Swahili Village - Washington, D.C. — Restaurant in Washington

I work in an industry where I seldom meet Africans, let alone fellow Kenyans. While attending a Cardiologists conference in DC, I was excited to see the Swahili Village a mile from me. The last time I had proper Kenyan food that I didn't make myself was 16 years ago - in Nairobi. I make the short trek in the cold DC drizzle and find my way there. I stand for several minutes at the hostess stand waiting for someone to seat me, which they eventually come out the woodwork and do. I go through the menu and wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. 15 minutes go by, not a single server makes eye contact with me. My patience for them operating on Kenyan time has run out by 20 min. Could I yell above the loud music at someone passing by to get their attention? Sure I could...but should I? No one acknowledges me or even tells me they will be right with me. Its Friday 9:15pm- its busy but not THAT busy. This joint is known for the food, but what I'm really waiting for is the warmth of my people that I have missed for so long. Where is it? WHERE did it go?? Have you all forgotten your roots? I don't know what I was expecting, but after 25 minutes I was seething, my appetite gone. I gathered my coat and asked for the manager at the front desk. The gentleman at the front introduces himself as the manager-Alan. I introduce myself, tell him that I have been waiting over 25 minutes to be served. He seems apologetic and contrite and asks to see where I was seated- which in fact was 10 feet from him. Swahili Village- you dropped the ball big time! It's sad that a fellow Kenyan has to write you this scathing review, but do better and remember who you are and where you come from. I already know our food is amazing, but your service is what showcases it and keeps the people coming back! By the way, the next day- Saturday- was my team's last day in DC before we all flew back to Tampa. I was checking you out today (THANK GOD I DID) and was planning to bring all 11 of them to sample the glorious food and people from my culture that I had been blowing up all week! I am saddened and beyond disappointed! Do better! I ended up going to Nando's for their Peri Peri Wings that I got served to me piping hot in 8 minutes flat. Tomorrow, I'm considering taking everyone to Glo Lalibela Ethiopian restaurant on 7th street instead-I've heard good things about...

First off I should state that the food is EXCELLENT. My partner and I came to this restaurant on a Friday evening with two out of town friends and their child who live in an area with few African restaurants. We had theater tickets that evening, so we made our reservation for after the show ended. When we arrived at about 10:30 pm, there was very loud music playing at the entrance, and inside the restaurant there was a live DJ and party lights. Making a reservation for that late at night, I expected that the atmosphere would be a little more bar-like and rowdy, but this in my opinion was almost at the level of a night club. I love a night club, but unfortunately there was nothing on the website to indicate that there was a DJ on Friday evenings, and it wasn't the atmosphere we were hoping for that evening. The sound system is set up in a way that the music level is the same in the whole dining room as it is the bar, so the music was too loud for us to really have a conversation during dinner, and we had a lot of trouble communicating with our (otherwise wonderful) server. We essentially had to point at the menu to order, and at one point the volume level led to us recieving a refill on a not-inexpensive cocktail instead of a soda. Additionally, the staff member who brought out our food didn't seem to know which dish was which, which caused some confusion only exacerbated by the music volume.

Overall, the decor is very elegant and the food was delicious, though the cocktail I tried seemed to be more about flashiness than taste. I do not eat meat or gluten, and it was not at all difficult to find options. I had the ndengu (lentils) with fufu and jollof rice. I don't think the vibe not matching my expectations is a reason to mark down a restaurant, especially if that is part of the culture (I wouldn't know) but I have to give this place a 4 for failing to communicate this information on their website and the music interrupting the service. It would be nice if there was an option to dine in late away from the bar crowd on Friday evenings, and I would certainly like to come back for late night drinks or an earlier dinner. Definitely would recommend to a friend visiting town again, but probably with...

First, I will say that I appreciate one of the managers approaching us outside right at the start of his shift to apologize, but we will not be returning for the following reasons: We ordered an appetizer and two main dishes to share. The main dishes were good but not worth anywhere near the price for the amount. We ordered the goat stew, and for $34, I expected a lot more food. It is stew after all. The main dishes came out, but no appetizer. We asked the waiter about the appetizer. He apologized, said he didn't put the order in, and asked if we still wanted it. We responded that we did. The appetizer came out over 10 minutes after we finished our main dish. There's no reason it should have taken so long to come out, especially when they dropped the ball to begin with. The waiter came with bill and didn't give any discount on the apppetizer that he forgot about, and we had to wait at least 30 minutes for it to eventually come out. We don't normally expect a comp but in this case it was so late and he clearly made an error that it should have been addressed. We asked to split the bill and the waiter does so. We provided our payments...one of us with cash and the other with a card. The waiter came back with a receipt for the credit card but no receipt or change for the cash.

At this point, we ask to talk to a manager. A waiter should never keep extra cash (we expected around $9 back), even if it is only $0.02. It isn't your money! We also complained about the amount of time the appetizer took and that no effort was made to comp even part of the way overdue dish. The first manager didn't offer to do anything about all of this. He asked what we'd like him to do. We told him that the main issue was that the money needed to be returned from the check. They did so but took another 5+ minutes to bring it. There was no offer to make anything else right. We could have told him to refund something but that's on him, not us to make right. Asking us what he should do is not the right approach.

Again, we appreciated that the other manager came and apologized, but really, it was too...