Medium Rare — Restaurant in Washington

Medium Rare was a fantastic experience. We went on a fall Thursday night and as we arrived we were greeted by a friendly and accommodating host who helped us find a table in a cute outdoor tent equipped with heating. Before getting to our table our host let us know about seasonal drinks and apologized in advance because they were far busier than they had expected for the night and explained that they were light on wait staff. I have to say that the staff at Medium Rare never missed a beat. We were seamlessly assisted throughout our meal by. Not only our friendly waitress but the host who sat us repeatedly checked in on us, the assistant manager served us part of our meal, a member of the kitchen staff replentishd us with more fries and a second helping of delicious steak halfway through our meal. I don't think I have ever had service so good from a restaurant let alone one that was running short on staff at the front of the house. AMAZING JOB!

Not only did we receive amazing service but the food was top notch. We were surprised to see that the simple menu that we read about in other reviews was actually a set menu. Not a big deal as what was on the menu was exactly what we wanted.

Rustic Bread was first on the menu. The outside was crispy and flakey. The inside was soft, chew and held on to butter the way a good bread should. Normally bread isn't something I would write about in a review but seeing as how the rustic bread will be something I look forward to at Medium Rear when I return it definitely deserved to be mentioned in the same spot it appears on the menu, right at the beginning.

A fresh green salad was next up on the menu and at first glance it was not anything special. However after the first bite I was almost taken a back by how fresh the ingredients were. It is fall after all but this tastes like it was plucked from a summertime garden right before it came to our table. I thought to myself this dosen't seem like it was made in advance and tossed in a cooler until served. Fresh Fresh Fresh. The salad was dressed in a pleasant house dressing that was pleasantly balanced with a good level of acid. If you like oil and vinegar, balsamic or Italian dressings you will love it.

Now for the star of the menu... Steak... oh yes steak. When taking our order for our steak temperatures our waitress of course offered us Medium Rare upfront. I always order my steaks Pittsburgh. When I order a Pittsburgh style steak outside of the Steel City if my waitress has any idea what I am talking about I am hopeful. If they know exactly what I am talking about I know I am in for a treat. Needless to say our waitress knew exactly what I was talking about. My steak arrived and it was delicious, cooked perfectly and wasn't even in need of the delicious "Secret Sauce" I reserved the extra sauce for the pertly fried shostring potatoes served with my steak. I don't remember what the cut was to be honest but the way it was served served the meat well and made it feel like a superior cut of meat. Think of how a Flank Steak is cut. This was a pleasant and clever move by the chef. (Well done sir.) At the $25 price point this steak was throwing heavy blows in a weight class far above where this steak would normally be. Another restaurant would not have been able do deliver such an experience at this price e point. Oh and that $25 price that is not the cost of the steak that is the cost of the meal. Yep that's right as the totally unexpected second round of steak and fries arrived I was floored by the level of service and food I was receiving for this cost. I'm still in shock the next day as I write this review.

There is another invisible corse. something you don't see or taste that you get from M.R. and frankly is the reason that we chose to visit this establishment for the first time last night. Like I said it's not something that you get to eat or experience during your visit but it is something that will leaving feeling just as full as several of Medium Rare's delicious meals and that is how this business gives back to...

What was supposed to be a nice Sunday brunch with bottomless mimosas, turned out to be subpar! First- lets talks about where Medium Rare failed significantly. Sunday (3/14) was a lovely day weather wise and it was the first weekend of DC easing some restrictions on dining. I would think that because of this Medium Rare management would’ve been prepared with inventory to accommodate such a influx of people knowing this. Wrong! My party consisted of 5 people and when we sat down to order our bottomless mimosas, we were given one carafe. After each person poured one glass each, we were ready for another round and we requested this of the waitress. Please remember that Medium Rare advertises a bottomless brunch with an entree, bottomless being the operative word here. For the second round- and to our surprise- we were brought Vodka and orange juice in a big water glass with ice. The waitress indicated that Medium Rare ran out of bottles of champagne and the manager was going to get more, but didn’t want to stop the drinks. No one even asked if we drank Vodka (to which none of my party did) they literally brought these drinks and sat them down without asking

Second- The waitress kept telling us that it would be a few more minutes and the manager would be back with more champagne. That was a complete lie. The manager finally came over to our table and said “I hear there’s an issue”. As if we’ve done something wrong???? This is where things really took a turn for the worst. The manager begins to tell us that there is no more champagne and that they weren’t able to get any bottles from their sister restaurant. We asked If she could go to the grocery store instead and her response was “No, we don’t do that”. At this point my party is very frustrated as the whole purpose of us coming here was for the bottomless drinks. The manager proceeds to tell us that this is perfectly normal to run out of champagne to which no one in my party has EVER experienced such a thing. The manager then offers to bring one dessert for the table as a show of good faith. Again wrong move!!!

Long story short- the manager was very condescending and the customer service here sucks! I will not be returning to this restaurant. She agreed to bring 2 desserts after what seemed like a haggle to her as she was unwilling to accommodate us and the fact that we were paying for drinks that would not be provided to us. She completely failed as a manager here and in providing great customer service. We practically had to beg her to take $7 dollars off of our individual bill. And she made it a point to tell us that “she was bending over backwards here”!!! Again- I will not be coming here and supporting this establishment given the poor treatment I...

Updated review (Feb 2023) My fiancé and I continue our tradition going to medium rare for our birthdays. We had an amazing time. Our host Anna did a great job tending to our every ask and need. Medium rare has definitely changed over the past months and even years but I can say this, the quality and experience fantastic. I went to Medium Rare a couple months ago and made a couple constructive critique towards the betterment of the establishment. Please to said that positive change has been made due to the new management. The ambience of the restaurant has dim lighting sets a romantic tone. Medium rare does steak and fries the best out of most restaurants in dc at a reasonable price. Mariana, the new manager, did a great job hosting my fiancé and I. I'm thankful for her kindness and leadership towards developing this restaurant.

Old Review (Sept 2022) - 4 Stars: I have been going to medium rare for the past four years to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. My experience during this time around was a little different from my experience in the past. A couple of things have changed that I have noticed. One is the management. Another is the portion size. My pictures show the difference between the portion size they give you now compared to last year or even early this year. Usually they have French audio tutorials in the bathroom but this time around there was a loud static noise that overwhelms that audio. In addition, I had a cake brought for my significant other as a surprise and usually there are sparklers to accompany that but they ran out of sparklers, the cake was melting wish make me feel like they did not store it in the fridge or freezer. I feel as though medium rare is not putting enough resources back into the restaurant to make the experience great for the customers which is what it’s been about in the past.

Old Review (Sept 2021) - 5 stars: Amazing birthday meal. Not many options to choose from which make this restaurant so unique. I love love ever course...