Retrobottega — Restaurant in Washington

The food was good. I had the charred octopus which was excellent, as it was quite tender & tasty. Also had the lasagna which was good.

The service, particuarly our server Mariana, was below average in courtesy & thoughtfulness (especially as it pertained to the perception of the establishment), yet Mariana excelled in bad attitude, rudeness and the luxury of laziness of mind. So much so that when asked about dessert, the best reply she could come with: "the desserts are on our wesite, you can look then up [yourself] ..." and proceeded to walk off without returning to offer the QR card so we could "look them up" ourselves.

Mariana certainly missed the mark for the restaurant to have additional sales on that ticket.

We understood that Mariana's arrogant ignorance was due to her really not caring because an "automatic" 22% gratuity was added to the bill (maybe the owners know exactly what they have representing them).

Let me just note here that if the gratuity is split amongst the restaurant staff, Mariana's inability to critically think through how her attitude & actions may affect the return of and/or recommendations & reviews of visiting guests could be hurtful to the long game of the staff ... and the restaurant.

But, here's the real rub ... I witnessed another young female server holding what looked like a dessert in one hand, and with a finger from the other hand, she touched the plate/dessert and then put that finger in her mouth. When she looked up and saw that I was looking at her, she harried away to serve it.

Service gets a one star because, apparently, the best they have to offer is either rudeness or having your dessert taste tested before it's served.

So fam, while the food was tasty, the service doesn't warrant your time, energy and most importantly, it's absolutely NOT worthy of...

I really wanted to like this place but sadly they do not value solo diners. I made a reservation and was forced to sit at the bar because “it’s just you and we’re saving our tables for 2”. When I asked why that was the case since I made a reservation, one of the hostess lied and claimed I booked a seat at the bar when that’s not an even an option in their online reservation system. When I sat at the bar, I wasn’t given a menu, water glass, plate or utensils and the bartender didn’t even acknowledge me. When she finally brought over the menu with the QR code she sat it down on the counter top, filled the water glass, didn’t crack a smile or greet me. It seemed like she was actively avoiding eye contact. I was so taken aback, I immediately tried to find other places to go because I felt so uncomfortable and turned off by the service but unfortunately couldn’t find anything after 7pm on a Saturday night (particularly as an out of towner who isn’t familiar with the area). I swallowed my pride and stayed, enjoyed the food to the best of my ability, but right when I was about to leave the hostess had the nerve to ask me to move to give a couple who was waiting for a table my seat while they waited. Um excuse me? If you reserve tables for parties of 2+ who get to sit comfortably away from the door with sub-30 degree weather rushing in every 5 min, why are you rushing me to give up a bar seat for them??? The sad part is I was fully intending to spend double the amount that I did because I was comfort eating after being displaced by LA wildfires. Not only did they underestimate my value as a solo diner but they also made someone’s terrible day worse and now they get to receive this kind review....

Retrobottega is a stylish, NY-esque Italian trattoria. The food’s good but I believe there are better options in DC for a similar price tag. Their high vaulted ceiling with minimal renovation adds a bit of tasteful neglect that just reminds me of New York. There are both indoor and outdoor tables. The outdoor patio has heaters. We got a reservation and sat indoors. When seated, there were three other pairs eating at the restaurant. For whatever reason, the host decided to seat us crammed right next to the only other pair upstairs. What was he thinking? No clue… Our waitress was wonderful and very attentive! Their bread and olive oil were tasty - wish the bread was warmed. The Negroni was perfect. The waitress, kindly, accommodated our request for their fried mozz, which is normally only served at the bar. It was super tasty with hints of truffle oil. The fried artichoke (carciofi) was 10/10. The mafaldine (pasta with rabbit meat) was heavily covered with loads of thinly sliced garlic. However, I believe this is usual practice to mask the flavor of rabbit meat. The fetuccine with duck was nice and it worked well. Both pasta dishes used real nice and fresh pasta, boiled perfectly. The tiramisu was okay. The wines were not good though. We tasted three different by-the-glass options and all smelled of paint and had an even less enjoyable taste. I’d say Retrobottega is a solid choice. However, it’s a much better cocktail stop than restaurant. Their bar food was tasty and cocktails were done right. For the food price, I’d much rather go to the Red Hen, North Italia,...