The food was good, but the service was abysmal. You'd expect a place that demands 23% gratuity (automatic) to deliver the quality of a restaurant boasting a Michelin star chef. Unfortunately, that was not our experience. Even after talking with the manager, we received no compensation nor discount. My dc dinner club is used to full price and quality respectively. If you're looking for a swanky dinner experience, pass on this one. read more

Good food, but very slow and incompetent service. Ruins the experience frankly when staff has no idea what they are doing.

We made a reservation a few weeks back to celebrate my wife's new job. We found out the main dining room was closed when we arrived and they placed us in a room with six folding tables covered with a blue table cloth. Might as well have been sitting in the dining room at a holiday inn. After requesting to move to an outdoor table, which at least had a nice ambiance, we proceeded to wait 25 minutes for service. We left before someone came by to take our wine order and I left this review. read more

As part of my DC Summer Restaurant Week circuit, I hit Officina, which proved to be a true highlight of the last seven days. While Officina certainly tends to be pricier, the Restaurant Week deal made dining at this spot in the Wharf area far more accessible--my party of three paid less than my friend who went solo for standard dinner service. Here are my thoughts on the setting, food, and service: The Setting: The Wharf itself is a charming location that is bustling with activity and is pedestrian-friendly, though far from overwhelming. Officina has a central location among the buildings overlooking the Potomac, with a lovely terrace offering views of the hubbub below and the occasional breezy respite from the sweltering heat. The interior of the restaurant is tastefully industrial, with an open and modern floor plan. Notably, garage parking is the only reliable option if you're bringing your own vehicle, and the closest garage costs around $20 for 1.5 hours. The restaurant does not validate parking passes, so it could be more cost effective to uber! The Food: In brief, our meal was a divine ode to southern Italian cuisine (save the protein garnish on our dish that we didn't order...a hair :/ ). We began with the crostini with ricotta, squash, lemon, and mint, which was light and airy with delicate summer flavors, but was more like a toast than a crostini as it lacked the telltale crunch. We then shared two pastas: a bucatini with pecorino, panchetta, and red onion and a gorgeous rigatoni alla norma, with eggplant, tomato, and ricotta salata. While the bucatini was excellent, the rigatoni was an absolutely delicious combination of seasonal flavors, with the eggplant and tomato truly enhancing each bite rather than acting as sideshows. Our secondis included seared trout on a bed of crunchy green beans, cooked to perfection, along with calamari stuffed with a potato and prosciutto puree and doused in a lemony squid ink sauce. We also ordered the eggplant parmesan. While I normally love grilled calamari, I concurred with the rest of my party, which found the calamari to be the least impressive of the three dishes. Surprisingly, the eggplant was absolutely lovely. Eggplant parmesan is a hard dish to destroy...but it is a similarly difficult dish to make exceptional. Officina surpassed my expectations with thin, sweet layers of the vegetable that I found satiating and comforting without the heft and carelessness of a clusmily thrown together eggplant parm. It was done thoughtfully. The perfectly pan-seared trout and green beans was another excellent dish. While the calamari was beautifully cooked, the flavor profile was off in my opinion--acidity was overwhelming the other flavors, while the puree filling the calamari itself did not really enhance the dish. It was not bad by any means, but not notable. To close our meal, my culinary companions opted for a cheese plate and zabaione (the eggy and creamy Italian classic atop layers of spongy chiffon, peach, and lavender sorbet) while I opted for tastes of their desserts and an affogato with stracciatella. The zabaione was an excellent way to punctuate our meal and capture the spirit of summertime in a dessert. The affogato also hits the spot for any espresso and gelato aficionado...what could be better than the melted chocolate shavings at the end of your interchangeably bitter and sweet concoction? The Service: While the meal and setting were lovely, the mediocre service is what puts this place in a distinctly separate category from its cousin Masseria and other Michelin star restaurants. I want to qualify this by saying that Restaurant Week is probably fresh hell for people in the industry. However, it's also when you open your doors up to throngs of new customers, which makes it imperative to put your best foot forward on all fronts. Our server was perfectly adequate, but not a touch more. He was not very attentive to our table, though he did make a point of regularly checking in with the table in front of us and promptly running them their drinks (though they arrived ten minutes after us). He wasn't rude when he answered our questions about the menu, but he was short. We went long stretches of time without the container of tepid water at our table being refilled, and receiving an iced coffee took 25 minutes and a kind manager's intervention. It seemed like dealing with us was an imposition for him, which is a bad way to feel as a patron. In sum, I really enjoyed my meal. It really felt like a fine, luxurious dining experience when we lingered over coffee and sopped up the thick tomato sauces with table bread--very Italy. However, I think the service we received was lacking and is incongruous with the price point of Officina during a typical week, which certainly tempers my eagerness to return anytime soon. read more

See all

Ordered the porchetta sandwich and the tagliatelle. The porchetta had a nice flavor enhanced by brocollini and cheese. The brocollini was unexpected and made each bite a little difficult as you ended up pulling it out. The porchetta was well seasoned and moist. But if you order this expecting the porchetta you can get in Italy- expect to be disappointed. The tagliatelle was the star of the show though. The pasta tasted very fresh and tender- cooked perfectly. The seasoning and the meat were great and made every bite a different experience. It looks small but it's filling. Would def come back for the pasta. read more

I don't want to leave a bad review during covid but this place left such a bad taste in my mouth, pun intended. Beginning with making a reservation and having to put down a deposit of $15 per guest something far more exclusive and wonderful restaurants do not require. Second we were sat on the balcony on arrival. It has the most exquisite views of the riverfront and bridge. However after sitting for 3 minutes our hostess MOVED US. In all my years I have never had anyone ask us to switch tables. You can chalk it up to experience but once a guest is sat, there they stay. We were moved indoors to what I think were better seats but once there we were bewildered. Dinner was expensive but not worth the money. We enjoyed the burrata and frito misto to start and both were good. The buratta was a bit salty but I liked it. We ordered the special squash tortellini and the bucatini pasta as mains. There was a huge gap between our starters and mains. My tortellini was ice cold meanwhile boyfriend bucatini had torrents of steam coming off it, my pasta sat for ages and the pasta toughened up. We had some sides but they were unremarkable. The expo knew for sure my pasta was cold but still served it. There were no vegan or vegetarian pastas except for the special and the mushroom risotto. Although it's an Italian restaurant you need to cater to a variety of diets. Overall the restaurant is pretty and has lovely views but the food is not up to par. It's especially disappointing for the price and the Michelin starred Chef of Masseria. read more

Came here with my girlfriends for a quick bite of dessert. The best part of this place was the view. The menu was quite disappointing and the dessert did not taste amazing. Presentation was nice, however. Service was average. read more

Officina - Italian Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Went here for a fine dining date with my girlfriend on a Friday night. Absolutely horrible service, took forever for us to get a waitress, she then could not understand or interpret a single order we placed and had to use a manager to properly understand our order of a simple wine off their menu. Our appetizer of Fritto Misto came out fast which was not anything special at all. We then continued to have issues with our table service so we closed the tab and left. I don't recommend anyone waste money here. Extremely overpriced for the dining experience and the management is not on the same page. read more

Great service and great food. It was all so delicious I am definitely coming back! The mood is a little too fancy for my taste, and while the guests made me feel out of place, the staff never made me feel uncomfortable for asking questions about the menu or butchering the meal names. We went up to the rooftop bar afterwards and it did have a great view of the water and a cute ambiance but there is limited seating so be weary. read more

See all

We got a chef's table selection of their most popular dishes and everyone loved the food. The salad contained so many different types of greens that each bit was different hitting notes of parsnip, fennel or other tasty greens. The burrata with citrus was fantastic. Like cream with a hint of cheese that melts with the grapefruit and accented with tasty flowers and greens. Overall an excellent experience. read more

See all

Came for drag brunch, was absolutely excellent. Cocktails were next level, service was superb and food was great. Loved the terrace, including view and shade. 10/10 read more

Went here after work on a Thursday and absolutely LOVED the ambiance. The restaurant was pretty empty when we got there around 6 but within the hour it began slowly filling up. Our waitress was kind and checked in on us frequently enough that our water glasses were always filled. Once she took our orders the bread came and you could taste how fresh it was. It was hard to control ourselves around it so we didn't spoil our appetites. We ordered the meatballs and calamari as our appetizers. It was lucky there were only three of us at dinner because the meatball plate only came with three meatballs. The sauce on them was absolutely delicious though and we scooped up the extra with our bread. The calamari was a little too salty for my taste, but my friends enjoyed it. I ordered the special, which was the lobster linguine while my friend got the gnocci (I've forgotten what my other friend ordered). The portions were the perfect sizes and we all struggled to finish our plates. The food was absolutely delicious! Highly recommend trying out Officina if you want a dinner that's an experience. read more

Officina - Lobster linguine - Italian Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

See all

This is probably my favorite Italian place in dmv. Finding parking in the wharf is annoying but the restaurant itself is rally nice. Ambiance is beautiful, food is delicious, portions are perfect and the price is really affordable. Our severe was extremely pleasant and went out of his to accommodate our party of 6z We were able to check in our coats for free. We had bread and butter for starters and it was delicious, we also ordered calamari for appetizer and I had gnocchi pasta with the side of eggplant and omg I was blown away with the flavors. I highly recommend the egg plants for side. My Friens had Risotto, linguini and chicken Parmesan and everything was fresh and delicious. Perfect spot for bday celebrations, date night or even Bach dinner. read more

See all

WORST service you will ever experience!! DO not be fooled by the shiny exterior- the management and staff have the Most horrible attitude and make you feel like you are a ward in a prison!! The manager threaten to cancel our lunch for 10 people minutes before our guests arrived, despite the fact that we had signed a contract for the luncheon! We sat for 45 minutes before a waiter approached our table. We didn't get our drinks for 20 minutes AFTER that! one person needed a fork and tried to flag down a staff person unsuccessfully and was not able to eat their meal with the rest of the people at the table! we sat for 45 minutes with dirty dishes in front of us that were not cleared. never got a "sorry" or an apology from anyone there! Worst attitude ! will never go back to this place until they fire their entire staff!! read more

I really had such high hopes for this experience - especially as a "nice" italian restaurant on the wharf. While the service and the aesthetic was really wonderful, I can't get over the fact that they served carbonara that was...completely wrong! The eggs were totally scrambled - when the sauce is supposed to be smooth!! While we came here during restaurant week and we got 3 courses for $22 (a really good deal) I was sad that a supposedly upscale italian place could get a staple dish like carbonara right. I enjoyed the stuffed squid and my dessert, but I definitely wouldn't trust another experience paying full price if they can't get the basics right. read more

See all

I was so excited to finally get to try Officina at the Wharf. The ambience is so beautiful, with chic interior and cozy fire pits. Definitely appears to be a great spot for a trendy date night.... we were so disappointed. Their wine list, while large, contained mostly bottles that are $200+. The wine we chose was very delicious - we agreed that we would probably pick up another bottle from their market, if it were available and marked at a to-go price in the future. We started with their version of a cheese & charcuterie board. This was actually the highlight of our meal. If you're going to come for the ambience, I would choose this option with just a glass of wine or a cocktail! We then shared the bucatini and the bone-in ribeye. Both were so disappointing. The bucatini had potential, and I'm all for/expect al dente pasta. Unfortunately, you could have snapped the bucatini in half, it was so hard. Almost as if they're using dried pasta and not fresh. The steak was 50% fat, which I know can happen on that specific cut, so I guess no fault of the restaurant. Although cooked nicely to medium, it was poorly seasoned and we were scraping up the (also poorly seasoned) red wine sauce just to semi-enjoy the $100 steak. Service was very poor. It took about 20 minutes for us to even get water and another 20 minutes before we were asked for drink orders. I would understand if the restaurant were slammed and understaffed, but we didn't even see our waitress attending to other tables or see her at all in our dining area. Perhaps she was working on two different floors? One last thing to note - this restaurant does add a 23% service charge on automatically, although it was not noted anywhere on the reservation or their menu. Which is completely understandable, COVID has hit the industry pretty hard. However, we weren't sure if that charge was for the wait staff or just a restaurant-relief charge? Even a small blurb on the bottom of the menu would have been helpful. read more

** Winter 2020 Restaurant Week Dinner Review ** Great deal for RW!! $35 for three courses (antipaste or paste, paste or secondi, dolci or formaggi). So, technically...you can get two pasta dishes and dessert. I came with 2 other people, so I was luckily able to try a lot of dishes. Our favorites that we ordered are the polpette (very delicious meatballs with a creamy, cheesy polenta and hearty tomato sauce), tagliatelle bolognese (excellent cook on the fresh pasta and overall favorite dish of the night), the gemelli (also very tasty), and the trota (didnt care for the parsnip puree or the almonds, but the fish itself was yummy). Less of a star of the night was the pollo milanese- we were hoping for it to be more lemony and overall better, but it lacked the qualities the other dishes had. The affogato and the beignet were a great way to end the night! The service here is also impeccable. Coat check available at the door. A host on both floors. Someone walked me to the bathroom. Felt like we were waited on by many servers! read more

See all

I dont understand why the employees are so rude, and I dont understand why the food is so mediocre for such a noteworthy chef.

I loved my visit to Officina at the Wharf. We came for dinner after a long day of sightseeing, and the food was incredible. I love the selection of authentic Italian pastas, and the branzino was perfectly prepared. The squid ink pasta may be one of my all-time favorites. After dinner, we decided to checkout the much talked about roofdeck that Washingtonian named the best in DC. We loved the cozy ambiance, water views and craft cocktails. The heaters and firepits are a nice touch as the weather cools. Maybe next time we will start our evening here before heading downstairs for dinner, we will definitely be back and next time I will be sure to take some photos! read more

Excellent food quality and flavors as well as outstanding customer Service. Delila & Erica gracious & efficient. Made great recommendations for appetizers and meal. Great wine selections, too. We dined close to closing but never felt rushed. Even the manager Lily came to the table to hear our staff compliments in person. Chef owner gets high marks from us. We will return to dine next DC visit . read more

The service was great--friendly and quick! Food came out hot, fresh, and delicious. Would recommend the rigatoni and the meatballs, but you can't go wrong read more

I was so excited to take my family here after our exceptional experience at Masseria. Officina, sadly, was just awful. The service was painfully slow and disinterested. The cocktails were expensive, small, and underwhelming. The gin and tonic we ordered tasted like lighter fluid. When we ordered our main, the server did not advise that the main plates did not come with any sides, so when our food came all we had was a handful of pasta (congealed, undercooked, with poor tasting truffle shaved on top - flavorless like it had been left over from last season), a small branzino, and a few scallops. I will say the branzino and scallops were delicious and expertly seasoned and cooked. The burrata we had was actually very good but the rest of the cheese plate was blasé. They even ran out of one of the cheeses we ordered - at 7pm on a Saturday... The pasta we ordered was kind of gross but we ate half because we were starving. We declined dessert as we were so disappointed in the rest of the meal. Beyond the poor service experience, this place just doesn't feel like a nice restaurant. The restroom was dirty, with toilet paper all over the floor, overflowing trash cans, and horribly dim lighting. When my dining companion went to the restroom later in the evening, someone was cleaning the bathroom and cursing, throwing things around loudly, and making it a very uncomfortable experience. I don't know what this place is trying to be but whatever it is, skip it. Head to Masseria for a truly exceptional experience. Officina is a dumbed down version of their flagship, tailored for the tourist trap route. Will certainly not be back. We alerted the manager to our issues and he took a percentage off but our tab was still over $200, barely worth the fact that we left hungry and dissatisfied. read more

The aesthetic of this restaurant is fantastic. The service was attentive, and we loved the restaurant week menu! The pasta was fresh, and the meatballs were delicious. I would recommend going on a sunny day and sitting on their balcony that the server moved us is to when we arrived. read more

See all

Stopped into Officina for coffee and enjoy the ambiance while we waited for another restaurant to open. However we got carried away with Bloody Marys and espresso that we decided to stay. Our server, Julio, did not rush us to order, but rather checked on us often enough to see if we had questions or were ready to order. They had an assortment of paninis and brunch menu items but we ended up building our own paninis, ordered some bread and olive oil, and Parmesan fries. Everything was awesome. The cured meat selection was extremely tasty. Overall, I really enjoyed the entire experience here, the staff was attentive and friendly, they accommodated our requests and were pleased to do so. I wish I had time for dessert! read more

We had our office party here! The private room with a view of the Wharf was amazing. We had a mix of appetizers- the calamari, veal meatballs, and cheese with beets was a perfect start to the evening. For the next course we had a small arugula salad that was peppery and balanced with slices of cheese. Then I tried the Steak and snuck a few bites of the ravioli- everything was mouth watering and beyond expectations. The service was great and our party was perfect! Ambience and the feel of the restaurant was homey and yet industrial. Will go back!! read more

Officina - View of the wharf - Italian Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

See all

Went here during happy hour and the service was so bad. The one in Georgetown is so much better

I went in looking to partake in the Amaro library. Unfortunately it was having a private tour at the moment. But the two bartenders Carlton and Brady took very good care of me. I was given a lesson in the different types of Amaro and was able to taste a lot of Amaro forward cocktails and had a flight!. The tiramisu is to die for and so is the bread that they give you for an aperitif. Will definitely go back. The only reason why I did not give it a full five stars. because I feel like if they have a tomorrow library it should be big enough to accommodate a private group and other people who want to partake as well. read more

Officina - Paper plane cocktail - Italian Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

See all

We visited DC for an away weekend for my husbands bday and we had the most incredible experience at Officina in the warf!!! Jonathan the bartender made drinks i've had my whole life and have never had like this. I NEVER do reviews. ever. Its also incredible food and atmo!!! read more

Officina - heaven. - Italian Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Loved my orchiette pasta. Service was really good. View good. Free street parking on Sunday. Nothing I'd change about this visit.

I was really looking forward to checking out Officina since I have had great experiences at Masseria, but walked away really disappointed. The building/decor is really nice, and the market is very impressive and tempting. I went for lunch and envisioned enjoying a delicious pasta or something along those lines. I sat at the bar, and the service the whole time was halting and slow, even though there were very few other guests. Basically the options were sandwiches, pizza or salad, so I settled on a sandwich. It was pretty bland and dry - just fried chicken, lettuce and tomato, it really would have benefited from some acid, like pickles or vinaigrette, or even some mayo for moisture. It also didn't come with anything on the side, so I paid $50 for two glasses of wine and a bland sandwich and walked away a little hungry. read more

Officina - Italian Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

See all

So Officina was ok. I was expecting a much more impactful experience. The food was fine and the drinks were fine. Nothing was as good as the prices seem to indicate. The ambiance of the restaurant is pretty nice, and it can be difficult to get a reservation however it sucked in the end. read more

I ordered the Branzino (sea bass) and noticed it was slightly undercooked, but I rolled the dice. I very likely contracted Ciguatera (fish poisoning) or some other type of food poisoning. How do I know it was that fish. It was the only meal I had on Tuesday, and didn't eat Wednesday due to cramping, nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhea, headache, chills, and muscle pain. Today the symptoms have subsided except for the diarrhea. I also took a COVID test and I'm negative just to rule that out. You can research Sea Bass and how it can make people sick. I suggest they ensure cleanliness, quality of fish, and make sure it is cooked properly so other customers don't get sick. Very dissatisfied. read more

The menu is very sparse and the prices are too high for what it is in my opinion. This place is a bit better for carry out as they have a decent dessert selection in a market like section adjacent to the cafe. read more

Came in with a large group. Service was great, and the atmosphere was very nice. We ordered several appetizers: prosciutto, meatballs and calamari. The prosciutto came with figs- very delicious. The calamari tentacles was a little over cooked, which are my favorite, so a little disappointing. For my main I ordered the tonno. It was prepared very well, rare inside. The cut was good, however the flavors overall just didn't blow my socks off. I would definitely give this place another shot, maybe try the scallops or pasta. read more

I'd been wanting to check out Officina for a while and it didn't disappoint. We had reservations for the Trattoria, and ordered a la cart versus the chef's tasting menu. The prosciutto on the charcuterie board melted in your mouth - delicious! The fried calamari was light, flavorful and not greasy at all. I had the tagliatelle bolognese, and the pasta had that perfect snap of fresh homemade pasta. The sauce was very good as well and not too heavy. My husband got the pork chop special and raved about it. Officina's has an extensive Italian wine selection with prices ranging from about $70 a bottle to $9000! Service was great - I'd definitely go back again. read more

Officina - Tagliatelle bolognese - Italian Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

See all

Two stars for great food. The entire experience was ruined due to the restaurant point of sale management company Toast. Bad service, over-charged, and gratuity was done for us even though we were a party of 4. Here's the scoop...call me old fashioned but I like to be greeted with a hello at minimum. No one came. You have to order drinks to get someone over and you do so via QR code. After that someone did come and deliver our drinks. Never said hi or gave a name, just put the drinks down and left. Then a nice busser (don't know what else to call him) came by and filled our waters and brought bread. He was nice, smiled, said hi and was helpful. Next we ordered appetizers and saw a whole new person. Then same for dinner. Just very impersonal. All of that I guess I can come to terms with because I know there's staffing shortages and it's just a sign of the times. Next, it was time to pay our bill. We realized they added a 20% tip. Fine...despite everything we would never leave less than 20% anyway. So when we made the reservation we had to put a $30 per adult deposit down. So our card was in the system. Well, the card wouldn't work. We had to flag someone down to run it manually. Again, fine. Then the next day we realized that the $30 per adult deposit was never deducted. So we had to send an email to get a refund. What a pain. I had to do more work as a patron than any one single person we came into contact with did for us. Probably more than all of them combined. WATCH YOUR WALLET AT OFFICINA. Good food but overpriced for the experience. read more

It's a market, it's a bar - no it's a restaurant - yes it is all three. The market has some wonderful, if not pricey, food items from Italy. It also sells food for take away. The bar is the place to be for happy hour, before 6pm as they provide a food accompaniment. The Italian spritzer was perfect way to start an evening after a hot day in DC. In the restaurant, the pastas are all phenomenal. Tasty, seasoned perfectly, served promptly. The branzino and eggplant was poached perfectly as well. Dessert of spumoni and sorbet were divine. This is Nicholas Stefanelli newest restaurant; it debuted earlier this year at the Wharf. I absolutely love his other place - Masseria and I had to see how Officina compared. Overall, you get what you pay for - remember you are in a great location, with stunning views of the DC waterfront and that is expensive real estate. Best wishes for success on this culinary adventure. read more

See all

Subpar food and condescending staff. The pasta was indelible. When we told staff that the pasta was undercooked, we were told that's what al dente is. I know the difference between al dente and undercooked. When you cut through the pasta, you are not supposed to see a white line in the middle. Finally, the dessert was very dry. Overall, overpriced, bad experience. Don't recommend. read more

Bad, expensive restaurant week dinner. Pasta was egregiously undercooked (crunchy); when we told the staff we were condescendingly informed it was "al dente" and asked if we wanted something else from the menu for our philistine pallettes. There are clearly talented staff in the building, but the overall attitude is one of contemptful neglect. There are many better places in DC, why come here? read more

Went for their dc restaurant week brunch special. I waited for over 45 minutes to get water and then over another 45 minutes to order my first course. Apparently after my water the staff "forgot" about me. The food was mediocre at best; the crostini was very underwhelming and seemed like I was eating raw peaches on hard, stale bread. My pasta was undercooked to the point that I had trouble twisting it onto my fork; but the flavors were decent. The cappuccino that I ordered at the beginning arrived almost halfway through my lengthy experience and was burnt and watery. At least there was air conditioning and the environment was pleasant to be around. Would definitely not pay full price for this adventure. read more