Oak & Front | Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Washington

The Vibe: Elevated casual with a little bit of quirky artistic flair. The spacious second story patio offers scenic river views and has a mix of shade and sun. We had the very best riverview table- absolutely stunning, and the historically inspired mural on the adjacent building adds to the ambiance. We came for an early dinner anniversary date, and there were a few little kids there, but as the evening wore on, it became more of an adult crowd. I think you could feel comfortable wearing jeans here, but most men opted for chino shorts and polos or button down shorts, and there were several women in sundresses or nicer blouses and shorts.

The Food: The hostess, who was likely the manager or owner, explained when seating is that the majority of the food is made in-house, and the rest they try to source locally, which is great. They have an incredibly extensive wine list, but we're craft beer snobs and luckily they had many offerings from local brewers, so opted for a few brews from 4 Hands.

For our appetizer we went with the pimento cheese dip platter. The pimento cheese and the pickles were really good! It was supposed to come with naan, but it was more like blackened pita. For dinner my husband ordered the burrito special we saw on their social media because it looked epic in the pictures, but unfortunately what he got was an extremely dry burrito with no sauces, and some broken Krunchers type chips. Our server did bring queso and salsa verde when he complained. The queso was flavorless, but the sala verde was quite nice. He would've sent the dish back, but it had already taken so long to get out food that we were overdue to pick up our child.

My entree, on the other hand, was extremely delicious! I got the seafood ravioli with chipotle cream sauce. It tasted handmade with love. The ravioli were tender and the filling lacked any off-putting fishiness I find so often in local seafood dishes. The chipotle cream sauce was very well-balanced- had just the right amount of spice. The accompanying salad with green goddess dressing and crisp leaves was a nice foil to the creamy pasta.

The Service: We made online reservations weeks before we dined and requested a nice riverview table to celebrate our belated anniversary. We arrived a bit early, but the wonderful woman at the host stand, I assume she is probably the manager or owner, guided us to our reserved table at the very front of the patio, overlooking the river. It made us feel so special. She took her time explaining the history of Oak and Front, and how they made and sourced their food. She then went over their extensive wine and cocktail menu, and apologized that they didn't have much of a craft beer selection- but they actually do have plenty of local quality craft beer options in bottles and cans, so we clapped our hands! Our server was very friendly and very attentive at the beginning, but as the night wore on (we were there for nearly two and a half hours, as scratch food takes time), she was consumed by a large party and we struggled to get her attention for drink refills, etc. My husband ended up having to go into the bar to get another drink. She did apologize and explain that the large party was overwhelming. My husband and I are restaurant industry vets, so we understood.

The Upshot: Overall we had a great time in a beautiful place, and although we don't live close, our family does and they're regulars, so we'll most likely...

Our first visit and hopefully we can visit again! We came to grab an iced coffee and a small bite. We love eating outside and there's such a nice view, facing the river. My mom had soup and I had the hummus board with peppers, carrots, radishes and Naan bread. Best hummus I've had! All was delicious! Jenny was our server, she was attentive, patient and helpful. One thing I noticed that you never see.... The outdoor area was clean! Very impressive. Even the menus were clean. You know the funk that can get on menus. 🫢 We also liked the carafe of ice water they brought out when we sat down! Very nice and necessary on a hot day. Our iced coffees were good, but not anything special, sorry. 😕 But they don't get any bad points for that. I hope they keep up the good work and stick around! Next time we intend to actually eat a meal and try some of the delicious sounding desserts! So, I came back! Brought my son here, after school, and we had a flatbread pizza and the gooey butter cookie dessert (it's not just a cookie BTW). There aren't enough adjectives to describe how good both were! I've been dreaming about that dessert since. My son puts it on top of his list too. And of course you can't beat the river view and we had a great server again....

We had reservations for a birthday brunch. Our server was Abby P she came to get our drinks & I asked about non dairy options for coffee - she came back and said they had none. We ordered our food and a French press of coffee instead at 12:39pm. We weren’t sure if some of our guests were coming so they took part of our table and set a couple right next to us. Again here for a birthday brunch - we planned on staying several hours having drinks and food. She came back by with our food 35 mins later- still had no coffee by then, & she let me know “they were out of French press coffee” - so out of coffee completely and why couldn’t I have been told so I could order more than water? Our food was good, the portions for the frittata was less than the size of a palm & $12ish a plate - no sides or extras. This was not a fun visit & we left to get coffee &...