Seven Reasons — Restaurant in Washington

I recently had dinner with friends at 7 Reasons for a birthday, and it was an absolutely amazing experience. The hostess greeted us warmly, and immediately saw us to our table. We sat upstairs in their covered patio, and even though it was June with the shade and the fans the patio was very comfortable. Our waiter came and greeted us quickly after we sat and we were able to let him know that we were having a birthday dinner and the arrangement we had regarding the cake, and he took it and stored it before the birthday guest arrived. We ordered several of their non-alcoholic cocktails, and the whole table ordered the 7 course Chef Tasting Menu, which came highly recommended. The drinks were served a little before the first course of the menu arrived.

One thing to know about their Chef Tasting Menu is that, for the most part, these are very small servings. Think, 5-7 bites of each course. The quality and richness made up for the small servings for me and the rest of the table, but I've had some other friends who have gone and found that the small portions left them really unsatisfied. The first course was the Tartar de Salmon. One of the nice things about our experience was that we had someone who wasn't comfortable with raw foods, and they were happy to substitute out the tartar for the Warm Gem Lettuce Salad. The tartar was flavorful and some of the best salmon that I've ever had. The second course was Cauliflower Gnocchi. Out of the whole meal, this was easily the weakest course. Nothing here that was special or particularly tasty. If I went back to try the Tasting again, I would try to substitute it out. Third was the Hokkaido Scallop with Curry. This was the second best course of the night. The scallop was perfectly cooked and served in a coconut milk curry that was one of the best curries that I've ever had. It was rich and creamy and perfectly complimented the richness of the scallop. The watermelon radish offered a crispy texture to compliment the curry and the scallop. Fourth was the Duck Dilemma. I am a huge fan of duck, and I was really excited for this one. It did not disappoint! It was several pieces of duck breast served over an amazing dulce de leche duck jus that was one of the best things I've ever eaten. I would come back just to order this as a standalone dish. Fifth, the Braised Octopus. This one was very simple, a large braised octopus leg. I've had lots of octopus, and it is supposed to be a signature dish here, but I thought it was a little underwhelming. Compared to the previous dish, it didn't wow and amaze. Last, they had two different dessert courses, which they served before we got the cake that we brought. They served a full portion, which was big enough for the table to share. The first was the Caribbean Roll, which had the most amazing fruit sorbet that I have ever tasted. The last course was the Strawberry Pistachio Meringue, which was served with an amazing pistachio sorbet that outshone everything else in the meringue. I would order it on its own if it was offered, it was that good.

Our server was incredibly attentive and gave us descriptions of every course and answered any questions. He never was too far away but allowed us to enjoy and experience the dinner without too much hovering. Towards the end, we were running up on our two hour window, so the process of finishing and paying was a little rushed. The only issue we had the whole night was when it came down to trying to split the bill. We had two couples and two individuals, and they weren't willing to itemize the check, so we had the awkward situation of the two individuals having to pay more than their fair share of the tab. It was strange that they weren't able or willing to do the extra work to fix this, given how focused on a great customer experience they were for the rest of the dinner. Definitely would recommend this restaurant overall, and would especially recommend giving the...

Outstanding, Delectable, and Beautiful courses that hit the palate with all the right flavors and left you fulfilled at the end of this lovely dining experience! Celebrated my 21st Anniversary here last night and was met with lovely people who were warm and friendly. No pretentiousness or stuffy atmosphere here. Loved the server Edwin who was very cool and engaging to our needs. The food was absolutely amazing. 4 courses with a warm small cup of delectable soup that you sipped from the glass cup (on a cold night no less!). That just started things perfectly! My 4 courses were: Halibut Tiradito, Octopus Terrine, Fish of the Day Filet (Branzino), and the Caribbean Role. My wife got: Endive and Persimmon Salad, Cauliflower Gnocchi, Lomito con Aligote (Beef), and Guava Cheesecake Our Way. All the dishes were honestly heavenly. The Halibut (chilled and not crusted) was so delicious! The endive salad was strong in its own right. Octopus was superb and again Cauliflower dish tasty as well. Main course if you will of Halibut and Beef Tenderloin were UNBELIEVABLE- the Branzino was cooked perfectly through the center and the outside was crisp and delicately charred so the combination of cutting through outer layer into inner layer and then taking a bite was magnifique! The tenderloin Beef was perfectly cooked. The meat was soooo soft inside but cooked to perfection with just a hint of pink in the center. I don't think you could cook tenderloin beef any better than the way they did this! The taste was ridiculously good! The desserts were some tropical journey through paradise- Guava cheesecake made me feel like I was on some tropical island enjoying guava fruit and the Caribbean role had papaya and mango noodles around a central crunchy delicious part with flavors including Basil, Coconut, Vanilla, Lime, Pineapple?! The brain could not process the pleasure it was experiencing! The server Edwin was always there to introduce our next course with great presentation. Assistant servers did a fantastic job of removing dishes rapidly when done and preparing us for the next course. Also- the food comes out in perfect time with honestly almost no wait on each course. It was like a perfect rhythm in the kitchen that I have seldom seen in even the best restaurants that I have been blessed to experience in my life. Decor of the restaurant is cozy and cute restaurant, more industrial and fun in vibe. Nice Latin music in the restrooms also! Overall lovely experience and one I will repeat soon! Edwin- thank you and your team for a lovely...

Disappointing Valentine's Day Experience – Not Worth the Hype

I was really looking forward to a great Valentine’s Day dinner, but this restaurant completely missed the mark. From the moment we arrived, the experience was frustrating. We had a 7:30 PM reservation but weren’t seated until well past 8:00 PM, so we had to grab drinks at the bar while waiting. Not ideal, but we rolled with it.

What I didn’t realize beforehand was that they had a pre-fixed Valentine’s Day menu—which didn’t include any of their usual main courses. Fine, I thought, maybe the special menu would be worth it. I was wrong.

Service? Unacceptable. This was one of the worst service experiences I’ve ever had. It was a six-course meal, but the pacing was all over the place. A couple seated 20+ minutes after us somehow received their dishes two courses ahead of us. We flagged this to multiple servers three different times, yet nothing changed. At one point, we were waiting for course 3 while other tables were already moving on to course 5.

It also took three requests to receive a second glass of wine—by the time it arrived, we were practically done with the meal. And when my wagyu finally came, I wasn’t even given a steak knife. After flagging the server, I waited so long that I had already struggled through half of it before getting one. And speaking of the wagyu—it was not wagyu. I’ve had wagyu plenty of times before, and this was just a chewy NY strip at best.

Food? Hit or Miss. Mostly Miss. While a few dishes were enjoyable—the beet spread, halibut, lobster, and risotto—the rest were just not good. Several courses lacked flavor, and the execution felt rushed. Given the price point, I expected much better.

Overall Rating:

Ambience: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Nice atmosphere)

Music: ⭐⭐⭐ (DJ was okay but nothing special)

Food: ⭐⭐ (1.5 stars, but rounding up for the few decent dishes)

Service: ⭐ (Absolutely terrible)

Overall Value: ⭐⭐½ (Nowhere near worth the $400 price tag)

Arrival/Check-in: 7:28 pm Departure: 10:47 pm

I spent 15 years in the food and beverage industry as a server, bartender, and manager, so I know what great hospitality looks like—and this was not it. The service was chaotic, the pacing was awful, and the food was forgettable at best. By the end, I didn’t even have the energy to argue with the manager when they took off just one glass of wine as compensation.

Worst dining experience I’ve had in a long time. Honestly? The food we had at home afterward was better....