Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar

Sonoma is located in the two hundred block of the Avenue (the Hill's Main Street back in the day). You may have passed by this civilized establishment to visit the venerable Hawk 'n' Dove or the revered Tune Inn (oldest pub on the Hill, which reportedly holds the seventh liquor license issued in Washington following the end of Prohibition). If you have not walked along Pennsylvania Avenue SE in a while, you be saddened by the boarded up store fronts and closed restaurants. Sonoma occupies the space that housed Jenkins Hill bar. All is well at Sonoma, which is known by lobbyists and former Presidential campaign staffers who are now consultants (Hill staff are rarely found here due to its price point) for its distinctive charcuterie platter and its deep wine list. Few tables were filled during our January luncheon visit. We started with Crispy Port Belly served with Kimchi and the Bao Bun, which comes with spicy carrot slaw and kewpie mayo. We found both creative and outstanding. Entrees were not the greatest, the Cheeseburger with bel tartufo truffle cheese had an odd flavor and the Nicoise Salad was solid if a bit pedestrian. The dessert was the star of the show; Papanasi fried dough, white chocolate ganache with black cherry jam. Stop by Sonoma, sit at the bar, open your laptop and pretend to be doing work as you enjoy a glass of Cabernet...or two. No Merlot--the movie Sideways is instructive here!

Nice duck dish! The fish (as a main) is a tiny dish (maybe for people who are dieting?). Generally good ambiance. It's one of the better restaurants on Capitol Hill. Not crowded, and comfortably low noise level (so that finally we get to chat!) This was a Saturday night, just FYI. See my photos

We came back for lunch, the menu is changed. So I tried a new dish, and my friend ordered the burger which was still good. I ordered:3*Paella included saffron rice, chicken, shrimp, coppa, onions, red peppers, and green peas. It wasn't that fresh nor tasty. I was a little disappointed, but I haven't given on it because it still offers good burgers, lambs and goat cheese dishes.

The staff was excellent and the food was delicious. We had a party of 14 and they went out of their way to accommodate us, including getting a squatting party to move so that we could all sit together. I had the Brazino and it was delicious.

I went before closing on a weeknight. It's a nice lowkey restaurant on the beaten path. The shrimp offered a flavorful punch coupled with the sauce. The fries were tasty too.

I got street parking luckily, right around the corner. The staff was great. I got the rose, it was ok...but the place was really cute. A Saturday, around 6pm and empty. I did not try any food but the table i was at did and it all looked good. I had to be in and out though so only got the rose.

If you're touring Capitol Hill and looking for a fun environment to chill and sip wine, look no further. Sonoma has an extensive wine list and nibbles to go along with the wine. Plus, you're within ears shot of buzzing hot topics. A friend was visiting from out of town and wanted to walk to the Capitol Complex. Afterall, it was a beautiful spring day. We booked a reservation for 7:15 pm since it was a weeknight. Sonoma is busy during the week. It's located near the Library of Congress. Food: We ordered salads and glasses of wine. My salad was just the right size after adding chicken. She ordered the beet salad with an order of warm focaccia bread. Note: they charge for bread. Service: We were seated right away and the staff were prompt and attentive. We were informed about the bread charge beforehand. Ambiance: It's chill and low key. Some would say chill enough that right before we walked out, a group of four very noteworthy House members sat next to us. It was a first and short lived experience for me to sit next to members' at a restaurant. Overall, Sonoma is a place to sip and chill. They have varied food with prompt service.

I went here for dinner with a few people after visiting the Library of Congress. Overall the food was 3-4 stars the service was pretty bad and drew my overall score down. First Ill cover the food we all ordered.We ordered the Burger, fettuccine, and Chefs pizza.The burger was well cooked and was to the temperature requested. The two people who ordered said it was juicy and flavorful.The fettuccine is a big portion. Had a taste of it. Pasta was well cooked and the red sauce had good flavor it needed some pepper or something to make it more balanced with other items on the dish. The shrimp were well cooked and nicely seasoned.The chefs pizza I ordered was good but has a few drawbacks. It comes with ricotta, slow cooked beef, arugula, and caramelized onions. All the ingredients on the pizza tasted great and worked great together. You get the richness of ricotta with the savory flavors of the onions and the beef. Unfortunately, the pizza was held down by the fact it's mostly a thick crust. The thickness of crust in contrast with the thinness of the pizza causes an uneven cook. A few pieces of the crust were still raw when I ate them. In regards to the service it was pretty poor unfortunately. The server forgot drink orders a few times, the pizza came out much later then the rest of the tables entree's, forgot the burger orders ketchup and mustard when we requested it the server didn't come and deliver it till much later. Luckily in condiment situation the manager saw us waiting and got them to the table very quickly. Overall, the food is solid, restaurant just needs some improvements to get it where they want it.

Walked in unannounced with 17 people... not a problem even with only 1 server.Excellent service, great food and beverages.For a place that said at the beginning they were short staffed, they delivered.Give this place a try. You won't be disappointed!Thanks for a great evening Sonoma!!

Nice place but the staff needs more training. I asked for a glass of champagne. The menu said BRUT. They gave me something sweet. I said I didn't like it and I'd like to order something else and the very friendly, nice and attentive bartender said to me: "I gave you Prosecco, which is the same". I did t order Prosecco because I don't like Prosecco. The champagne was even more expensive so who just give me the Prosecco without even saying "this isn't what you ordered, this is actually Prosecco" It's a wine bar so I wasn't expecting to have this happen at a wine bar. Other than that, it's a very nice place, I'd go back to and try the food.