Vidalia

My wife and I visit D.C. three to four times a year and for the past six years we've made it part of our routine to dine at Vidalia and it's "sister" restaurant, Bistro Bis. We've never been less than delighted with the selection, preparation & presentation. Reading the attempts by amateur food critics to degrade and demean a fine restaurant reminds me of two things. First would be just how nearly impossible it would be to please some people with a pseudo self-importance they project with expressions of irrelevant "snobbery". Second would be the fact that there are some really unhappy people in the world who would indicate their place of residence would somehow make their opinions more valid or more worthy than the rest of us who have the good fortune to be able to enjoy a GREAT DINING EXPERIENCE.

This place is what it is billed to be....and as for the restricted diet review, why in the heck would you even go out and eat with a restricted diet....stay home!

Washingtonian rated this restaurant #8 in their "100 Best Restaurants" issue. Either the editors at Washingtonian have really poor taste or the food in DC is really this subpar. We opted to go for the a la carte menu rather than the five course tasting menu (thankfully- I would have never been able to make it through five courses of this mediocre cooking). Between three of us, we had three appetizers, three entrees, and a dessert. Out of seven different dishes, only one was suitable. The rabbit was unpalatable. Everything entree and appetizer was soaked in salt and bacon fat. We could have made the orecchiete pasta dish at home and had it taste better and more authentic. And the pecan pie dessert tasted like it could have been bought from a supermarket and placed on a plate. This restaurant suffers from what most restaurants in DC suffer from- an over-ambitious menu that falls so short of it's goal. When thinking about this restaurant's ranking, one thing crossed my mind- which restaurant was worse than this at #9?

I was assured by the restaruant that my restricted diet (no dairy) would definitely not be a problem when ordering. However, when ordering, I was told I could only select two appetizers (the scallops were fishy tasting), a few entree items, and no dessert. Very disappointing. Considering the high prices, you would think the restaurant would be more accomodating, and be more sensitive to restrictive diets. The drinks and wine were good. My entree was good, but overpriced. $190.00 for two for what?