutely loved the cobalt blue dresses with white polka dots on the ladies and wonderfully tailored suits on the men. It's certainly adds to the ambience of the restaurant. Loved decor. Suggestion: the whie&black take out bags could match the restaurant theme 👎👎STEFANIA SORRENTI service director was less than pleasant... very pushy and demanding. My friend and I got rained on while sitting at the balcony, we had to run inside. We were "greeted" by a Stefania who very improperly yelled at us to put on our masks. We quickly Obliged yet she physically yanked my friend's purse out of her hands without asking her permission. I commented that even under normal circumstances it's not proper to take people's belongings without their permission. She actually!!! responded back defending her totally illegal actions saying that it was for our safety! My friend lost her sense of speech... I simply grabbed the bag right back telling Stefania that it's not protecting our safety by grabbing my friend's bag especially without wearing gloves. Only after we had this confrontation She sent us a free dish of calamari (which I thought was a nice gesture but didn't like the taste at all). No apology. Just free food that we didn't like. She insisted on the doggy bag that we gave to the homeless. 5.👎 Service was not synched When we placed an order for the dessert with who I think may have been the assistant manager SHARIF ABDULLAEV, I also asked for coffee from yet another waiter. Too many cooks in the kitchen... Coffee came 10 minutes after we already consumed our disappointing dessert (after waiting for coffee and trying to get attention for a while)... 👎Tiramisu was an unpleasant surprise The one that was served to us in a small white bowl was very different from what i got in the past both in presentation and taste (the gorgeous layered cake shown on this Google pictures). Hate to say it, but it was too liquidy more like a mousse consistency mixed with chocolate ice cream (which i hate) rather than a cake (see a picture of me with the white bowl). Disinfection fee of 4% of the bill In addition to taxes and tips on a very...