Kellari Taverna

I don’t care much for the interior décor; it mainly appeals to older folks in their 70s or 80s. But the service is extremely attentive, and the limited sidewalk seating is attractive in nice weather. The reason to go here really is the food; most dishes are of standout quality, although you will likely see some evidence of cost control, (more use of cheaper ingredients that the pricier ones). My favorite dish is the grilled chicken breast with green beans and lots if potatoes. I also really enjoy the romaine salad with feta.

We went for brunch and Kellari Taverna did not disappoint! The food was great with several options on the prix fixe menu. Bottomless mimosas tend to be served weak or refilled slowly at most places, but that was definitely false at Kellari’s. We will definitely go back!

Came here for brunch with a Groupon, which I think they’re big on, since the first thing they asked was whether we had the Groupon deal. Their brunch consists of a 3 course prix fixe meal (appetizer, entrée, and dessert) and bottomless brunch drinks (bloody mary, bellini, champagne, mimosa).
Ambiance: The interior feels rather fancy and classy, with lots of European-​style flourishes (i.e. not a modernist look). Oak wood floors, white tablecloths on the tables. The restaurant is really spacious with a large amount of tables and a separate dining area that can be closed off towards the back of the main dining room. There’s a nice fresh fish display in the middle of the dining room which is actually pretty impressive, covered in huge colorful fish!
Food: A tad disappointing. They were also notably out of calamari, which was especially upsetting because I had been really excited to try that after scoping out other Unilocal reviews. How do you run out of your most popular appetizer in mid-​afternoon on a weekend?! What about dinner?! But between the two of us we tried a bunch of things –
— Starter bread and hummus was really fresh and warm and tasty!
— Spanikopita: Not bad but not memorable. Pretty standard flakey filo dough filled with mostly spinach and some cheese.
— Potato and leek soup: Overly creamy and was served lukewarm rather than hot (which I didn’t actually mind because it was a stiflingly hot day). But the creaminess overtook any other flavors in the soup.
— Fish of the day (arctic char) with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans: We both opted for this. It was all just swimming in olive oil (I hope it was olive oil and not butter…). wayyy drenched to the point where the bottom of our bowls were slick with puddles of oil. The fish was cooked well, however, with crispy skin and the meat was tender and not overcooked. The beans were nothing special and the potatoes were not very garlicky but actually had an odd grainy consistency.
— Galactoboureko dessert: Basically a vanilla custard in filo dough. Meh. Pretty underwhelming. It was served with a dollop of sour cream which actually offset the creamy sweetness of the custard and was a welcome unique change, but the dessert would have been tenfold better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
–Baklava: Pretty good but extremely nutty. Also served with a dollop of sour cream and drizzled in honey.
Drinks: The bellini was served in a GIGANTIC wine glass and was poured from a pre-​mixed pitcher they had. It would have been better in a smaller portion served in a champagne flute, becuase it got warm and flat towards the end since I couldn’t drink the huge glass fast enough. The server also refilled my huge wine glass of bellini without asking me if i wanted more or if i wanted to switch to a different drink. The bloody mary was actually pretty spicy and flavorful, though the garnishes were lacking.
Service: Our server was nice enough, but we often felt very rushed even though the restaurant was mostly empty. Several busboys asked to clear our plates when we were still working on our food (granted we were taking our sweet time, but one shouldn’t have to repeatedly refuse to have plates cleared). They also cleared our plates at different times (the polite custom is to clear the full table all at once after each course) — one of us then felt like we’d eaten too fast and the other felt rushed to catch up! Also, the server wouldnt give us more than 1 drink at a time (we wanted to try a different one), citing a «rule» that each person at a table could only have 1 beverage at a time. Weird. I DID love that they cleared crumbs from the table between courses and folded our napkins for us whenever we got up for the restroom… classy!
Cute décor and not awful food, but rushed service and nothing memorable.

We were visiting from NYC and went to this place for brunch. OMG! It was soooo delicious! The food was truly amazing! I’m a food perfectionist and for me is hard to find a good restaurant with the food that I will like. And I’m so glad we found this place in DC. I ordered grilled calamari and chef’s fish dish it was Arctic char. It was really amazing. I’m still dreaming about it haha. Next time I’m in DC I will definitely go there again!

A wonderful Mediterranean eatery located right in the centre of downtown DC with an upscale setting for dining or meeting with friends. Kellari has an extensive wine list and a wonderful display of fresh catch seafare, sourced from the waters of the Mediterranean. Dinner jacket indicated.

A friend and I picked this place because it met the criteria of a healthy selection of gluten-​free non-​meat choices. We had a nice lunch here — we split the «business lunch» which was enough food for the two not-​famished people. The calamari appetizer was especially good-​sized for an appetizer, and the lavraki (sea bass over grilled vegetables) was tasty. This place might merit four stars — I’ll have to come back to try more of the menu when I am not meeting a friend with such dietary limits

This is hands down the best restaurant I have been to in DC. We went for a Sunday late brunch/​lunch. We got the calamari appetizer. It was so delicious. I cannot wait to go back to DC just for this dish! I cannot even describe it because it’s so scrumptious. The interplay of flavors is a party in your mouth. You just have to try it yourself!
We did a 3 course brunch with bottomless mimosas/​bellinis. This was definitely the way to go. The food was all amazing and the service was superb. Make sure to try the baklava. It tastes very authentic and is the perfect portion.
I have heard the seafood is a great option. I guess later in the day you can pick fresh fish. I will definitely be going back next time I am in DC and hope to try more of their dishes.
***Dreaming of their grilled calamari***

Best food and service we have experienced in DC!
Grilled calamaris are delicious as well as the lamb shop (appetizers)
Oyster for $ 1 while Happy Hour, very fresh and well served.
The offer 3 course brunch with bottomless mimosas for 2 people and also 4. This is a great deal and the food is stupendous as is the service.

I was attracted by prefix menu and choose calamari and puff stuffed pastry, what a great start! I read before about calimari, but it was so taste good! My husband got eggs benedict with lox, it was so gooood! It only one dish I was disappointed– my crab cakes sandwich. It was so small, even tough I took top part of my sandwich off couldn’t taste. I would give 5 stars but it has to be all good.
My minor daughter got a lamp burger and it was good, but afortunatly it was no child menus or lunch menus during brunch time and she was complaining about too many spices.

I was disappointed.
Waaaay overpriced and not really a Greek atmosphere. Food was just okay. Wouldn’t go back there.

I have worked in DC on and off for many years but had somehow overlooked this restaurant. I went for a business lunch and I’m hooked!
The restaurant does get very busy at lunchtime but it is easy to have a conversation. Our waiter was pleasant and helpful and the food was top notch. I had the crab cake sandwich and it was delicious. The staff was very conscientious in keeping our water and iced tea glasses filled.
I plan to return when I am working in the area again.

I came here for brunch with a group of 4 and the Groupon. I liked the place and wouldn’t mind coming back, although I’m skeptical of the actual value of the Groupon. From the look of the menu, it seems like the Groupon price comes out to roughly the same as the regular brunch menu price ($ 32.95 for bottomless drinks and 3 courses).
The interior looks classy and well-​decorated, although it was surprisingly pretty empty for Sunday brunch hour. I ordered the soup of the day (butternut squash) and crab burger. Both were okay but nothing impressive. The desserts were the highlight of the meal — our table got all 4 (baklava, yogurt cake, chocolate mousse cake, and a 4^th Greek dessert) and they were all fantastic.
Service was quick and the waiters were very good at keeping our drinks full. I definitely would not mind coming back.

While visiting a friend in D.C. for the weekend we decided to have brunch at Kellari Taverna, a greek restaurant that also has a New York location. We took advantage of their Groupon deal which included 3 courses: an appetizer, entrée and dessert. We were celebrating a birthday so we wanted to enjoy the whole experience aka the unlimited drink special. We had the option of bellini, bloody mary or mimosa. I personally don’t like bloody Mary’s. I went with the bellini which was amazing. At first I thought it was just a glass of champagne, but it would have been a LOT of champagne. After the first sip, I tasted an amazing peach flavor and I knew that it was going to get real, real quick. It was delicious and strong and way better than the mimosa and bloody Mary that the others ordered.
For our appetizers we went with calamari, spanikopita and salad. I had the calamari which was so good. It was fresh and in a white wine sauce. I don’t think I could ever eat fried calamari again. The spanikopita was the best I’ve ever had. It was light and flaky on the outside and the warm spinach and feta on the inside was perfection. I wish I had ordered it instead. The salad… who cares? It’s salad. It looked like a salad and I’m sure it tasted like one too. I didn’t care to find out.
I went went with the crab burger for my entrée which was so delicious. My friend ordered the Kellari burger which is a lamb burger. I tried it and it was good, but I definitely preferred the crab. Both sandwiches came with fries, salad and a pickle. Someone else got the omelette which had veggies and feta and came with fries and salad as well. Crab burger was the best though.
For dessert I went with the chocolate mousse cake. It was good, but by the end of the meal I was so full. I did not really enjoy it for that reason. The other dessert someone chose was the galactoboureko which is a semolina custard in filo. I don’t know what any of that means and I did not try it, but you should go to Kellari Taverna in either D.C. or NYC and try it for yourself.

Went to this place yesterday for my sister’s groupon. The groupon was suppose to be for a three course brunch and so we had to choose one of each. We had the salmon with rice and crab cake burger for the entrée. The appetizer was bread slices with hummus and sliced onions and olives (CAUTION THE PITS!). The desserts, one was a chocolate mousse slice and the other was a vanilla cake thing with raspberries.
The service was fast and they do have a standard for refilling your glass of water, every friggin time! Also, our waiter was a bit on the sarcastic side. He kind of had the air of challenging us when we wanted something like «You were suppose to know what that was». The guy was old though, but seriously, act better. I think condescending may be the right word, but I do not generally have a big vocabulary, so I cannot really tell how it was.

3.5 stars. Very good for happy hour. Joined a large group and they seated us at a long table to the side of the bar — which worked out well. There was a fair amount of free, happy hour food. The drinks were good — not too diluted. I ordered a flat bread and a few other veggie appetizers. Very good. The hosts did a great job of making the after-​work crowd feel welcome. So what more could we have wanted? I’m going to try to come back for a meal at the restaurant now…

Can I just tell you how much I enjoyed my dining experience at Kellari Taverna? I came with a meetup group – funny thing is that we were planning to go somewhere else but there was a change in plans due to Snowzilla. Our original place couldn’t accommodate the size of the group on the new day so the organizer chose Kellari Taverna. We all took advantage of the Restaurant Week special and they didn’t give us a hard time when only half the attendees showed up – typically restaurant frown upon that sort of thing. This place was jumping yesterday but we didn’t have to deal with other conversations bleeding into ours.
As mentioned, we all ordered from the Restaurant Week menu: For the first course, I listened to my fellow Unilocalers and ordered the calamari. It was my first have having grilled calamari as I’ve only had it fried. It was delicious. It wasn’t rubbery and it was surprisingly filling **If you don’t believe me, just type «calamari» in the search reviews section.** For the second course, I had the paidakia/​grilled lamb chops. YUM YUM! The lamb was cooked perfectly. I asked for the chops to be cooked medium and it actually came out as requested, go figure. The chops were tender and flavorful. Also, it didn’t have a super gamey taste, which is good. The lemon potatoes were delicious as well. There were five of us at the table and we each got something different. There were no complaints. For the third course, I got the galaktoboureko/​vanilla custard pie. Yeah, I haven’t the slightest clue on pronouncing it, but I know that it was quite delightful. It’s not overly sweet, which is what I like. I also ordered a Malbec to go with my meal, which was good.
It would be remiss of me to end this review without talking about the wonderful service. So, as I mentioned, only half of the group showed up (typical meetup) and they were very gracious about it. Our server, Elisabeth was just a doll. I know she was super busy and she was taking care of several tables but she never seemed flustered. She didn’t rush us nor did she neglect us. She kept the bread coming, our waters were never empty and she kept our table clean from crumbs. She provided excellent service. You hear of places lacking in service when it comes to Restaurant Week and daily deals (groupon, living social, etc.) but I can honestly say that was not the case here. I’ll put Kellari Taverna on my short list of places whenever I’m able to splurge.

Excellent Brunch. Came here for my anniversary, and the did not disappoint.
Service was attentive and timely. My cup never stayed empty and my food was right on time.
The food was excellent. For appetozers I recommend the Spanakopita, which was flavorful. We also had the Salmon Eggs Benedict and the Crab Burger, both were will seasoned. For dessert the yogurt cake was delicious.
I recommended the groupon special to keep the price down. And the mimosas are really bottomless.

Came her for bunch with my boyfriend and his two sisters. We all loved it. The waiter was AWESOME. We had a brunch deal that included bottomless mimosas/​bloody mary’s and the waiter totally hooked it up. The food was also amazing. Awesome salad, super fresh grilled calamari, and the fresh fish of the day was on point. I would highly HIGHLY recommend people getting the groupon deal and coming here! Without the deal — it might be a bit overpriced/​out of range. We bought one more deal and look forward to returning!
Also they give you a lot of food — so make sure you come hungry!

I was absolutely surprised with this place. the interior is decorated like a typical Greek restaurant, but a bit fancier with their well dressed waitstaff and white tablecloths. This place was not crowded at all while we were there, which means people are missing out!
At brunch they have a prix fixe menu which includes an appetizer, an entrée, desert, and bottomless beverages (mimosas, bellinis, champagne, and bloody marys if you’re thinking adult beverages). These are not small plate portions, but a full meal. A bread basket with Greek bread (not pita) and a small amount of hummus and olives were also brought out when we arrived.
I had the spanokopita, which was made a little different from what I’m used to, but was quite good. The Greek omlette was huge and good, but nothing I couldn’t make myself. (I was already full by the time it came, so perhaps that was part if the problem.) The omlette came with a side of garlic fries that were amazing! My boyfriend had the lemon chicken and it was outstanding! To finish, baklava… and where can you go wrong there?!
They do also serve the regular lunch menu during brunch hours, but it looked like everyone was getting in on the mimosas and bloody marys, which were served in giant goblets!
The service was on par. We were seated as soon as we arrived, and the hostess cinfirmed our Groupon (as it’s only for the brunch mebu.) Our waiter checked in on us routinely, and another fellow maintained the beverages the entire time, even the mimosas. Our plates were cleares before the next course arrived. It was a very pleasant experience overall.
This place is absolutely worth checking out for brunch if you like Greek and want to try something new!

I’ve been to Kellari a few times for happy hour, and I enjoy it. If you are looking for a refined, elegant happy hour, this is your place. Soft music, nice lighting, and professional service create a classy atmosphere.
They offer complimentary crostini, olives, cheese, and crudités. In addition to that, I’ve had the spanokopita and fried calamari. I would have appreciated more feta in the spanokopita, but the happy portion comes with two piece, and they were fairly big. Calamari was an OK sized portion, and while it might not be the best I’ve had, it was fine.
Wines and cocktails are $ 5.99, and beer is a bit less. Happy hour is offered daily. I typically get whatever Greek white is available, though I’ve had the sangria too. It’s too sweet for me, so I’ve decided to stick with wine at Kellari.
I look forward to returning and trying more of the Greek fare offered here.