Alara

We came in without a reservation, and even though the restaurant was busy, the hostess was incredibly kind and found us a table. She let us know we could have it for an hour since it was reserved later, which we really appreciated. All of the food was amazing. I ordered the classic hummus and the salmon with mashed potatoes and both were delicious. Our server also recommended a kiwi cocktail, which ended up being a great choice. The restaurant itself is beautiful and has a great atmosphere. The only downside for me was the shared bathroom setup. Although there are individual stalls, it still felt a bit uncomfortable. Overall, we had a wonderful dining experience and really appreciated the warm service and great food.

So thankful to have found this place it is literally a little slice of Santorini and having just visited Santorini for the first time recently, this place checks all boxes! Magnificent interior design, very warm and open and reminiscent of the white walled city of Oia. Amazing food, nice bar, good ambiance and music. I was walking up to the speaker trying to shazam songs for my own library. Highly recommend, no way to be disappointed coming here.

I walked in with a friend with no reservation and we were seated at the bar, perfect. We order the beef hummus and a couple of drinks. The hummus was amazing and the drinks (Sunset in Istanbul) met our expectations. The 20% service fee was the most (and only) disappointing part of the experience.

I ate here with a few friends and absolutely loved the atmosphere. It is in the middle of Wisconsin avenue and very convenient to other bars and shops. The menu was pretty extensive with lots of plates that were good for sharing. I was not a fan of the 20% Service Fee that was “not a tip”. Confusingly, the receipt also said that tips are not expected. Kind of a bummer to end the meal with that.

My sister and I stumbled upon this restaurant and decided to give it a try. When we arrived, it was nearly empty, but they sat us at a cramped table in the middle of the dining room. We politely asked for a booth, but were told those were “for reservations only.” That struck me as odd, since the restaurant was mostly empty so I checked online, and booths were available to reserve all day. That should’ve been my first red flag. Aren’t we customers? Still, we decided to stay and order. I got the shakshuka with bread and my sister ordered a small app and a salad. When the food arrived, her “salad” was literally a few wilted leaves with no dressing or vegetables.. it literally looked like something u would give a hamster u didn’t like. I’ve attached a photo so you can see how ridiculous it was. Salad? Please. At that moment, I asked the server to fix the salad and also requested the bread for my food. She spoke loudly and with a curt, almost annoyed tone, saying she’d “fix it.” She returned with a slightly improved salad and some dressing… but ignored my bread request completely. She kept ignoring me and 20 min had passed before I could get her attention again about the bread. When the bread finally came — another 10 minutes later — my food was completely cold and no longer appetizing. At that point my appetite was gone and I just needed a solution. The manager came over and tried to offer free dessert to make up for the experience but by then we just wanted to leave. Overall one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had.. i was so happy to leave. Poor service and low-quality food. Don’t dine here you’ll be surly disappointed.

Food was great! Love the mixed grill! I just don’t like the waitress putting the menu over our plate cause she gave us a small table. Hope they’ll give bigger table.

Had a really good experience here for an early lunch on Tuesday. Friendly & fast service. Food was pretty good. The interior is beautiful and modern. We got charged 20% service fee even though we only had two people in the party. Not a big problem because I would’ve tipped that much regardless, but I wish it had been communicated before.

Amazing food, atmosphere and super friendly staff. Especially our server Serdar deserves all the compliments. He was really friendly and professional definitely deserves a recognition👏🏻 our dinner was so tasty and good coming back to try other items. Thank you for good place and please keep it up the way it is! UPDATE: visited here for the second time tried moussaka with beef and tiramisu everything was great again🙏🏻

It's a new place at goergetown everyone living near by was looking to have it.. Finally, it's here.. The menu will include Turkish, Greek, and Lebanese Mediterranean classics, as well as meze and hot and cold dips. A big selections of food serving in a romantic low light place.. opening late night kitchen for dine in is something we need specially for Ramadan so we can have a healthy tasty sahour here.. Highly recommend.. come to see me here!

I was incredibly disappointed with my experience. I had made this reservation over a month in advance to celebrate a milestone. When we arrived, the restaurant was packed, which made me hopeful for a great time. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse. The server rolled her eyes at me when I asked for some time to decide on my beverage, even as I ordered a mint tea in the meantime. She seemed visibly frustrated with me. When we ordered appetizers, we still had food on our plates, but she removed it from the table and rushed us to order entrees. When our main dishes finally arrived, she insisted that we needed to order more immediately. I'm not sure if it was because her shift was ending or if they were trying to rush us out, despite the fact that we had only been there for 27 minutes. As we were looking at the menu for a nightcap and dessert, she sent another employee to take the menu away from us. I didn't even get the chance to order dessert. In total, we were there for only 55 minutes.

THE GOOD AND BAD THE GOOD: Food 4.5 / 5.0: The food was not just good, it was great! We truly enjoyed eating there. Several dishes were solid 4.5 / 5 stars. We ordered more than we can eat. Ambiance 4.5 / 5.0: They did a great job but we did feel it was a bit dark. When we went in around 5:10pm it was well lit up. Around 5:15pm they really dimmed the lights down. It's a beautiful location, but really no need to dim the lights so much. Service 4.5 / 5.0: Was great! Polite and prompt staff, helpful to decide what to order. They had solid recommendations. Music: 4.0 / 5.0: mostly nice chill house vibes, but a few songs in there with chilling guitars / screeching that were enough to give you indigestion. Chill house is good. Keep it that way, low volume for 6pm dinner. No need to go club-style before 10pm. THE BAD: THE BILL (DC WAGE SURCHARGE:) 0 / 5: Absolutely ridiculous. This is what will stop us from going again. The bill came out and we noticed a 20% DC Wage Surcharge, to "help cover wages" of employees. I thought this was the tip. When we asked about it, we were told that was not the tip. The employee informed us the "DC Wage Surcharge" was only to help pay the cooks, but not the servers. If we left no tip, the server (he was great) wouldn't receive anything. On top of subsidizing the cooks pay, you also need to pay a tip for the server. So... we're expected to pay 40% GRATUITY for our meal? Seriously? Suggestion: Increase your prices on food, but don't slap your patrons with 20% for "DC WAGES," then 20% for your servers. Most other restaurants charge 2% or 3%, not 20%. As much as we enjoyed it we will not return for this reason. We all felt cheated.

Welcome to Georgetown, Alara! This modern Mediterranean eatery had just opened up, and they offer, brunch, lunch, dinner, and even a late night menu. We decided to check them out for an early dinner; we started off with: +Roasted Mushroom Hummus +Muhammara - prepared with marinated roasted red peppers and walnuts +Karniyarik - roasted eggplant with spicy ground beef +Sigara Boregi - feta cheese and parsley, wrapped in a homemade dough +Dolmades - stuffed grape leaves with rice, pine nuts, and raisins; served with a yogurt sauce +Falafel - served with a yogurt sauce +Butter Shrimp - prepared with sun-dried chilis and Mediterranean spices +Moussaka - with eggplant, potatoes, ground beef, bechamel sauce, and cheese +Kibbeh- stuffed with ground lamb and beef, onions, walnuts, and parsley +and, a Cheese Pide - a Mediterranean flatbread topped with mozzarella cheese and Greek oregano For our mains, we shared: +the Lamb Shank - served over Ottoman rice +a Branzino - pan-seared, served with Anatolian-style potato salad and asparagus +and, a Chef's Mix Grill - with lamb chops, Adana kebabs, chicken shish kebabs, kofte kebabs, and lavash-wrapped Adana kebab Staff were friendly; note that a 20% service is automatically included on all checks... They're open late, so perfect for night owls. +20% service charge automatically applied to all checks

my friend made a long-awaited reservation at Georgetown's hottest new Mediterranean restaurant Alara and unfortunately, only the mezze platter arrived--our full order was never served! to start, our reservation was set for 8 and we arrived within the grace period and had to wait for our table, but the group was in good spirits and ordered a round of drinks with some initial apps (mezze platter, spiced ground beef hummus, and tzatziki dip) all were tasty, and we adored the sesame seed pitas, BUT THAT WAS ALL WE GOT TO EAT! shortly after apps came out, we placed the rest of our order for kabobs, salads, etc. along with another round of drinks, 10pm rolled around and still no food in sight. we brought this up to our waiter, who gave us a confused impression and the manager was unaccommodating to try to make things right on the spot (he offered a complementary dessert, which we didn't want considering we hadn't had a meal yet) alara had potential, but definitely has some kinks in service and hospitality to work through first.

We came on a Sunday around 11:30am. We were seated immediately although it took our server some time to take our order and serve water. He didn't say anything when he came to the table - didn't introduce himself. We asked each other if we wanted anything to drink and then told him our order. In any case later on he was polite and checked in on how our food was. Ironically, the table next to us was complaining about their food to the server. Our food came very quickly and we were pleased with that. We had the following: 1. Vegetarian moussaka - pretty good. Flavorful 2. Avocado toast with halloumi - it came with one slice of toast and approximately a quarter of an avocado thinly smeared on it. Two small slices of halloumi. And wait for it... ONE poached egg. For the amount of food, this was very overpriced. 3. Falafel - three pieces. Soft and not dry. Difficult to compete with yellow cafe across the street though. 4. Fattoush Salad - saddest of them all. Tasted as if there was store bought dressing in it. The lettuce leaves were old and unappetizing. Picture attached. We didn't eat it. Ambiance was nice. Overall experience - wouldn't come back. There are better places nearby.

Beautiful restaurant. Seriously love the vibe in there. Super lively energy and the service was very friendly. Food was very tasty- recommend the chef's mix grill so you can try a bunch of different things. All the dips were great, but would've loved if they gave more bread in the basket! Mon cherie cocktail was also very nicely done! Would definitely recommend and certainly go back!

Alara is a great addition to Georgetown. The place is absolutely beautiful and the service and food was incredible- there is a big variety of amazing plates! The drinks were really top notch! We will definitely go back. Loved it

When the bill was presented we were informed of a 20% surcharge to cover operational costs even though we were a party of 2 people. We were then encouraged to tip the server separately as the surcharge would not go to him! The restaurant should inform guests of this charge beforehand rather than springing it on them at the last minute.

wonderful wonderful wonderful. Mayada is an exceptional host! new favorite restaurant in DC

This was my first time attending the opening day of a restaurant and I was super excited. It was super busy. Almost a little crowded but I knew that must be due to the opening of a new restaurant so I didn't mind. My friends and I ordered the fixed menu. Our reservation was 8pm and we didn't leave till 12am. Not because we were taking our time, but because the service was so incredibly slow and each course took forever to come out. We were so close to just asking the last courses to be boxed up. The orders were also messed up a few times. Trying to remain patient was hard but again we let it go due to the first day. Our server was sweet but they did not come ask how our meal was and if everything was okay. To make it even more interesting, my friend ordered an espresso martini & they brought her a glass half full. We thought it was a joke but when we looked closer, it looked as if it was half drank! We think the server accidentally placed down a drink that was meant to be taken away to be washed... it was disturbing. But also almost laughable. We thought we were punked. For what it's worth the food and cocktails that were correct were tasty. The hummus was delicious and so was the chicken kebab. The creme brulee was not my favorite. The baklava was good but tastes a lot like the ones I pick up from a local small business. I hope in a few weeks-months things are better because it has a lot of potential. This was just my experience unfortunately :/

the food was very good, the shareable plates it a fun evening HOWEVER - mgmt adds a 20% service charge to cover costs, and this DOES not go to the wait staff. These costs should be included in the menu prices, it's a total ripoff! if you go, please be sure to tip your server, this is not their fault

20% surcharge before tips, why??? food and service were below mediocre, and the management did nothing to mitigate the issues we had. Will never be back here.

We went to alara yesterday dinner.. food was good .. services by maya made our experience unforgettable. We had one of our friends' birthday that we mentioned about in our booked and she took care of that surprise well.. thank you guys.. will be back soon

The food was mixed, sigara borekis were really great and crispy, mushroom hummus was bland, and the grape leaves were better than average. But despite paying with the credit card reader at the table, someone managed to double charge me for one meal. I've called three times and am seeking a refund from my bank. I won't eat someplace where I can't trust the staff, that's bare minimum.

Food was mediocre. We had salmon, hummus, and branzino. Nothing unique. Bread was good. This restaurant charges a DC area wage surcharge. Our bill came to 123.85 and they added a 24.77 surcharge - none of which goes to the server for tip. So then you need to add another 20 percent on top of that. As a restaurant owner myself, this is fraudulent. I would not support this behavior.

First, I want to say this restaurant might have potential but they really need to work on their service. Service was incredibly slow (we did not receive our menus for ten minutes among other things), the old fashioned was undrinkable- far too syrupy, the wrong wine was brought out twice (after specifically pointing on the menu to which wine we wanted), the food was all brought at one time (including the main) then they rebought the main out to us after being heated under a lamp for 20 minutes. Nothing was offered besides a ten dollar discount on a $250 meal. There were some nice elements- the ambiance, hummus, moussaka were all good.

Got served raw chicken in one of the dishes. Plates dropped once every 10 minutes or so one of which ricocheted and hit me in the face. Ambience was nice however definitely crowded and hard for the servers to move around. Parts of our order never made it to the table (we were not charged for this). The servers continuously brought food to our table that we did not order. Lastly our table was surprised to see a 20% DC wage surcharge which is a fee we assumed was the equivalent of a gratuity charge. This was not the case but instead a deceptive fee from the owners to cover costs of operations (with the 20% fee and 20% tip we left we ended tipping 40% of our total bill!). I get this place just opened but after this experience I don't think I will ever eat here again .