Cork Wine Bar

The staff at Cork is the most rude, belittling and unhelpful service staff I have ever encountered in my 5 years in DC. I setup a reservation for two at 8 PM on a Tuesday several days in advance. An hour before the reservation time the host called me to confirm the reservation and asked whether I would be eating at Cork or just having drinks. I said we would be getting drinks and food.
When I arrived with my date, I was again asked if we would be eating or just having drinks. I stated that we would be splitting several appetizers and having drinks. I was told in the most rude and obnoxious manner that they would not accommodate us because we were not having entrees. I said we would order an entrée to split as well. Again, the host said he would not seat us. This occurred in front of my date, on a off Tuesday, and despite the restaurant not being anywhere near full. We were forced to go to another restaurant.
The manner in which the host handled himself was unbelievably rude, condescending, and highly unprofessional. It ruined would should have been an otherwise great evening.
This was the most insulting service I have ever encountered in DC. We ended up at Barcelona instead which was much busier and for which we had no reservation. Barcelona accommodated us quickly and in the most professional manner. They were courteous and polite. All things that cannot be said about the service at Cork.

Updating with a review of their brunch. Yes, dear reader its been a few years (again) since I went to Cork.
Lets start with their breads & pastries: yes to their famous avocado & pistachio toast, yes to the yummy maple oat scones and a big yes to their cinnamon rolls. But wait, there’s more. The duck confit benedict — seriously, when was the last time you had a duck confit benedict? Never? Go get this dish! Our other favorite — the gravlox with potato & apple hash. We ordered this dish twice just to make sure we loved it. And a flight of mimosas sealed the deal on what might be our new favorite brunch place.

Good flavor, good wine, tiny portions. Went for Restaurant Week and still paid a ton for small portions and mediocre service. Meh.

Really enjoyed this as an after dinner venue. The avocado appetizer was a great late evening/​dessert option. The staff was professional and casually excellent, providing solid and fun advice for wine choices. Pricing was fair and service, atmosphere, and ambiance was pleasant.

**** 3 ½ Stars****
We were in the mood for wine and decided to try Cork Wine Bar since we were in the area. It’s a small space with a long bar as well as tables. We opted to sit at the bar since it was not busy. They offer wines by the glass, bottle, as well as flights. We decide to try the different flights. I ordered a flight of reds for 16, my friend ordered a flight of whites, and my husband ordered a different flight of reds. The wines came out quickly and came with a guide to let us know which wines we were drinking. I enjoyed my flight of reds, I unfortunately cannot remember their names. All I know the wines were smooth and not too strong for my taste.
We did not try food during this visit but I would be interested coming back. Good neighborhood spot if you’re in the mood for wine and close by.

We were a party of 5 with one child. They were very accommodating and we ended up in their loft area all by ourselves which was nice with a slightly fussy 3month old. The wine selection was excellent. The food was good. It was tapas style. My only complaint is the portions were very uneven on the dishes. Some (the avocado for example) were plenty large and sharable even with 5 adults but the lamb belly was tiny and bearly enough for one person.

The food was tasty– got the chicken dish and a delicious French wine. Would 100% come back here. The menu was a bit intimidating but I loved it.

YUM! my favorite spot in DC

The food was good however the service was a little off. It didn’t feel friendly and warm so that was a turn off and to be honest, it made me forget the food.

I’ve always enjoyed the food and wine here. It’s well made, fresh, and good for sharing. The waitress was prompt and offered good suggestions. Also, it’s nice that you can actually get a seat at this restaurant when it can be so difficult pretty much everywhere else on 14^th Street

Cork is one of those cozy, hip, brick-​walled places you should go to if you want to catch up with one or two friends after work. Excellent wine and some fantastic plates to share. We sat at the bar and tried the avocado (over grilled bread with sea salt, YES), heirloom tomato salad, flatbread, and cheese. The bartender helped us out with our wine selection, thank goodness, because the wine list is overwhelming!
We went around 6:30 on a weekday, and by the time we left, there was a waiting list. So try to go a little earlier!

This is a nice, cute wine bar in the city. There is outdoor and indoor seating and if you sit outside, just know it’s a busier area for people to walk by and cars to pass. I sat outside and it was nice.
We got there close to the kitchen closing and our server was helpful with assisting us to pick out cheeses and charcuterie. We had great selections chosen — I would highly recommend the spicy salami and chorizo. The prosciutto comes with a really nice mustard and it was one of my favorites. We also had an order of the calamari and it was perfectly crispy.
The wine list was really long — it is a wine bar! However, it was hard to get through the list because it isn’t as obvious where the sections are — red, white, sparkling, etc. I had a #88 — a Malbec. It was GREAT!
Have a little patience if you go and order wine. They have flights and will also let you taste if you’re questioning what you want.

Came here on a Sunday evening with some friends and sat outdoors. The wine list was intimidating, especially since I am not well versed in wine. The waitress was helpful, and I settled on the Aligote (sp?) flight. It was really refreshing on a hot day, and tasty.
My compadres and I shared the avocado toast, lamb belly skewer, and the calamari. The avocado toast was good, but not spectacular — it looks beautiful, but is something you can easily make at home. The lamb belly skewer was my absolute favorite — so, so delicious. It only came with one skewer, which was a bit tricky to share with three people, but I could have licked the plate clean of the purée it came with. The calamari was pretty standard, but I liked the sauce it came with; I think it had a mustardy flavor?
All in all, this is a great, low-​key place to enjoy a glass (or three) of wine and chat with friends. I look forward to trying some other things on their menu.

Even though they were close to closing, the Manager was cool with offer us a table. I tried to push for the patio, but no cigars.
Settled for a nice table by the window& had a few glasses of Malbec before calling it a night.
The ambience was nice with a nice mix of Internet music. The selection of wines was very extensive & interesting.
I’ll have to come back to try the highly mentioned Avocado & olive plates…& with a bottle of course, it just makes sense.

I really wanted to love you, Cork. I really did. I love your market across the street with its fantastic cheeses and wonderful local sundries waiting to be paired with any of the delicious wines you sell there. Unfortunately, the restaurant did not live up to expectations.
The wine list, as anticipated, was massive and the main draw for my group. Cork bills itself as a specialty wine restaurant that sells wines from small producers and unexplored regions, so we went in with the expectation that the waitstaff would be well-​versed in the wines and happy to assist with a selection. Neither was accurate. Two of us arrived early and had a glass at the bar before dinner. We both asked for a recommendation on a full-​bodied red to start with. The bartender made a face and spoke to us like we should know exactly what we wanted before trying to place an order with him. My friend actually asked me if we should just not order from the bartender and wait until we were seated, but at that point I really wanted a glass of wine so we let the bartender choose without further discussion. It was a great wine, but the attitude that came with it was less than desirable.
The waiter was much nicer and more willing to discuss the wine list with us, and pointed out a few different bottles that he thought we’d enjoy. We ended up getting two of his recommendations, and both were great. If the night had ended there, they’d be around a 3.5, but the food left much to be desired. We started with charcuterie, which was delicious but the portions were super small for the price. They were out of the tortellini, which seems to be a favorite, so I opted for the prosciutto sandwich which included a sunny side up egg on top. I asked the waiter if it would be possible to cook the egg a little longer (the only request we made for any alteration to any menu item), and before I even finished the question he said no, that they don’t make any alterations to the menu. Really? Not even to leave an egg on the griddle for 30 seconds longer than it otherwise would be? This isn’t Noma or Eleven Madison Park or Le Bernardin… come on. The rest of the food was ok, but nothing that any of us would go back for — all things that I could have easily made at home, without the attitude.
I wouldn’t go back for dinner. Perhaps for a glass of wine, but apparently only if I walk in knowing exactly what I want before I order from the bartender.

The decision of whether you should pay a visit to Cork wine bar can be summed up with the answer to this question: how much would you like to pay someone to arrange avocado slices in pretty flower shapes? If the answer is «um…not much, I can pretty much do that myself if I felt like it», then you will not especially like Cork Wine bar.
The reviews below me have all heaped praise on the «avocado pistachio toasts» that they serve. And seeing as it’s the most lauded dish, it was completely underwhelming and a bit pricy at ten bucks. I’m not saying it wasn’t tasty. Ripe avocados + bread + pistachios = happy fun time in my mouth. But it’s also something I can make at home, for cheaper, and with the added luxury of not having to put a shirt on before I gobble it down. I was expecting some sort of restaurant-​ey magic that justifies the price point, but it just wasn’t there.
As for the rest of the menu, it’s tiny, with some pretty tasty stuff. Nothing really unique per say, and no cohesive sense of a chef even pretending to have a theme, beyond «all this stuff will taste better with booze», but tasty nonetheless. I visited for brunch and had the benedict (ehh. Very forgettable) and the cinnamon rolls. I highly recommend the rolls if you are eating here, as they come out warm and ooey and gooey and cinnamon –ey and exactly how cinnamon rolls should be.
Overall, this is a very shrug worthy place. Some good food, but not especially unique, and certainly stuff all us city slickers should really endeavor to make in our apartment kitchens if we weren’t all so gosh darn lazy.

I like this little wine bar. We had a decent primativo. (like an italian zinfandel)
we had:
Olives — very yummy with great olive oil for dipping
Arugula salad — delicious spunky dressing and grapes
some sort of butternut squash tortellini — they loved it — I could not taste much butternut — but sage butter and pesto beneath were yummy.
mackerel — this was delicious! not fishy at all, very nice light flavor — on a bed of capers and olives which were too salty but yummy.
this is not a fancy dinner place but somewhere to meet friends for a chat and a drink. as such it does an excellent job.
service was just okay but no complaints

After a Saturday night out on the town, it was only appropriate to head on down to 14^th St for some much needed brunch. While a fan of Unilocal’s filtering and suggestion system based on an area and review, I’m also a fan of using DC Eater’s 38 list to help assist on restaurant suggestions. I’ve passed by Cork on countless occasions and finally made the decision to check out what it was all about. Needless to say, it made for an awesome friend filled Sunday brunch.
To start out our brunch my friends and I decided that espresso and cocktails were an absolute must and highest on our priority list. I ended up going with the ‘Devon’s Sweet Brown’, a slightly sweet rye whiskey cocktail that I ended up ordering 2 more of, enough said.
For our eating please we went with the avocado toast, house-​made sausage, french fries, crispy polenta, duck confit, and farm egg soft scramble. The avocado toast was probably my favorite, a simple dish of avocado, pistachios, toasted pistachio oil, sea salt on grilled bread. The house-​made sausage was also very good, not too overpowered in spice, but subtle and enjoyable. The egg soft scramble was very simple but also very good. Perfectly scrambled eggs with crispy bacon (my favorite) along with some toast. One of the more complex dishes in terms of flavor profile and texture was the crispy polenta. The tomatoes along with the polenta and poached egg were all very good together. Most likely my least favorite dish unfortunately was the duck confit. I just wasn’t a huge fan of the richness of the duck along with the crispy polenta and egg.
All in all, this meal was relatively simple in terms of ingredients, but was really quite tasty. Ultimately, somewhat more of an impressive feat. I also can’t help to acknowledge how much the company of friends helped to play a part in making the meal that much more enjoyable.
I’d love to try Cork for dinner along with their vast array of international wines after having such a good brunch.

Huge wine selection. We stopped in with our group for a few drinks before dinner. They were not prepared for our group at the bar area. We had about 10 with us, so if you don’t have a reservation I would stay away from going there just for the bar. The space is small and they don’t have many seats or people working there.
I felt bad for some of the diners because they didn’t have much space where folks were walking with all of our group around the bar. Wine selection is really impressive and there are a ton of options. They tried to take care of us but don’t go with big groups, its a small spot and not able to handle that on a night when folks are actually trying to have a meal right beside you.

So the food here is excellent excellent, and they’re very accommodating (we brought our dog! and we were also 30 min late!). The service is good, they also brought our dog a water dish, yay! Sometimes it was hard to flag down our server – but it could’ve been because we were in the outdoor seating? I dont know.
The food is pretty good, but some of it is not quite there yet.
French Fries — interesting blend of salt and sweet tastes. The sauce was ok. I kind of wanted the fries to have more of a punch in the flavor. It was very very subtle.
Avocado — the slices of toast bursting with flavor and goodness and crunchiness
Cork-​cured Gravlox — pretty good, the salmon was a little on the fishy side, but the microgreens were fresh and well seasoned, the bacon was good, and the potato cake was moist and crispy.
Coddled egg– very very interesting dish. I’ve never had anything like it. The bread slices were crispy, and we topped them with the poached egg with small shrimp and well cooked kale.
The drink was ok – I had a Mango mimosa, was definitely refreshing and not too sweet. Nothing really special, though.
My biggest complaint is just the cost – don’t get me wrong, I was STUFFED. Maybe we just needed to order less next time (we were a group of 4, and ordered about 2 plates a piece).