Nando's Peri-peri - Washington DC

We don't have any Nando's on the West Coast, so when I planned my trip to DC, visiting Nando's was a must on my list. I finally made it on the last day of my trip, and it's located in one of the most vibrant parts of DC. I've tried various versions of Peri-Peri before, but I've always heard rave reviews about Nando's from my English friends. The ambiance here is fantastic--the setup is really cozy. I sat near the counter but placed my order through their website. I ordered Peri-Peri wings with Ranch, a Chicken sandwich, Watermelon Mint Lemonade, and the Naughty Natas. The food arrived in less than 10 minutes, and the Peri-Peri wings didn't disappoint--I absolutely loved them, especially with the ranch on the side. The sandwich was smaller than I expected, but the flavor was excellent. The lemonade was incredibly refreshing; the mint really enhanced the watermelon flavor. The Naughty Natas was a pleasant surprise--absolutely delicious! I loved it. I came with high expectations, and this place truly lived up to them. Very happy!

Supposedly One Direction loves this chain restaurant! This location came highly recommended by friends, and as a fast/casual dining spot, we loved it. The sauces were plentiful and full of flavor. I enjoy heat, and while the hottest one isn't super hot, it has 10/10 flavor. The fries were good, as was the accompanying ranch. I wish this was in my area!

I'm not sure how we ended up at Nando's Peri-Peri but I'm glad we did. We were visiting DC for the week and stopped in for lunch. The way we learned it worked is you use their QR code and enter your order online including your table number, and food runners bring you your food. We did that and food arrived in about 11 minutes. My order was for a ¼ lb chicken thigh and a couple of typical sides, corn on the cob and coleslaw. What I didn't expect was just how good the food was. These people know their stuff, the chicken was moist and flavorful, the corn sweet, and the slaw much better than average. All the staff we did interact with were upbeat and friendly. We all liked the food and the energetic atmosphere.

Grabbed lunch here and I was pleasantly surprised. The place was beautiful and we were immediately greeted. Tried their new bbq chicken and it was delicious!

It really pains me to write this review since I am a huge fan of Nando's, but I had one of the worst dinner experiences in recent memory eating here. We placed our order for six wings and the Full Chicken Platter with sides of mashed potatoes and crispy Brussel sprouts at 9pm. We did not receive our food until 9:45pm! This was on a Monday night where the restaurant was mostly empty and not busy. We watched as another diner who came in after us got seated, received their food, and finished eating before we even received our food. We saw a ton of to go orders being fulfilled as we waited as well. While we were waiting, one of the servers was cleaning and carelessly leaned the broom against the back of my chair. The broom fell onto my shoulder and nearly hit my head... When we finally did receive our food, the fries were missing from the platter, and 75% of the Brussels sprouts were burned and inedible. By now, the entire restaurant was empty of customers and the workers were beginning to put the chairs on tables and clean up right next to us, before it was the closing time at 10pm. We felt uncomfortable and awkward at this point, so we took our entire meal to go. As someone from the west coast and who barely gets a chance to eat at Nando's, what a disappointing dinner experience that was supposed to be one of the big highlights of our trip to DC. The chicken was as juicy and flavorful as we expected, but that's the only positive point I have to say. Definitely don't come here even an hour before closing time.