Bobby Van’s Steakhouse

The service here was great, as the previous Unilocalers have already said. I came here using the groupon for 4. It comes with beer or wine, 4 salads, 3 sides, and it was supposed to be prime rib. You’re supposed to call ahead if you’re going to use the groupon, but we didn’t, so they accommodated for us and let us have the ribeye instead. The prime rib takes a very long time to prepare. I got Harry’s salad, which has shrimp, green beans, tomatoes, and bacon. It was pretty good. The ribeye was cooked well. I asked for medium rare and got medium rare. It was good. The sides I got were mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts and grilled asparagus. The mashed potatoes and asparagus were okay, nothing special. The Brussels sprouts were drenched in vinaigrette, which was too overpowering. I don’t think it’s worth the money. I wouldn’t come back.

Ok. Here for a special celebration dinner, but glad I didn’t have plans later. Got seated at 710p but still hadn’t been served entrees an hour after ordering. When you pay $ 300 for dinner for 4 ((not including tip) you’d expect better service and turn time from the kitchen. Sure it’s Saturday night bit you’d think they have never done this before. We didn’t even get a 2^nd helping of bread or something after the appetizers. Very disappointing. The manager did visit the table moments before the food finally arrived, but really should have been there addressing our wait 20 minutes prior. I’ve been to an Applebee’s with better service.
I will say that my Beef Wellington was excellent and the NY Strip was good along with the Salmon. The scallops and shrimp however were somewhat bland and disappointing.
I’m not returning as it was not even close to be worth it.

First time here, lunch during a business trip with a colleague that gas been here before. Service was exceptional as was the food. Lunch specialty salads are generous portions. The funny thing was it was busy but the seating really seems to make you feel like you’re having a private meal. Since I only have one experience here I stopped short of 5 stars.

Typical high end stakehouse. Good stakes but to me, no different than Capital Grille or Mortons, both of which I prefer over Bobby’s. We had great service and it was my birthday so we got a free bananas flambé. The funny thing was, my guest and I both do not like bananas. Was a nice gesture, but would have liked to pick my free dessert!

Whether you are celebrating a special event or just an evening dinner
You will always fill welcome and very satisfied you came. Great food
Reasonable price ask for Amie the manager she will make sure your happy. We have been a patron for almost 10 years.

An eccentric soft spot that offers a nice atmosphere and overall interesting space to drink. Not all wait staff are friendly and helpful. Drinks are great but prices are fair

Jay in coat check was excellent. Very professional! Extremely courteous although I was late to the event. She gave me detailed directions to the nearest ATM and personally showed me a short cut which I really appreciated on a freezing cold night. The bar tending staff was a little slow but I had the best Hendricks and tonic that I’ve had in a while. Quality definitely made up for the wait.

This review is for Bobby Van’s Grill, at the address of this listing.
Synopsis: Some food good, some aspects of service good, but many shortcomings that severely underperform the hype and price.
I brought my mom here for her birthday dinner. We were crammed into a corner where if I had to get up, I would jostle the people sitting at the table next to us. I was smooth and they were gracious, but it was not ideal.
The first two chairs I sat in were very wobbly, like about to fall apart wobbly. Third one was a charm and very firm.
They did not bring us bread until my mom pointed out that the table next to us got bread. This was after the main course and before dessert.
They did not bring us water for at least ten minutes.
My mom got the 3 course prix fixe. She got the shrimp salad, the New York Strip, and an apple tart. I got the tomato mozzarella salad, the large filet, and we shared the crab macaroni.
The shrimp/​barley salad was OK. Heavy dressing and an interesting flavor. The cherry tomatoes were delicious.
The tomato/​mozzarella salad was a stack of tomato slices and mozzarella slices with pesto and balsamic reduction drizzled on top. Very nice.
The filet was AMAZING. It came with shoestring potatoes which is an odd choice. I got mine medium rare. Perfectly done, perfect texture and flavor.
My mom got the NY Strip. It had some grilled onions and almost like a gravy. The flavor of her dish was ALL sauce. The steak had a flavor somewhere between cardboard and newspaper. It comes with some kind of bacon cheddar mashed potatoes which were OK.
The crab macaroni was surprisingly very white. It comes baked in a little ceramic dish. Not much crab. Solid 6/​10, nothing remarkable. Kind of torn on this one.
Finally came the apple turnover type thing. The highlight of this dessert is the caramel sauce that’s drizzled on the plate. I’d love to have a bottle of whatever that sauce is. The apple part is good and it comes with a little scoop of ice cream on top. The thing that it’s in though… remember the old Taco Salad from Taco Bell? Like a miniature thing of that only made of filo dough. Filo dough that is very flaky and bland and tastes like, you guessed it, newspaper. Had no business being on the same plate as that caramel sauce, which was amazing.
Two more positives: we never felt rushed and the coffee is unlimited refills and the guy never let my cup get empty.
There were too many mistakes in service, procedure, and basic equipment to justify this place at any price, much less $ 80 per person. It is literally «a poor man’s Bobby Van’s.» Well if you can’t afford the real thing, just go to the Classics or Ray’s the Steaks or something. Steer clear of this place – it’s crowded, cramped, noisy, and not fine dining by any stretch.

It was soooo cold today, I thought I would order something close to my office. I ordered the ahi tuna nocoise salad to go. Once I got back to my office I was a bit surprised. I realize that restaurants take liberties, but in this salad they were a bit weird for such a classic dish. The salad contained spring mix and purple potatoes (which were extremely dry by the way). Are there no regular potatoes at a steakhouse? The green beans were cut smaller than the capers on the salad (an eighth of an inch), so it was the equivalent of maybe 2 – 3 string beans total. Did I mention capers? Well add black olives to that and you get salty. The tuna encrusted in sesame seeds (not sure why) was actually cooked properly. For the price ($ 19 + tax); disappointing.
I remembered today why I had not been back to this restaurant in 5 years.

Got a $ 17 «slow roasted» lamb gyro. The meat was the EXACT same meat you get from any street vendor (not food truck, those are way better), that flat, thin, brown crap. The only reason it gets 2 stars are because of the soft pretzel sticks they serve with the bread. Its in my building and I’m not going back, nuff said.

So I was in search of a nice place to go to for a birthday dinner, and came across a groupon for this place. I figured, it’s a «nice» steak house, it has to be good… or not.
I’ve seen several Unilocal reviews saying the same: The steaks are not cooked correctly. They aren’t seared on the outside, and are very bland. I’m guessing they just cook everything in the oven? The temperature was correct, but it didn’t have that delicious charred/​smokey taste a steak should have.
The steak came with «turf», which was ½ a lobster tail, which was whatever, and a disgusting «crab stuffing» of some sort. It was a blend of peppers and crab, which was like 90% peppers, and very little, to no crab.
We split the risotto, which was also very bland.
Everything was bland, and they have «steak sauce» on the table, which is glorified cocktail sauce. I would not consider it a steak sauce.
The décor of the restaurant is high end 1980s. I’m sure 30 years ago this was a nice place to go to, but now it’s very outdated. The clientele is 55+ and I’m sure in their aging years they’re enjoying the soft, bland food.
It’s kinda like McCormick and Schmicks had a baby with red Lobster.

I’ve been here for dinner twice and can’t wait to make it back for a third. Had the surf (lobster) and turf (filet) and both were delicious. The filet was cooked to perfection and the lobster was a sizable portion. We split macaroni and each had a salad. Couldn’t get enough of bread either. Highly recommend the filet. YUM.
The happy hours are fun here as well. A little pricey but the pours are heavy and the chicken nachos are fantastic. Make sure you’re prepared to eat your weight in cheese and nachos as this «appetizer» is humongous!

I gave this place a try, with the amount of steakhouses available in DC you are much better off visiting pretty much ANY other steakhouse for a better experience. The steak I got was not crispy on the outside and masterfully cooked, it was more soft all around with a bland cooked meat flavor. For a steakhouse, it doesn’t look like they really know how to cook steak well, I feel that I would have made a similar steak at home, maybe even better
The potatoes were okay, creamed spinach was actually the best thing. However, I would much rather pay similar prices for a masterfully prepared steak of a hunk of heated meat.
The service was terrible as well, the waiter insulted my friend by telling her she looked 12 when he completely skipped over her when taking wine orders and she asked if he was going to take HER order.
He never refilled out water and was nowhere to be found

Came here on a groupon and was worth it, but would never come if I didn’t have it.
The oysters were OK, but they didn’t have the condiments like other places that serve oysters which was disappointing.
The porterhouse for 4 was good and cooked well. We got medium.

Bobby V, how do you do that thing you do?
One of the benefits of working in downtown DC is the luxury of so many options for food (and drink). Bobby Van’s is one of those places where you can have at least somewhat high expectations that you will have a good meal. At the start, you receive housemade bread and soft pretzel sticks. Served with whipped butter and the insanely good spicy mustard. The horseradish will have you in tears, both the good and bad kind. The burger is excellent. Very nice size cooked to order. Bun was buttery. Also, the fish and chips are delicious. The portion sizes scream gluttony. Prices aren’t cheap, but the quality offsets it for me. Good times are always in the menu when I visit. May just be the $ 4 Yuenglings.

Came in right after work for dinner before a movie with the bf.
I got the French onion soup and the bf got the raw bar oysters and the tuna tartar. Tuna tartar was amaze! It had fresh seaweed on top! The oysters came with a pico/​salsa that was an awesome twist on the regular cocktail sauce. It also came with tartar sauce… weird, right? I’ve never seen oysters with tartar sauce before.
For main entrée, I ordered lobster ravioli and the bf had the salmon with mashed potatoes. Both were okay. Not bad, but not amaze.
The service was on point! As soon as we sat down, our server was attentive and making sure we had everything we wanted. Also, props to the bussers. I have never experienced more attentive bussers at a restaurant. I never had to ask for my water or the table bread to be replenished bc these guys were on top of it.
Service gets 4.5 stars and food gets 3.5.

Just WOW! !
I bought a Living Social deal for surf and turf for two ($ 99). Holy cow that was a ton of food! We were each able to chose a starter salad, we each got a glass of beer or wine. A side to share, they have ‘sides for two’. We picked the crab mac n cheese… yummmmyyy!
And for the grand finally we each got a huge steak. grilled and seasoned to perfection I might add.. Topped with lobster. The lobster meat was out of the shell, and there was a lobster cake? (Something like a crab cake) inside the shell. Devine!!!
Side note: I had a glass of red wine that was basically two in one. .all part of the deal.
Our waiter was awesome as well. He offered suggestions, was patient with me when I couldn’t make up my mind, and was even a little funny!
This was an awesome experience!

Enjoyed a great evening here with a group of ten colleagues and the Mrs. For a Tuesday night, the restaurant was pretty busy but still had tables available.
We started with several cold seafood towers loaded with oysters, lobsters, shrimp and crabmeat. We ordered one too many though and struggled to make a respectable dent in each of them. The sauces provided were flavorful and definitely enhanced the taste especially for someone like me who doesn’t go too far out of the way to eat seafood. We also ordered two kinds of fried calamari. The one with a honey glaze was the big hit at the table.
We did the usual salad course next choosing your typical wedge with blue cheese. All the while we were killing bottles of Caymus 40 off their wine list. That is one smooth wine.
For my main entrée, I chose the smaller ribeye. It was prepared medium rare as I like with a fair amount but not too much seasoning. The grilled onions I had added on top were disappointing. They tasted like they had been sitting around for a while.
For sides, I had to try their thick bacon. When they say thick, they mean it. It was at least 8 to 10 slices of normal bacon thick and full of flavor. Not exactly what I expected but delicious none the less. We also enjoyed your more typical big steakhouse sides like grilled asparagus and sautéed mushrooms.
Our waiter Oscar was excellent and made the meal special for us. I pretty much ordered based on his recommendations except for the onions. I called an audible on that one. He even went outside afterwards to hail us a cab with this unusual underwater marine animal like sound. It didn’t sound human?!

Come here anytime I can get a Groupon/​Living Social deal otherwise I can’t afford it. Came on a Saturday night and there was a good amount of people inside. My husband and I filled up on the bread brought to the table which is oh so yummy. I had a pasta dish and he had a rib eye. Both of the dishes were excellent. The table beside us talked really loud, it was a bit annoying, but there’s not much the restaurant can do about people.

Gathered here with work colleagues last night. Excellent butler service with terrific lollipop lamb chops, tuna tartare, and other great choices as we mingled before dinner.
At dinner, the filet mignon was huge and arrived exactly to my preference. The accompaniments were tasty as well. Bobby Van’s did a great job. Highly recommend for a company outing or personal reunion gathering with friends/​family. Nice job!