I had a fantastic experience at SHŌTŌ Washington DC. The atmosphere was vibrant, with great music that added to the upscale yet inviting ambiance. The food was exceptional… beautifully presented and packed with flavor. From start to finish, everything was top-notch. Definitely a place worth visiting for a great night out!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sonya Hu
This delightful downtown restaurant offers a massive -- albeit pricey -- Japanese menu in a super trendy, vibey space. Shoto has been on my bucket list for a long time; I walk past their restaurant nearly daily and always see the logo projected on the sidewalk and rows upon rows of fancy liquor bottles lining their walls. It has always seemed like a cool, slightly mysterious space, and I've felt my intrigue grow with every passing. When I finally got the chance to step inside, the interior of the restaurant felt every bit as cool, mysterious, and trendy as the outside; aside from their display wall of liquor, the rest of the restaurant was almost completely shut off from the outside world. We were seated next to the wall of fake leaves, and it honestly felt like we were transported into another dimension.
The service was phenomenal -- they added all the nice, classy touches like pulling out our chairs for us, giving us little hooks to hang our bags from instead of putting them on the floor, and walking us through the expansive menu. The restaurant has multiple independent kitchens, including a sushi section, a robata section, and a kitchen for everything else. As a result, your food won't all come out at once, but that gives you plenty of time to enjoy each dish when it's at its peak. It was nearly impossible to decide what to order and how to balance our meal between the three sections, but, since we had a fairly large group, we decided to just split a bunch of starters and robata, and then each get our own order of sushi.
For our starters, we got the shrimp tempura, prawn and black cod gyoza, ceviche, robata cauliflower, and robata salmon. The shrimp tempura was delightfully crispy, although I thought that it had slightly too much batter, which weighed the dish down a smidge. The gyoza were phenomenal -- prawn and black cod is quite a unique combination, but they did an outstanding job. The prawns and black cod both have a ton of seafood-y flavor, and the fry on the bottom of the gyoza had a delightful crunch. It went wonderfully with the chili ponzu sauce, which was the perfect balance of spicy, savory, and tangy to balance out the decadence of the gyoza. Also great for counterbalancing the rich gyoza and tempura was the ceviche, which was super fresh and had a lovely tangy flavor from the lemon and tomato. It was served in a giant bowl of ice and with the largest rice crackers I've ever seen, so it ended up taking up nearly half the table space, but it was quite the impressive centerpiece.
From there, we moved onto the robata third of the menu. The cauliflower was outstandingly tender, with a great char on the outside and delightful pops of flavor from the tiny red peppers and kernels of puffed rice. And the teriyaki salmon robata was probably my favorite bite of the entire evening -- it was remarkably tender and flaky, but also incredibly buttery and rich. The skin was super crispy, and the salmon was perfect with a squeeze of lemon or when paired with one of the grilled shishito peppers.
Each bite of sushi was incredibly fresh, and everything, whether it was the nigiri or the rolls, had the perfect balance of rice to fish to everything else. It was a bit confusing when our orders first came out, as we had explicitly mentioned that we had separate / individual sushi orders, but it all came out on combined platters. That would have been totally fine if they hadn't combined orders from people who were sitting on opposite ends of the table, so we had to do a bit of creative shifting with the plates.
The thing that bogs down my rating for Shoto just a bit is the price -- while the food is delicious and the service outstanding, I wasn't quite as wowed as I would expect when paying $100+ per person on a meal. The minor service mishaps, while small, spoke to a larger lack of flexibility and attentiveness to individual tables' needs. The portions were also quite small, so you probably need to spe
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Sushi
Camren Meier
Visited Shōtō for my birthday and I was overall pleased with my experience. The food was delicious and fresh. I believe the price reflects the quality well. The standout for me was the lobster tempura, absolutely worth the splurge. The chef selection of nigiri was a fun experience, however I would’ve loved a card listing the names because we were told quickly and immediately forgot what each piece was. The drinks were balanced and tasty, the standout being the old fashioned, however I do not think the price reflects the product. $22-$35 for a cocktail that tastes the same as one that runs $15-$18 at a different restaurant or bar. The space felt upscale but not pretentious, we sat at the sushi bar which I recommend as it is fun to see the food being prepared. I typically hate when restaurants have a live dj but they did a very good job of keeping the energy exciting without making it feel like a club. The service didn’t impress me but all the food did come out quickly. I was given a scoop of sorbet for a birthday dessert and my name was spelled wrong on the plate, not a big deal but I won’t lie and say I wasn’t slightly disappointed. Overall a great night and I was very happy with my decision to visit. I recommend this place to those who enjoy getting out of their menu comfort zones as the menu is huge and there are so many unique things to try. Finally, always remember to tip your server!
Always a great time for a lively and lovely dinner.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Edward Hill
Always a great time for a lively and late dinner!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ugur Ege Kestellli
So.. to be honest, I am very unhappy about writing this review. I was very, very disappointed with the dinner I had today at Shoto, which has been a go-to place for all my special guests coming from all over the world. I have taken large groups of more than 10 people to Shoto many times.
However, after what I experienced today, I will never go to that place again. The main reason is that because is the way they provide service to their customers.. they mainly not interested in making their customers happy. I guess they have too many customers and do not care about their customers at all, which is understandable from their side since they have an unlimited number of customers…… they don’t care to lose any……
The funny thing about today was that they did not have a regular IPA in stock, which they do have on their menu. First, they said that it was out of stock, then they said that it was discontinued. If it is discontinued, then what’s worse, I believe, is that they should have removed it from the menu. It's just funny how they manage the restaurant.
After all the conversations I had with the servers, managers, etc., the unbelievable part was their strategy. They said that they train their servers not to deviate under any circumstances, no matter what, even if that decision is going to make their customers unhappy.
I have been coming to this place with large groups for a long time and was going to recommend this place to my friends as a must-go place; however, this has changed today, unfortunately.
At this point, I do not care how good the food is after being serviced by the restaurant (not by the server) in such a bad way. I will never go back there again, and I do not recommend it to anyone else.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 5
Service: 1
A Bell
A great vibe and the food exceeded our expectations. We ordered a couple of rolls, crab tacos, and the cheesecake dessert—everything was fresh and delicious.
The only downside was the seating arrangement. We sat in a booth-chair combo, and the seats were uncomfortably close together. The outside chair was also extremely heavy and hard to move, which made getting in and out a bit of a hassle.
Overall, it’s worth a visit for the food and if you are lucky and get a table.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Shannon Lim
The vibes are great the food is gross. Also there was a huge language barrier with our waiter. Don’t count on the manager caring much either. We spent over $450 and walked away starving
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 1
FIFA GODS
Poppin
George Clowney
I had such high hopes for Shoto, but what a letdown. What should have been a special birthday celebration turned into a disappointing experience that left me feeling completely depressed. The restaurants’ half-hearted and almost dismissive approach to hospitality reveals how far they are from truly understanding what service means - it’s more than an animated smile or pretty plate. At every turn there was an excuse as to why simple requests could not be accomplished or resolved. Even telling our table the chef in charge of scooping ice cream was gone 10 mins after ordering our desert.
The food was great and the place is full of energy and style. Unfortunately, someone decided to cram some tables in a weird boring back room where you are isolated from the main dining hall. Upon arrival, the hostess told us to wait by the bar for our table. After waiting 10 minutes or so, the table they had prepared for us was in that back room... Near a corner with some sort of plate rack/point of sale ... NOT the vibe we wanted for our anniversary. I declined the table and had to wait another 10 minutes or so for some counter seats to open up in the main dining area (much better ambiance).
I point this out as to warn you - it isn't worth going to this place if they are planning to sit you in that back room. I was honestly offended to see that that is where they planned to sit us for our anniversary. Beware of this and maybe call ahead to request you aren't placed in the closet with other unfortunate diners.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Sushi, Sashimi
ferial mhr
Very good vibe and ambience Amazing dj Good service Terrible food on beautiful presentation
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
Rustam Arstanov
Food is good but absolutely overpriced!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Samantha Roberts
The food was delicious and the lychee martini was very good, but I felt that the meal was over priced. Given the price of the meal, I was very disappointed to be rushed out of the restaurant. We were deciding if we wanted another drink or desert and the waiter said the table was needed for another reservation, but “no rush”. I know in DC some establishments have table time limits but that was never communicated.
Separately they are judgy with attire. On their site they specify smart casual but they were selective with enforcing. It’s getting cold here (in the 30s this AM) and my friend wore uggs. They asked her if she had other shoes to switch into… rude. I saw women with crop tops, their DJ in a sweatshirt, and some men in joggers. It left a bad taste in my mouth that they would do that. Makes a $300+ meal outlandish with poor customer service.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 3
Shannon Averill
Dining at Shoto Japanese Restaurant is a truly exceptional experience that delights all your senses. From the moment you step in, you’ll be captivated by the sophisticated ambiance that perfectly blends modern elegance with traditional touches, creating a serene haven. The service is top-notch, with staff who are both efficient and knowledgeable. But the real star is the cuisine. The sushi is an art form, and the Black Cod is simply unforgettable, each dish showcasing impeccable freshness and precision. You must end your meal on a sweet note with their delightful churros, a surprising twist that leaves you craving more.
I had a fantastic experience at SHŌTŌ Washington DC. The atmosphere was vibrant, with great music that added to the upscale yet inviting ambiance. The food was exceptional… beautifully presented and packed with flavor. From start to finish, everything was top-notch. Definitely a place worth visiting for a great night out!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This delightful downtown restaurant offers a massive -- albeit pricey -- Japanese menu in a super trendy, vibey space. Shoto has been on my bucket list for a long time; I walk past their restaurant nearly daily and always see the logo projected on the sidewalk and rows upon rows of fancy liquor bottles lining their walls. It has always seemed like a cool, slightly mysterious space, and I've felt my intrigue grow with every passing. When I finally got the chance to step inside, the interior of the restaurant felt every bit as cool, mysterious, and trendy as the outside; aside from their display wall of liquor, the rest of the restaurant was almost completely shut off from the outside world. We were seated next to the wall of fake leaves, and it honestly felt like we were transported into another dimension.
The service was phenomenal -- they added all the nice, classy touches like pulling out our chairs for us, giving us little hooks to hang our bags from instead of putting them on the floor, and walking us through the expansive menu. The restaurant has multiple independent kitchens, including a sushi section, a robata section, and a kitchen for everything else. As a result, your food won't all come out at once, but that gives you plenty of time to enjoy each dish when it's at its peak. It was nearly impossible to decide what to order and how to balance our meal between the three sections, but, since we had a fairly large group, we decided to just split a bunch of starters and robata, and then each get our own order of sushi.
For our starters, we got the shrimp tempura, prawn and black cod gyoza, ceviche, robata cauliflower, and robata salmon. The shrimp tempura was delightfully crispy, although I thought that it had slightly too much batter, which weighed the dish down a smidge. The gyoza were phenomenal -- prawn and black cod is quite a unique combination, but they did an outstanding job. The prawns and black cod both have a ton of seafood-y flavor, and the fry on the bottom of the gyoza had a delightful crunch. It went wonderfully with the chili ponzu sauce, which was the perfect balance of spicy, savory, and tangy to balance out the decadence of the gyoza. Also great for counterbalancing the rich gyoza and tempura was the ceviche, which was super fresh and had a lovely tangy flavor from the lemon and tomato. It was served in a giant bowl of ice and with the largest rice crackers I've ever seen, so it ended up taking up nearly half the table space, but it was quite the impressive centerpiece.
From there, we moved onto the robata third of the menu. The cauliflower was outstandingly tender, with a great char on the outside and delightful pops of flavor from the tiny red peppers and kernels of puffed rice. And the teriyaki salmon robata was probably my favorite bite of the entire evening -- it was remarkably tender and flaky, but also incredibly buttery and rich. The skin was super crispy, and the salmon was perfect with a squeeze of lemon or when paired with one of the grilled shishito peppers.
Each bite of sushi was incredibly fresh, and everything, whether it was the nigiri or the rolls, had the perfect balance of rice to fish to everything else. It was a bit confusing when our orders first came out, as we had explicitly mentioned that we had separate / individual sushi orders, but it all came out on combined platters. That would have been totally fine if they hadn't combined orders from people who were sitting on opposite ends of the table, so we had to do a bit of creative shifting with the plates.
The thing that bogs down my rating for Shoto just a bit is the price -- while the food is delicious and the service outstanding, I wasn't quite as wowed as I would expect when paying $100+ per person on a meal. The minor service mishaps, while small, spoke to a larger lack of flexibility and attentiveness to individual tables' needs. The portions were also quite small, so you probably need to spe
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Sushi
Visited Shōtō for my birthday and I was overall pleased with my experience. The food was delicious and fresh. I believe the price reflects the quality well. The standout for me was the lobster tempura, absolutely worth the splurge. The chef selection of nigiri was a fun experience, however I would’ve loved a card listing the names because we were told quickly and immediately forgot what each piece was. The drinks were balanced and tasty, the standout being the old fashioned, however I do not think the price reflects the product. $22-$35 for a cocktail that tastes the same as one that runs $15-$18 at a different restaurant or bar. The space felt upscale but not pretentious, we sat at the sushi bar which I recommend as it is fun to see the food being prepared. I typically hate when restaurants have a live dj but they did a very good job of keeping the energy exciting without making it feel like a club. The service didn’t impress me but all the food did come out quickly. I was given a scoop of sorbet for a birthday dessert and my name was spelled wrong on the plate, not a big deal but I won’t lie and say I wasn’t slightly disappointed. Overall a great night and I was very happy with my decision to visit. I recommend this place to those who enjoy getting out of their menu comfort zones as the menu is huge and there are so many unique things to try. Finally, always remember to tip your server!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Lobster Tempura, Tuna Tacos, Sashimi
Always a great time for a lively and lovely dinner.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Always a great time for a lively and late dinner!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
So.. to be honest, I am very unhappy about writing this review. I was very, very disappointed with the dinner I had today at Shoto, which has been a go-to place for all my special guests coming from all over the world. I have taken large groups of more than 10 people to Shoto many times.
However, after what I experienced today, I will never go to that place again. The main reason is that because is the way they provide service to their customers.. they mainly not interested in making their customers happy. I guess they have too many customers and do not care about their customers at all, which is understandable from their side since they have an unlimited number of customers…… they don’t care to lose any……
The funny thing about today was that they did not have a regular IPA in stock, which they do have on their menu. First, they said that it was out of stock, then they said that it was discontinued. If it is discontinued, then what’s worse, I believe, is that they should have removed it from the menu. It's just funny how they manage the restaurant.
After all the conversations I had with the servers, managers, etc., the unbelievable part was their strategy. They said that they train their servers not to deviate under any circumstances, no matter what, even if that decision is going to make their customers unhappy.
I have been coming to this place with large groups for a long time and was going to recommend this place to my friends as a must-go place; however, this has changed today, unfortunately.
At this point, I do not care how good the food is after being serviced by the restaurant (not by the server) in such a bad way. I will never go back there again, and I do not recommend it to anyone else.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 5
Service: 1
A great vibe and the food exceeded our expectations. We ordered a couple of rolls, crab tacos, and the cheesecake dessert—everything was fresh and delicious.
The only downside was the seating arrangement. We sat in a booth-chair combo, and the seats were uncomfortably close together. The outside chair was also extremely heavy and hard to move, which made getting in and out a bit of a hassle.
Overall, it’s worth a visit for the food and if you are lucky and get a table.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
The vibes are great the food is gross. Also there was a huge language barrier with our waiter. Don’t count on the manager caring much either. We spent over $450 and walked away starving
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 1
Poppin
I had such high hopes for Shoto, but what a letdown. What should have been a special birthday celebration turned into a disappointing experience that left me feeling completely depressed. The restaurants’ half-hearted and almost dismissive approach to hospitality reveals how far they are from truly understanding what service means - it’s more than an animated smile or pretty plate. At every turn there was an excuse as to why simple requests could not be accomplished or resolved. Even telling our table the chef in charge of scooping ice cream was gone 10 mins after ordering our desert.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Restaurantji Recommends
The food was great and the place is full of energy and style. Unfortunately, someone decided to cram some tables in a weird boring back room where you are isolated from the main dining hall. Upon arrival, the hostess told us to wait by the bar for our table. After waiting 10 minutes or so, the table they had prepared for us was in that back room... Near a corner with some sort of plate rack/point of sale ... NOT the vibe we wanted for our anniversary. I declined the table and had to wait another 10 minutes or so for some counter seats to open up in the main dining area (much better ambiance).
I point this out as to warn you - it isn't worth going to this place if they are planning to sit you in that back room. I was honestly offended to see that that is where they planned to sit us for our anniversary. Beware of this and maybe call ahead to request you aren't placed in the closet with other unfortunate diners.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Sushi, Sashimi
Very good vibe and ambience
Amazing dj
Good service
Terrible food on beautiful presentation
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
Food is good but absolutely overpriced!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
The food was delicious and the lychee martini was very good, but I felt that the meal was over priced. Given the price of the meal, I was very disappointed to be rushed out of the restaurant. We were deciding if we wanted another drink or desert and the waiter said the table was needed for another reservation, but “no rush”. I know in DC some establishments have table time limits but that was never communicated.
Separately they are judgy with attire. On their site they specify smart casual but they were selective with enforcing. It’s getting cold here (in the 30s this AM) and my friend wore uggs. They asked her if she had other shoes to switch into… rude. I saw women with crop tops, their DJ in a sweatshirt, and some men in joggers. It left a bad taste in my mouth that they would do that. Makes a $300+ meal outlandish with poor customer service.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 3
Dining at Shoto Japanese Restaurant is a truly exceptional experience that delights all your senses. From the moment you step in, you’ll be captivated by the sophisticated ambiance that perfectly blends modern elegance with traditional touches, creating a serene haven. The service is top-notch, with staff who are both efficient and knowledgeable. But the real star is the cuisine. The sushi is an art form, and the Black Cod is simply unforgettable, each dish showcasing impeccable freshness and precision. You must end your meal on a sweet note with their delightful churros, a surprising twist that leaves you craving more.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Black Cod, Sushi
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