Great dinning experience, great food and a really great staff. If you go you have to have the biscuits to start . They come with pimento cheese but are delicious just by themselves. I had the 16 ounce ribeye and the rest of our party of 4 had the NY Strip steak all were outstanding and cooked perfectly. My ribeye was one of the best I have ever had. Had part of my wife's NY strip and it was excellent as well. Entire staff was attentive with filling up water and answering questions about what their favorite meals / dishes were. My in-laws had the creamed spinach which they said was great. ( a repeat of what they ordered on first visit) I enjoyed the carrots but would order the broccoli next based on what one of the waitresses said. In laws had the ice cream cake which was made in the restaurant and my wife and I had piece of the lemon meringue pie . Very unique and delicious. Manager helped my wife determine how one of the chefs made the meringue by going back and asking . Very thoughtful. Need reservations well in advance or take your chances and sit at the bar read more

To start - the service was spectacular. Our waiter Elijah was attentive, polite, and knowledgeable, we were seated right away and everything came out quickly. The drinks were great, and you can't leave this place without having the biscuits for appetizers. As far as my own personal meal - it was delicious. I had the butchers steak, creamy spinach and fries and it was perfect. However, my fiancé ordered the lamb which was disappointing because it was so chewy he couldn't eat it. The salmon and chard ordered by another person in our party was also bland. We had very high expectations for this restaurant and felt a little let down overall. If you go, stick to drinks, appetizers and a steak! read more

Fantastic meal, excellent service. Cool venue. Went in early without a reservations and the staff was welcoming and accommodating. 10/10 - would go back! read more

The food was delicious. The service was superb. The only thing that disturbed me and my friends was the host who seemed to "stalk" at us by passing our table too frequently trying to push us to leave the restaurant. We found his behavior very uncomfortable. Because there was no line waiting, we took our time to chat. Because of his disturbance behavior, he chased us way. He even whispered to the hostess at the front of the desk and looked at us. It was unethical and unprofessional. read more

I got the ribeye - which the waiter recommend getting medium for some reason. A ribeye is supposed to be chewy and delicious. This was cooked too much and not as delicious.as I would have liked. If I could eat a steak from Rays the Steaks in this ambience, that would be heaven. Instead I was a underwhelmed. read more

Delicious brunch here this weekend! Enjoyed between us the eggs in purgatory, pancakes, and a side of hash browns. Everything was delicious, well prepared, and tasted as good as it looked. Know that the pancakes were a very generous portion. The eggs were a more standard portion. Service was good and we had a great spot in a booth. It was pretty full - rec making a reservation. read more

I really enjoyed my experience here and venture to say it's the best steak in DC. The emphasis on local meats and food really shines through in the final product. They also have an excellent wine selection. Staff was knowledge and very attentive. The overall vibe is very quirky, unique, and maintains a nice commitment to representing DC. Only downside is it is quite loud. Not some place you'd bring your parents or go on a first date. read more

Best. restaurant. In. The. District. of. Columbia. Mark my words. I'd seen this restaurant come up on my Instagram feed and on every food blogger's page. One Tuesday night, I finally made my way to St. Anselm. I'd been stalking the menu, so I was ready to put in my order as soon as I stepped into this neat and quirky restaurant. The restaurant itself seemed like a hybrid between your local Knights of Columbus hall and Hogwarts. I was all about it. The booths were also very cool but I guess someone forgot the memo that I am VIP always and everywhere and was instead sat at a regular table. However, given that it was almost Thanksgiving, I was feeling rather charitable and grateful and decided not to pull a Mariah by demanding to change tables. As an appetizer, we ordered the blue crab deviled eggs, which were richer than Nene Leakes claims to be. As for my meal, I had the tuna steak, which certainly did not disappoint. This place is a splurge but definitely a must for any event, whether it be a (fifth) Bumble date or whether you wanna impress guests or something from out of town. I've been dreaming of the day I'll go back...someone take me! read more

Wow! I don't even know where to start! The food is amazing! The ambiance is amazing, and our waitress gave the most perfect descriptions of everything (in addition to being incredibly attentive). I highly recommend this restaurant. It's such a cool place with delicious food!! read more

Just excellent. The Bloody Mary to the exquisite biscuits to the crab deviled eggs. To the great service. One of the best brunches ever. Thank you read more

We came here for the first time with a party of 8 for my 35th Birthday. From the moment you walk in, the atmosphere and energy is impressive. Our table was going to be longer than expected, the staff let me know right away and took care of my group with some comp's from the Bar. They were very accommodating and addressed the issue immediately. Once we were seated the food and service was attentive and delicious. Highlights include the biscuits + pimento cheese ( A MUST), butchers steak, monster prawn, and ribeye. The sides we shared family style and were tasty as well. Vanessa, the beverage manager assisted with the extensive wine list and Greg/Megan were always there to answer questions. Its great to have knowledgeable/attentive staff while still being relaxed in atmosphere. Our group had a great time and finished with the carrot cake/ice cream cake. We can't wait to come back! Highly recommend to check out St Anselm read more

WAY OVER RATED... STAY CLEAR. We went there over the weekend because my daughter wanted to take her husband somewhere nice for his B-day.. We make an reservation for 2 pm and finally seated at 2:30. We looked at the menu and my wife and I decided to order the rib eye but after the waiter did a sales job on the "Ax Handel Sirloin" said it was the way to go for two people who didn't mind sharing so we went with it. Boy, was that a mistake !!! @ almost $3.00 per oz you would not expect a 16 oz bone and 8 oz gristle... We ordered it medium and it came anywhere from raw to burnt depending on where you cut it. I know I should have sent it back but we had been there long enough already. When we did mention it to the waiter he sheepishly said most people are surprised about the bone.. The key might have been that the waiter was at the table checking on us until someone else brought the food and then no waiter until he brought the bill.. No stopping by to say "hey folks, is everything tasting OK?" we even had to flag another waiter down for more drinks.. And no, they were not covered up. I think the waiter knew that once he made the sale we would be disappointed. For a $320 meal it was a real bad experience.. Do yourself a big favor and STEER CLEAR... For that kind of money you have several choices with much better food and overall experience.... read more

Here for my wife's birthday from Los Angeles. Customer service excellent, food outstanding, room accomidations comfortable.

Excellent addition to the Union Market area. Cozy interior space with great drink menu. Some friends and I visited for brunch. Do yourself a favor and get an order of the biscuits with pimiento cheese!! read more

Went here for dinner while in DC a couple of weeks ago. Great food - so much that we couldn't finish - blue crab deviled eggs, a baby iceberg salad, and a perfectly done steak. The service was fantastic (thanks, Dominique!), and I'll definitely go back the next time I'm in town. read more

Excellent steaks. Sides better than most steak places. I love the room though it is loud. Service was good - manager and beverage director were excellent and the server was good. Next trip I want to try some of the non-steak items. What I saw coming out of the kitchen was encouraging. Wish they could somehow get Chef's pastrami on the menu. read more

Visited tonight for the first time, and for a special occasion - our anniversary. I wasn't sure we were actually in DC, as I've rarely experienced service this good! Our food was outstanding, from the grilled oyster appetizer through the hangar steak and lamb. Great food, great atmosphere, great service. We will be back often! read more

Great ambience, great place for a steakhouse in the Union Market area. I ordered the biscuits and pimento cheese. The portion was too large and I thought they tasted very dry. I will not order these again. The bitter lettuce salad was too salty. I do not recommend this but my friend had the cucumber salad and it was really good! The crab legs were just two small pieces of crab. Slightly cold but very overpriced! read more

Really neat spot near Union Market. The location is great due to ample parking and the neighborhood vibe. We ordered the biscuits with pimento cheese and strip steaks. The biscuits were "out of this world" served with a rich pimento cheese. Our steaks were cooked to perfection. Our server was very knowledgeable and professional. read more

Been here twice now. Biscuits and pimento cheese appetizer are really good. Had steak both times (butcher and au louvre), both of which were cooked to perfection and well seasoned. Sides were good, but not phenomenal, including fries, broccoli, and smashed potatoes. Ice cream cake was meh for the most part. Biggest drawback is that the restaurant itself is super loud unless you somehow manage to be in the back dining room. read more

(Really like 4.4 or so.) A delayed first visit tonight for the birthday of a friend. How does Starr keep turning out these wondrous eateries? A plate of radishes is sent soaring with foie butter, fleur de sel, and amazing toast. Also blue crab deviled eggs and major biscuits with pimento cheese. Moving on to the well-reviewed "monster prawn" and baby iceberg topped with enough thick-cut bacon to make your cardiologist swoon. And two perfectly grilled scallops in a citrus-ginger dressing that would have been worth a straw to finish it all. Only hiccup was a "butcher's steak" that a friend found too chewy -- which disappeared from the bill, along with any charge for his dessert -- a mammoth slice of ice cream cake. Very classy. The whole grilled mackerel, NY strip and lamb sirloin were perfection. Super service. A worthy sibling, with a wholly different vibe, for Le Dip. read more

My current favorite restaurant in DC. Delicious food and well run. Came in on a bustling Saturday night for a birthday dinner for my sister. Unusually for a DC restaurant lately, the table was ready at the time of our reservation. The famous biscuits lived up to their reputation, the cucumber salad was refreshing if a bit cheesier than my taste. We loved the carrots and beef fat potatoes (what's not to like). All the meat entrees were great. The pecan pie was tasty. The waiter was friendly and professional, ditto the sommelier - who recommended a terrific bottle. Already planning my next visit. read more

Yummy food. Slightly upscale yet very comfortable atmosphere. Good service. A great addition to the neighborhood.

My boyfriend and I went here for our anniversary dinner and we were both extremely impressed by the food and the great service. The blue crab deviled eggs and fresh biscuits were amazing and both our steaks were cooked perfectly. It was nice to have quality steaks in a venue that had a cute/more modern atmosphere than a typical dc steakhouse. The cocktails were also creative and delicious, and there was also an extensive wine menu. To top it all off, we put that it was our anniversary in our opentable reservation and they gave us complimentary champagne at the end of our dinner. Definitely recommend this restaurant to all! read more

8:30 pm reservation. Seated at 8:50 pm and ordered cocktails right away. Cocktails served at 9:15 pm. Per our server, the bar was "backed up." Food was good but service was very slow. Fan blowing on our table all night. Management wasn't able to do anything about it. A lot of hype about an average experience. Live in NYC and have dined at St. Anselm several times. No comparison. Stick with the one in Brooklyn. read more

I dont even know where to begin! The ambiance is relaxed and elegant, the wine selection is amazing, I love the mix matched silverware and plates. Really adds to an at home kinda feel. The biscuits and pimiento cheese were OUT OF THIS WORLD YALL!!! We ordered for the table: king crab leg, pan potatoes, steak fries, porterhouse pork chop, flat iron steak. And honestly no one had anything negative to say about their food. The steak was cooked perfectly! Hardly do I order a steak and it's cooked correctly. Nick was awesome with his recommendations and his service was excellent. We will return on our next trip. Outstanding!!!! read more

I had the butcher's steak, cooked medium, and it was very tasty. The pan-fired mashed potatoes were very tasty, and the top, crunchy layer was interesting and something new to me as far as mashed potatoes go. Looking forward to returning to try other items on the menu. Make reservations, it was extremely busy on a Tuesday night. read more

My sister and I had a night out on the town in DC for my birthday and we decided to book a table at St. Anselm after looking at pictures and reading a ton of reviews. Everyone seemed to be loving this spot and we wanted to know what we were missing. When we arrived the atmosphere inside was inviting and cozy, with a warm/rustic feel. Our waitress greeted us and soon after acknowledged we were there to celebrate my birthday. She dropped off two complimentary glasses of bubbly for us to enjoy and we thought that was a very thoughtful/fabulous way way to start our meal. Soon after that she took our orders. We started with the beef tartar, which was full of flavor, then my sister had the beef and I had the chicken for our mains. We also ordered the skillet mashed potatoes and beef fat potatoes as our sides (heavenly). While we were enjoying our meals we were offered complimentary oysters, to which we enjoyed thoroughly. They were very unique, with a smokey taste neither myself nor my sister had ever come across before. We indulged in several cocktails from their menu, which were all divine and last but not least had dessert. I ordered the ice cream cake (only fitting for a birthday celebration) and my sister had the pineapple sorbet. At this point we were beyond stuffed, but we couldn't stop eating. Both finishing dishes were just fantastic. We will absolutely be coming back here again and telling all our friends/family about it! The service, food and drinks were all top notch! read more

We'd seen this restaurant starting to be built, getting ready for opening and then decided to finally give it a try on a Friday night. A few observations. 1. Very nice atmosphere, everybody in the place seemed to be in a good mood, the tables in the middle got as much attention as the booths, the bar was active but did not in anyway distract the diners. 2. The food was fantastic. One Appetizer on the menu I'll go over, Buttermilk biscuits and Pimento cheese. I'm usually not a fan of ordering biscuits out because they usually turn out heavy, dry, bready and just not great. These ones taste like your grandmother just pulled them out of an iron skillet, flaky, light, and great by themselves. But even though they are so good plain, do yourself a favor and try the pimento cheese with them. Other appetizers like the crab deviled eggs, the lamb tartar and the salads were also excellent the biscuits were just the main standout because they were so unusually good. 2. The entrees were also excellent. I had fish, which was not drowning in butter so I could actually taste it, but had been cooked and spiced really well. People also were raving about the steaks. 3. The Staff, our waiter was great (I'm sorry I can't remember his name, he had a shaved head and did a great job). And the wine guy, Carl, wasn't just somebody trying to shove the most expensive bottle at us, but was incredibly helpful. He introduced us to an "Orange Wine" that he said would work with both of our dinners, and Carl nailed it. 4. They have flights of dessert wines, a great thing for people that want to have one more thing but don't feel like a full dessert. Nothing bad to mention about this place, from the table behind us celebrating an engagement, to the tables next to us, everybody looked like they had a great meal. Welcome to D.C! We'll be back! read more

St. Anselm's staff are friendly and helpful. Dim lighting and antique dish ware transports guests. The wine list is incredibly extensive, but unfortunately many of them are INCREDIBLY expensive. Food was very food - the market steak and cauliflower were my favorite dishes. We tried carrot cake and ice cream cake for dessert: both were delicious! Beyond the price, the only other downside was that the restaurant seemed incredibly loud, making it difficult to hear my friend, even at our small booth. read more

This is one of the most amazing restaurants I've ever been to in the DC area. My husband and I ate here for dinner last night. We started with smoked oysters in lemon butter. He had the rack of lamb and I had a steak. The meals were delicious and meat was perfectly cooked. They also have an extensive wine list. I tried several wines, some I've never heard of, and each one was wonderful. The "orange wine" from Long Island and the Gamay from Beaujolais, France were among my favorites. They also have a nice selection of madeira wines. Wait staff were super attentive and very knowledgeable about the wine list. All around great restaurant and I can't wait to go back. read more

This place is pretentious, overpriced and too loud! The food is decent but NOT worth the price. The poseur staff acts like they are doing you a favor whatever they do - show you to a table, get you some water, etc. sad to act like they are so hip. Not to mention music blasting in your ear (it was too loud inside, we asked if it would be quieter outside - it was, until after we were seated - then they turned up the music so we couldn't hear each other!). Only young, rich people from the suburbs will dig this place since they are wannabees and about looks. Ugh There goes the neighborhood read more

On a work trip and just stumbled across St Anselm. Cool vibe to the place. Server was very friendly and attentive. Food was wonderful. Carrot cake for dessert was a nice topping as well. Would definitely find my way back here in subsequent trips to DC read more

We LOVE this place! The atmosphere is nice enough to impress but casual enough to feel comfortable. But the food. The FOOD. Everything we had was amazing, but our favorites were the salmon (best I've ever had - melted in the mouth), and the duck fat potatoes (we ate to the point of pain they were so good). Highly, highly recommend! read more

absolutely incredible! not a single miss on the menu, from the buttermilk biscuits to salads and grilled small bites ( Get the Prawn! ) and finally the main meats ( pork porterhouse! ). I finally made my way over after hearing about this place from a friend and I will most certainly be back time and again. service is also top notch. read more

This place was exceptional! We went with high expectations and they were exceeded. We ordered the cauliflower and buttermilk biscuits to start. The cauliflower defies explanation. It is lightly fried and covered in tahini and amazing. Just trust me. We have also traveled through the US South eating and the biscuits are right on par with what we've had in the South. We both are huge steak lovers and got two ribeyes. They were cooked perfectly! They were flavorful and tender. My only regret is I didn't have leftovers. We got the beef fat potatoes and mashed potatoes for sides. The beef fat potatoes were good. Not the highlight but good. The mashed potatoes were the unexpected find. They were so flavorful with garlic and onion and amazing. For dessert we had the pecan pie (a favorite dessert of ours) and the ice cream cake. Both were divine. We also had an amazing waiter who was super helpful and fun to chat with. Overall an incredible experience and worth the visit! read more

Tonight was an epic fail. We arrived for an 815 reservation and we got our drinks at 9:20. When they arrived they were the wrong drinks and rather than being apologetic, the waitress was sarcastic with us which led me to tell her to be quiet and go away. The manager came to apologize for her behavior and comp us our first round of drinks - which was the appropriate response to a dreadful , painfully slow service. Dinner took another 30 or so minutes to arrive - my salad was drenched and drowning in dressing but crab legs were good, steaks were fine, salmon was successful, bacon delicious, pecan pie lovely. Service was excruciatingly slow, no one knew how to deliver food to correct person, and as we prayed for our main course, someone showed up trying to serve us tea and coffee. Our server was not adequately apologetic for a three hour dinner we could have had in 2 and he talked too much. The Sommelier was young, and over eager and didn't know half the things we asked about but pretended she did- she later came out to serve some of our dinner, taking away from the prestige of her title. All in all, it was a shit show! IF we go back ( we live so close by it breaks my heart this wasn't better) it'll be in a year or so when they've gotten service down to a science- assuming they last. read more

I cannot understand the fuss over this restaurant. I have been twice and have had bad to mediocre meals at best in both cases. The first time we had the cauliflower and the huge ribeye. The cauliflower looks and sounds impressive, but falls completely flat. The preparation is dull, watery and undercooked. The steak was fine, but an enormous piece meant to be shared among 4 people, yet was presented to us as one, huge piece. We asked the waiter to slice it and he looked at us like we had grown extra heads. They sliced it for us, but the flavor and texture were average At best. . The waitstaff and bartenders are frazzled and unprofessional. Tonight we had the winter salad, which was actually excellent! And the mackerel, which was some of the worst fish I have ever had served to me at a restaurant. It was fishy and plunked down in its whole form. The waiter deboned it for us, but why in God's name would you serve a giant, bone-filled , stinky fish to people in your restaurant? No one wants to deal with that after a long day at work, on a date or trying to have a conversation with friends. Needless to say I will not be rushing back to St Anselm. read more