Irony.” The Little Red Hen” google this if you need, no bread tonight? There goes the Toast menu. Maybe if the waitress scurried like the rat outside I would have had a second Negroni as my empty glass sat on the table edge for 20 minutes. The Red Hen must be working in the kitchen. Best octopus and gnochetti ever. I recommend you go early for bread order your bottles early as service disappears until you are sold dessert. The chocolate Gelato was great.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 1
Steve
Hard to get reservations, but worth the. Pasta is all fresh and outstanding. Make sure to try the olives!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
M.C. Franzini
The fact that I’m leaving a 5 star review instead of saying nothing so other people won’t come here for a table is how much I love this place. For the past three years, I’ve been coming here for dinner with friends, family, and my partner—met each time with mouthwatering dishes, unrealistically hospitable staff (like, each time they’re this great??), and an environment that feels like escape to absolute delight. Please don’t come here. But if you do, I’m certain you’ll love it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cara Weber
This is the restaurant I have eaten at the most during my 3 years in DC and it will continue to be. The pasta and cocktails hit the spot every single time. The bar tenders are personable and quick, the food delicious, and the vibe is always on point. Love this place.
N. R.
Just two of us, we arrived early evening without reservations. We grabbed seats at the bar and we were quickly offered drinks and menus. Food options are excellent, for an app we ordered the whipped ricotta crostini - beyond delicious! For entrees we enjoyed the squid ink linguini and mezzi rigatoni. The combination of excellent service, cool vibe, and great food can’t be beat.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
D Mattox
Food was excellent - I’m not even a huge Italian fan in general. The pork in the dill sauce was transcendent. Service was very attentive and quick but not at all rushed.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Riley Mattox
We loved this place. We actually brought our two kids here as well… Ages five and six. The restaurant was very accommodating. We did go early with them. They were able to eat one of their pastas, which was like spaghetti and our kids loved it!
Everything we ate was delicious. Highly recommend. And a great atmosphere inside!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Morgan Buchanan
Celebrated a birthday with a lovely dinner at the Red Hen last week. The staff and ownership were great, and they were so kind to treat us to a birthday dessert! Best pasta in town, definitely recommend to everyone!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ashley Morris
Ambiance – 5/5 Red Hen has such a warm and inviting atmosphere, perfect for a date night or an evening out with friends. Sitting at the bar is an experience in itself—you get a front-row view of the staff preparing everything to order, which adds an exciting, behind-the-scenes feel to the night. The energy is vibrant without being overwhelming, striking just the right balance for an enjoyable evening.
Service – 5/5 On my first visit, I sat at the bar and had such a great experience with our bartender, Sara (apologies if I’m misspelling). She was superb—knowledgeable, informative, and refreshingly honest with her recommendations. I enjoyed it so much that I brought my fiancé back two days later just to sit on the same side of the bar to have Sara again. The entire staff radiates professionalism and care, but Sara’s attentive service really elevated our experience.
Food – 5/5 Every dish at Red Hen is beautifully crafted and bursting with flavor. We started with the Grilled Crostini Bread and Charred Broccolini—the whipped butter was absolute perfection, and the toasted hazelnuts with golden raisins gave the broccolini a radiant mix of textures and flavors, good to the very last bite.
For entrées, we had the Spaghetti Pomodora and the Gnocchetti—both meatless options that didn’t miss a beat. The spaghetti, made with golden tomatoes, offered a lighter, creamy twist on a traditional red sauce, while the Gnocchetti highlighted a perfect balance of flavors with just the right richness.
Dessert was the ultimate finish. The Roasted Maple Panna Cotta was silky smooth, with the hazelnut crumble adding the perfect textural contrast. The Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart, on the other hand, was a true chocolate lover’s dream—rich, decadent, and deeply satisfying.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tony Bastiand
Typical Washingtonian place yuppie place, overprice mediocre noodles with a waitress giving me an attitude because I don’t eat dairy.
We went for apertivo and got the ricotta crostini, arancini primavera, and the marinated olives and salumi. All were very tasty.
The service was great, and even with many customers, the bartenders were friendly and helpful. Plus, the acoustics are the bar are good and make for easy conversation.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Min Xian Lee
Gets pretty busy, service was very efficient. Really like their foie gras.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Izzy H
So the food was good (maybe a little on the smaller side portion wise), but I was so impressed by the waiter. I'm vegan and came with a gluten free friend, and the waiter knew EXACTLY what could be done vegan and gluten free, walked us down every item, and even brought out a vegan menu. Also someone in our party wasn't feeling well after ordering so they were gracious enough to prepare our order quickly and box it up for us to go.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Derin Ertek
After years of waiting I finally got into The Red Hand, and it was worth it. The Irish chef/owner puts his heart into Italian cooking—no pizza here, just amazing pasta, rich flavors, and desserts you can’t miss. A truly unique dining experience!”
Irony.” The Little Red Hen” google this if you need, no bread tonight? There goes the Toast menu. Maybe if the waitress scurried like the rat outside I would have had a second Negroni as my empty glass sat on the table edge for 20 minutes.
The Red Hen must be working in the kitchen. Best octopus and gnochetti ever.
I recommend you go early for bread order your bottles early as service disappears until you are sold dessert. The chocolate Gelato was great.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 1
Hard to get reservations, but worth the. Pasta is all fresh and outstanding. Make sure to try the olives!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The fact that I’m leaving a 5 star review instead of saying nothing so other people won’t come here for a table is how much I love this place. For the past three years, I’ve been coming here for dinner with friends, family, and my partner—met each time with mouthwatering dishes, unrealistically hospitable staff (like, each time they’re this great??), and an environment that feels like escape to absolute delight. Please don’t come here. But if you do, I’m certain you’ll love it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This is the restaurant I have eaten at the most during my 3 years in DC and it will continue to be. The pasta and cocktails hit the spot every single time. The bar tenders are personable and quick, the food delicious, and the vibe is always on point. Love this place.
Just two of us, we arrived early evening without reservations. We grabbed seats at the bar and we were quickly offered drinks and menus. Food options are excellent, for an app we ordered the whipped ricotta crostini - beyond delicious! For entrees we enjoyed the squid ink linguini and mezzi rigatoni. The combination of excellent service, cool vibe, and great food can’t be beat.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food was excellent - I’m not even a huge Italian fan in general. The pork in the dill sauce was transcendent. Service was very attentive and quick but not at all rushed.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We loved this place. We actually brought our two kids here as well… Ages five and six. The restaurant was very accommodating. We did go early with them. They were able to eat one of their pastas, which was like spaghetti and our kids loved it!
Everything we ate was delicious. Highly recommend. And a great atmosphere inside!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Celebrated a birthday with a lovely dinner at the Red Hen last week. The staff and ownership were great, and they were so kind to treat us to a birthday dessert! Best pasta in town, definitely recommend to everyone!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ambiance – 5/5
Red Hen has such a warm and inviting atmosphere, perfect for a date night or an evening out with friends. Sitting at the bar is an experience in itself—you get a front-row view of the staff preparing everything to order, which adds an exciting, behind-the-scenes feel to the night. The energy is vibrant without being overwhelming, striking just the right balance for an enjoyable evening.
Service – 5/5
On my first visit, I sat at the bar and had such a great experience with our bartender, Sara (apologies if I’m misspelling). She was superb—knowledgeable, informative, and refreshingly honest with her recommendations. I enjoyed it so much that I brought my fiancé back two days later just to sit on the same side of the bar to have Sara again. The entire staff radiates professionalism and care, but Sara’s attentive service really elevated our experience.
Food – 5/5
Every dish at Red Hen is beautifully crafted and bursting with flavor. We started with the Grilled Crostini Bread and Charred Broccolini—the whipped butter was absolute perfection, and the toasted hazelnuts with golden raisins gave the broccolini a radiant mix of textures and flavors, good to the very last bite.
For entrées, we had the Spaghetti Pomodora and the Gnocchetti—both meatless options that didn’t miss a beat. The spaghetti, made with golden tomatoes, offered a lighter, creamy twist on a traditional red sauce, while the Gnocchetti highlighted a perfect balance of flavors with just the right richness.
Dessert was the ultimate finish. The Roasted Maple Panna Cotta was silky smooth, with the hazelnut crumble adding the perfect textural contrast. The Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart, on the other hand, was a true chocolate lover’s dream—rich, decadent, and deeply satisfying.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Typical Washingtonian place yuppie place, overprice mediocre noodles with a waitress giving me an attitude because I don’t eat dairy.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 2
Restaurantji Recommends
Reliably great after so many years.
Food: 5
We went for apertivo and got the ricotta crostini, arancini primavera, and the marinated olives and salumi. All were very tasty.
The service was great, and even with many customers, the bartenders were friendly and helpful. Plus, the acoustics are the bar are good and make for easy conversation.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Gets pretty busy, service was very efficient. Really like their foie gras.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
So the food was good (maybe a little on the smaller side portion wise), but I was so impressed by the waiter. I'm vegan and came with a gluten free friend, and the waiter knew EXACTLY what could be done vegan and gluten free, walked us down every item, and even brought out a vegan menu. Also someone in our party wasn't feeling well after ordering so they were gracious enough to prepare our order quickly and box it up for us to go.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
After years of waiting I finally got into The Red Hand, and it was worth it. The Irish chef/owner puts his heart into Italian cooking—no pizza here, just amazing pasta, rich flavors, and desserts you can’t miss. A truly unique dining experience!”
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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