AMBAR Restaurant, Shaw

Reviews

• DH

  DC HiddenGem

  Apr 5, 2026
  5.0
  Ambar Shaw is a true DC gem and we are rooting for you! 🫶🏻 Ambar Shaw on 7th Street NW is exactly the kind of place that reminds you why DC dining is special. Tucked in the heart of Shaw, the atmosphere is moody and intimate, the service is warm, and the food is genuinely transportative Balkan cuisine done with real intention and care. Their happy hour is chef’s kiss, all day Monday and Tuesday, plus 4–7pm Wednesday through Friday, with cocktails, wine, and beer starting at just $6–8. We’re talking a Kiwi Smash, Mango Lemonade, Red Sangria, and house wines from Moldova alongside bites like Ambar Fries with smoked aioli, Fried Chicken Sliders, and Drunken Mussels flambéed in brandy. Genuinely one of the best happy hour deals in the city. I am heartbroken about the recent accident and want Ambar to know this community is firmly behind you. Shaw needs you back. Wishing the entire team a safe, swift, and full recovery. We will be here with our wine glasses raised when you reopen. 💎
• CV

  Can I get 100,000 subscribers with no videos

  Apr 3, 2026
  5.0
  Rebecca was the best server possible very accommodating very attentive. I really do recommend coming to this place and going to the second floor. The manager we didn’t get his name was able to get us a 4 person table for just me and my boyfriend the food was delicious. I recommend getting the lamb lasagna and the grilled shrimp.
• TP

  Tony Pacheco

  Apr 3, 2026
  5.0
  Maria C was excellent, as was the amazing food! The service was the best we've had in a long time. Food was absolutely incredible. I'd come back just for the lamb lasagna. Other highlights were the mussels, sausage, carrots, sujuk pizza, and fried chicken. We' ll be back for sure!
• DX

  David X

  Mar 29, 2026
  5.0
  Delicious -- I return here every time I go to DC. Unlimited food and quite delicious. Beautifully decorated with cherry blossom decor and the vibe is nice. Service is always speedy, our waiter Nemo was extremely friendly. Highly recommend the fried chicken with apple wasabi slaw and the ajvar.
• JH

  Jordyn Harrison

  Mar 16, 2026
  3.0
  I recently hosted a group dinner at Ambar in the Shaw neighborhood, about a 7-minute walk from the Mount Vernon Square–7th St–Convention Center station. The area is nice and very walkable, so the location itself is definitely a plus. We had a pretty large group (about 9 people), and one thing to note is that they won’t split the check more than six ways. For big groups where everyone wants to pay their share, that’s pretty inconvenient. They also automatically add a 20% gratuity for larger parties, so you don’t really have a choice there. To be fair, the service itself was actually good. Our waitress, Sarah, was very nice and friendly. The main issue for me was the food and the “unlimited dinner” concept. We did the unlimited Balkan small plates option, which was around $49 per person without dessert or $54 with dessert. In theory, it sounds great because you can try a bunch of dishes. In practice, it didn’t feel worth the price. The portions were extremely small for a group our size. For example, they would bring out two small bowls of shrimp (maybe four shrimp in each bowl) for nine people. On top of that, the server only came around roughly every 30 minutes to take more orders. So even though it’s called “unlimited,” it felt like there were built-in limits to how much you could realistically get. There were also times when we asked for specific items again (like more shrimp) and they simply never came out. It happened enough that it felt less like an accident and more like the system just isn’t designed for people to fully maximize the “unlimited” aspect. Food quality was pretty mid overall. It reminded me a lot of Ala in terms of concept and quality. A few highlights and lowlights from the table: • Shrimp: decent • Chicken skewers: good • Lamb lasagna: people seemed to like it • Bread: actually very good • Salmon: very thin and poor quality (barely touched by some guests) A lot of the dishes were heavily covered in sauce, which honestly felt like it might be masking lower ingredient quality. Another thing to watch for is the fees. Between the mandatory 20% gratuity, a 3.5% service charge, and DC taxes, the price climbs fast. The service charge can be removed, but you have to specifically ask for it—which feels a bit sneaky. Once drinks and fees were included, what started as a $49 dinner ended up costing most people around $70–$80 each. One positive: they do have a menu that accommodates dietary restrictions, which is nice. However, because the server doesn’t come around very frequently, it can still be frustrating for people with specific requests since items sometimes get forgotten. Overall, I like the idea of the restaurant—trying lots of small dishes can be fun—but the execution just didn’t feel worth the price. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it for large groups. It might work better as a dinner spot for two people who just want to sample a few things, but for bigger parties it felt overpriced for what you get. ⭐ My takeaway: cool concept, good location, nice service—but the value and food quality just didn’t match the price.