Lupo Marino — Restaurant in Washington

Update #2: My review was mysteriously removed when I originally posted it a week ago.

If you are black, you may be denied dining service here.

Update: when I went back to take a pic to add to my review, an Ethiopian family was being denied service at the time. As they left, I told them what had just happened to me and my friend about 20 mins ago. Naturally, they were also upset. (Also, I checked again and still there were several empty tables and still all the patrons were white except the Asian couple that the Asian worker let come in.) After I took the photo, the waitress in the photo turned around, shooed me out the door, and kept shouting that they were all booked up.

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Disclaimer: my friend and I are black. We tried to eat here. The Asian man working at the front wearing a suit and a ponytail, told us they were all filled up and that we needed reservations. There were many empty tables, so I assumed the limit was due to a staff shortage. My friend was starving and asked if we could order food to go. He said yes, gave us ONE menu to share - even though he was holding a stack of them, and pointed at a corner and said "go stand over there." While we were looking at the menu, I noticed an Asian couple come in and a female waiter told them they could wait 10 mins and sit at the window counter. I asked the couple if they had reservations and they said no. I then marched up to the ponytailed man and asked why my friend and I were required to have a reservation if the other people who just came in didn't. He got really upset and shrugged dramatically. Then he shouted "they're just sitting over there at the counter!” I said, "ok and why didn't you offer that to me and my friend." He shouted and pointed at the area and said "there were people that just left there - DIDN'T YOU NOTICE???" I said "of course I noticed they left, we were standing right beside them huddled looking at the one menu!" I asked him why he didn't offer that we could at least wait for window seating. He just kept shouting and shrugging. I slowly looked around and realized all of the other patrons were white. I signaled my friend for us to leave immediately. I have never experienced this kind of overt...

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🍝 Review: Lupo Marino – Washington, DC July 2025 Visited: Saturday, post-11 PM Setting: Quaint, energetic, ideal for night owls

🔍 Vibe Check – Rating: 4.3/5

Walked in close to midnight and still got seated immediately. The soccer crowd gave the space a buzzy vibe, and our window seats were clutch for people-watching. The open kitchen and bar added charm—definitely a hidden perk for culinary voyeurs.

🍽️ What We Tried – Food Quality: 4.2/5

• Drinks:• Stella Double Zero (nonalcoholic) • Still water

• Bites:• Bruschetta with tomato 🍅 – creamy and fresh • Bruschetta with prosciutto 🥓 – smooth, indulgent, well-balanced • Spaghetti Bolognese: Loved that the noodles were homemade, but I’d prefer them thinner and more al dente • Tagliatelle with Short Rib: My friend said it was “bomb”—rich flavor, perfect texture

Value: 4.1/5

🧾 Service & Scene – Service: 3.8/5

Understaffed but working hard. The check took a while, though once it landed, things moved smoothly. Restroom was clean, and the bar gave great views of the kitchen action.

Cleanliness: 4.5/5

🎶 Crowd Energy – Rating: 4.7/5

As we left, a flood of about 40 people came in from the music venue nearby. If you’re looking for a late-night spot post-concert or game, this one’s built for it.

💬 TLDR:

Creamy bruschettas hit, Bolognese could use a noodle tweak, short rib tagliatelle was the standout. Solid late-night spot with great crowd energy and people-watching. Would revisit to go deeper...

The location was great. However....the restaurant needs to learn about customer retention. I was having dinner with my wife and friends on vacation and we wanted to celebrate our last night in DC. We went to Lupo Marino on the wharf.

Don't order the bruchetta. $7.00 for one slice of bread cut into two and a tomato on top. We had order two pizzas... One without anchovies and the other with half cheese due to dietary reason. Unfortunately they screwed up both pizzas. We returned one and ate the other because it was a minor screw up. They returned with a new pizza only to have the same mistake. We tried explaining the situation to the manger and he was very rude to my wife and and my colleague. He did not want to listen to our explanation. It took over an hour before we finally received the pizza we originally ordered. The rest off the group had completed eating for some time.

The manager offered to give us the pizza in error free. But why should I pay for something I did not order anyway?

Our bill came and there was no compensation for our troubles. We were charge the full price. Only after complaining did they finally remove the price of one pizza. We saw the staff discuss the bill with the owner and he did not have the respect to apologize to our group.

There are plenty other great restaurants on...