Ghibellina, Italian Gastropub with a Huge Bar on 14th and Corcoran Street

[funkyfood]

Last night we had wonderful service from the folks at Ghibellina, despite being the customers from...heck. I always pride myself on not being late for reservations, but last night--arriving separately--both my husband and I were more than 15 minutes late. He drove past the restaurant right on time, but it took him a long time to find parking quite a few blocks away. He still got there before I did. I underestimated the time to get there by metro, left a bit later than I planned, and then turned the wrong way coming out of the U Street station. I didn't have the restaurant's number with me to call and say I/we were late. Score!  By the time he arrived about 20 minutes late, they had cancelled the reservation. (The 15-minute policy is clearly stated on the web site.) Then they gave him a table anyway!  Very nice. I'd also made a fussy request on the notes section of the reservation form, because my cousin was supposed to be joining us an hour after our reservation, so we were pretty high maintenance.  

Anyway, they were all just lovely. Our waiter was fantastic. We had an enjoyable meal and joined my cousin at the bar after we finished eating.  We had the Salsicca Pizza (sausage and onions). It was served uncut and was a little bit soupy, which is how I assume it's supposed to be. We liked it. There was nice blistering/charring on the crust. And the scissors for cutting it were fun . My husband also had the soup of the day which was a tomato soup with carrots and other vegetables. He raved about it. I liked the spoonful I sampled but wasn't really in the mood for tomato soup.  For salads, he had the Insalata Cavola, and I thoroughly enjoyed my Insalata Lattuga.  I also ate most of his polenta croutons. Loved those.

My cousin enjoyed his Margherita pizza at the bar later, and it was great to see him, since it had been almost a decade.  The last time we saw him, we had gone to the Dupont Pizzeria Paradiso...and that was before it changed locations.

Glad to hear this place is still as reliable as ever.  You say you didn't have their phone number, but why didn't you just look it up on your phone?

[Pat]

7 minutes ago, funkyfood said:

Glad to hear this place is still as reliable as ever.  You say you didn't have their phone number, but why didn't you just look it up on your phone?

I don't have a smart phone.  I was even having trouble getting the texts my husband was sending and replying to them. I was kicking myself for not bringing the number because I almost always do. 

[Pat]

Ari Gejdenson has dissolved Mindful Restaurants Group. Individual employees are now running the remaining restaurants, while he "remains a silent partner and investor."

Although Ghibellina closed on 14th, it has reopened in Ivy City.

Details from Laura Hayes here.

 

[saf]

Went to Via Ghibellina in Ivy City last weekend. 4 of us. First, a stop at Don Ciccio to try the new chocolate amaro, which was soooo good. Then dinner.

So, first, the tables. We were seated at a table with truly horrid chairs. One of our friends has a bad back, and I cannot sit on low chairs - I get stuck! So we asked to be moved, and they were lovely, and put us at a different table with better chairs.

Second, the oddity. Easily half the women in the place were wearing tiaras. They didn't look like promgoers or debutants. Mystery solved later in the evening when the table next to us asked some of them what was up. Turned out that they were all on their way to a Bridgerton meetup. In costume.

Third, the food. We had a meat platter and olives for apps. The meat was good. The olive eaters liked the olives. The boy had Tagliatelle Al Ragu. I had pizza with mushrooms and goat cheese and truffle oil. After this stupid week we have had, I have forgotten what the other 2 had. The desserts were good too. "Chocolate Hazelnut Crunchy Bar" was very very tasty. Again, my brain is a little fried, so I forget what the others had.

Overall, recommend!