Our group was originally planning on going to Ted’s Bulletin for brunch down the block but the wait was at least an hour. So we ended up going here instead and I cannot rave about the food and the experience enough. I had the Nutella pancakes and enjoyed stealing bites of everyone’s breakfast potatoes >:) If you get a chance, try this place out!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Maxim Meleshchuk
It was great for our group to sit down for breakfast! Everyone was thoroughly impressed with their dishes and the atmosphere was refreshing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Brixton and Brenna Coppola-Millner
I went to Lavagna in 2022 and the food was amazing, fresh, great service, and clean. Based on that experience I was excited to take my mom during her recent visit and it was horrendous. The only good thing was the two servers that were working, but since there was only 2 of them, they couldn’t be attentive to every table (not their fault). The focaccia was stale, salad wilted, rigatoni over cooked/broken and soaked in a sauce that tasted like a sloppy Joe. My aperol spritz had no Prosecco. The paper menus were dirty and the ink was faded so you couldn’t read the print. The glasses were dirty, and the very strange fabric they had covering the tables/chaies/couches inside were stained.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 3
David Angel
Mediocre food but Great Service.They definitely need to be using more onion & salt in their dishes to catch up to other Italian dc restaurants. Main feedback: "Cook the paste in salt water, as salty as the ocean"The pasta was lacking flavor and the lamb dish was more of a stew than a sauce. It was more of guisado instead of a sauce. Their stew was very good but you can tell that paste needed some more love.I will give them this: The bread was very good.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spaghetti Carbonara, Pappardelle Lamb, Red
Hasenin Al-khersan
Had read relatively good reviews….not sure if this place has just taken a deep dive into mediocrity. Calamari was clearly frozen. Lamb pappardelle was essentially flavorless. The shrimp risotto was suuuper greasy and the shrimp overcooked. The pasta matched the decor and vibe - drab. Possibly the worst Italian restaurant I’ve been to
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Colin Zerfass
Great pasta, great tiramisu (made the right way!), and great service. Definitely coming back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lagene Lee
We are visiting Washington DC. We went to Lavagna for dinner. Italian!!! Amazing fresh delicious Italian cuisine! Lovely old historic building for this restaurant. Great service!! They were wonderfully attentive all evening. We tried 4 different entrees & 3 salads. Each one was amazing!! We thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Go visit as soon as you can. Delicious!!!
This is the place I always demand my friends and family go to. The pasta is incredible, the service is amazing, do yourself a favor and being a big appetite! Portions are favorable, too.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spaghetti Carbonara, Tiramisu
Tamara Czirjak
Came here based on Infatuations review, which is typically spot on. I have no idea what hat happened but it was nothing like described in the review. Food was not good. They have plants sitting in brown water so there are flies. My mimosa was good and healthy he staff was nice..:that’s it. Place was empty, not clean, carbonara was heavy cream and bacon (expected traditional given it was rated one of the “best” Italian restaurants), eggs were overcooked. Very disappointing.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 5
Nancy O'Neill
The bolognese sauce was very flavorful, didn’t care for the thick pasta. The focaccia was really bad, didn’t look like or taste like focaccia.
I've been to Lavagna about a dozen times now, and it's my favorite restaurant in DC. The food is amazing. My personal favorites are the Lobster Bisque and the Ravioli with Bolognese. The service, music, and atmosphere are also great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tempril J
This was my first time here and definitely not my last! I had spaghetti bolognese, cheesecake AND tiramisu. Everything was delicious! Service was great even though they had a full house - they were responsive and fast. Looking forward to the warmer months so I can have a meal outside. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spaghetti Bolognese
Tiffani N.
They were so nice to give us their semi-private space for a holiday brunch with no minimums and they separated our checks. They also gave us space and let us make ornaments and talk for 3 hours with little to no interruptions. I highly recommend them for a group event. However, my drinks were really the only highlight beyond the service. The food was so mediocre. I was surprised given the price point. The Spaghetti Carbonara I had was bland even with all the Parmesan cheese. I added lots of salt and it still didn't taste that great. I'd patronize them again but stick to a classic breakfast or something hard to mess up.
Jessica L.
We ordered takeout so I can't speak to the ambiance or the service, only the food. Unfortunately the food was mostly a miss for me. We had a big group so we tried several different pastas and got a couple of apps. The bruschetta was the saddest thing I've maybe ever seen. It was 3 little pieces of bread with a few tomatoes on top, and not much else. The pastas were also a bit lackluster. I had the pesto pasta and it was DROWNING in pesto. I almost couldn't eat it because there was so much pesto. I would say it was just a heavy handed prep, but nope. My friend also got the pesto pasta and hers was also drowning in sauce. I like saucy pasta as much as the next gal, but this was too much. I got it with shrimp and they were well cooked at least. My husband got the rigatoni with Italian sausage and it was ok. Decent flavor, but didn't feel like anything I couldn't have made at home, and it was weirdly dry. We also tried the spaghettis bolognese which was decent. Our dinner was also quite expensive. Given the large number of Italian restaurants in the area I don't think I'd order from Lavagna or go here again. Pretty disappointing food experience.
Colin K
My girlfriend and I ate here tonight (11/9/23). We both wanted to eat for a long time and were originally going to go to Matchbox, but we saw the outdoor area and a sign that advertised 50% carbonara on Thursdays which we had to have! For drinks -- I had the Italian Pilsner and my gf got a cocktail spitzer. Everything was so fantastic, our server was so polite and courteous and treated us very well, filled our water like 5 times excellent service!The carbonara had thick spaghetti with delicious bacon chunks in carbonara sauce straight from grandma's kitchen (although I'm not Italian!). The other dishes we saw in the restaurant looked delicious as well. The drinks were really good and the italian pilsner was a pleasant surprise! The venue is right out of little italy, and the decor is a walled brick with cozy seating and tho we visited on a colder DC night -- we could've sat outside in the front if we wanted to.The service, atmosphere and food were really fantastic and this may be my new favorite restaurant on 8th street!Good for: Family dinners, date night, bring out of town guests for nice dinner, night out with friends, you name it!5/5 stars, will be visiting here again.
Our group was originally planning on going to Ted’s Bulletin for brunch down the block but the wait was at least an hour. So we ended up going here instead and I cannot rave about the food and the experience enough. I had the Nutella pancakes and enjoyed stealing bites of everyone’s breakfast potatoes >:) If you get a chance, try this place out!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
It was great for our group to sit down for breakfast! Everyone was thoroughly impressed with their dishes and the atmosphere was refreshing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I went to Lavagna in 2022 and the food was amazing, fresh, great service, and clean. Based on that experience I was excited to take my mom during her recent visit and it was horrendous. The only good thing was the two servers that were working, but since there was only 2 of them, they couldn’t be attentive to every table (not their fault). The focaccia was stale, salad wilted, rigatoni over cooked/broken and soaked in a sauce that tasted like a sloppy Joe. My aperol spritz had no Prosecco. The paper menus were dirty and the ink was faded so you couldn’t read the print. The glasses were dirty, and the very strange fabric they had covering the tables/chaies/couches inside were stained.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 3
Mediocre food but Great Service.They definitely need to be using more onion & salt in their dishes to catch up to other Italian dc restaurants. Main feedback: "Cook the paste in salt water, as salty as the ocean"The pasta was lacking flavor and the lamb dish was more of a stew than a sauce. It was more of guisado instead of a sauce. Their stew was very good but you can tell that paste needed some more love.I will give them this: The bread was very good.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spaghetti Carbonara, Pappardelle Lamb, Red
Had read relatively good reviews….not sure if this place has just taken a deep dive into mediocrity. Calamari was clearly frozen. Lamb pappardelle was essentially flavorless. The shrimp risotto was suuuper greasy and the shrimp overcooked. The pasta matched the decor and vibe - drab. Possibly the worst Italian restaurant I’ve been to
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Great pasta, great tiramisu (made the right way!), and great service. Definitely coming back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We are visiting Washington DC. We went to Lavagna for dinner. Italian!!! Amazing fresh delicious Italian cuisine! Lovely old historic building for this restaurant. Great service!! They were wonderfully attentive all evening. We tried 4 different entrees & 3 salads. Each one was amazing!! We thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Go visit as soon as you can. Delicious!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spaghetti Carbonara, Pappardelle Lamb, Provolone Salad
This is the place I always demand my friends and family go to. The pasta is incredible, the service is amazing, do yourself a favor and being a big appetite! Portions are favorable, too.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spaghetti Carbonara, Tiramisu
Came here based on Infatuations review, which is typically spot on. I have no idea what hat happened but it was nothing like described in the review. Food was not good. They have plants sitting in brown water so there are flies. My mimosa was good and healthy he staff was nice..:that’s it. Place was empty, not clean, carbonara was heavy cream and bacon (expected traditional given it was rated one of the “best” Italian restaurants), eggs were overcooked. Very disappointing.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 5
The bolognese sauce was very flavorful, didn’t care for the thick pasta. The focaccia was really bad, didn’t look like or taste like focaccia.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spaghetti Bolognese
Restaurantji Recommends
I've been to Lavagna about a dozen times now, and it's my favorite restaurant in DC. The food is amazing. My personal favorites are the Lobster Bisque and the Ravioli with Bolognese. The service, music, and atmosphere are also great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This was my first time here and definitely not my last! I had spaghetti bolognese, cheesecake AND tiramisu. Everything was delicious! Service was great even though they had a full house - they were responsive and fast. Looking forward to the warmer months so I can have a meal outside. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spaghetti Bolognese
They were so nice to give us their semi-private space for a holiday brunch with no minimums and they separated our checks. They also gave us space and let us make ornaments and talk for 3 hours with little to no interruptions. I highly recommend them for a group event. However, my drinks were really the only highlight beyond the service. The food was so mediocre. I was surprised given the price point. The Spaghetti Carbonara I had was bland even with all the Parmesan cheese. I added lots of salt and it still didn't taste that great. I'd patronize them again but stick to a classic breakfast or something hard to mess up.
We ordered takeout so I can't speak to the ambiance or the service, only the food. Unfortunately the food was mostly a miss for me. We had a big group so we tried several different pastas and got a couple of apps. The bruschetta was the saddest thing I've maybe ever seen. It was 3 little pieces of bread with a few tomatoes on top, and not much else. The pastas were also a bit lackluster. I had the pesto pasta and it was DROWNING in pesto. I almost couldn't eat it because there was so much pesto. I would say it was just a heavy handed prep, but nope. My friend also got the pesto pasta and hers was also drowning in sauce. I like saucy pasta as much as the next gal, but this was too much. I got it with shrimp and they were well cooked at least. My husband got the rigatoni with Italian sausage and it was ok. Decent flavor, but didn't feel like anything I couldn't have made at home, and it was weirdly dry. We also tried the spaghettis bolognese which was decent. Our dinner was also quite expensive. Given the large number of Italian restaurants in the area I don't think I'd order from Lavagna or go here again. Pretty disappointing food experience.
My girlfriend and I ate here tonight (11/9/23). We both wanted to eat for a long time and were originally going to go to Matchbox, but we saw the outdoor area and a sign that advertised 50% carbonara on Thursdays which we had to have! For drinks -- I had the Italian Pilsner and my gf got a cocktail spitzer. Everything was so fantastic, our server was so polite and courteous and treated us very well, filled our water like 5 times excellent service!The carbonara had thick spaghetti with delicious bacon chunks in carbonara sauce straight from grandma's kitchen (although I'm not Italian!). The other dishes we saw in the restaurant looked delicious as well. The drinks were really good and the italian pilsner was a pleasant surprise! The venue is right out of little italy, and the decor is a walled brick with cozy seating and tho we visited on a colder DC night -- we could've sat outside in the front if we wanted to.The service, atmosphere and food were really fantastic and this may be my new favorite restaurant on 8th street!Good for: Family dinners, date night, bring out of town guests for nice dinner, night out with friends, you name it!5/5 stars, will be visiting here again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spaghetti Carbonara