My wife and I were quite excited to try out Fiola, as we had heard it was aiming to be DC's next four-star Italian restaurant. We arrived at 7:45 for our 8:00 p.m. dinner reservation and checked in with the hostesses. No table was ready, so we sat at the bar approximately six feet from the hostess station. We proceeded to wait, and wait, and wait some more. At no point did any of the three hostesses working that night bother to apologize, check in, or explain why it was taking so long. Nor were we offered any appetizers (free or otherwise) to eat while we waited. At one point another party of two that didn't have reservations AND arrived after us got seated, while we were still waiting. (We know that they didn't have reservations and were seated before us because we were seated at the bar six feet from the hostess station, so we overheard every conversation.) Finally, at 8:48 (OVER ONE HOUR AFTER CHECK-IN), our table was ready. When the first ordered food finally arrived, at 9:30 p.m., it seemed quite tasty but who knows when you're that hungry.
Also, Fiola, if you're listening, we would have gladly paid for the five-course tasting menu had we been seated promptly. But given how long that can take, I just didn't have it in me given how late we were seated. You would have made more money off of us had you seated us promptly, and we might even have given you a better review and been more willing to consider going back.
At any rate, the total bill was $150 for two pasta appetizers (the spaghetti Bolognese special, and the lobster ravioli, both of which were very good but not great), one shared entrée (the braised beef short ribs, where were boneless and ridiculously tender) and one shared dessert (the ricotta donuts, easily the best part of the meal); at this price point, which doesn't include alcohol, I expect better treatment. The spaghetti's sauce was heavy and substantial, though I would have preferred a bit more meat (perhaps some wild boar ragu). The pasta itself was comparable to that of Galileo III. Lobster ravioli was full of lobster, but could have used a bit more other flavor to complement it, if you ask me. Short ribs were, as mentioned, quite tender and had a good flavor, plus excellent marbling. The ricotta donuts were fantastic, with great texture and just the right amount of sweetness and a hint of lemon.
In fairness, I should say that while the three hostesses (Why do you need three when none of them bother checking in with waiting patrons? Couldn't one person "not check in" just as easily as three?) did nothing about our wait, at least the bartenders checked in frequently and comped us with prosecco for our troubles. The bartenders seemed very friendly and apologized for the wait, which is more than can be said for anybody else.
Fiola, if you're really aiming to be a four-star destination, you could start by treating properly your customers who have reservations and want to pay you to eat nice food. The intake process is your first interaction with potential diners, and if that goes poorly you've created a bad first impression. As we all know, it's very difficult to overcome negative first impressions. Here's hoping others have better luck with Fiola.
