Fino

After spending a hot August day in Georgetown with my family, we wanted to sit down and enjoy a good lunch in an air conditioned restaurant. Not asking too much, right?
Well apparently it is if you decide to drop in at Fino.
None of us were familiar with the Georgetown area at the time, so we were originally lured in by a friendly young lady standing outside trying to attract some business to the place. Should’ve been a sign from the get-go…you shouldn’t need someone outside to beg you to come in.
Anyway the menu looked promising so we took a shot in the dark.
The second we were seated, we just wanted to get up and leave. It was so darn hot inside the place, they didn’t have the AC on or anything; just the front door of the place was open. I can understand doing this maybe in the spring, but in the dog days of Summer? NO WAY.
Aesthetically, the place is kinda cozy. The table covers are grimy and in need of a replacement, though.
When we were seated, we were immediately handed garlic bread. I always get excited when they hand out free bread. But guess what? Turned out the bread wasn’t free at all. They didn’t even ask us if we wanted it and just set it down on the table like we knew we’d be charged extra for it or something. So stupid! And to top it off, the bread was stale.
My main course was good but nothing remarkable. Sadly, even in it’s non-​memorable state, it was this place’s only redeeming quality.
My main beef with this place, though, is the creepo that was our waiter/​bartender. He made my meal so awkward, I didn’t even want to look up from my plate. The whole time, he was snarky, and when he wasn’t attempting to attend to our table, he was blatantly staring at my sister & I from behind the bar. I was so terribly uncomfortable.
Don’t waste your time coming here; Georgetown has way too many fun and worthy restaurants for anyone to even give this place the time of day.

Walked in off the street, not knowing what to expect… welll — what a surprise… some of the best Italian food I have had in a long time. Chicken milenese, delicious; gnocchi, delicious, pesto tortellini, over the top. Good service and the place fills up fast — I will definitely return.

I paused on M Street to scan the menu, and the hostess came out and introduced herself and told us the specials. We were sold! The tortelli and ravioli are homemade and delicious. The meat was good too. The water in the men’s bathroom was not working when we first got there, but someone was sent in to fix it. I don’t know if it was fixed. We also had to ask for bread to get it.

We walked in and were able to get a table without a wait on a late Saturday afternoon. My friend ordered the Gnocchi which had a delicious flavorful sauce and was actually a lot better than my Penne pasta w/​Vodka sauce. Although both sauces were the same color, mine was a lot more watered down but still great ’cause I was so hungry! We passed on the garlic bread cause it wasn’t free but after my meal (portions are not big, just decent) we both had a lot of sauce left over on our plates so we ordered the bread to «scoop up» the remaining sauce because we were still hungry. Great place, I would go back if I lived in DC. Does not earn 5 stars cause bread is an addtional charge.

Tiny authentic Italian restaurant in the middle of Georgetown. A friend and I came here with a Scoutmob deal. We ordered the calmari (not crsipy at all), lobster ravioli (alright, I’ve had better) and the veal parm with pasta and veggies (really needed more sauce) The service was a bit slow and there weren’t many people there during lunch. The restaurant is a-​ok, a bit glad I came here with a deal.

Will not go there again. Poor food and mediocre service. They serve dishes that has no link to the original recipe. Saltimbocca alla Romana, don’t think so. Dishes served in record time, in and out in no time. Not worth your time nor money.

I went to Fino’s on a Friday night. Even though we had a reservation and only a party of 2, we had to wait 20 minutes at the bar for a table. After we were seated, we were asked to move tables twice to accommodate a larger dinner party seated next to us. (The manager gave us a free dessert and extra attention for our troubles, but I thought it was still in bad form for a restaurant.) It is a small place and the tables are very close together. I enjoyed that urban restaurant ambiance, but it might be a little much if you have someone in your party who is larger or claustrophobic.
The food was reasonably priced and had good portion sizes, but I have had significantly better Italian in the city. (I think Al Crostino on U Street has a similar feel, but with better food, service, and a larger wine selection.) They will add garlic bread to your order without telling you and charge you 3.50. The garlic bread is also not that good– heavy on the garlic and butter and kind of dry. Kind of like thin, dry Texas toast garlic bread that you get in supermarkets.
I don’t think I would come back here, even if there is a Scoutmob deal to the restaurant. (50% off your order up to $ 15).

Late night reunion with my husband after a week business trip in DC landed us at FINO.
It was one of the only places on H street that was open for dinner at 11pm! The waiter welcomed us in with a nice, authentic Italian accent and offered us a table near the TV, seeing that we were both eye-​ing the Laker-​Suns game on ESPN. Thanks!
As for the food:
I won this meal, clearly. I ordered the pesto tortellini and it was delicious. I loved the pesto and the cheese.
My husband ordered the filet mignon and it was lacking in flavor. Needed salt perhaps? It was also a little chewy.
the garlic bread was pretty good (lots and lot s of garlic on crispy bread) UNTIL we realized that it was not complimentary ($ 3.50). BOOOO!
nice ambience — perfect for a date or a late night reunion with your spouse who sat through 5 hours of traffic to spend the weekend with you in DC!

M Street is home to a lot of great places. Great for the hungry pedestrian, but a gamble for restaurant owners — with so many excellent choices, why should someone choose you? In my case, I wanted Italian and walked past.
The food is priced reasonably ($ 12 – 18 for most pasta dishes) and portion sizes are appropriate. Nothing bothers me more than getting twice the food I really want and paying twice as much for it. For those with big appetites, just grab an appetizer. I chose the pumpkin ravioli and was very pleased. Everything was in balance and tasted fresh. Rich, but not off-​putting. It was just enough to satisfy me along with the garlic bread (which I do not recommend, by the way) and a glass of wine.
The menu is diverse and should please everyone. Traditional items are available along with assorted chicken and seafood dishes. The table behind me ordered some sort of seafood platter that smelled delicious. Wine aficionados might find the list rather small, but this is not a massive restaurant with its own cellars.
Atmosphere was good, though it was rather empty when I ate. The noise level felt appropriate and everything was clean and comfortable. The TV over the bar was not distracting at all. I found the waiter to be attentive and polite — he did not «hover» or pester me once I started eating. Sometimes the staff is too involved in the meal and that is a turn off to me. The guys at Fino greeted me, asked if I wanted a drink, told me the specials, took the order, then delivered the food. They checked on me once while I was eating and then left me alone to enjoy the food! Thanks are due.
Fino is hard to dislike. I’ve only eaten there once but I would gladly return as it seems they’ve found a good balance between service, selection, and price.

Good value for the price: 2 people, 2 entrees, 1 salad, garlic bread, very generous pour of Glenlivet, and 3 glasses of wine totalled $ 100 with tip. The portobello mushroom ravioli with scallops was good, especially if you like creamy dishes. The chicken piccata was also good. The Sicilian salad had yummy olives and the garlic bread was garlicky.

Really great food. I should make that bold or put an army of exclamation points after it. Ambiance is quite nice for a date or nice night out. The service was slow to come around, but we were in no hurry to get out, however that is why it is not a 5 star review.
TL;DR — Really great authentic Italian food.

It really is a 3.5.
We were walking around Georgetown on a Sunday afternoon and were looking for a quick bite to eat. The food is OK, nothing special. The service was decent as well.

Waren leider nicht so sehr begeistert.
Der rote Wein auf der Karte viel zu teuer, die Vorspeise ebenso. Im Gegensatz dazu die Einrichtung relativ billig und spärlich. Das Essen war auch nicht allzu gut und die Portionen sehr klein, bin nicht wirklich satt geworden.
Kann ich leider nicht empfehlen.

Came here once with a friend.
Tortellini al Pesto: Pasta caps sauteed with basil, pignoli, olive oil, and grated cheese, $ 14
–This was pretty good: tasty, not overly salty, yum.
This place is solid, I might come here for dinner if I was craving some Italian in Georgetown. But Filomena’s definitely wins, hands down, for lunch.
Nice décor, good for a date or catching up with a friend.

I can’t believe this place has some pretty mediocre reviews because I truly thing it’s one of the hidden gems in Georgetown dining. After shopping at American Apparel a few doors down with my friend, we both felt pretty hungry and decided check out this little place. It definitely didn’t jump out at us like some of the more well-​known eateries in the area, but it exuded a certain charm that convinced us to try it out.
For our appetizers, we ordered the garlic bread and calamari. They were ready within 10 minutes. The garlic bread was crisp and buttery, albeit a little dry, but the olive oil/​garlic/​basil mixture on top was delicious. Calamari — amazing. I have to get calamari pretty much at any restaurant I go to, so long as it’s available, and it was THE BOMB. The sauce was so flavorful and the calamari pieces had just the right amount of breading. Seasoning in the breading was fantastico!
Friend got the gnocchi, I got the lasagna. HUGE portions. Took us forever to finish, and I left behind a good chunk of my dish. Yummy tomato sauce, fresh-​tasting pasta that is just the right texture and consistency, and cheese just perfectly portioned and melted. I HATE when my pasta has too much cheese, but Fino got it so right. I’d never had gnocchi before, but it was also absolutely delicious. Chewy, but not to the point where your jaw wants to rip off from your face and run away. I thought potato pasta would be weird but it definitely something I’d consider ordering again.
No dessert as we were stuffed. Service was prompt, polite, and informative when asked about the dishes. Water was always filled. Clean and sweet ambience to the place. Interesting bathrooms but they’re clean, so whatever. Price — as good as it gets for Georgetown at about $ 8/​entrée. Forget all the hype down the street — go to Fino!

If you want to eat mediocre Italian food that is mediocre-​ly overpriced, then come to Fino.
While I enjoy Olive Garden-​y pasta every now and then, I expected much more from Fino. The waiter rattled off all the specials in one minute — overwhelmed, I chose the seafood linguine. While ok, it reminded me of when I messed up making pasta and opted to fix the meal with a lot of Parmesan cheese. Scallops were mushy, shrimp was undercooked. Friends’ dishes were limp and kind of ugly. The only thing that made this experience a little worthwhile was the attentive service.

Stopped by for after dinner drinks. Had a chianti a pinot at the bar and then some coffee. Both the wines and the coffee were average. They ravef about the homemade Tiramiso but frankly, that was average too. It really needed a lityle extra coffee flavor and just a tad more rum. Atmosphere was nice though. Great place for causal conversation.

It was late and we were hungry, and they were open. We didn’t have any expectation, but we order the special lobster ravioli and the seafood risotto. The lobster ravioli sauce was to die for, there was about 9 pillows and we couldn’t stop dipping the bread into the sauce. The seafood risotto was ok, there was a lot seafood but the ravioli was something I would go back too.

We had some friends from California in town and was in dire need of a place to eat. We ended up in Georgetown and ran inside Fino to escape the 20 degree weather. The place was quaint, quiet and not too busy. The food was good, nothing spectacular but it was tasty; it got the job done. We also ordered a bottle of red for the table.
The only gripe I had with this place was its service. While the server was pretty friendly, I felt that he wasn’t all that attentive. He took forever to approach our table and take our drink order and took even longer to take our meal order. He came by once to see how our food was and left us alone until it was time to pay the check… it was only then that he was quick to see if the bill was ready to be settled.
Anyway, if you’re not that hungry and can wait awhile for your food, try it out!

Food: 3.0
Service: 3.5 stars
Ambience: 4 stars
Restroom: n/​a
Before heading down to see ‘Spring Awakening’ (awesome play) at the Kennedy Center, my friends and I decided to try this place. My friend, Rachel (she’s a Unilocaler too) Unilocaled this place because she wanted Italian and this place had 4 stars.
FOOD
We ordered the following dishes: lobster ravioli (the special), some seafood pasta dish and carbonara. The lobster ravioli was good, but personally Paper Moon’s is better (across the street). The seafood pasta definitely had lots of seafood (fish, shrimp, mussels, etc.), and the carbonara was too creamy for me, but delicious. I like the way my friend Harold cooks it as it is less creamy and more garlicky. I also ordered the garlic bread and was very disappointed. Maybe they should have just bought TEXAS TOAST in the grocery store and heated it up in the oven – I probably would have loved it!
WOULD I GO BACK?
Hmmmm.I may gave it another try, but I prefer Paper Moon because their bread is excellente!

Cute place for a solid Italian meal. Just went there on Sunday night and stopped by Iceberry on the walk home. Absolutely fantastic service. Personally, I don’t think DC does Italian very well. But Fino was a nice surprise.
We started with the caprese salad and then I had the lobster ravioli special. It was so delicious that I asked for some bread so I could mop up all the gravy. Or for the laypeople, «sauce».
This wouldn’t be the place for a fancy dinner or for an important occasion but I would definitely return.