El Cielo

"A delightful first experience last night. Much more interesting than our most recent meals at Jont and Inn at Little Washington. Innovative dishes-memorable plating-discreet service and good wine pairing. We intend to be regulars as long as they keep the menu fresh and new."

"We have eaten here a few times and it remains in our top 3 DC area restaurant experiences. The restaurant ambiance is special - it is intimate, classy, with a bit of fun flair. We love the unique full tasting menu. Each time we have gone, a few things have changed with new stories to explain the ingredients and preparation. The service is attentive and helpful without being overbearing - although I think nobody has mastered this balance better than the Inn at Little Washington. The cocktails are insane - best in DC - and if you watch the bartender you know why. He is at the helm of the bar making syrups and tonics whenever he isn't crafting a drink, which he does meticulously. I love that I can order a mocktail generally and he nails it each time. The food is so fun! From the bite sized bits to the bigger proteins (I dream about the smoky quail), it is such a fun journey. I love tearing off the tree of life bread and trying different butters. The interaction of stuffing empanadas is engaging and always a great conversation starter. One time we were given a funny little bib for our lobster roll - just a nice hit of nostalgia thrown in the meal. We are lifelong fans and having eaten at numerous 1 to 3 star Michelin spots in the U.S and abroad, this place deserves a 2 star. We hope to try the Miami location one day."

"My girlfriend and I ate here in late September and I have been debating about writing this review, and specifically about what to put in it, since then. I’ll start with this: the food at El Cielo is exceptional. My girlfriend and I both did the 20 course tasting menu with wine pairing. I genuinely enjoyed the food and from that aspect alone I would give them 5 stars. But, that all but ends my 5 star experience. The service at El Cielo was disappointing—so disappointing that I cannot in good conscience give them more than 3 stars in this review. Before our reservation I tried contacting the restaurant multiple times. Your only option for contacting anyone is email because no one picked up the phone the 3+ separate times that I called. I also couldn’t leave a voicemail because the mailbox was full. When I emailed it took over 24 hours to get a response. So, prior to your reservation just hope you don’t need to contact the restaurant for any reason or with any urgency. When we arrived for our reservation we immediately began our meal service. To start we received two courses. Oddly enough, we were told to eat the second course listed on the menu first and the first course listed on the menu second. This is the sort of detail that is lacking for a restaurant that is purportedly of Michelin star quality. Additionally, the pace of service was so fast that within 15 minutes of starting our meal we had already been served 5 courses. In fact, we were served multiple courses WHILE STILL CHEWING THE PREVIOUS COURSE. My girlfriend and I felt that we were being rushed through our meal and so we decided that we had to take control of things ourselves. We opted to slow down the pace of service by taking a minute to breathe after finishing the prior course (all while the next course, which they had already brought us, was getting cold). This was all that we could do to actually try and enjoy the food that they were serving us. Through the remainder of the meal the service (and our experience generally) fluctuated—again, all in the details. The staff struggled with serving our wine pairings and they ended up dripping a not insignificant amount wine all over the table. They also didn’t do anything to even acknowledge that it was my girlfriend’s birthday, which was frankly very disappointing (I’ve had more done at a Chili’s than El Cielo). Additionally, when I excused myself to the restroom I found an extremely dented trash can that looked like it had kicked in by someone and there was only one floss pick in the jar in the restroom (why have that detail if your staff won’t attend to it). Finally, at the end of our meal we decided to order a round of espresso martinis to cap off the night. We ended up waiting over 20 minutes to get our drinks because they brought them to the wrong table the first time. While sipping on our drinks they also refilled the water that we had been drinking all night. But when they brought me the bill, to my surprise El Cielo went out of their way to charge me $7 for that bit of water we consumed (and which had otherwise been free all night). A real capper on a rather disappointing experience that cost almost $1,400. If you want my honest opinion, then here it is: the food is very good but there are better restaurants in DC (and especially ones with better service) for less. If you were asking me, this wouldn’t be my first choice when looking for a fancy restaurant to spend my hard earned money at."

"I visited Elcielo recently and it was a very unique experience. I think if you’re really into unique dining experiences and are an extreme foodie/not afraid to try things outside of your comfort zone, this would be a fun place to try. We did the 20 course experience and it lasted 3.5 hours (which is long). At times, it did feel like the experience was dragging, but I imagine it takes time to prepare all the dishes, even though they are small. We didn’t leave here feeling stuffed but we also didn’t leave feeling hungry. 20 courses sounds overwhelming, but all the courses are very small, and some courses aren’t traditional food, like the chocotherapy, where chocolate is poured on your hands and you taste it. The 20 course option is almost $300. If you ask me if it’s worth almost $300, I am not sure, but it’s definitely a special experience that had very good food with bursts of flavor."

"This is near union market and I believe there are several parking garages nearby. We had made a reservation for 4 PM on Saturday for the 20 course meal. Someone opened up the door for us and we were sat immediately down a ramp into a room near the kitchen. I would highly recommend bringing a cardigan or jacket. We were sat right under the AC so it was pretty cold. There was a menu at the table with the list of the course items along with my name which was pretty neat. The first course was delicious - the Aguardiente & Passion Fruit Toddy. Most of the dessert themed items were great. We didn't care for the Spring Blossom Sorbet. We did overall enjoy most of the food items and there was little we didn't enjoy. We came with a friend who had some allergies but also didn't really eat seafood and they would substitute any of the seafood items and she loved most of the substitutions as well. The service overall was great with bringing out the courses but I find otherwise a little lacking. It would take awhile for our glasses of waters to be refilled and our initial cocktails that we ordered took about 15 minutes. Everything was mostly enjoyable and very flavorable but I'm not entirely sure if it's worth the $289/person for the 20 course meal."