Circle Bistro in Washington, DC, DC

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Telephone:	+1 202-293-5390
Website:	www.circlebistro.com
Address:	1 Washington Cir NW, Washington, DC, DC, 20037 West End
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:	440 ftNW Pennsylvania AV & NW 24th St 960 ftFoggy Bottom-GWU 0.2 miFoggy Bottom-GWU Elevator
Categories:	American (New) Diners Breakfast & Brunch

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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations	Yes
Delivery	No
Take-out	No
Accepts Credit Cards	Yes
Good For	Dinner
Parking	Valet, Street, Validated
Bike Parking	Yes
Wheelchair Accessible	Yes
Good for Kids	No
Good for Groups	Yes

Attire	Dressy
Ambience	Trendy
Noise Level	Average
Alcohol	Full Bar
Outdoor Seating	Yes
Wi-Fi	Free
Has TV	Yes
Dogs Allowed	No
Waiter Service	Yes

Today

Today	7:00 am – 11:00 am 11:30 am – 8:00 pm Closed now
Local time (Washington, DC)	12:17 AM Sunday, June 22, 2025

Business hours

Monday	7:00 am – 11:00 am 11:30 am – 2:30 pm 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Tuesday	7:00 am – 11:00 am 11:30 am – 2:30 pm 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Wednesday	7:00 am – 11:00 am 11:30 am – 2:30 pm 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Thursday	7:00 am – 11:00 am 11:30 am – 2:30 pm 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Friday	7:00 am – 11:00 am 11:30 am – 2:30 pm 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Saturday	7:00 am – 11:00 am 11:30 am – 2:30 pm 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Sunday	7:00 am – 11:00 am 11:30 am – 8:00 pm

Description

Specialties

A staple of the Foggy Bottom neighborhood, Circle Bistro offers classic bistro fare with a focus on locally sourced ingredients. Savor the award-winning cuisine of this intimate neighborhood spot, creating dishes that are at once comfortingly familiar yet wonderfully new.

Discover why Circle Bistro is consistently ranked among the best downtown DC restaurants in The Washingtonian Magazine, and treat yourself to the welcoming warmth and exceptional taste of this renowned culinary address.

Our menus do change frequently to reflect the finest seasonal ingredients. The menus featured on our website are representative of what you should expect at Circle Bistro, but do keep in mind that items on our menu do change from time to time.

History

Established in 1984.

Restaurant, Lounge and Bar

Meet the Manager

Michael C.

Manager

Chef Michael Cassady moved to DC from California in 2005 and enrolled in Maryland’s L’Academie de Cuisine. After culinary school, Chef Michael worked for Chef Rob Weland at Poste Modern Brasserie and became part of one of the first «farm to table» restaurants in DC. He next worked for Michelin Star Chef’s Tom and Robert Aikens in London at Tom’s Kitchen before returning to the area to join Matchbox restaurants in Rockville as Sous Chef and then Executive Chef.

As Executive Chef of Circle Bistro, Chef Michael continues his support of local and sustainable products and producers while creating outstanding bistro-style cuisine.

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23 reviews of Circle Bistro

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K C C.

Place rating: 1
Washington, DC

Ordered the fish and chips. The fish had gone bad. Not sure why they served it. It had to have smelled bad when they cooked it. Wouldn’t eat here again.

Jada A.

Place rating: 4
Greensboro, NC

Really nice dinner! I dined solo and enjoyed sitting in the bar area. I had the buckwheat gnocchi with kale, butternut squash and mushrooms – perfect for a chilly evening! Staff was attentive and kind and the food came quickly.

Bob J.

Place rating: 2
Arlington, VA

About 2.5 stars. A little disappointing. The caesar salad had a lot of dressing, and the french onion soup was bland, which was surprising. The fettucine with short rib was OK, but the noodles were a little undercooked. We were looking forward to dessert, but the brownie
was very dry, and the ice cream did not complement it well. Had high hopes, and possibly our menu selections were just bad luck, but it was disappointing.

Kimberlee L.

Place rating: 5
Titusville, FL

I LOVE this restaurant! If you haven’t eaten here recently, you have no idea what you’re missing. Ignore all of the old reviews. A new staff has been working long and hard to make Circle Bistro one of the top places to eat in DC. Classy food without the high end prices. My daughter and I ate there recently and we had an amazing lunch. I’m not sure which I liked more… the duck confit salad, the beet salad, the herbed chicken salad sandwich, or the bistro club (we split and shared items). Desserts were amazing as well. Cheerful and caring wait staff. Attentive bartender. Can’t wait to eat there again!

Christine F.

Place rating: 5
Arlington, VA

I met a client at CB for lunch. The bar area was relaxing and inviting and the wait staff was prompt and friendly. Most importantly the food was outstanding. I had the French onion soup and duck confit salad. Let me start with the soup. Yes, even TGIF has a French onion soup, a lot of places have a FOS… but few of those restaurants get it right. Usually you find yourself the victim of soggy bread, gloppy cheese and over or under seasoned. CBisto’s FOS was excellent. Each component was well executed and the broth of the soup was excellent. Now let’s talk about the salad. I wanted to lick the plate! The duck was fantastic and the entire salad was well balanced. Every bite of this salad was fantastic! The only drawback to the lunch was finding the location, it is a bit «off» the circle and not obvious. Also, a minor point for the owners to consider: the natural light in the restaurant is spectacular but the décor… not so much. The dining area lacks personality. Orange and yellow walls with no distinction of who or what the restaurant is about, but at least the food is on point. Here’s hoping the ambience in the dining room will soon be equal to its food! I am looking forward to hitting CB for cocktails and dinner soon. I’m dying to try their Gnocchi and Short Ribs dishes, AND they had an impressive beer list, featuring some of my favorite local brews! I also love telling my friends about this location because its a little tucked away oasis of great food and you won’t have to wait a month to get a reservation for seating!

Martha D.

Place rating: 5
Brooklyn, NY

Current chef staff is amazing! All 3 are women who went to l’acadamie de cuisine — and are very talented! My family went for thanksgiving– stress free and really yummy. Staff is really sweet. Environment is cozy. Wine and beer menu is great. Current staff really cares about making good food. Definitely check them out — they are on the rise.

John S.

Place rating: 2
Silver Spring, MD

Chose this place for its closeness to Kennedy center and the prix fix pre theater menu… food was good but service was horrible… there were only two other parties in the place and we had to constantly ask for our food… even when others were served in front of us… the gazpacho, salmon and scallops were good, but my wife’s dessert (the lemon meringue eclairs) appeared to have not been filled with the lemon meringue. They were very dry, and as my wife mentioned, tasted like a french baguette. Onto the service — we were one of three tables in the restaurant. My wife ordered right away because we were hurrying for our show. But then another table got their food before we did. We constantly had to ask about our food. Then knowing we were in a rush, we had to ask twice for the dessert. I would not recommend this place, in particular if you are in the hurry for a show!

Nina S.

Place rating: 1
Takoma Park, MD

This has to rank as one of the worst meals ever. This is truly unfortunate as I used to eat at Circle Bistro with some frequency over the years. But it has been a while and I don’t know what happened, but it wasn’t good. I ordered a martini and I noticed it was a short pour (many years ago I used to be a bartender, so this is something I know something about). I ordered shrimp and grits and received a huge bowl with barely an appetizer sized portion, including 4 shrimp, no discernible chorizo, and a slightly tinny flavor to the dish, It cost a whopping $ 22. My dinner companion had to ask for a napkin three times before he received one and was never asked if he wanted something to drink at all. I mentioned to the server how poor my entrée was and he simply smiled. He obviously wanted to get rid of us because instead of asking if we wanted dessert, he offered us our check. Circle Bistro has a great location, is connected to a nice hotel, and has a loyal neighborhood following as it is across the street from George Washington University. But the food doesn’t measure up to any of these assets. Find another Foggy Bottom/West End restaurant and save yourself from a bad meal at an exorbitant price.

David P.

Place rating: 4
Washington, DC

I must say that I am only reviewing the bar because I did not eat there.
It was a Wednesday around 6p and I couldn’t find a stool at district commons so i decided to give this place a shot. Aside from the awkward entrance (personally i’d rather see the entrance unchanged because it won’t attract tons of people and turn it into a loud and unfriendly bistro), it was an amazing find! A bar with good $ 4 HH wine, you can have a conversation without shouting and the bar was manned by the most amazing bartender who gives you space while being attentive.
If you are in DuPont and want a good date spot or just a good bar to hangout where you can talk. That’s the place to go. I give the bar 4 stars. Maybe next time I’ll eat there.

Swarup D.

Place rating: 3
Weston, FL

Breakfast was ok but pricy.

Jade N.

Place rating: 2
Centreville, VA

Last minute I had to search the DC restaurant scene to find a place that could accommodate 6 people on a Saturday night. Circle Bistro was able to and they offer free valet parking! Awesome! However I wish I could say more about the food and service. The restaurant is centrally located next to Foggy Bottom and is small romantic and quaint. The server took awhile to get to us and when he did we discovered all the menus we had been given were not up to date and some of the items we wanted were listed in the menu but they had run out. That’s a huge pet peeve of mine. Don’t advertise something, get me excited and then tell me it’s no longer available! Anyhow ended up getting the cauliflower soup, which was great and the scallops which were also very yummy.
The menu issue really annoyed me and thus although the food was good, it didn’t outweigh my annoyance. Not impressed at all and I personally don’t think I’ll be back. There are far too many other choices to in DC!

Linda N.

Place rating: 4
Silver Spring, MD

Terrific salads! Combined with happy hour bar food and drinks make for a perfect dinner at a very reasonable price. Fast service means a good pre-theater option.

Suz F.

Place rating: 1
Cary, NC

I had a great dinner here 2 years ago. Tonight it was so bad. Extremely rude bar staff. Sliders were dried out and bun burned. Likely sitting around a while but still took too long after ordering.
If you want cheap happy hour, awful food and bad service. This is your best choice.

Catherine A.

Place rating: 1
Washington, DC

Terrible! My entire family was disappointed with our meal.
I ordered the club sandwich and a mixed green salad. The sandwich was too big and poorly assembled to eat. It fell apart in my hands and left me holding a chunk of turkey and tomato. The accompanying french fries were soggy. My salad was wilted and overdressed.
My parents and siblings also ordered burgers and steak, none of which were cooked to order. Their salads and fries were also in a poor state.
The best part of my meal was the small glass of orange juice I ordered.
This meal was far too overpriced for quality and very poorly done.

Katharine G.

Place rating: 5
Arlington, VA

What an undiscovered gem! I’d been eying this place for years and finally stopped by for dinner yesterday with some friends. I should have come years ago. We sat outside and the atmosphere and weather was perfect. There was an entertaining British waitress that added to our fun. We had mussels (incredibly big and fresh), salmon rillette, burger, pork chop, salmon cake, ahi tuna. Everybody loved their dishes. Plus they had a nice Primitivo blend.
They have a pre-theatre prix fixe which I hope to try out sometime. Since we ate outside that was considered «bar area» and we got the bar menu prices for the apps.
My only concern was that this was a Saturday night and the place was virtually empty. So I implore you to check this restaurant out so it can stay in business and be enjoyed by me and others.

Brennan B.

Place rating: 1
Atlanta, GA

Severely lacking — We stayed at the hotel and stopped in here for lunch. A colleague and I both ordered the open-faced wagyu steak sandwich. It was very bland and unappetizing, and I could not bring myself to finish it. We had breakfast there the next morning and the experience was just as bad.
Service was slow and poor both occasions. For example, at breakfast I asked for a spoon and the server never brought me one, so after waiting for about five minutes, I just grabbed one from another table. The previous day another diner in our group ordered french fries with their burger and was brought a salad.

Donna H.

Place rating: 1
Carlsbad, CA

Near my office so we stopped in for dinner. Coffee shop ambience, Empty in a Friday night. Never a good sign.
Seated us in the back room for some unknown reason even though the main dining room was empty except for a screaming baby.
Service was ok but the pleasant waiter seemed to have his mind on other things — asked us three times within a minute if we wanted wine. Weird.
Anyway we ordered the pre-theatre menu. It was ok. But the screaming baby was annoying. Then the waiter seats a large boisterous party with an even louder screaming baby one table away in the empty back room with us — even though the main dining room is empty.
Bread was stale, entrees had weird mushrooms that didn’t seem to fit the recipe, dessert was Kroger special, they forgot to heat the soup. You get the idea. Did I mention the place was empty except for the screaming babies?
$ 116 later we feel like chumps. Plenty of other good places in Foggy Bottom for the same or better prices so do yourself a favor and skip this one.

Louis K.

Place rating: 4
Washington, DC

I was here for the New Years Eve dinner. The menu was a special for the NYE, so I can’t comment on the regular food menu. The ingredient was fresh and the food was well prepared, but there was no wow factor to write about. I would recommend this establishment if you are looking for a quiet and private dinner for yourself. On another note, I remember there wasn’t too many customers, which can be a positive thing (if you want more space and privacy), or negative thing (because it can be so quiet).

John G.

Place rating: 5
Cincinnati, OH

My wife and I wandered into the restaurant around 4PM on a Saturday afternoon.
We hadn’t had lunch and we were hoping to have a bit to eat before we went to a 6PM show at the Kennedy Center.
The chef was at the front desk having a conversation with one of the servers as we walked in.
The restaurant staff had just finished up resetting the restaurant from lunch and was not yet serving dinner, but they both graciously agreed to open the kitchen for just the two of us and were willing to adapt for my wife’s gluten intolerance to boot!
When the food arrived it was perfect!
The chef and the server deserve two thumbs up for so graciously taking care of us.
You should definitely check this out!

Ilan G.

Place rating: 2
Washington, DC

Meh. Went here with a large group. Service was fine, nothing extraordinary or especially professional.
AVOID: The seared tuna appetizer was definitely worth passing on – tuna was tasteless, a bit overdone, and the greens underneath were a bit wilted because they put the tuna on top before it had cooled down. Also, the salad dressing looked like wasabi but tasted like a mild creamy thing that did not go well with either the greens.
The house salad looked better, but I didn’t try it.
TRY: The pan-seared rib-eye. The steak was huge, flavorful, and not too overdone. accompanying sides were pretty sad, though.
Ambiance is a bit quiet and 1970s but not in a hip way. Place is probably only in business because of the lack of other great options in the area at the (somewhat lower-than-average-for-the-neighborhood) price point. Unless you’re totally bored of the other West End restaurants (which can happen quickly), you’re better off walking a few extra blocks to something in Dupont or to one of the other restaurants in the area.

Niki S.

Place rating: 4
Denver, CO

This place exceeded my expectations. I came with a friend who made reservations and I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a pretty big space and the tables are not on top of each other. Both of us were happy with our wine selections (sauv blanc/pinot noir) and enjoyed a nice meal without being rushed. The fried green tomatoes. LOVE. They are seriously doing something right with those. My salmon burger was perfectly cooked and seasoned and was quite filling. And for $ 12, it was a fantastic meal. My friend’s steak was perfectly cooked and seasoned and she inhaled it in a most unladylike manner =). We ordered the peach cobbler for dessert but this is where I had to deduct a point. The peaches tasted a little like canned peaches and the crust was more like a shortbread cookie than a crumble. Tasted good, just not what I expected. Overall, a really decent meal.
Also, their breads are really good and it would be nice if they left a basket on the table instead of coming by and offering a small, puny looking piece.

Sarah S.

Place rating: 4
Sonoma, CA

Finally made it back to Circle Bistro after enjoying my first visit over a year ago. As usual I sat at the bar — there was another woman dining alone (who was a regular), and a very friend woman bartender who was quite down to earth. I had a hard time deciding on dinner, and decided to give the burger a try. WOW. I’m glad I did. It was a nice size (not too big) and served on a fresh brioche bun. It was brilliant. One of the best burgers I have ever had in my life. No joke. The price was nice, too.
I also had two glasses of a sauv blanc that weren’t bad and was entertained by good bar conversation with the bartender and the regular, my laptop, and the comical collection of drunk hotel guests. I really wish I wouldn’t have waited to visit Circle Bistro again, as I’m moving soon — but it’s just delicious and I intend on being a regular here as much as I can before moving.

Mei E.

Place rating: 3
São Paulo, Brazil

Went here recently for a friend’s birthday party. The bar area easily accommodated a large number of guests, most of whom were able to sit together at a long raised table with barstools. Drinks were generously poured and the bartender was this fantastic older British woman who made sure the birthday boy was well taken care of.
Not having had dinner, we ordered a cheeseburger, croque madame and some dips and bread. Cheeseburger was solid, cooked well and the fries were decent. Croque madame came out looking a bit blackened but whatever. About 5 minutes later, a barback came rushing out with an egg and a small container of hollandaise. Perplexed, my dining companion was instructed by the barback to put the egg on top of the sandwich, and then the guy slowly poured hollandaise over the whole thing. Who knew it was do-it-yourself dinner?
This place honestly would have had a fourth star if it hadn’t been so disgustingly HOT inside. It’s a 60 degree evening in Washington and they have the gas powered faux fireplace in full force. It wouldn’t have killed them to turn on the air a bit, as I’m sure it would’ve been warm inside with all the people milling about anyway.
Anyhow, it’s a pleasant, sleek looking hotel lobby which is good for a slightly older (mid-30s) crowd who are there more for the conversation than the binge drinking (although the latter was well-attended to as well.)

Circle Bistro

Washington, DC, United States