Manna Carry Out

Never again. Parking is horrible. There are 4 or five businesses on that row with about 2 parking spots each. The traffic in that area is horrible too. At 8pm it seems like rush hour traffic.
On to the restaurant… no one was there when we walked in, that’s the first red flag, the music was blaring, although it was good music but the atmosphere is not family oriented (went with the kids). Went upstairs to the dining are and the table and chairs are from like the dollar store and the table where wobbly. So we stay to eat cuz we were starving, the food was «ok». The menus were like they went to war and back. The waitress wasn’t even Dominican and the whole experience was just whack. Oh yes, the food was warm at best not hot. Good luck.

Just had one of the worse dining experiences in the DC area.
The restaurant had fewer than 4 people on a Wednesday evening so we didn’t expect much of a wait. We waited 40 minutes for our food.
When we paid and used the WAMU 2-​for-​1 card with the credit card, they seemed unfamiliar with the discount. They eventually gave only a 7.75 $ discount rather than a full 12 $ and after the disappointing experience overall did not have the energy to dispute it.
Manna is sort of a hole in the wall bar/​lounge/​take-​away/​eatery without a lot of curb or interior décor appeal. The only reason we even went to Manna was because of the WAMU discount card. The Manna is still listed as currently offering the 2-​for-​1 lunch and dinner at the WAMU website.
To cap it off it is apparently the norm for other patrons to block the cars parked in front of the restaurant so we had to locate the owners and have them move it so we could leave.
The food was okay with generous portions but between the late service, and not fully honoring the discount card, and blocked parking make for a rotten experience. Not at all recommended.

First — this place is not just carry out — don’t let the name fool you. You can eat there and order alcohol as well.
Second — this place has the best mofongo (I prefer chicharron but they have several varieties and they’re all good) I’ve ever had (and I’ve had a LOT). The chuleta is good, the tostones are good. They have passion fruit juice. This place just takes you back to the DR or PR.
The food does take a while to come out, but when it does it’s obvious why. It’s so fresh. Definitely worth the hike (not metro accessible) and parking kind of sucks.

Really good Bachata music playing. I wanted to dance but I was dining upstairs. Had I been in the lower level bar area I would have danced Bachata. :)
Fried plantains — My Dominican friend raved about these. They were okay. Pretty flavorless actually including the heavy batter. I say pass on the fried ripe plantains, put your calories toward something else.
Camarones a La Manna (shrimp in sauce) — The quality and flavor of the shrimp was okay. Better than most places. The sauce went well when mixing it over rice along with the sauce from the beans. I liked it.
Beans and white rice — The beans were swimming in a healthy amount of tasty sauce/​broth. Nice to eat alone or mix with rice. I dipped the flavorless plantains in the bean sauce and it was a good combo. I mixed the shrimp La Manna with the beans and rice and that was the best flavor combo of all.
I did all this mixing and dipping, next time I will get the shrimp mofongo.
Beverages: Disappointed there was no ice tea available; I wanted unsweetened ice tea. My no alcoholic choices were soda or sweet, sweet juices, or tap water. My friend ordered me the passion fruit, which I have had elsewhere. At La Manna it is extra sweet, ick!
Overall Manna was just ok to me. I would not go back on my own. It took quite a bit for me to travel there and the food is nothing special. Will I go back? Probably because my dear friend likes the place, a lot.
La Manna’s atmosphere is bland, reasonably clean, but neat. There were only two waitstaff the Thursday night I dined at Manna. Our waitress did not speak or understand much English so my friend did all the ordering. The other person waiting tables was a man who did speak English. Great to have bi-​lingual staff.
Tip: Parking at La Manna is limited. Parking in the area is tight. Do not park in the area of the Chinese takeaway attached to La Manna, I was informed that they tow if you are not doing business with them.

I’ve been going to mannas for years since I was little and I’ve always loved!
Faves: tostones, chicharron de pollo, salami, and all the stews
they used to make a good sandwich Cubano but the last time it was a little bit dry with too much ketchup and mayo, maybe I’ll give it a second chance
a lot of the locals love the party scene nights. one con is the parking ! yes it sucks .
But I LOVE the food and the workers are usually laid back :)

Just had one of the worse dining experiences in the USA. We asked for «just water» and were brought bottled water which we were charged $ 2 each. I thought of complaining at that point as «just water» usually means free tap water in the US but as the only Anglos in the Dominican restaurant I brushed it off as a cultural misunderstanding but it was a bad sign and the experience just careened downhill from there.
The restaurant was maybe ¼ full so we didn’t expect much of a wait. We waited 40 minutes for the food. Although others were served salad before the meal we received it with the food with one side dish coming around 10 minutes later as we were finishing.
When we paid the waitress she took the WAMU 2-​for-​1 card with the credit card but then came back and said they don’t take the WAMU discount. I pointed out that it wasn’t expired and showed her that the description in the WAMU booklet for Manna had no time limitations. I asked to speak to the owner but he wasn’t there. She said they hadn’t taken the WAMU card for a long time.
Manna is sort of a hole in the wall bar/​lounge/​take-​away/​eatery without a lot of curb or interior décor appeal. The only reason we even went to Manna was because of the WAMU discount card. The Manna is still listed as currently offering the 2-​for-​1 lunch and dinner at the WAMU website.
To cap it off it is apparently the norm for other patrons to block the cars parked in front of the restaurant so we had to locate the owners and have them move it so we could leave. We saw 4 successive cars block those spots — most only for 10 minute pickups but one blocked us for an hour.
The food was okay with generous portions but being charged for water, late service, not honoring the discount card, and blocked parking make for a rotten experience. I guess polite and apologetic service could have softened the experience but it was terse at best. Not at all recommended.

Enjoyed lunch here with my sister for the first time. We shared the shrimp mofongo. It was delicious! We’ll definitely go back.
Parking can be a bit difficult but the staff works with you to assist with making sure you don’t get ticketed.

I’ve walked, biked, and driven by this place for YEARS and was never sure if it was open or serving dinner. I finally stopped in and gave it a try on a Monday.
I lived on and off in the Dominican Republic for two and a half years — needless to say I was craving a Doña’s home cooking. I left so full of Presidente, mofongo, yucca, and fried cheese and meats. Delicious food — the Doña certainly knows how to cook.
As an FYI, my server did not speak English. Also, I was really hoping for some Dominican red bean or some gandules with my rice, but was disappointed to learn they served neither. I dig black beans, though!

Wanted to make impromptu stop in cute takoma park on way home and try a new place. This place is not in cute takoma park and essentially has no parking. For sale of trying/​learning something new, I ordered mafongo and waited and waited and waited and waited. I was pleasantly surprised with the food, but think this could be a call ahead or I-​got-​nothing-​else-​to-​do-​and-​nowhere-​to-​go type carryout place.

I’ve been going here for years and i was just reconfirmed how much this place is so good. I was going to go to casa de monfongo for the mofongo, but they left me on hold forever. So i decided Manna for Monfongo for the first time. I will only come here for it ever again. Great food! Great Service! Just needs better parking.

Came to this place with my fiancé. We had fried beef, fried pork with skin, sancocho, steak and onions, rice and beans and fried yuca. Great food. Huge portions. Reasonble prices. I will definitely come back.

Yum! This place is so out of my way but I make it a point to come here at least once a month. The food here is so flavorful and delicious. I know there must be someone’s grandmother making the food in the kitchen. The portions are very generous and the prices are pretty good. It does get kind of busy and noisey on the weekends – these folks know how to party so try and make it on a weekday or weeknight. Be warned that parking here is a nightmare!
Must try: Bistec & mofongo

Manna is a great local hangout with really good food. Try the goat soup or the fish. Both are filling and satisfying. When doing Carryout, enjoy the jukebox downstairs playing at volume 11 overtop of the shouted conversations and baseball games.

Great authentic Dominican cuisine. That’s all I have to say about this place. A good friend of mine recommended me to come here to try some authentic Dominican food. I came on a Sunday evening and the place was filled with people dancing and enjoying music. I was somewhat confused because I thought I would be able to dine in but the dining area was located upstairs. I ordered the goat with rice, bean, and fried plantains. When the food arrived I was surprised at how much I was given for the price of $ 12. I had enough food to take home for lunch the next day which is always a good thing in my eyes. Lol. Overall great place to come and get authentic Dominican cuisine.

Came here to try me some mofongo. As a random asian, I can’t really tell you how this taste in comparison to what it should taste like. I can only give you a perspective from a fat guy’s point of view…
So, for our order, we split the Carne Asada, Fried Chicken mogongo, and the Pork Mofongo. The carne asada had a delicious flavor to it. Not your typical carne asada bc it’s drenched in this delicious sauce. The mofongo was good, but the meat was too dry for my liking. Very crispy though. I guess it depends on your preference. I thought the best thing we ordered was actually the family sampler platter. I could come here for the platter and drinks and be totally satisfied!
Not much parking out front, and the waitress barely spoke any english… but luckily I came with spanish people, so I was good to go.

I have been going to this place since I was younger. I say, maybe middle school. My family is Dominican, so I know good Dominican food. Let’s just say the food here is okay depending on the day you go. What is always on point is the Chicken Mofongo. I cannot for the life of me find another place that makes it as good as them. They always include a salad with tomatoes and avocados. OMG. This plate is to die for.
I only gave a four because the service can be extremely slow at times.

I had a craving for some Dominican food and since I was in the area I decided to check it out.
For starters, they have like 4 parking spaces. Don’t park next door or you will get towed.
I ordered the weekend available only sancocho which is like a stew. After what felt like forever my food came. Unfortunately, it fell short of many components. The flavor wasn’t completely there; it was missing something. Sancocho is typically very thick and heavy in consistency, and this one was too thin. It’s typically loaded with an array of ingredients and mine seemed as if they counted 1 – 2 pieces of each ingredient. I left sad and unsatisfied.

Huge Disappointment!!! Read the positive reviews so decided to treat my family in town visiitng. i should have gone to my own local greasy spoon. I ordered several dishes to try a bit of main things. Not only did the woman behind the bar not give any suggestions but she was rude. I had my family waiting for this anticipated feast, but the take out order took ONE HOUR!
To make things worse, the main dish, cod or bacalau was paid for but not included.
And if you enjoy very greasy, low quality unhealthy food, this is your place! Aside from the fried yucca, that you can get anywhere, this is NO Manna from heaven. The fact this place is even called that adds to the joke. And the joke is on you.

Before you note the Asian-​ness of my Unilocal pic and decide to skip over this review because I lack street cred– I should mention that I came here specifically to satisfy a craving for mofongo, after practically growing up with it in Miami. That being said, Manna’s version came pretty darn close to my favorite place back home. Mission accomplished.
Some Cons:
sketchy area– could be worse (‘The Wire’ anyone?)
loud music– sit upstairs, the noise is muted
limited parking– they don’t seem to mind if you double park. you may be asked to move your car as needed though.
I have one bit of advice on how to order the shrimp mofongo that might drive the restaurant crazy, but in my opinion, will be the best way to enjoy it. Ask for the salad base (this part was a bit odd. I’ve never seen mofongo served on top of lettuce. lol) to be given in a separate plate, and the mound of plantains to be placed on top of shrimp and sauce. This preserves the crisp edges of the plantains instead of letting the whole thing get soggy in the sauce. Just my two cents :)

The Shrimp Mofongo was out of this world and probably the best i have had since traveling to Puerto RIco a month ago. But the real star was the chicharrones… OMG!!! DA
…i could of ate a whole plate of those wonderful fried pork morsels… YUMMY!
I’LL BE BACK!

The food was excellent and I was there on a night with live music (them Dominicans can dance!). I would have given this place 5 Stars, but can someone tell me why it took over 45 minutes to bring out the Mofongo? I KNOW they didn’t start making it all from scratch right when I ordered it, especially since most of it (e.g. the shrimp sauce) is already pre-​made.
Anyway, the wait was definitely worth it because the Mofongo was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted (I’m Mexican and had never had Dominican food)! mmm!