Villa Yara

I think I found my new favorite restaurant in DC. first, the ambience his hard to beat. It had 2 floors, and it was extremely lively. They also played great music. It's great for small groups! The decor was also beautiful, and if the food wasn't great, I think I still would have had a good time. But the food was fantastic! Between three of us, we were able to split 5 small plates. Lamb can really be hit or miss, but this spot nailed it. I also recommend getting some baba ganoush for the table. I also got a spicy margarita which was fantastic. They were also kind enough to light a candle and give us dessert for our friends birthday :)Overall I definitely recommend!

I booked this spot for lunch before a matinee at the Kennedy Center. It's Georgetown so parking is a crap shoot but I easily found a spot around the corner.Our reservation was 1145am - and we were the first customers. I was struck by how nice and unique the space and decor is.My friends and I ordered five or six mezze plates and a few pots of tea - split four ways, it was $40 each which is reasonable.All the dishes were good. My favorite though was the fatin battijan. Very unique with its flavors (tangy yogurt, eggplant) and textures (crunchy pita chips). It's not the most eggplant forward dish -- you've got to enjoy tang which I do ! I would definitely come back.

I'd wanted to try the famous brunch at Villa Yara for a while now, hoping to go in the summer and sit in their back garden or front patio. Unfortunately, I didn't make it until the weather turned cold and I didn't make a reservation, so I sat at a table in the bar. The service in the bar went from excellent at the beginning of the meal, to nonexistent the second half. I'd recommend booking in advance and getting a proper tableThere were only two of us, so we could only select a few dishes (we had three for two people and it was more than enough). I think this is a place that's best to go with a bigger group so that you can try more things. Everything we had was good, but not overly remarkable. My favorite dish was probably the foul, as the beans were perfectly creamy. With all of the great Lebanese options in town, I can't say I'll be rushing back. I've seen a lot of reviews using the word "underwhelmed" and I'd say that is a good way to put it.

I came here for a date and it's really the perfect, cute and aesthetic spot in Georgetown. Staff are nice, drinks are good, prices are a little high and bathrooms are gender neutral which isn't my favorite but overall a great spot for couples, friends and family. I really want to give 5 stars because Villa Yara has almost everything perfectly done and it may just be the dishes I ordered, but everything was too bland and... crunchy.Without butchering the name, I will describe what we ordered. We got the "spicy" red pepper hummus, roasted eggplant, hummus, and ground beef sausage. The red pepper wasn't spicy at all, the hummus was pretty standard, roasted eggplant was good but had too much filler (some crunchy pita and nuts), and the ground beef sausage was the best. But the nuts, omg the nuts. There were so many nuts in the red pepper hummus and the eggplant dish. I wanted a smooth, mushy, bite to spread on the warm, endless pita, but it was all CRUNCH. I like a little bit as garnish at the top, but it felt like it was filler at this point. The dishes themselves lack much depth of flavor but I didn't expect anything to be too heavily spiced but the nut to other ingredients ratio was just too high to make this meal enjoyable. The pita is warm and delicious and you never have less than two on your table which was great and the free olive tapenade is delicious.

Cute place but left a bit underwhelmed. Had reservations for Friday at 6:30pm for 3. We were sat upstairs, but were left waiting at the front and asked 3 times who we were and to please wait (once by the original hostess, and twice by the same person within in the span of 5 minutes...)Parking: street or garageService: our waitress was nice and accommodating (one of our friends had gluten restrictions). We were offered vegetables instead of pita bread for the hummus (which was usually an extra cost, but it was waived). She became really busy, and it was hard to get our drinks refilled. Food: we got the warak inab ($14), hummus nil lambe ($20), spinach fatayer ($14), kibbeh ($16). All were so good. The friend with gluten restrictions had the warak inab, hummus nil lambe, and makanek (all easy to pick because it was dictated on menu). All the drinks were so good! It costs more than the food but very tasty. Friend got the caramella (their spin of espresso martini) -which was my favorite. I tried their beruits passion which was also good- sweeter side.

I don't come to Georgetown often, but I went out of my way to come to Villa Yara.The restaurant is bigger than I expected, with two floors and an enclosed patio. The restaurant and bar area are decorated very cute. I felt like I was in Europe. The bar area is pretty small though.The drink menu is pretty small and uninspiring, with each drink costing $20. They use medium-top shelf liquor here, however.The Georgina's cocktail was pretty good, it was essentially a French 75 made with Empress gin, which gave it a subtle purple hue.The Dawa cocktail was my favorite. Made with Maker's Mark, it was perfectly strong, not very sweet, and deliciously spicy from the ginger. I also loved the candied ginger on top. This was my favorite drink.The Jnaineh cocktail was very good as well, and also wasn't very sweet. It was essentially very herbaceous gin and tonic.I don't think any of these drinks were worth $20, however.I was headed elsewhere for dinner, so I made it a point not to try much food. I did, however, try the bread and baked halloumi. The halloumi was very tasty and was baked with a nice tomato and olive sauce. The bread was cold and dry.I am looking forward to trying brunch next.

Staying nearby on a staycation, my family of three walked into Villa Yara for a Sunday dinner Labor Day weekend. The indoor and back patio were full, but we got one of the outside tables out front along M Street NW. We left disappointed.What they have going for them is a large space with beautiful design and decorations. Although fully booked, the back patio seems like a perfect spot to relax with one of their cocktails.The menu is large and includes many options. However, the prices are steep, even for expensive D.C. I'm fine with paying more money for amazing food, but almost every dish was average. For example, the cauliflower wasn't roasted well and lacked flavor. The bread fell flat too.What we did love was the roasted red pepper dip. It was well spiced and very tasty!Service was not bad! It was busy and it took awhile to get our order, bill, etc., but our server was very kind.

Came for restaurant week and it was a solid deal! You can choose 4 items from their menu, which includes a mix of starters, mains and dessert. We were a party of 3. Each of us could pick 4 items and there were a total of 14 items on the menu. There was an eggplant allergy in our party so we opted out on the two eggplant dishes offered and ordered everything else which worked out great. We started with hummus and mouhamara which were both good. Then we continuously had food coming to our table at a very fast pace. It was a great opportunity to try everything. Some of my favorites were the cauliflower, shish taouk, sujuc jibne, and the spinach fatayer. We also shared a bottle of white wine. Overall a good deal which allowed us to try a lot of new things. The inside is decorated beautifully and it was a very classy vibe.

Food was ok. Service was slow. Their pickles were not what we expected. It was nice to try one time, but won't be back and did not live up to the hype. Best plate of the day was the lamb hummus

We were able to see Daniel Murray on a Thursday night. He was incredible, amazing voice! The food was delicious. I especially enjoyed the Hammus Bil lahme sayadieh (entree) and yaras mehalabeya (dessert). The servers were great! Knowme checked on us a few times, he was very attentive and friendly! can't wait to go back! Great vibes, loved every min of it! Highly recommend!