Ristorante La Perla of Washington

we returned to this DC restaurant after many years away from the District. it was located close to friend's hotel. we had a wonderful experience.
First, the owner, a cute older man, (I'm 76 so I have license to say something like that), came to our table to welcome us. we had a nice conversation about his move intown from NOVA 24 years ago. worm has the time gone by.
I've digressed. wine list not extensive but up scale and fairly priced. menu had something for everyone, seafood, pastas, meats. My chicken Marsala was the best I've ever had in the DC area. The red sauce on the pasta rivaled the best in RI. Thats a real complement from me. the Chicken Lemone was excellent and the two seafood dishes were well received. Deserts were not particularly exciting but they had an excellent Key Lime Pie.
We were there late on a Tuesday evening and it wasn't crowded So the thought that our service was prompt probably didn't mean much. Prices seemed in line with fine dining in the District. I wasn't paying so I can'T address whether they have joined in on the DC ripoff bandwagon of adding 15-20% to the bill BEFORE we added a tip. I do hate that.
All in all, we had a great time and we will try to make it ack on our next trip to DC.

this was an experience with 5.0 food and closer to 1.0 for almost everything else, hence the 3.0 rating.

the food is exceptional. delicious and perfectly prepared in every aspect. the lumache smarrite was flavorful and sweet. the antipasti La Perla was perfect. awesome white sauce. lovely. the pappardelle and rigatoni imperiale were likewise exquisite - Chef Testa produces some amazing sauces.

the service varied between lackluster and quite poor. we dropped in nearly an hour before our reservation because we'd finished our museum tour early enough. we sat at the bar for drinks and headed to the table slightly early for our reservation, with over 2.5 hours to go until the NSO started. we managed to get out with barely enough time to get to Kennedy Center and to our seats before the performance began. everything was awfully slow. our server seemed to vanish for extended periods. at one point he spent a substantial bit of time helping Chef Testa rearrange the pastry display up front while we were waiting on food. not great.

the time we spent at the bar up front was pleasant, but they desperately need an actual bartender. I asked what they used for a house Manhattan, and the waiter who tended bar for us replied Tanqeray (a gin, and not part of that cocktail, in case you don't know cocktails). with that as we each ordered a cocktail by giving explicit build instructions and they were ok. they did have an interesting collection of amaros and liqueurs, but no one who knew anything about them. we each ordered a digestif after dinner with our dessert (Ebo Lebo amaro and Nocello walnut liqueur), and they were served in coupe glasses as a full sized several ounce drink. like I said, they desperately need a bartender/beverage manager.

the interior is colorful and features Italian artifacts, flags, and a large tile panel. looks great, but I was wondering why I didn't seem to find anything Sicilian - our family has Sicilian heritage, so I always look for it.

overall, we liked the meal, but it was a less than successful experience because of the drawbacks.

I don't understand how people criticize this place. We went for our anniversary back in 2017 and then after a hiatus (moving, kids et al.) we returned in 2024 for Valentines and it was still amazing.

Naturally being Valentines, it was busy and even with our reservation we had to wait. The young lady was extremely polite and hospitable and the ambiance as always phenomenal and authentic.

The food was outstanding. Appetizer was the caprese salad and the mozzarella was fresh; entree was the papardelle presidente for me (the sauce hit the spot) and the penne pesto for my wife. Dessert was cannolis for the both of us.

In short EVERYTHING was superb.

The best part for me is Signor Testa taking the effort to come to each table and give his personal touch of hospitality and of course I get to practice a little Italian with him.

Grazie and we look forward to coming back!

One star off only because some of the prices are too high. A kinda small Aperol spritz was $16, and spaghetti with vodka sauce or pesto was $30 (no meat or anything). However the service was impeccable and attentive and the food was great. I also got a good pour of wine. The lobster ravioli, spaghetti a la vodka, and seafood lasagna were all delicious. Good portion sizes for a woman but probably not enough for a hungry man :p the house made bread was amazing too! The desserts looked great and I need to try them next time.

What a quaint and wonderful ristorante! The server was very personable and knowledgeable, we had three unique dishes and all were excellent. Chef Vittorio even came to each table to greet his patrons, I don't know if this was unique to Saturday but it felt incredibly welcoming.

Great service, great food, Good ambiance.
We had the MOZZARELLA DI BUFALA CAPRESE as appetizer, which was very good.
For dinner I had, RIGATONI ALLA IMPERIALE. The sauce was absolutely delicious, the sausage didn't have enough flavors, didn't do anything for the dish. I personally would liked, little more seafood in the dish. (one scallop and two shrimp)
My other half had the POLLO ALLA PARMIGIANA, which was perfect. The tomato sauces on top was flavorful and delicious.chicken cooked to perfection.
For dessert we had KISS OF NAPLES, nothing special. Next time will try the tiramisu instead.
I will definitely return to try other dishes

The service was terrible. Waited forever for our main meals to come out. When they did, the plates looked empty. For instance, I ordered lemon sole francais. That is all that was on the plate was one large piece of sole. It was supposed to include a house salad. The waiter then brought us each a small plate of spaghetti with red sauce. I asked about the house salad and thought he was going to bring it. He never did. Another dish ordered was a seafood dish. That had a lobster tail, one scallop and 2 shrimp. The food was quite expensive for what we received I will say that what we did get was delicious just not worth the price. Also the tip was included in the bill so we weren't able to express our dissatisfaction with the service and the plating. I don't think I ever saw that included for 5 people.

Would never return!
Would never go back!

We were disappointed with our dinner at La Perla. We had walked past this restaurant many times and were excited to try it out. Unfortunately, the food was not very good.
The restaurant is spacious and pretty inside. Think classic nice Italian restaurant decor.
For a Friday night, the place was kind of empty. Less than a fourth of the tables were full. They seated us at a dining room table that was right next to the bar. We didn't think much of that at first, but once a party of people came to the bar, there were people standing right over us the whole dinner. We thought about asking to move to another table but we just stuck it out.
We ordered the calamari marinara and the mozzarella caprese salad for appetizers. The calamari were tasty and tender. We had to ask for bread because they never brought any. The bread definitely did not seem homemade. The caprese was pretty good but lacked any balsamic.
The entres were very disappointing. In particular, the lasagna was rather flavorless and had no red sauce. It looked and tasted like meat mush. My husband could barely eat half of it because it was not enjoyable. I ordered the penne con vodka, and it was not impressive. It looked and tasted like something I could whip up in my own kitchen. The sauce was really thin. And the noodles seemed like they were from a box.
The service was adequate, but the waiter never refilled my water even though I had asked.
Overall, we were bummed about the dinner. It did not help that there were people standing over my back while I ate even though there were many other empty tables.
To top it all off, the food is soo expensive for what you get! $29 for penne con vodka that tasted bland?? I would steer clear.

Hidden gem! I have passed by this place many times and finally tried it. It was good! I definitely want to come back. The ambience is old school and festive. This would be a fun date night place.

I went here for my birthday dinner and overall was an okay experience. The food is excellent! But the service is VERY SLOW. They were very understaffed when my family and I went. They did give me a nice dessert for my birthday which was nice and appreciated. I would go here again solely for the food but they do need more staff on hand.