Ambar

This was a great experience for someone with celiac disease. The waitress was so knowledgeable about what I could and could not have and was so helpful navigating the menu. All the food was so tasty!

Food is decent, but lots of small plates and you should have an open mind. Ambar is unlike a lot of menus I've seen! Balkan cuisine is definitely an acquired taste. That being said, the service is great and bottomless drinks + small plates = can't lose!

Ambar offers a delicious "family dinner" for two: the mixed grill; it's great value too as takeout. We ordered on UberEats for self pick up. Our food was ready reasonably fast and well packaged.

This meal is a whole set including two different kinds of bread and one dip. It also comes with dessert! Practically a feast!

Ambar Clarendon was a fun experience with a wide variety of food and drinks!

When at this location, I tried all of the items I've usually overlooked - from soups to meat pies and pilafs. I especially loved the Veal and Tomato Soups. So flavorful, rich, and paired well with the bread heavy dishes. I was not a fan of the vegetable pie - a bit too dull for my tastebuds. The pilaf was a bit soupy, but was a nice pairing in between bites of meat pie.

The drinks were tasty, but left me with a great headache a few hours later. Just like any Ambar location, I recommend pacing yourself on the bottomless mimosas while you eat to avoid getting dehydrated!

Overall, friendly wait staff and a beautifully decorated interior. Loved the cherry blossoms and close proximity to the metro stop. While it does get busy on the weekends, be sure to make a reservation and indicate if you want to sit upstairs, downstairs, or at the bar.

Great place for groups!

Let's start from the top!

Parking-you'll find plenty of paid parking near the restaurant. Expect to pay 8$ per hour and yes they use park mobile.

Make a reservation, this place stays packed.

Brunch menu is now 43$ per person and you get a tapas style serving. I personally recommend just ordering what you like on the menu. The waitress sent over items that our table didn't care for.

I wasn't a fan of the traditional foods but score they had American breakfast items.


Overall, decent prices for brunch! Would definitely come again!

Just a note: if you're not a huge eater this is probably too much food.

Absolutely loved my first Balkan food experience at Ambar. My friend from Arlington, VA brought me here for their All You Can Eat 2 hr limit for $49.99 experience.

We got extremely lucky to just walk in and getting a table for dinner right before Valentines Day without a reservation. The ambiance is quite festive, colorful, and pretty huge with good amount of seating.

It's Tapas style unlimited food. So go hungry!!! The menu was huge with so many vegetarian, meat and sea food options. We ordered almost 3/4th of the menu. Some of my favorites were mezze ajvar with roasted pepper and eggplant, beet tzatziki, veal soup, Brussels sprouts, fried chicken, pepper croquettes, cauliflower in parsley tahini sauce, chicken skewers, drunken mussels. Everything tasted OUTSTANDING apart from sudzuk flat bread, wasn't a big fan of that. It was a bit overdone and cheese was falling off. Next time, I'd prolly skip the bread options since it fills you up quickly.

If you're more than one person dining in, you can order à la carte menu but it does not end up being any cheaper than AYCE option and since it's a tapas style menu, you don't overeat as compared to one might, in buffet style. The service was top notch, fast and quick.

Can't wait to visit again when I'm in the area. I absolutely recommend this place!

Came here for their unlimited lunch deal $25pp and it was a great value for the money! This is my second time here for lunch and I've been able to try most of the lunch menu now. They have a variety of of options which I appreciated and the service was pretty fast. My favorites were the steak tartare and shrimp! The stuffed pepper and drunken mussels were also delicious. The mussel sauce was a little too creamy for me though. I would recommend getting the mezze platter as it allows you to sample their breads, sauces, and pickles. We liked the Urnebes spread the best!

The interior is also nicely decorated. I liked the hanging plants decor on the ceiling. Cozy atmosphere but the 2 person table was a little too small.

Finally! I'm writing the Ambar Review!!
On a side note, before Ambar exists, when people used to ask me what your favorite restaurant is, my answer was: no favorite, I love all restaurants and all kinds of food!
Where are you going for your birthday? I would be very confused between so many restaurants.
After Ambar , the answer is always Ambar and Ambar !
I won't sugarcoat it. It's the concept first, the uniqueness of the items, the quality, the customer service, and the ambiance!

The concept: unlimited small plates and any time of the day! Lunch, dinner, and brunch! Lunch & Dinner are the same menu, but Brunch is different!

The uniqueness of the menu: items on Ambar's menu are either very unique to them or you have to tour 3 different restaurants in 3 different areas to eat the same! The Balkan cuisine is very rich, and Ambar brings a lot more than any restaurant in that cuisine!

The Quality & Customer service: no need to talk about it! Never failed me! Always delicious and well presented! High quality! You need to try it!
Everyone here is so friendly and nice! I have never had a bad experience for so many years now!

The Ambiance is very cool here, and from the photos, I can tell they are looking like their Serbia location ( I've never been) . They have 2 more locations in DC and other Restaurants on their group! BaBa is located downstairs, and Buena Vida across the street!
Buena Vida is also another tale! Same concept, but in Mexican cuisine!

Items that I love! ( warning! Could be the whole menu!) :
The bread, all the spreads , stuffed peppers, pork belly stuffed cabbage leaves, lamb lasagna, cheese pie , meat pie , Balkan salad , The Civapi or Civapcici ( Balkan kebab) , chicken skewers, grilled shrimp , lamb shoulder & potato, short ribs goulash and a few items that unfortunately no longer on the menu!
I'm so sad that no longer make the Forest Gnocchi dessert, but they told me they will bring it on Valentine's Day!
This is a must go restaurant! Reservations are highly recommended and could be easily done thru open table .
Parking is a bit tough in this city, but you can easily pay and park at the lot right next to Ambar on N Filmore side. 2 hours cost me $15, paid it thru the Park Mobile app

Try it, vote for the review , message me, or compliment me with any comment or question, and don't forget to ... Pray for me ;)

Unlimited tapas.... yes! I'm very much a fan of this place. Went here for the first time during Restaurant Week 2024, and the value is great for $55!

We get to the restaurant and we were in awe of the decorations. There are plants around the whole restaurant that create a nice relaxing atmosphere. Our waiter provided excellence service throughout the evening and even provided us with recommendations on how many dishes to order at a time and which ones are great to start with.

We ended up ordering perhaps 3/4 of the menu (yeah we were hungry lol). The steak tartar was probably the favorite dish of the evening. I would definitely recommend ordering the lamb lasagna, Balkan kebab, Brussels sprouts, short rib goulash, mussels, and shrimp

YES I'll be going back in the future!

I didn't realize this was an all you can eat tapas bar. I did like the fact I can sample Balkan food. Service was good, food came out quickly and prices were reasonable.

Pepper croquette- sweet and flavorful.
Grilled shrimp- was ok
Rainbow trout- wasn't crispy
Istrian Gnocchi- I wasn't impressed with the mushroom sauce. They also use that same sauce for their mushroom flatbread.
Kale Caesar- it was good: I'd get it again
Cheese pie-I liked the dough
Stuffed pepper is good but filling
Hand cut fries- crispy and tasty

We would return... We liked the atmosphere and it would be a great place for cocktails and tapas.