The Dabney 122 Blagden Alley Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia 20001

"My brother and I entered the Dabney as walk ins and we were lucky enough to get a spot at the bar immediately. We were only planning on having a cocktail but we ended up having the Sweet Potato Roll and we are SO glad that we did. We had eaten at several Michelin recommended and Michelin starred restaurants that weekend and the Sweet Potato Roll was the best food we had eaten all weekend! We were blown away! The cocktails were fantastic as well. Their martini was wonderful. The staff was extremely friendly and attentive. I am so excited to return to the Dabney for a full meal. If it’s anything like our first experience, I know it will be amazing!"

"I cannot say enough great things about this restaurant. From the moment you walk in the door and greeted by the chef with a warm soup to the delicious food we experienced. One of the best meals we have had by far. Chef Jeremiah Langhorne is doing great things at the Dabney."

"There’s a lot to like about this place. The wood-fire cooking is fantastic to watch in their open kitchen and imparts an incredible flavor and aroma. Each course was excellent and the dishes really let the ingredients shine. Servers are very friendly and extremely knowledgeable about the food and purveyors. While we loved our 8+ course tasting menu dinner, the pacing was very off at the beginning with new “snacks” coming to the table just as we were biting into the last one that had been dropped off. Pricing at $235pp without wine pairing also seemed high for this menu. Perhaps it’s just inflation, but you’re truly paying for an experience at that point and the service didn’t rise quite to that level. They were very accommodating of my gluten intolerance (deserts being an exception - upsetting they didn’t have a single gf baked good) and provided my wife with a handwritten birthday note that was a very nice touch."

"I came to DC over the summer for some sightseeing and some general celebration of my birthday. I ranked all of the restaurants in town using an algorithm/decision-making-tree that I came up with. And The Dabney popped up as one of the premier must-go places. So I made my reservations and showed up on time and got seated in the very beautiful main dining area. We had the perfect view of the open kitchen right next us, so we got to watch the well-oiled machine the entire time. So many tables going through course after course, a guy with a dry erase board keeping track of all the moving pieces, all the meats seemingly being cooked with only wood and fire. Really great stuff. And the service? Come on. We had multiple people that waited on us, each being their own cog in the machine of the service presentation. We never wanted for anything. And the conversation was very pleasant and seemed authentic. Right down to the very end of the night to when one of the hosts checked on us to see how we were getting back in the pouring rain. So anyway, I can't talk about all of the courses served in the well orchestrated show that we went through, but I will give some thoughts and notes. I love how this place, and many other places, are highlighting and celebrating local ingredients. Where our food comes from is very cool to know, and I'm glad that they are supporting local, small businesses rather than buying a pack of 1,000 frozen oysters from another country. The second snack of the night really hit that point with lamb from the Shenandoah area stuffed into a mint leaf that came from Kentucky. Very nice. I also liked how the courses got progressively bigger in size, from the snacks to the actual courses, to the main event. Fried squash blossom. Enough said. There's no vessel more fun to eat something from. One of the courses had us take a fried corn tortilla and smash it to make our own tortilla chips to eat the rest of the dish with. That was fun! And of course, the main event. From a local farm, we got Autumn Olive Farm Pork served in a few different ways. It was all laid out to us at once and then we got free range of the feast. The Sorghum Butter they gave us for that Cornbread was insane out of this world delicious. And the Scrapple they put that Caviar on top of? Wow. It was all just so fun and delicious. We finished off with three dessert courses, all good. I feel like I've said a lot, but also a lot of nothing. The bottom line is that the place is very good. They select high quality, local ingredients, and present them in a beautiful, delicious way. The only thing is that a place like this needs to send you home with some post-dinner munchies. That's all that was missing. Not sure if I'll ever be back, but will certainly recommend this place to everyone I know who heads to DC."

"This place was INCREDIBLE and well worth the Michelin hype. We ate at the bar where the bartenders crafted memorable drinks, made perfect menu suggestions and explained how these delicacies were made. Every dish was familiar, but the best version of that thing. The sweet potato was actually the most perfect fish sandwich! The ham sandwich was like the best parts of bacon with no fat. The sugar toads were like delicate fish "chicken wings" and completely special. This made my entire trip and night out with an old friend memorable. Will brave the sketchy alley again! This place is a "cannot miss""