Al Dente

Dreadful service. Had to ask for serving utensils. One dish was sent to the wrong table. Had to ask for bread for the table. Food was tasty, but not worth the unacceptable service. These people really need to clean up their act.

We had eaten at the restaurant about three years ago and really loved it. We eat out a lot and have always been a fan of Roberto Donna. Today we took some friends there and we must say that our experience was really mediocre if not bad. The only good thing one could say about the food was that there was a lot of it. The quality was really not that great. Three of us ordered the soft shell crabs – deep fried to a fault. At 8 pm the restaurant was out of almost all the specials. My risotto was awful. Its sounded great but seriously risotto with peas and then on top of that shrimp in tomato sauce – where exactly are we eating? I was told that it was risotto with peas and shrimp – an Italian standard, I thought. But a risotto with shrimp swimming in an unidentified tomato sauce is wretched to say the least. The pappardelle with boar sauce was okay. The Branzino was overcooked. The appetizers were not served at the same time. Two of us had to wait fifteen minutes before everyone else’s appetizer came in. The best thing we had was the wine. I really hope the restaurant gets its act together because this food was really terrible. Perhaps the clientele does not care but does the chef really want to be seen in the kitchen with this kind of food.
Disappointed big time

Went here when it opened and liked it a lot. Went here last night, and it was dreadful. First, service. Four people order appetizers and two come out 10 mins after the others, even though three of us have ordered the same dish. Somehow one soft shell crab order comes out way after two others all ordered by us at the same time. And nice young waiter seemed clueless and untrained. Then food. The soft shells were OK at best, kinda overcooked. The risotto had by my partner was horrible, not least because it was said to be shrimp and pea, and turned out to have some tomato something perched on top of it, making a horrifying mess which was also pretty inedible. Bronzino overcooked, which is a terrible thing for a fish. Don’t think we’re going back.

Chef Donna is loafing. The entrees are good, just not as good as they might be. My simple piece of bronzino on a bed of spinach was $ 29. Not special, nor was the ravioli dish or the salmon. The appetizers on the menu were not appealing to any of us so we had a pizza. Good, but no tomato sauce at all. And how could they run out of the one dessert that seemed special, the nutella whatever. Lots of kids Saturday night, which seemed surprising, but most of them had pizzas and pasta dishes. Lots of children and hard surfaces make it a noisy restaurant at 7 pm Saturday. Put all this together and my inclination is to try somewhere else in the area. But for those reading this maybe it’s worth a try, for a third star.

So disappointed. Made specific reservations at the chefs table by telephone and was assured that it would happen. Upon arriving early since I’m a huge fan of chef Donna I encountered the biggest asshole that I had the pleasure of telling that I will spend my $ 500.00 somewhere else. But let me explain, after speaking to the chef/​owner he said that I was only fair that we got the seats, which is when the smart ass host or manager whatever he calls himself still displayed an attitude toward me as he kissed the ass of the chef. We decided to leave much to my disappointment but didn’t want to deal with the asshole. As I was leaving I thanked chef Donna and told him that we would be back, he asked us to stay but I explained that I didn’t want to fool with the asshole at the door. As we were leaving I told the asshole that I would be back after he is gone. This 5 star opportunity turned into this 1 star because of an arrogant asshole host/​manager wanna be. Listen folks, if you think service isn’t important this is an example of bad service and bad arrogant attitude costing a very popular hard working chef/​owner my check that I predict would be $ 500.00. How many of these can attitude and poor service run off before it costs you. Sorry chef.

I’m so surprised they don’t have better reviews. We go here all the time. The pasta is great, the pizza is perfection… The service is inconsistent, but on the whole it’s acceptable. I would definitely recommend this place!!! Great Italian food.

Fantastic! The braised beef rib special is a must have! But… You have to save room for desert as the pear tart is wonderful!!!
A fun and vibrant place. I recommend a nice bottle of wine and take your time to enjoy!

Great Italian restaurant… The meatballs and bolognese are delicious… Nice patio space for outside dining.

We (my father, brother, and I) got in around 12 it was basically empty. It stayed that way for most of our 30 min visit. The décor was nice and they had a cute tile oven. we skipped appetizers and drank water because it’s Wednesday at noon!
We ended up ordering the Salsiccia e Rapini pie to share amongst the three of us. The pizza had tomato, smoked mozzarella, pork sausage, broccoli rabe, garlic. It arrived fresh and warm, like melt in your mouth warm. The crust was nice and thick. It was a tad oily so I had to blot my slices but when you’re picky about not burning your chin I guess it happens. There could have been more toppings it was rather sparse.
Waitstaff was friendly, our glasses of water were always full and they had good menu knowledge. I would totally go again to try some other stuff next time I’m in the area.

This is a great option in a neighborhood where there aren’t a ton of options. We were sitting at the bar and a few people ordered pasta which looked delicious. We weren’t too hungry though so went for the pizza. The pizza is delicious!!! The wine was also great. I thought the interior was nice as well. If you’re in the neighborhood and looking for a good bite I’d highly recommend this place.

The food is really fresh and authentic.
Pasta made from scratch. Pizzas made right in front of the customer.
The pizza is honestly some of the best I’ve had. Their personal size so you can challenge yourself to finish a whole one by yourself.
I suggest the lasagnette or bolognese, these were some of my favorites.
The eggplant parm (a side) is a little off though. It’s really chewy and rubbery — a version of the recipe I am unfamiliar with as an Italian.
It’s a classy dining experience. Some high end people dine here, Joe Biden actually dined here once.
That being said, the staff has some kinks to work out. Some yelling could be heard from the kitchen on any given day.

I have had several very good meals here and it is exciting to see Chef Donna churning out meals that are so good. I have sent friends whose kids go to AU and they love it over other places in the area and their kids tell me it is their go to place for pizza.
I had a pappardelle dish that was delicious and the pizza was also a treat. I wish I could get Robert to do a Truffle Dinner like he did in the old days, they were amazing.
I look forward to my return visit.

Authentic fresh Italian pasta, hard to go wrong with any of the menu items. Has more of a modern flare than most Italian restaurants. Went with one of my friends who the veal stuffed ravioli and had the seafood pasta-​both very good.

I am Italian and I live in the US but I go to Italy 4 times a year. I mostly try to rate Italian restaurant for their taste but also for their authenticity.
When my friends told they wanted to go to this restaurant I was not sure since it had mixed Unilocal reviews.
Well I am glad I did go. There were 9 of us and the food was authentic Italian and it was great. I had the stuffed fried zucchini flower, tasted the calamarata pasta and the branzino (fish also known as spigola in Italy) served on spinach. To end we had a caffe macchiato, authentic as well.
The restaurant was not cheap (also because we had 4 glasses of wine between me and my wife) but it was acceptable and aligned to the DC prices. On the contrary of the preceding Unilocal reviews the service was excellent and fast notwithstanding we had a table of nine. I guess that after reading the reviews the manager did fix the serving staff issues.

Great pizza ! Happy Hour features half price pizza and special wine deals.
Best deal on town ! Gnocchi was amazing and lasagna was just outstanding, served in a cast iron dish and folded instead of layered.

I go to Chef Geoff’s quite regularly, and sometimes, I want a change. So, I went to Al Dente.
The food at Al Dente is pretty good. I’ve had both the pizza and the pasta, and was impressed.
But, the service.
THE WORST.
I’ve been three times, and the service is worse every time. A few weeks ago, he bartender randomly charged us, and couldn’t explain what the charges were for. Today when I went, when the restaurant was practically empty, it took asking for bread three times to finally get it, over 20 minutes to get our drinks, and even longer to get the check. I’ve given up thinking that the next time I go the service will be better. If Al Dente wants to save themselves, they will overhaul their staff.
The food isn’t reason enough to go here. Save yourself the headache and frustration and go to Chef Geoff’s. I’ve learned my lesson and will ALWAYS go there from now on.

Grilled octopus salad, fried zucchini flowers, flank steak, nutella semifreddo, banana mousse — all supremely yum and light and did I say delicious? Si! Si! Si!
But the service and noise, not so much :-(
Overworked staff, and some who could care less leave a bad aftertaste, sad to say.
I hope it’ll be better next time.

Came in with my friends and boyfriend for their happy hour since Chef Geoff’s next door was packed and Al Dente had no wait, and I’m so glad we made that decision.
The happy hour deals were great: $ 5 glasses of wine, $ 4 beers, and other great prices drinks. Half priced pizzas and good discounts on their regular food and apps. We ordered the calamari: delicious and I loved the fried hot peppers that came with it; the dipping sauce could be improved though; it tasted like canned pizza sauce instead of a fresh marinara. We ordered 4 pizzas, the vegetarian, margherita, sausage & broccoli rabe, and the formaggi pizza; all delicious and the crust was tasty. We also got 2 desserts, the fried apple which was so delicious (cinnamon, sugar, vanilla ice cream), and a fried dough dessert that came with fudge and caramel drizzle — the dough tasted a bit too floury and was only ok. The waiter is what really made the experience great. He was an older gentleman, and he was very nice and really hooked us up with happy hour since we came in with only 30 minutes to spare; he made sure we got our last drinks before happy hour was over, and was very attentive. This place was the ideal situation: we were able to sit down together and converse without yelling over the noise that was in chef Geoff’s, have no wait, and got great food and service. More people need to come here for happy hour over Geoff’s, especially if you don’t want to wait over an hour and avoid the madness.

I actually have really enjoyed Al Dente the few times I have been there. I think it is a reliable place for good pasta and pizza in an area with not a ton of great food options. The Wild Boar Ragu is the best thing on the menu, I have literally dreamt about it. The pizza is also good, nothing to venture out to get, but a great choice if you are in the area.
We did the tasting with a group of my girlfriends and it was an incredibly good deal for the amount of food you got. The appetizers (especially the meatballs and a salad with anchovies) and entrees were really great (although we barely had room for entrees by the time they got there). The dessert (tiramisu!!) was also delicious. The pastas were a bit sub-​par, other than the Wild Boar Ragu I mentioned earlier– we got one pasta that was basically buttered noodles with a broken Alfredo sauce.
My husband also tried the Wild Turkey Martini– yeah, right? He said it was pretty good! I have always just stuck to wine.
Definitely a great choice if you are in this neighborhood.

I’m a regular at this place. I love this place! Chef Roberta Donna is absolutely amazing. I’ve always received excellent service and the food is absolutely delicious. So, where do I start. One of my early visits was last year for my birthday. A group of 10 women, 10 bottles of wine, followed by lots of laughter.
They have a great wine list and the waiters always recommend something awesome to drink.
My favorite things to eat. Appetizers… meatballs, stuffed zucchini blossoms and when in season the fried soft shell crabs. Pasta… Gnocchi with sausage ragu (AHHHHH MAZING… and I don’t even life Gnocchi… Well I didn’t until I at that deliciously crazy stuff!) You have to have the lamb shank. You don’t even need a knife. It just falls off the bone and melts in your mouth.
Don’t leave Al Dente without trying the pizza. Yummm…