El Taller del Xiquet

L Lois Wang 36 reviews · Local Guide 26 July 2026

As soon as I entered it, I smelled the cheap kind of bad hotel’s smell. I don’t know if it’s the seafood or what but the first impression was already bad. The food was pretty good, but it’s at the pricy side. I would come back for the food, but not for the environment cause the smell 🫣

M Mila Flores 28 reviews · Local Guide 13 July 2026

Quaint little unassuming entrance with amazing staff and service. Walking in I was confused as to which was Xiquet (Michelin) vs El taller del Xiquet but apparently it's the same place with Xiquet on the upper floor. We dined at el taller but were lucky to be seated in Xiquet. It's a very intimate space but with just enough space between tables to feel private. Large tables for many plates. It was recommended to do two apps and one entree (shared). I got the iberico pork and crudo and shared the Alacant Paella! Surprisingly the paella upstaged the pork and that's a delicacy! The fresh lobster claws, prawn and cuttlefish was such a treat! The crudo left a strong impression too and the octopus app was super tender. Staff is extremely attentive, super knowledgeable on every ingredient that goes into the dish and chef even came by to see that we enjoyed the meal. It's a beautiful special occasion date spot and the food and chef does an excellent job!

H Hennessy Bas 6 reviews 8 March 2026

The experience was overall good. The appetizer was alright, nothing to die for, and the dessert was amazing!! My only true complaint is for the star of the show, the paella. We got the Wagyu paella and it was very flavorful and had a good amount of meat, but it was cold. We didn’t bring it up simply because we didn’t want to wait more, but it was a little disappointing to get a cold paella in a place that paella is their main thing. Other than that, everything else was good and the service was excellent.

D DJ Godinez 20 reviews · Local Guide 27 January 2026

Went for DC Restaurant Week, so maybe that is why things were just “okay.” $65 small menu, $35 wine pairing •choice of starters (we had fennel & romesco, and hamachi crudo) •choice of starter (we upgraded +$25 per person to Wagyu Paella) •choice of dessert (they were out of carrot cake, but we were served a chocolate dessert from “upstairs”) •house made gel candy + a dark chocolate When we walked in, we were greeted, checked our coats and were given a homemade apple drink to warm up. Unfortunately, the drink was lukewarm and was mostly apple and cinnamon chunks. The fennel starter was better - the romesco sauce had a delicious char flavor. The fennel was hard to cut. The Crú was hardly flavored. The yellow pepper sauce wiped out all of the flavor of the fish, and the grapefruit was flavorless. The Wagyu Paella looked beautiful and had bone marrow scraped on top of the meat in front of us. This dish was disappointingly missing any notable flavors. The best part was the socarrat. If the menu did not say it contained oxtail, I never would have known. Dessert was very nice. Our reservation was later at night, so that is probably why we missed out on carrot cake, but the chocolate dessert was good. Light and tasty. Unfortunately, the wine pairing did not feel nuanced like other higher end restaurants. Usually the pairings bring out new notes and subtleties, but this one felt clashed for some dishes. The servers were very friendly and attentive. We saw Chef Danny a few times. The lowest point of the night was our table location right near the curtain “door.” It kept blowing out every time the front door opened and it was very cold and cooled the food down terribly fast. I still would like to come back for the full Xiquet experience, but my El Taller experience was not stellar in comparison to other Spanish establishments.

T Tommy Tang 595 reviews · Local Guide 31 August 2025

Every dish was very unique and delicious. We also got the wine pairing and extra cocktails and dish alongside with the tasting menu. They only have 2 servers for 10 tables which were all super rush, but one of them took very good care of us. We have great time and found out there’re actual 2 different restaurants in one place but same owner. Upstairs is the Michelin Star restaurant called Xiquet, ground level is the El Taller del Xiquet which is not Michelin starred but it’s still very good