KooKoo Restaurant & Lounge

I recently went here with two friends for a weeknight dinner and loved my experience. While the food came out on the slow side, the ambiance was good, the food was worth the wait, and KooKoo's prices are fair for the dishes and portions. KooKoo started by giving us complementary bread and seasoned vegetables, both of which were delicious. We shared the Tahdig, which was fantastic. The rice had perfect crispiness and the stew was a great hearty complement.I got the Khoresh Fesenjoon for my main and enjoyed it. While I wish there had been more meat in my stew to even out the stew-to-rice ratio, it was flavorful, with perfectly cooked chicken and rice, the right amount of pomegranate molasses, and good crunch with the walnuts.I look forward to going back to KooKoo!

There is so much to talk about for this restaurant. Our first time here and everything was outstanding. The food was so full of flavor and so delicious. The service was outstanding! And we were able to chat with the owner/chef and the manager. All of the food brings out the flavors of Persia. I had the Khoresh Fesenjoon, which is a stewed chicken with walnuts, pomegranate molasses and saffron rice. The chicken was cooked perfectly and the sauce was so full of flavor and was just amazing. My wife had the Joojeh Farangi. It had two skewers of meat: on of citrus marinated chicken and one with seasoned ground beef. This is served with grilled vegetables and we substituted the cranberry rice instead of the saffron rice. The setting of the restaurant is also gorgeous with amazing artwork on the walls (done by the manager). This restaurant is just a couple of blocks from the Columbia Heights Metro stop, so do make the journey there for an amazing meal.

We walked by and liked the atmosphere so we stopped in for food. It was sooooo good. The drinks were fast and tasted great. Genie was a great server.

Found this AMAZING hidden gem while visiting DC. The food is outstanding! Fresh and flavorful. Great ambiance, beautiful art painted by the manager, good lighting, attention to details of table design and settings. The service was stellar! Great conversation with the owner and manager. Recently awarded the Open Table critics choice award. Worth driving from anywhere in the DC area!

The service alone at this restaurant was 10/10. The owner, Yahya, is so sweet, attentive, and passionate about his food. He kept coming over to check on how we were doing, gave recommendations, explained Persian ingredients to us, and even gave us a few free dishes bc he saw that we were enjoying the food. It's a beautiful space and I really enjoyed interacting with the staff.I don't eat Persian food often so all of these dishes were a unique experience for me. My favorite dishes:- khoresh fesenjoon (pomegranate and walnut stew) - sweet, tangy, and savory all at the same time- gigot of lamb - the lamb is sooo tender and easily slipped off the bone - kashk bademjan - like baba ghanoush with a lot more flavor- mysterious spicy green dip we were gifted- malawi - very floraly, creamy, and not too sweet

We had a great meal here with friends from out of town. It had to be an early dinner so that we could make it to the DC United game at 7:30. We made a reservation but the place was empty when we arrived; not enough people eating at this great place.We began with appetizers: the kookoo sabzi, a Persian frittata which was OK; the kashk badjeman, an eggplant stew which even eggplant-hating me liked; and best of all the zeydoon parvardeh, a dish of marinated olives that was not at all salty.Our main dishes include the fesanjoon which was better than any fesanjoon that I remember having at persian restaurants in DC or New York -- it put me in mind to finally learn how to make it. There was a beef koobideh on special whcih we all enjoyed, and the gigot of lamb, roasted in a red wine sauce with vegetables. The quantities were large and there was plenty to take home

Visited Kookoo on our trip to DC! The restaurant is pretty close to the metro station.The service is outstanding. Owner/workers are friendly and cater to their customers.They have good amount of seating and a bar area. Unfortunately the food itself was bit too sweet and we are spoiled by lot persian foods locally where kookoo's didnt match with some of the items.Overall a decent place.

I went in to avoid ordering pickup or Uber eats. Not a great decision. Also was excited to try the happy hour menu. However the happy hour menu was super limited and nothing of what I wanted to try was on the HH menu. The dine in prices are different than the pickup prices for the joojeh farangi I payed 27 usd while on the pickup menu it was 23.5 usd. I asked the waiter what it was and he told me it's chicken and beef. I assumed it was marinated beef but it was minced beef. I didn't like the beef- not my taste. The chicken was good though. the owner was nice and tried to make up for the beef and gave me a cake on the house. I usually don't eat cake but that was a nice gesture. I also don't think the dish I ordered was worth 27 usd- very little grilled veggies and too much rice. One of the man waiters could tone down on their perfume. A bit too strong for a restaurant. The restaurant has nice and welcoming service.

KooKoo's is a needed addition to Columbia Height's 14th street corridor. Classy interior, comfort food that is not conventional, and a good mix of wine and cocktails. Persian food reminds me a little of Indian but more nutty/flowery. As someone who doesn't eat much meat, I appreciated the mezze options:Mirza Ghasemi - like an eggplant puree thickened with egg and garlicBotani Esfenaj - a savory yogurt dish with spinach and garlic (helpful pairing with the joojeh chicken dish that came with a spicy pepper)KooKoo Sabzi - like a herby egg quiche with subtle walnut and berry flavoring instead of cheese But my favorite dish is probably the Kashk Bademjan - it's a creamy eggplant dip with sweetness and garlicky tinge - this is a must order (though the pomegranate wings are all up there).Not to downplay the main dishes - the pulled chicken with a spiced/sweet flavor (like a stew) - Koresh Fesenjoon, the lamb my parents got ('heavenly'), and a sweet dessert roulade with flowery rose petal garnish. Personally, I like the cranberry polo rice over the baghali one. Everything I had seemed a good value for the portion. I look forward to coming back!

We ordered the lamb entree which came with a special type of rice. This was my first time trying Iranian food, and I was pleasantly surprised!First of all, the ambience of this restaurant is so so nice. We were just walking past the restaurant and decided to stop in because it looked really nice from the outside. It's beautifully decorated and there's Iranian music playing.The lamb is so well cooked and the meat is tender and easy to chew. I appreciated the free appetizer before the meal and unlimited bread. I thought the food was all delicious, and it also came quickly.All in all, definitely stop by this place and try their food! I'd highly recommend from the one dish I tried - if you like lamb and deliciously tender meat, get their lamb dish!!