Sonoma Restaurant & Wine Bar

We went for lunch and ordered the full cheese board, prosciutto and a side of mushrooms. The cheese board was absolutely amazing with 8 kinds of cheese, some jams including a fantastic fig jam. The side mushrooms were honestly the best we’ve ever had!

Great food and great service! We were seeing a show at the Folger and were only able to get reservations an hour or so before we had to leave for the play, and our server Carlos was extremely accommodating. We told him about our time constraints and he brought the first course out with our cheese plate, which helped us get to our next stop in time. The food was excellent as well! Highly recommend the risotto and lamb. We’ll definitely be back soon!

I’ve rarely complained about a restaurant before, but this experience was so bad I had to say something.
I booked a reservation for a first-​time trip to Sonoma with some friends. It was a Monday night, the restaurant was almost empty, and we were seated quickly. That was the only thing that went right.
The service was really bad from the beginning, with a waiter that disappeared periodically for long periods of time, and was rude when he came back. I understand that people have bad days, and have worked in restaurants before, so I tried to be really pleasant to him. It didn’t work.
Beyond the bad service, the food was unpalatable. I really couldn’t eat it. I ordered a Monday night special they have, which is spaghetti, a side salad and a glass of wine for around $ 20 — a great deal for DC dining. But I couldn’t eat any of it. The spaghetti’s only flavor was salt — so much salt it tasted like half of a container had just been poured on it – and the salad was just lettuce with dressing that actually tasted like water.
My friends’ meals were equally disappointing.
It was a really bad first time at Sonoma, but at least I learned enough to not come back. As one of my friends said while we were leaving, «At least we came with each other, and not with people we actually have to impress!»

I always appreciate when a server is eager to obtain information to answer food questions accurately rather than fabricate a response. I was disappointed to learn that the salmon was farmed but the trout was river trout. Helpful with wine selection and other suggestions. Three old friends enjoyed a reunion meal at Sonoma. Will return.

This is my first time there. It was a very nice environment for a catch up dinner with friends. The mushroom «burger» was great, with my side salad. I love the wine that I have ordered, which was recommended by our waiter. One thing that maybe they can improve on is maybe ask if we would like desert first before doing all the recommendations for it. We didn’t want to stop him in the middle so we let him finished the rest of the few recommendations. Other than that the service is good, and the food is good. Price is bit higher than others, but the food quality and service made up for it.

I have been here twice and both times it was great! The food is very very good. I came here with a small group of four, and they were able to accommodate us without a reservation on a busy Saturday night. Other than sitting next to the door, which was pretty cold, no one in my group had any complaints. The menu is pretty limited, but they take great care in the items they prepare. I would def. recommend!

Went for lunch today with my wife and daughter. Split a wedge salad, focaccia bread, a cheese pizza and an Autumn pizza. The Autumn was delicious with prosciutto and figs — memorable. I also accompanied my meal with an enjoyable local IPA that was quite tasty. Good, not great service but we certainly would come back. Enjoyed the ambiance as well. Convenient to the Capitol bldg and Library of Congress.

Good but a little overpriced. Service was fine but not great. Brussel sprouts were tasty but drowning in oil, couldn’t finish them or mushroom burger. No wine from organic grapes. Wine was great, but again not sure it was worth the price. A $ 100 meal for two consisting of a burger and charcuterie had better be top notch.

The potato gnocchi with eggplant ragu was good, although on the smaller side and with little cheese. The butternut squash risotto is labeled a First because it’s super small.

Lets just say our bill came out to $ 190 with tip and we still went to get pizza at we, the pizza. Dinner was a set menu and every portion was super tiny. Dessert was probably the best part. We specifically asked our waitress if we could order from the regular menu and she said no because it was a set menu. After we had our dessert the table next to us recieved a huge cheese and bread platter. When we asked how they recieved that the waitress said she wasnt sure. A few minutes later the manager came by and told us that this item was available however it wasnt on the set menu. We were not told it was available or else we would have ordered it. She did offer us the item but we already had dessert and was paying our bill. I probably wouldnt come back here. I came with a group of 8 and two of the girls were pregnant. Once we were done we ran down the street and got pizza.

Ended up having to sit at a communal table, and I am not a fan of this at all. If I wanted to go out with a group of people, I would do so. I wanted a quiet night out, but happily, there was only one other person there.
The service was outstanding, I can’t remember the waiter’s name, but my friend and I ended up speaking Spanish with him for awhile, and I remember he was Dominican. Anyway, super attentive without being in your face about it.
The food was… just okay. I had the gravlax, polenta, asparagus, and octopus. The polenta was interesting. Good flavor, but the texture was a little odd… more like mashed potatoes. The asparagus was outstanding. The gravlax… sad. I’ve eaten gravlax a lot, and it was lacking in seasoning and flavor. Finally, the octopus was okay. I kind of felt bad eating an octopus that was so overcooked.
So, the food was a letdown, but the bottle of wine we had was fabulous and the service saved the day.

Food was good quality but was heavy on sauces and not taste. Service was not good, had to keep asking for wine and water. The décor is nice and the wait staff was very friendly but there is a critical component missing, management.

Amazing atmosphere and food.
The restaurant is so spacey. There is so much room between each table, giving everyone an enjoyable time.
Food was great, the squid ink noodle had so much taste and the huge shrimps on the side brought out the flavour. The risotto was crunchy, creamy and amazing. The pizza was great, a bit on the dry side but the toppings were tasty. We did order this mixed greens salad that was very disappointing. It was 8 dollars for basic greens with really no taste…
Chris, our server, could not have been any nicer. He helped us organize the second half of our trip in DC and he provided us with local insight to food, transportation, sights and so much more.
The price was on the okay side and everything was joyful. Loved this experience and would love to return as well.

Simply amazing. We had wine pairings with a lovely meal and Chef Kevin even came out to ask us how we were enjoying our meal. Highlights include the gnocchi, the duck, risotto and the dessert board was fantastic. I live in the Sonoma region and this was definitely on par with food in the wine country. Beautiful!

The low star rating is primarily because of the service. We had a large group, granted, but the restaurant was pretty empty for brunch on Sunday, so it seemed like they should be able to handle us. We all got the bottomless brunch for $ 35. Instead, the waiter told us we wouldn’t be ordering anything and that he’d send out one of everything for us to try– it would be easier for the kitchen. Fine, if that’s what he was going to do, it sounded good to have a chance to try lots of different dishes.
That is not what happened. I think he and kitchen got together and decided they’d only send out what THEY wanted, not what we wanted. For example, they sent out something like 10 plates of the oyster hash. Only one or two people at the table wanted to eat it, so it was a bit of a waste. We tried to eat some of them to be polite, but several plates remained untouched. We really wanted steak and eggs, but that came out at the very end when we were all pretty full, and only one round of it, which was disappointing. They tried to fill us up on potatoes and eggs, it seemed – we got a lot of fried and poached eggs, as well as omelettes, and potatoes to accompany many dishes (including one giant bowl of potatoes on its own). I don’t know why it would have been so terrible for us to simply place our orders. The way they brought everything out, a lot of food was wasted.
We did request bacon many times– so simple!– but we had to keep asking to get them to bring it out to us. With 15 or so people, even a big plate of it meant each person only got one piece at a time.
As for the food itself, most of it was generally fine. The butter lettuce salad was pretty decent thought rather overdressed and could have used more avocado. The bacon had good flavor (not overly salty). The steak, when it finally arrived, was pink and juicy. The fried potatoes were crisp and yummy (it looked like they sliced fingerling potatoes). I’m not huge on french toast but the nutella one wasn’t bad. The donut holes were cold, unfortunately. The sausage was nothing to write home about.
As for the mimosas, the waiter was very unclear as to when we were being cut off or reaching our two hour limit, so many in the party believed at the end we had one more round coming. I think the decent thing to do is to let people know– since that’s a lot of the cost of bottomless brunch– when you’re stopping the pours. We had to argue for a while before finally getting a final round of half-​pours for everyone.
As for me, I don’t drink, so I wish more places would accommodate that, either with a discount on the bottomless brunch or at leas with more interesting or creative non-​alcoholic drink options. Instead, I just got orange juice. Meh.
Our waiter at the end had the nerve to tell us he thought he did a great job. What the heck?

Had steak and duck. Both very tasty. Not overwhelmed by the décor at all. It was dark and candlelight lit so a bit on the romantic side. The place though was freezing cold. The metal-​backed chairs didn’t help either. Had a great malbec wine, the only one on the menu. Two appetizers, two entries and a bottle of wine came to $ 140 which is not cheap but not overly expensive either. Service was very attentive but waiter forgot out bread order, which was ok as we were comfortably full with what we ordered. Noticed that most tables were occupied with larger groups so it was noisy but nothing that would annoy you unless you like to whisper only. Ended the night two doors down for after dinner drinks. Probably visit that part of town more to check out other places as well.

Waitstaff was perfect. My squid ink pasta was interesting but had an «off» taste. Ambience is casual. I found it noisy and difficult to hear my friends’ discussion but that could just be me.

My boss, a coworker and I took two clients there last month. The food was really good as was the service. I enjoyed my gnochhi a lot.

Went there today for their 5^th Annual Crab Feast. It was a very disappointing experience. The crabs were obvoiusly boiled, not steamed as they should be. The meat was watery and mushy. Many of the crabs were actually under cooked. I would not recommend this event to anyone. I’ve never had their regular menu, so I can not comment on it. But they should leave crabs to those restaurants that feature them. The atmosphere was nice. And our server, Rebecca, was wonderful.

This place is the definition of basic. Really bad experience last week. Let the server know about a severe allergy and he assured I was good. Then they served something that had what I was allergic to in it. I got sick and had to leave urgently. The server gave a half hearted apology and made sure to charge us full price for our average food. If you want to pay $ 25 for something you can make on a George Foreman grill and have chipotle level of service then this is a good place. Really don’t recommend and would WARN anyone with an allergy to not attempt to eat here.

Another stop during restaurant week. My date and I shared a bottle of wine and the food was really tasty. The service was okay, I think he should have been more attentive, we had to flag him down more than once. The atmosphere was really cute though, I’d go again.

I have lunch here about once a month, and I can say that I have never had a bad meal. Food is always great with manageable portions, and fantastic quality. I always like service that is polite and responsive but not intrusive. Highly recommend

I am very torn about the rating for Sonoma. We went to celebrate a graduation, not thinking that it was also Mother’s Day. When we got there, there was a prix fixe menu that didn’t have a single vegetarian item on it and was otherwise very limited as well – 3 appetizers, 4 mains, and 3 desserts to choose from. The staff was all very nice, but under no circumstances could we order from the regular menu, even though there was only one other table in the restaurant. We ultimately decided to stay because even though the menu didn’t look that good, we were all already there and one of the other people had heard the restaurant was very good.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that my pea & rock shrimp soup was so tasty that I was slurping the bottom of the bowl. Literally the entire table ordered the softshell crab benedict with home fries because none of the other mains seemed even remotely appetizing – all very heavy meat dishes. The benedict was very tasty, but the crab was so tiny that I was still pretty hungry when I finished, and my latte was cold. I wrapped up the meal with a peach crumble, which was pretty good as well.
I might go back to try the regular menu because at least my appetizer was so delicious, but I am still pretty irritated that my attempt to eat from the regular menu was completely scuttled, thus forcing another trip to the same place.

After a stressful day, wander into this restaurant for a glass of wine and small plates. The restaurant has a good vibe and is well appointed without looking like it’s trying too hard — think exposed brick, Edison bulbs and a single floral stem in the center of the table.
The service was on point. Our waiter was attentive without being overbearing. Wine glasses were topped off at appropriate intervals, water glasses refilled and dishes cleared.
The food was spectacular and the wine list was well curated. We shared the charred octopus small plate, then had the halibut and carbonara. The halibut is one of the best dishes I’ve been served in recent memory. The pairing with blacks beans and Swiss chard was unexpected but highly enjoyable.
The restaurant has a small outdoor seating area and I would love to come back to enjoy a glass of wine in the spring weather. I would highly recommend that you find a time to do the same!

Between all the old-​school haunts like Old Ebbitt for the power players and all the trendy hot spots like Rose’s Luxury for the young and beautiful, it can sometimes seem like there’s no place for the rest of us to get a fancy dinner without all the hoopla. In this category, though, Sonoma is definitely a top-​notch choice, whether for date night, the parents visiting, or just a night out on the town.
Everything about it just seems to hit the right note. The overall ambiance is incredibly muted so as not to distract from your excellent meal, from the low lighting to the exposed brick walls to the sign on the front window that you could walk right by without ever noticing. The staff are always very friendly, ready with a recommendation but never pushy. The food is always delicious, from the great selection of cheeses to the pastas (my favorite being the carbonara, with a raw egg cracked right on top while the pasta is hot) to the main courses to the desserts. I can’t remember ever having eaten a dish here I didn’t enjoy immensely. The wine list seems fine to me, not being a connoisseur, and I can always find one I like, or try one of the little tasting flights for some variety.
I’m positively shocked that Sonoma only has a 3.5 star rating on Unilocal,the people giving it one– and two-​star reviews must have eaten at a parallel universe Sonoma that I’ve never been to. It’s by far my favorite restaurant on Capitol Hill, and probably one of my favorites in all of DC.

Really enjoyed the grilled octopus. It’s accompanied by guac, a roasted red pepper spread and chorizo. The flavors were perfect together.
It was also nice to get outdoor seating on what is usually a busy night.

Incredible meal, such a great vibe! And our waiter Chris was amazing!!! We will def go back next time in DC!

Awesome event space!
This past week, I hosted a reception at Sonoma Restaurant & Wine Bar and they did not disappoint! Everything was spot on with my specification including the beverages, food and space. Sonoma’s priviate event space had a cozy, intimate and romantic feel. The lighting was dim and there were many candles around the space.
With chicken skewers, pork and beef meatballs, assorted risotto fritters, shrimp cocktail, goat cheese stuffed tomatoes and mini brownies on the menu I was really excited to see how the spread would turn out! I didn’t care for the goat cheese stuffed tomatoes, but everything else was delicious. My favorite risotto fritters were the quinoa ones, which seemed to be a favorite of everyone.
Sonoma is the perfect spot for a casual drink at the bar or a private event. I am excited to come back here and try their brunch! This would be the perfect location for a birthday brunch!

I’m surprised there are such low reviews for Sonoma because I have always had great service and great food. The first time I visited Sonoma it was later in the evening after a less than satisfactory dinner at Medium Rare. We sat at the bar and ordered a bottle of wine and a meat and cheese plate. Everything was delicious and the bartender was very attentive even though the bar was pretty busy.
The second time we went back for dinner. I suggest making a reservation. The restaurant does not have that many tables and they frequently rent out their spaces for private events. Our waiter was fantastic. I absolutely LOVE olives. Sharing my affinity he brought me an additional dish! YUM! From appetizer to entrée and even dessert, all of our dishes were perfect.
I didn’t now it at the time but my boyfriend and I took a walk after dinner and he proposed by the Capitol! Sonoma will always have special meaning to both of us and we plan on visiting again and again for many years to come.

Got the privilege of attending a brunch here for DC Wine Week and I was not disappointed.
First, despite my 3 stars, the place was GORGEOUS! Multi-​level, extremely well like by natural light, and simply classy.
Lower stars because the uniqueness of the food. In 2^nd the picture, starting at 12 o’clock and going clockwise…
Breakfast Sandwich: B+
Extremely flavorful and thick piece of bacon and sausage. Cheese and eggs not tasted well. Bread a bit much and hard to fit in your mouth.
Variety of Cheese: A
High quality Blue and Mozzarella. Exactly what you’d expect.
Sauces: A+
The Fig (great with the prosciutto), Apricot (great with the cheeses), and the Apple Butter all delivered and were delectable.
French Toast: C
Weird texture, not enough flavor.
Beet Skewer: C
Too much cheese and beat, the other flavor elements just get lost as textures.
Fried Doughnut Holes (picture on left: C
Great taste and rich texture, but really funky after taste that needs coffee to get it our of your mouth.
Mellon wrapped Prosciutto (picture on right): A
Now this was a simple but strangely satisfying combination of flavor and texture. My favorite dish at the place.
So that’s why my rating is a 3 star, but I have to say, this would be an EXCELLENT place to sit down for a drink on a date. Probably would go somewhere else for food options other than good snack pairings with your wine.

Food and service was AMAZING. And the sous chef is a super hot brunette.