Cafe Fiorello DC

Spent a week in DC… Craving authentic WF Pizza - Sweet Fennel Sausage & Peppers was savory, yet light. Insalta Di Casa featuring kale, radicchio, fennel, plus generous parma shavings a must! Returned for authentic pasta dinner - table by the window with lovely views. Homemade Tagliatelle Bolognese and Rigatoni Alla Vodka delicious. Topped off our evening with Aperol Spritz & deserts. The staff made us feel very special and we highly recommend!

New review July 2025: You’re going to struggle to find a better overall Italian dining experience in the area. Four of us went this time before going to national theatre and we had perfect service that got us out in time. The espresso martini was creamy and chocolatey which I don’t like but my friend fell in love with. He’ll be having another next time. My other friend tried their spritz and she loved it too. The trio of vegetables were good and I went crazy for the mushrooms. The broccolini was a bit under seasoned. I do not like tavern style pizza crust ever, and this could be the only exception to the rule. The honey with the pepperoni is to die for. My linguini and clams was good, exactly what you’d expect but my friends chicken parm was the star of the table. You have to try it when there. It is ridiculous. We’ll definitely be back again. Original review: Great food and great service. We both loved the meatball appetizer but the servings are too small and the sauce is good, but thin. I would have loved pepper flakes or a kick in it but my friend loved it. He had the lobster carbonara and I tried some. It was cooked to perfection but it was heavy on the salt. The dish has bacon and lobster, it didn’t need as much extra salt as they put in it. I had the tagliatelle and it was delicious. Cooked exactly how it should be. The sequoia grove Cabernet however is too young. They’re serve a 2022. It needs a couple more years in the bottle. The 2018 is the same price and opens perfect. It was nice to see it by the glass. That is not often so I went with it. We will be back.

This restaurant opened in May 2025 and is a lovely place to dine. The serving staff are attentive without being over the top. The atmosphere is relaxing and comfortable with pricing competitive for the quality of the dining experience. The food is good although we found the pasta dishes slightly overdone and a little heavy. I had one of their signature dishes comprising of veal, cheese and pepperoni presented in the style of a pizza with the base comprising of veal. Although good, the flavour of the veal was overwhelmed by the pepperoni. The dish was heavy and slightly over salted in my opinion. The dining experience was excellent overall, and credit to Brian G for making the evening pleasurable with his great service.

Impressive, even by DC standards. The staff was friendly and helpful. Attentive without being pushy, so a perfect balance. The atmosphere was NYC with things crowded to maximize table space but it was tolerable. The food was fantastic. Everything made to perfection and delicious. The menu was diverse enough so there is something for everyone and I look forward to coming back soon!

Highly anticipated visit as we heard great things about this place. Ambiance is top notch. Sadly, we were disappointed with the food and service was slow despite not being busy. We had the fried calamari, rigatoni alla vodka, carbonara pizza, and omelet. Maybe we expected too much. Aside from the rigatoni (which is really amatriciana with the guanciale), everything was just average. The crust on that pizza was really bad. We like it thin, but it really lacked substance. The restaurant did remove it from the bill. Which was nice of them. I fully expected to pay for the bad pizza. Nevertheless, it was a good gesture.

Went on a date with one of my girls and was so excited to try a new Italian restaurant in DC. From the host to our server and the atmosphere of the restaurant was so inviting. We started off with a classic espresso martini that had a hazelnut sugar rim. One of the best espresso martinis in DC. We ordered the calamari to start off in a classic margarita pizza. For our entrées, we tried the Bolognese and the tortellini. And ended our night with the chocolate mousse (does not disappoint). The texture of the chocolate mousse was so creamy and milky, and it wasn’t too overwhelming. Overall ambience was great. Truly such good a time and will be back.

Lavoro Fenomenale! Grazie Mille! Absolutely unbelievable and incredible experience. Arrived for our reservation greeted by John the GM; took amazing care and diligence to find any way to help us. They have an amazing selection of tables both round and partial booths. Appear to be able to accommodate many party sizes with prior communication/reservations, I even saw a private room. Overall the decore and facilities are impeccable, stylish and bring an energy to you when you first walk in. Our waiter Keilly was one of the best we've ever experienced in DC and abroad. He was sincere, knowledgeable and polite. Every action and interaction between him and our party was on point, clear and precise. Every employee we interacted with were polite and efficient. You get the idea that everyone is trained, lead and guided to perfection, and it feels like everyone cares to be the best of the best. The food was absolutely stellar. Flavors, textures, presentations compete and even surpass your favorite fine dining. We sampled many items to include, Roman Fried Artichokes, Fried Calimari, Tomato-Goat Cheese Bruschetta, Caprese Salad with Burrata, Tagliatelle Bolognese, Spaghetti Carbonara, Lasagna, Lemon Roasted Chicken, Veal Scallopine Marsala and finished with Chocolate Mousse, Cappuccino, Espresso, Hot tea. We had prosecco and wine as well. Do yourself a favor and get the reservation. Try a new restaurant in town. Laugh with friends. Enjoy by yourself. Just get out there. You are going to love it.

Sat at the bar. Christopher was the bartender. He made an amazing cafe latte and recommended meatballs for lunch. They were delicious! His choice of red wine was so spot on. Been to DC over 100 times for work, but never been here. Highly recommend! Will be back for sure.

Amazing service and wonderful ambiance for lunch or just coffee. My Vanilla Latte was amazing!!!!! The bartender Denzel was phenomenal!

Love the food and bar tender service. Juan is a master at crafting unique cocktails. Give him a spirit and he will give you a delicious drink. He is very attentive when we sit at the bar. Great service. Staff also is very attentive. The food is solid. We usually get the lasagna and filet and are always pleased. Put this on your list of restaurants to enjoy. Happy to see Cafe Fiorello in downtown DC.

This place has potential but my group's first visit was a mixed experience. The place is lovely and the service was attentive. However, our server was a little bit overeager and I got really fed up with the constant attempts to upsell us on things we didn't want. Food results were mixed. Frittata: good Pizza: ok. Also be aware their pizza crust is yeastless and cracker thin. Not to everyone's taste Gluten free pizza: came out undercooked Salmon: good Eggplant: good Bread loaf: to our surprise actually is garlic bread. It's absolutely delicious Carbonara: had an odd flavor. Not the best Drinks: Spritz: loaded with excessive amounts of ice Frozen Bellini: AMAZING. Highly recommend Mimosa: $15 and my friend said the sparkling wine was flat and it tasted awful Negroni: good and large Wine: pricey and moderate sized pour I won't be rushing back but if I go back, I'll probably try the eggplant and definitely get the bread again.

Excellent service, food & drinks and ambiance at the newly opened NYC transplant, Cafe Fiorello. The staff was wonderful, came around offering complimentary mini cookies (we had many) and brought my friend a birthday treat and all sang him happy birthday. A must order is the chicken Parmesan, it is textbook. Super thin and crispy chicken loaded with sauce and melted cheese. We tried the vodka rigatoni which was a satisfying version. The garlic bread was fine, nothing super special. For drinks we tried the grand spritz (very good) and the espresso martini, which was tasty but not a contender for my favorite in the city. All the desserts sounded delicious and we opted for their signature chocolate mousse. Quite delicious and rich! Loved the free mouthwash in the bathroom too

I get the Washington, DC edition of "Eater" sent to my email. That's how I learned about Fiorello. After looking at their menu, we decided that it was well worth a try. Not sure as to how busy it would be, we made a reservation for an early Saturday dinner. When we got there, it was clear that a reservation at that time wasn't really necessary. The ambiance says "Old school Italian restaurant" complete with lots of dark wood and tiled floors. The background music was 40s and 50s tunes. We were taken to a four top table that had a window view. It's always interesting watching the street scene unfold. For starters, I ordered to drink, "A Cosmo of Beauty", which consists of: "Botanical vodka, rose & hibiscus syrup, cranberry, amaranth flowers". Not only was this an attractive looking drink, but a tasty one, too. My husband ordered a glass of "Chianti Classico" which he enjoyed. For a starter, we chose "Prosciutto and burrata" which proved to be just right in terms of portion size. Also, we ordered the "Fresh baked Italian loaf with garlic spread". The bread is house-made and the "whole loaf" is small (which was good). Here's when things went sideways --- A server came to our table to take our order, and screwed up our main course order. My husband ordered "Tagliatelle Bolognese". I had a question about the "Burrata Tordelli" as the description in the menu wasn't detailed----yes, it comes with tomato sauce. Shortly thereafter, a different server, Brian, came to our table. He said he knew our order was placed already. He turned out to be quite efficient, polite and friendly. A runner brought out our dinners. Instead of getting one of each entree we ordered, two portions of Tagliatelle Bolognese came out. I told the runner that I had ordered the Tordelli. The manager got wind of what happened and came to apologize to us. He also offered us a free veggie side dish. We chose the fried cauliflower which was quite good. As for the food --- My husband enjoyed his Tagliatelle and said he would have it again. We had never heard of Tordelli before coming here. I had looked it up. Traditionally, it's a half moon shaped pasta that is filled with meat. At Fiorello, it was more of a square piece that was filled with burrata. I did like this dish and thought the portion size was good. For dessert, our server talked up the Tiramisu. I was willing to share it with my husband but he thought it would be too much food. So, he suggested we each get the affogato with espresso. He really liked this dessert, while I didn't like it. The espresso was bitter and the vanilla affogato did little to take away any of the bitterness. He ate his portion and finished mine. As we were having our dessert, the manager came by with a tray of small freshly made chocolate chip cookies and was offering them to customers. These cookies were quite good, especially when served right out of the oven. Using Metro to get here was easy. We got off at Federal Triangle and had a short walk to the corner of Pennsylvania Ave and 10th Street, NW. And, yes, we would return. We were quite impressed as to how the manager handled our order screwup and we appreciated the attentive service from Brian. Restrooms are up the ramp located behind the mirrors near the bar (if you're sitting near the door on the ground floor). After going up the ramp, head toward the left back corner of the restaurant and make a left; follow the corridor past the wine fridge as far as you can. The rest rooms have unusual sink faucets: move the circular top left or right to start the water flowing).

Came here for a girls' luncheon. It was absolutely perfect! The service was friendly and impeccable. The food just delicious! We ordered several items for the vegetable bar ( broccolini, eggplant caponata, and Brussels sprouts) all were so good. We had the Italian Sausage and Roasted Peppers (my overall quality of life improved simply by eating this dish) and Calamari. At this point we were pretty full so we all had salads as an entree. I had the Salata di Casa. Do not be fooled by the simple ingredients, it was fabulous!

We were on foot. We were hungry. Didn't know what to do. I looked up on yelp and this place is brand new no stars yet. Risk move however it was great. We were welcomed and had great service. Hard to decide what to get. I settled on eggplant Parm and it was delicious. I know they're new and getting legs, but I would recommend their delicious Italian food. Prices were mid to high, but not unexpected in the area.

Making advance dinner reservations, our party was seated promptly when we arrived. After studying the menu, we knew what to order to have a 'shareable' type of a situation - to start off, we had: +the Fresh Baked Whole Italian Loaf - served with a garlic spread +Sauteed Broccolini - with pine nuts, raisins, and calabrian peppers +Short Rib Meatballs - with Nonna's sauce and P arm +Roman Fried Artichokes alla Giudia - served with lemon aioli +and, the Tomato-Goat Cheese Bruschetta - with EVOO and basil For our mains, we ordered: +the Four Seasons Pizza - with mushrooms, artichoke, broccoli rabe, roasted peppers, and burrata mozzarella +Rigatoni Alla Vodka +Spaghetti Carbonara +Lobster Spaghetti Carbonara +Shrimp Scampi +and, the Linguine & Clams All the pasta dishes were generous in portions, well-presented, and prepared al dente. Service was attentive, and the restaurant itself is well-decorated and intimate, with the beautiful entryway, the tiles, and the dark wood finish. We'd be interested in checking out their brunch one day. +shareable items +attentive staff +reservations accepted

Solid experience at this new spot! The AC was broken but otherwise a lovely experience. Nice ambiance and comfortable restaurant. The staff were very helpful and accommodating, especially the gentleman who sat us and generously gave us complimentary bubbly on the house for a celebration. The bread and prosciutto/burrata apps were both excellent (although the bread was $8!). I loved their play on a cosmo cocktail too. The service was a bit slow at points but it was clear the team was still learning the routine as a newly opened restaurant and they were doing a great job overall. Our waitress forgot a drink I ordered with dinner but took it off the bill. The chicken parm was the best entree we had - it's gigantic and delicious! Would definitely get that again. The spaghetti carbonara was good but not the best (a little heavy on the onions). Look forward to returning and would recommend to others.

Pretty terrible experience for a mid-week dinner. Very slow service at every stage of the meal, even though non-servers are hovering and taking and replacing plates and silverware every ten minutes. It took so long to get the first drink that our server admitted I should get it myself at the bar to have it with my entree. The restaurant itself is also VERY hot and humid. Two stars because the spaghetti was good, and hot, when I eventually received it. Never again.

We popped into this lovely restaurant for an early dinner between visiting museums and an evening tour and we were so pleasantly surprised by the gilded decoration and attention to detail. The drinks were delicious. I ordered a Cafe Fiorello Grand Spritz and enjoyed how the olives and blood orange came on a goblet of ice next to my drink and all sitting upon a gold coaster. Great presentation! All of our food was truly a treat! The Chicken Parm and the A Lot of Pepperoni Pizza were both big hits, but the lasagna stole the show as everyone at the table claimed it was the best lasagna they'd ever had! It was nice to wander into such a great find!

Everything was spot on! Atmosphere charming. Food delicious! Service impeccable. And the tiramisu to die for! Highly recommend!!!

We went for a middle of the week date night, ambiance was great - it felt kind of old school upscale but cozy and comfortable. Service was excellent and everything came out pretty quickly; it was a hot day and we were thirsty, our water was constantly refilled. I very much enjoyed the passion fruit spritz - so refreshing. The four seasons pizza seemed nutritious, was also delicious (apparently they're big on roasted vegetables). We decided on the chocolate mousse dessert -very rich- and after finishing it we were both full, had our to-go bag packed up but couldn't resist the fresh cookies being distributed. Nice touch!

Really good service and drinks. Really good. Food was okay. Three different dishes and all were pretty dry. Definitely need a bit more gravy. That's was resulted in a two star drop. Too bad as I had super high hopes especially with the price point.

Impressive service! Food and ambience were great. Felt like a $$$$ restaurant. Looking forward to going back!

TL, DR: Eater, your review really led me astray! Very disappointed. Let's start with ambiance. Lovely space, terrible parking. The restaurant was like a cute bistro. But the air conditioning was broken. They had a portable one that they kept alternating between two sides of the bar. The chairs were hard wooden chairs. There was padding under the tablecloth that made it difficult for wine glasses to balance on it. Time to talk about service. We were a group of 5 (although I mistakenly asked for a table for 4) and walked in. They were very accommodating. We were seated immediately. That was about the only good thing about the service. I asked our server to tell me more about one of the drinks (a banana negroni?!) and the waitress said, "well, yeah it tastes like banana" and gave a shrug. We ordered drinks. When they arrived, the server reached over the table to pass a drink and then the other one on her tray spilled on my friend. She said, "Well that's why I wanted you to take the drink from my hand, so that wouldn't happen." Sassy, bold, rude. She may have apologized, but not in any way that was memorable. The drink got remade (although all the drinks took forever to arrive!), and came back in a dirty glass. Because we were about to get our food, I didn't complain and ask for a new glass. I just drank out of the opposite side. For an easy $15 spritz, at least the glass would be clean. And you would think, if you put sugar on the rim, you'd notice some lipstick. Food. We ordered an appetizer to start and then main courses. The menu clearly states to ask for gluten-free pasta if necessary. The server said, "we don't have gluten free pasta." And when pressed, she said "oh, not gluten free rigatoni." She had to return twice to the table. Once to ask if we meant to order the lobster carbonara or the spaghetti carbonara. We said spaghetti. She came back to tell us they didn't have the appetizer and asked if we wanted something else. No, thank you (the artichoke was the reason we went!). We had been waiting quite a while, and one of us was uncomfortable because his pants were still wet from the spilled drink. Oh wait, she came back one more time to make sure we wanted the lobster carbonara. Uh, no. When the food arrived, our order was incomplete. The gluten free pasta did not have the guanciale on top like the menu said and had to be asked for separately. She misheard and said that it was gluten free pasta. She was unaware of what was missing from the dish. The side of pasta also needed to be asked for. And after all of that, my meal wasn't hot. Have you eaten room temp guanciale? It food wasn't cold, but it definitely wasn't warm. It was not a complicated order (4 pastas, 1 pizza) and the restaurant was not full. The pasta was cooked to a lovely al dente-- had a nice bite to it and maintained structure, the vodka sauce was velvety, but definitely not impressive enough. The serving size was on the small side of reasonable-- commensurate with what you would expect at a nice restaurant. The bill arrived. The spilled drink was on it. The most delightful part was the half-dollar sized cookie they offered us at the end of the meal. To be fair, I complained at the end about the drink being on our bill, but the manager/host/person who seemed in charge said "Well I can't do anything about it if I don't know it happened." He was very apologetic, and gave me a business card to come in for a comped meal. For the prices and the NY reputation, I expect the food to be hot, the staff to be trained, and the management to be aware of the things that happen. Especially when seated 5 yards away. Maybe they were short-staffed. Maybe our server was brand new. But there were probably 4 tables total that were seated/eating during the time we were there. I can't imagine what it's like on a busy evening. Save your money and the headache of getting there, and take those Eater reviews with a grain of salt.

I met a friend at the bar and had a full meal- appetizers, entrees, desserts and drinks. The service was great. The food was just ok. I would have been fine with this restaurant had I not had a very unfortunate encounter as I was leaving. My friend went outside to catch an Uber and I walked him outside. Then went back inside to use the bathroom. The manager stopped me in the dining room and rudely asked where I was going. He used his body to stop me. As a woman, it was very intimidating. He didn't seem to remember the multiple times he talked to me during the previous three hours. A waiter came over to rescue me and reminded him I was a diner. The manager did not apologize and just walked away with a glare I will not forget. will never return. My office is two blocks away, so I had been excited about this new dining option just down the street.

I have nothing but amazing things to say about my experience at Cafe Fiorello. I went after work one day with some friends from college and it was great to get drinks and food. First we got drinks, I really enjoyed the Spring Spritz and appetizers, I really loved the fried artichokes. For dinner we all got different pasta dishes, my favorite that I tried was the tagliatelle bolognese that was made with wild boar I think -- so good! And we tried a bunch of different desserts, my top ones were the tiramisu that was made with rum, the chocolate mousse, and the cannolis. Our waiter Christopher was super great and helped us decide which food and drinks to try. We were celebrating a birthday and he brought out dessert with a sparkler on top and the hostesses sang to us which was so sweet. The whole restaurant was such a vibe we ended up taking a ton of pictures. The general manager John was also amazing and came over to our table to talk to us about our experience and thank us for coming. Overall an 11/10 experience. I recommend to anyone looking for a place to eat in Penn Quarter, or even if you just want a drink, the bar seemed like a great place where people were hanging out.