J & G Steakhouse

The service was extremely slow & they weren’t that busy. The food was mediocre. I Was extremely disappointed. I won’t be back.

I stopped in here on a recent trip to DC. I was in the mood for a chunk of beef and a restaurant that I hadn’t visited before. I was generally pleased with the meal. The waygu steaks were nicely done. It wasn’t the coronary inducing serving size that most steak joints seem to pride themselves in. All of the accompaniments were good but not memorable.
Service was good and although the dining room seemed very formal there were plenty of tourists in tourist garb.
Good but pricy wine list.
All in all, worth a visit.

It is truly disheartening to read that J&G Steakhouse closed on June 23, 2014. Earlier this year, Ovvio Osteria’s ownership lost its common sense, its identity, then consequently, its stellar Executive Chef Chris Watson. J&G Steakhouse’s end is the next major loss among me and my dining companion’s favorite restaurants.
For starters, we loved J&G Steakhouse for the refreshing style of Chef Jean-​Georges Vongerichten, from the dynamic sodas, exciting appetizers, outstanding entrees, to remarkable depth of excellence in desserts – all captured with consistently great execution by Chef Philippe Reininger. Having enjoyed Jean Georges in NYC prior to trying J&G Steakhouse, we felt that the latter captured all of the trademark characteristics of the flagship without being limited to a special occasion place. While we have been mostly disappointed by restaurants associated with celebrity chefs/​restaurateurs, J&G Steakhouse was one of a few that shined. Although its recent remodeling may have been unnecessary, J&G Steakhouse remained a beautiful and elegant restaurant with terrific food by Chef Reininger and fantastic service led by Terrant.
Unfortunately, with Ovvio’s deterioration, Astro Doughnut’s drop, 2941’s downscaling, and the recent closing of J&G Steakhouse, it is beginning to feel like DC is regressing as a foodie town not too long after its rapid growth.

J & G Steakhouse is located inside the W Hotel in Downtown. It is a very classy steakhouse with good décor and ambiance. I went with a large group, a table of 10. They were able to handle all of our needs in the way you’d expect a fancier place. It wasn’t my choice to go there but it was a good experience.
I’m a whiskey drinker and their bartender recommended their manhattan which was tasty and strong.
They have a wide selection of entrees ranging from $ 20 to the fancy cuts that were from $ 40 to $ 90. I ended up trying their short ribs which were very tender and about $ 30. We split an assortment of appetizers that were prepared well, especially their crabcakes.
If I’m planning to indulge on a D.C., this would be a good place to do it.

O-​M-​G. Need I say more…
Was recently here for a client lunch and tried various apps, sides, desserts, and we each had our own entrees/​cocktails. It was a Friday afternoon and only a few tables were filled, so we were able to have a long, relaxing lunch – it was great. Notable menu items included the sweet pea soup (I seriously hate peas, and I couldn’t put my spoon down!); sautéed maitake mushrooms (squeeze the lime on them – seriously!); black truffle fritters; and pineapple bread pudding (some of the best I’ve had – deeeelish!). If you haven’t been here yet, definitely be sure to check J&G out!

I went to J & G on a Saturday night with a friend. Very good service and the steak were pretty good. The Caesar Salad was average and the fries were excellent.
Overall, not bad but I have been to better steak houses for the price

Very disappointing this evening after several previous visits were great. We had a reservation for a party of six but somehow it got lost. Apparently, they are having problems synching their reservations systems. We heard some other diners say their reservations had also been lost. They managed to seat us about 20 minutes later.
Service was okay but not especially attentive. We ordered two bottles of wine and ended doing most of the pouring ourselves.
The blue cheese dressing on the wedge salads was excellent. The broccoli rabe side dish was also excellent. However, the steaks were mediocre. My peppercorn NY strip was not very good – hard to believe it was really prime there was so little flavor to it. My cousin ordered the veal porterhouse and it was terrible. A strange cut that was almost all bone and gristle, he only got a few bites of meat out of it. However, my other cousin got the tasting menu and really enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed dining at this place. The service was excellent. I didn’t try any of the cocktails but the menu looked really good. We started with hamachi appetizer, and it was really really good. My friends tried filet and skirt steak, they both were very happy with their choice. And fries came with skirt steak were crispy and I loved it! The only thing about it is that maybe it was a bit too salty. I like salty food but those fries were bit too salty even for me. I had rockfish, and it was cooked perfectly, but the miso sauce seemed a bit too weak. And I wish they used better rice. I really liked the brussel sprouts, and spinach side dish was really good too.
Desserts were amazing. Chocolate cake was incredibly good, and I wish I were not so full. Next time I will leave some room for the dessert!

I was there for a girlfriends bachelorette party and I have to be honest, I’m not sure I’d return.
Eh. That pretty much sums it up.
We were in a private room, which was great but the waiter seemed to forget about us. To be honest, he could have made a killing on our bar tab but didn’t come back enough to ask us if we wanted another round. I get wanting privacy but this borders on neglect.
The food was ok – we were eating a late dinner so many of us ordered appetizers but simply because we didn’t drop 70 dollars on a steak doesn’t mean our money isn’t good. Come on people – don’t discount our spending because we didn’t order your overpriced cow.
I ordered a salad and promptly bit into a searing hot chile pepper – nowhere on the menu did it mention it and when I brought it to the waiters attention, he simply apologized. No offer for a new one, no offer to remove it from my bill after I explained my entire mouth was on fire.
He did bring our bride to be a cocktail and dessert, two lovely touches only to be completely undone by the fact that when the checks/​credit cards came back from being processed, he handed it to a male friend who stopped by because «he was a man and could handle it».
Last I checked, my female brain could distribute credit cards.
Overall, completely overrated and overpriced. I’d recommend other local DC restaurants over JG any day.

The ambiance here is unique. The restaurant is very bright for such a dark place. We got seated in the middle of what looked like a walking path for servers and patrons. We asked to be moved to a table and the staff were very accommodating. But for a restaurant that looks large, the tables should have been farther apart. I expected a little bit of wiggle room and not to feel like I’m eavesdropping on a private conversation because the tables are 12 inches apart.
My rating is for the food and service.
Our waitress was attentive and friendly, and the service was excellent. On to the food. We decided to get the tasting menu. From the first course to the dessert I loved every part of that meal. Every course was delicious, well balanced and a good size. You have to expect to wait between each course, but it was a good break because we got to chat, and digest a bit before the next course. If you are in a hurry I wouldn’t recommend the tasting menu. I know that the tasting menu is revolving but I believe it is worth a try. Another great part — you got new cutlery after each course! That was a nice touch as well.
I would go back in a heart beat. Hopefully next time though the experience will be as good as the food and service!

The service was excellent and the ambiance ok, but the food was over seasoned and unexciting.
I had the tuna tartar which was a large serving but very salty on the top and bottom and flavorless in the middle.
The mussels came back super garlicy and I actually said something and they remade it with less. This made it better.
They gave me a free dessert for the trouble.
My friend had the salmon, which was so buttery you could not even taste the fish. The salad was also doused in salad dressing.
The chef does not seem to have much regard for natural flavors and likes to mask them with butter, dressing, and other seasoning.

The J& G Steakhouse brunch is awesome! The menu is simple and the food is delicious! The prime NY strip with eggs and potatoes is perfect to fill hearty appetites. I go for the crabcakes benedict everytime. The 515 cocktail is awesome. And if you sit near the champagne cart, you’ll enjoy the corks popping throughout your meal. Highly recommended!

Had my birthday dinner at J&G Steakhouse in DC on Saturday (4÷14÷12) night and the service was HORRIBLE! 1^st we couldn’t get in … Apparently they share their main entrance with a nightclub and the bouncer wouldn’t let us in the main door. We had to walk around to the outdoor seating area where the host there didn’t understand that we just wanted to go inside for our reservation. He kept asking, «Did you want to be seated outside?» Then, when he finally figured it out we had to walk in the backdoor, traipse all the way through the restaurant past people who were dining to finally reach the hostess at the main entrance.
She was puzzled as to why we came in the backdoor so we told her the bouncer told us we had to walk around. Her reply, «I don’t know anything about that or how that works.» Well … shouldn’t you know and or care that someone is making it difficult for your customers to actually get inside to dine? Maybe this needs to be examined further if people who want to go to J&G are being turned away at the front door?
The service started off OK but our waiter apparently had much better things to do than wait on us. He never came back to ask if we’d like a second round of drinks, the food was cooked wrong and then it took FOREVER to get our bill, pay it and get out of there.
Even though they were told in advance, they did nothing special for my birthday. No candle … Nothing. They had specifically asked if it was a special occasion when the reservation was originally made and they were told it was my birthday but apparently that doesn’t matter. Don’t waste your money. There are plenty of great restaurants in DC. Go somewhere else!

My partner and I went to J&G Steakhouse for dinner one night because we bought a Gilt City tasting menu deal. Overall, we were pleased with the interesting and creative dishes that were well-​executed and level of service.
The Gilt City deal came with their five-​course tasting menu for two as well as a bottle of red or white or sparkling wine. We like these kind of deals because it allows us to fully try a new restaurant and not just pick one or two dishes.
The menu started with tuna in a chili coconut broth, and it was delightful with a hint of heat. Next was crispy duck egg with caviar and brioche, and it was a well-​executed dish with micro greens that added to the dish as opposed to just being perfunctory. This was followed by the fish course, which was seared octopus that was very tender and a good example of how octopus should be cooked. And then there was also seared lamb chops which, while they were cooked well, came with a bit too much fat for my taste. For dessert, there was a large portion of «stout» ice cream.
We were also celebrating my partner’s military promotion, so they brought out their famous cheesecake to celebrate. It was a nice touch and a good gesture. We chose the Prosecco for our wine selection, and it was actually quality Prosecco as opposed to some junk that they technically could have offered us as sparkling wine.
The service was friendly and attentive, not much to complain about. Overall, I would definitely try out J&G Steakhouse if you are in the area. It’s in the W Hotel, so you never know what you get with hotel restaurants, but this one is on the better end of the scale. At the same time, we did not get any actual steak or things in the grill, so I can’t actually comment or (not) recommend that aspect of the restaurant.

Since it was too humid to enjoy lunch on the patio, we took refuge in the dining room on the lower level. Although the crab cake appetizer was on the dinner menu, the restaurant was able to accommodate the lunchtime request. Pink grapefruit and a light ginger sauce highlighted the subtle flavors of the crab cake and avocado. It was an unforgettable combination of flavors.
I had the B.A.L.T. sandwich on multi-​grain bread. It featured a generous portion of bacon and chunks of avocado; it was served with mesclun salad.
I also sampled the strawberry shortcake, a dessert comprised of strawberries, served between the split, crunchy lemon thyme biscuit, mascarpone, and strawberry sorbet. The dessert was sublime; the light and subtle flavors worked very well together.
Service was friendly and professional.

I contemplated for a week whether I should write this review, but truthfully I had one of the most traumatic dining experiences of my life here.
Things started off lovely. The dining area — formal, pristine and crisp. The service, excellent. My butternut squash soup with oyster mushrooms, delightful.
In fact, everything was great until I made my way through the Shrimp and Avocado salad. Soon before finishing up, I noticed something brown under one of the greens. I almost paid no thought to it, thinking it was probably a sliver of a mushroom that made it’s way into my salad. Then I gave it a second thought — there were no mushrooms in this salad.
So I flipped the leaf over and to my horror, there was a rather large, healthy slug inching along.
I didn’t want to alert the entire restaurant so as my eye bulged, I put myself on mute to beckon over the waiter. He tried his best to be discrete as well, but his eyes looked pretty shocked also. He quickly took the plate away and apologized profusely. I few minutes later, a manager came over and apologized as well. (They also comped my meal due to the experience without a prompt.)
Although the staff handled this situation to the best of their ability, it was truly one of the most disgusting experiences I’ve ever had. I still look back at the picture (which I decided not to post) and quiver thinking about the «what if.» I’m just so grateful that I saw it before throwing it in my mouth, because eating a raw slug could have resulted in some pretty serious illness.
Not sure if this was completely a freak/​fluke situation or not, but hopefully moving forward they will do a bit more to make sure their veggies are washed properly.
This situation worked out as a best case scenario for both parties, but I would hate to see it ever go in the other direction in the future.

Great ambiance for a celebration dinner yet some issues with quality. I’m a huge fan of everything Jean-​Georges and have been to many of his restaurants in NYC. This was the first time that I was disappointed in the quality of service or food.
Even though I was in amazing company there were many glitches.
The wine took forever to come out once we ordered it.
I ordered the table service soup and it was extremely salty and I love salt!
If it was too salty for me then it will be for most people.
The brussels sprouts that everyone was raving about come to the table cold.
My baked potato was not fully cooked and I had to order mashed potatos that took forever to be served.
I don’t even remember the tasty parts about this meal because the bad things stood out too blatantly.
This is a Jean Georges restaurant in a major city, if they can’t get the basics like a baked potato right, how could I trust the rest of the menu. The soup was a specialty and had no more redeeming qualities than a soup on an airplane.
It was disappointing because I was celebrating a birthday and didn’t want to spoil the night by mentioning anything to who I was eating with or to the staff. Once they goofed up the flow of service and the actual food, it was hard to get back on track. It was super pricey too and that was difficult. Sometimes the hype overwhelms the experience. The ambiance was amazing. That was the good part. But the repetitve background music started to annoy me. There are plenty of other places in DC to celebrate in the future.

This place was great. I hadn’t meant to go here, but POV upstairs was ONLY serving a $ 45 brunch, and as a vegetarian, this never works in my favor…
I had the grilled portobello mushroom sandwich. It was mildly spicy, as they made it with little red peppers, which gave it a nice kick. It was savory. It was nearly my only option… my waiter offered an avocado salad, which sounded good, but not filling enough for my appetite.
I splurged and went for hot cocoa with whipped cream and the salted caramel ice cream sundae with caramelized popcorn, popcorn, and hot chocolate sauce. It was so decadent, I had to take my time to both savor it, and get it all down… but I succeeded. They brought the fresh whipped cream on the side for my cocoa so it wouldn’t just sink to the bottom.
My waiter was fabulous. They had to shoo me out to close the place down as I was the last customer. They were attentive to just the right level, and I lacked for nothing. I ended up spending $ 44 with the tip for myself. It was worth it, even if their vegetarian options were limited. Very classy.

Yesterday was the hubs’ birthday, so I decided to take him to J&G because one of my ex-​teammates raved about the atmosphere and view from the rooftop. J&G is in the W hotel. We were a bit early, so we hung out in the lobby for a bit. It’s kewl there and a little old school in that there’s lots of black and white with red accents — you know, like red leather couches. Interesting.
The host was very friendly and even greeted the hubs with a Happy Birthday since I wrote it into my opentable reservation. Aww.
Our server was very pleasant and efficient. The rest of the waitstaff were excellent throughout the night — clearing plates, filling water glasses, folding the hubs’ napkin when he left the table, etc.
So, we were torn between the pre-​theater menu ($ 39) and the tasting menu ($ 68). I’m all about tasting as much as possible so we both decided on the tasting menu.
Let me just say that the tasting menu is a bargain. Every course was very flavorful, presented well, and they took care to take texture into account.
Tuna Tartare, Avocado, Spicy Radish, Ginger Marinade
*The ginger marinade was unbelievably tasty. I made sure to spread all the tartare on the marinade in order to absorb it all. The radish was a great touch for flavor and texture.
Butternut Squash Soup, Oyster Mushrooms
*I like butternut squash, but I had no idea it could taste THIS good! The soup was creamy and the presentation was nice. The shrooms come in the bowl and the soup is poured, piping hot, into your bowl. Our server was sweet enough to pause so my hubs could take a pic. No, I have no idea why he made her do that. HAHA. But she was a great sport.
Steamed Striped Bass, Sautéed Potatoes, Wilted Spinach, Lemon Confit
*This was my least fave course. I liked the bass. It was cooked well but I could have done without the lemon confit. I get it. It’s got a nice concentrated flavor, but I’d rather just have fresh lemon. It wasn’t bad at all, just different.
Soy Glazed Beef Short Ribs, Apple-​Jalapeño Purée, Rosemary Crumbs
*Wow, these short ribs were SO good! Since the ribs were sweet, the purée cut the sweetness and so did the thin apple slices on top. Again, they really get balance of flavors here, and texture.
Warm Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
*This cake is the typical kind of lava cake with an oozey center. Yeah, that’s a technical term. I liked it, especially with a bit of the cold ice cream. I also liked that the components were separate so you could eat the ice cream alone, which was a fantastic vanilla. There was also a mound of chocolate for dipping.
To top it all off, the W gave my hubs another complimentary dessert (the one that comes with the pre-​theater menu) which was a cute individual cheesecake with an excellent graham cracker bottom crust. It also came with port roasted figs which were sweet goodness. To cut all that sweetness, the dessert also came with a nice little scoop of concord grape sorbet. Seriously, this was not your typical sorbet. It was obviously made with fresh fruit by someone who cared. Honestly, I liked his bday dessert better than the chocolate plate that came with the tasting menu. I know — it beat chocolate?! Oh, yes it did.
So, while the courses weren’t totally inventive or out of the ordinary, the W put their little twist on the items to make it theirs — and to make them THAT much better. I’d definitely come back to check out the rooftop bar area and try out the pre-​theater menu. It really was a great night. Thanks, J&G!

Like many others, I was very excited to try J&G steakhouse the moment RW came around. I had eaten at the Jean Georges in Las Vegas earlier this year and was blown away by how good it was so figured we would try the one here in DC.
My husband and I started with the Caesar Salad and the cold corn soup. The corn soup was creamy, and a really silky consistency. It came in this really cool soup bowl and had the corn base and vegetables in it without the soup, then the waiter came over and poured the cold soup mixture in. It was very tasty and I really loved the presentation! My husbands Caesar salad however was a bit of a disappointment. It tasted good, but the presentation of it reminded me of something I would get from a school cafeteria lunch line. Not what I would expect from such an upscale restaurant.
We also ordered some raw oysters, which were not offered on the RW menu, but they were fantastic. A tad more expensive than most places but the quality was very good. In addition, I saw a side dish that also wasn’t on the RW menu «cheese balls with truffle oil» so decided to give it a whirl as well (can you tell I was hungry?) Anyhow the cheese balls were quite possibly the best 10 seconds of my life. They sorta look like hush puppies, but are made of cheese and a cornbread stuffing and the truffle oil makes it absolutely scrumptious! The side order came with around 8 of them, I think I couldve eaten 10 more. Really Really yummy!
For a main dish, we both ordered the RW steak offering. I was rather disappointed. The steak was extremely tough and the sauce it was served with was really good, but almost over powering. I was very disappointed with it.
Overall it wasn’t a bad experience by any means. The service was great, the restaurant overall has a very classic modern feel. The things that were good, were great, but the things that weren’t really were really a disappointment for such an upscale restaurant. If I did come back, the ONLY reason would be to order those cheeseballs! They were really THAT good. Although our experience wasn’t bad, we have had far better steak elsewhere!