Best Restaurants for Outdoor Dining in Mount Vernon Square

I’m always amazed at the consistency and high level experience at Zaytinya. We had the lunch tasting menu. Probably a total of 15 small plates. All were delicious and creative. Service and timing also impeccable.

Wonderful service and food. Really love the ambiance and the quality. Only down side was the 5% charge added to the bill, notated as NOT a tip but a service charge due to increasing cost to run the business. As a business owner myself I would not charge a fee rather if you need more money just charge more for your items. We tip 20% minimum everywhere we go but to be charged an extra 5% on top of the bill seems strange. Some people will just leave when they see that. I guess I appreciate the honesty however considering the menus are printed daily at this restaurant they could just raise the prices and then no one would be aware or need to know about the extra "we're hurting and business is tough" charge. Again - I own businesses. I understand. It's been rough the past two years.

Staff were attentive and welcoming. Food was very delicious. We ordered small plates and a side: Burrata, raw bar (half dozen), chickpea tortilla tacos, tuna meatballs, grilled octopus, grilled carrots. Our favorite was the tuna meatballs - definitely ordering that again! The only dish that was slightly off was the octopus - was a little overcooked. The staff graciously gave us our dessert to go (so we could properly thank the grandparent sitters). We’d gladly come back for cocktails and full entrees in the future!

We went for Black Restaurant Week and had a wonder time! The menu they curated was very good. We ordered the devil eggs and flat bread for appetizers. Both were delicious. For the main course we ordered the Salmon and Pasta were amazing as well as the blueberry cobble! Derrick, our server was very informed and was able to assist us with ordering. He was very friendly and attened to us with impeccable service. We will be coming back!

Amazing experience!!! Beautiful view overlooking the Potomac and the ambiance was great! Good place to chill, enjoy food and drinks, and not loud which we like. Special shout out to Tia who greeted us…super hospitable and super professional. We will be back again for sure.