Trattoria Nicola’s

This place was pretty good. Also pretty dead. Good fish and veggies a little over-​priced. But nice atmosphere I guess.
I only went because of the groupon tbh.

I found a groupon for the restaurant and I was really excited. The drinks were good, the food was average at best. We were just really happy we had a groupon because the price of the food and drinks was not worth it! At the end, I was stuffed so I figured I would box up the rest and take it home (pasta is always better the next day!) Our waiter, Gamil, took our plates to box them and I guess between him and a brunette manager they dropped all of our food on the floor. They managed to save us a tiny tiny portion. Gamil came back and told us they would make us another plate. A few minutes later the brunette manager came back with one single shrimp! We were super shocked, why would Gamil offer us a complete new plate then we get one shrimp? They dropped our food! Overall, not even the groupon is worth it. Such a disappointment. Please do not waste your time or money on this terrible service.

The food here is well prepared and presented nicely. Wait staff is unattentive. Could explain why there were three tables occupied at 7 pm on a Saturday night. We would return, but with lower expectations of service.

Service was great and staff was friendly. Italian dishes can easily become cheap or trivial and they stay away from that. The location is a bit hard to find but there is parking around. I’d go there again.

The food was below average: I paid $ 40 for an entrée and dessert that looked like it was leftover from night before, so the portion was small. On top of that, I got food poisoning. (I ordered the tuna with polenta and green beans and bruschetta.) Our server was so self-​absorbed, she didn’t have the courtesy to let us finish our sentences after asking us a question. I don’t understand how this place got more than 2 stars.

Came here for a groupon. Restaurant was empty but they seated us by the door, which had a lot of noise from the hotel lobby. I asked to be moved somewhere quieter and the waiter just shrugged. The drink list is full of typos and also incorrect; they didn’t have several of the things listed. The fish was extremely salty and had an aftertaste of drain cleaner. I wound up sending it back. The manager later said that was the way it was supposed to taste. Really?! The steak was average but accompanying greens were not tasty. Quite disappointing over all, even with a groupon.

We for lunch antipasto buffet and left feeling satisfied. Good deal on this abd you can order either the pasta or soup of the day. I got the shrimp and corn bisque. DELISH. We are here for conference at Fairmont. My whole party loved the coconut lemon cake.

We came here on a Sunday for lunch and was highly disappointed at the service. I had ordered bucatini alla’ amatriciana and my husband ordered linguini carbonara. After 30 minutes, both orders finally came and they were IDENTICAL. How insulting was that? Did I mention that we were the ONLY customers there? We sent both back and they finally got the order right. Most places would have given us a free appetizer or something for the mistake but nope, not this place. Also, we had asked for bread twice and we didn’t get any. Would have been nice to have something to eat while we waited for our orders. I had won a drawing from Embassy Suites for a free lunch here and it was a huge disappointment. The service was horrible on every level.

Generic Italian food but convenient location to my hotel, which is why we visited. I had the salmon, which was good but the accompanying vegetables were covered in oil.
Service was friendly and timely. Ambiance was a pretty typical of a sports bar and restaurant lounge.

Finally had the chance to try their lunch buffet… two thumbs up! Food makes up for a somewhat lackluster service from previously… they do try, but not very enthusiastically. The variety on the buffet line is great, and they manage to replenish it often. I can see why this place has become a regular lunch stop for some groups… can’t go wrong for a $ 12 lunch buffet

Nothing special. Typical hotel fare. They ran out of risotto the night we ate there.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites hotel which houses the restaurant, they were clearly overwhelmed on Sunday evening with delivery service-​I called to pick up two pizza pies and came down within 30 minutes of placing the order, had to wait another 20. The pizza was really good though.

This is a review for the lunch buffet, which has to be the cheapest lunch in this part of DC — $ 12 for all you can eat buffet, drink and dessert. (Menu prices aren’t bad either!) There is so much on the buffet I couldn’t even try it all. All very fresh and tastes top notch. The service is impeccable, my drink was constantly refilled. Everyone is very friendly. I had no idea this place was attached to a hotel, it has its own entrance on the other side of the building. If the quality of the food on the menu is anything like the food on the buffet, it’s definitely worth several more visits to try out their other dishes!

I visit nicolas once or twice a month for their lunch buffet. I beliebe it is $ 13.95
Before enjoying the buffet, your server will offwr you today’s soup or pasta. Both are really delicious and different everyday. Their orange tea is included in the buffet and it is refillable. It is perfectly balanced sweetness to enhanve yhe buffet. Their buffet items are differret each day as well but all of them consist fresh salads, grilled vegetables, chicken, olives, meatballs, fruits, and dessert. I love that nicola’s shaves their parmasean cheese really thick. Gives you the nutty taste.
I highly recommend this lunch buffet! You can take care of appetizer, main course, drinks, and dessert all in one location. Such a great deal!

People must be extremely critic to rate this place for only 3… after living in Bologna for a year, I think I know my Italian, and I am saying this is one of best in town! The entrée buffet is great (especially the meat balls and mozzarella!) and lunch special is really a great deal, pasta+entrée buffet+drink for only 12? You can’t have better than that! (Though the pasta portion is a bit small)

I went here on a first outing with a young lady. The dimly lit lighting was perfect for the mood. The waiter was funny but a bit too funny if you ask me. He was cracking flirty jokes towards my date that kind of made me a bit irritated. Although we were seated immediately because of my reservation we waited a bit long for drinks to ordered. We both ordered the scallops and swordfish dish which was really tasty but the swordfish was more like a sampler. I even mentioned that to the chef because one scallop was bigger than the fish on the plate. However overall it was a great experience I would do it again just because the lady really seemed to like it.

This is great place to enjoy lunch. The food was great, just like the atmophere. There was a variety of food to select from. The wait staff was very attentive.

While looking for somewhere close to my training site, the Unilocal app popped up with Trattoria Nicola’s. For $ 11.95, their weekday lunch buffet has a myriad of offerings and is a great deal. This is great if you have big eaters in your group. I would say more like 3−−3.5 for the food, but the service is fantastic. My server (Frankie, I believe) was great, and the greeters are incredibly friendly.
The buffet consists of bread, salads, other antipasti, and dessert. My favorites were the Brussel sprouts, caprese, and bread. You also get a small portion of the pasta del giorno, which was a rigatoni with vegetables and a light tomato-​based sauce. The pasta was al dente and tasted house-​made. I really like the dish overall, and it was topped with shaved Parmesan. I was told many of the buffet offerings change daily, as does the pasta dish.
If in the area, I’d visit again and I’d like to try their happy hour.

I had dinner at Trattoria Nocola’s while staying at the Embassy suites. I was actually surprised at how good the meal was, generally, I avoid hotel restaurants. I ordered the Parmesan chicken. The chicken was flattened out, battered and perfectly fried then smothered with cheese. The breast was served over pasta with a light marinara sauce. A crusted bread was served on the side. The pasta was average, good but nothing to brag about. The chicken was delicious, perfectly cooked and down right tasty! I could only eat about half of the serving, it was a large portion.
The atmosphere was noisy, I was seated between the bar and several tables with rowdy kids; not the restaurants fault, but it made for less than a relaxing evening.
If you find yourself at the Embassy Suites and don’t feel like venturing out on a cold evening, give them a try. Decent meal at a reasonable price for the area.

This review is based on two visits — dinner one night and then lunch the next day.
I came to the Trattoria because I was a hotel guest at the Embassy Suites. When I checked in at 10:30PM one evening, I was informed that the restaurant kitchen would be open only until 11PM. As you probably know, it’s hard to find good food in this area after 10PM or so. Further, I had little interest in going for a stroll because the outside temperature was plummeting. So Nicola’s it was.
I ordered their insalata con bistecca, which seemed like it would be hard for the kitchen to mess up. The salad was fine, and the steak was cooked rare, as I ordered it. The beers on draft were basically beneath contempt; accordingly, I ordered a Magic Hat #9
, which was a perfect complement to my salad.
One of my colleagues managed to come in to the restaurant at 10:58PM. She got food as well, although she got served a carafe of Italian wine only after a long discussion («last call» was at 10:45). To keep her company, I ordered a second beer. Curiously, there had been only one bottle of #9 in their refrigerator, so I was forced to settle for one of the draft beers. All in all, this was a pretty decent experience.
I was back for lunch the next day with two other colleagues who had declared that they wanted to try Nicola’s. They both ordered hamburgers, and I ended up doing the same. The burger was A-​OK. I asked for a caesar salad in place of the default fries, and liked what I was served. The iced tea was good; I drank a lot of it.
Odds are that I’ll be back!