The shortest route to an Italian dinner in Washington, D.C., is to decide how much of the evening the kitchen should plan. At Fiola in Penn Quarter, the meal can unfold as a themed tasting journey. At The Red Hen in Bloomingdale, housemade pasta supplies the center of a dinner that guests compose themselves. Both take Italian references seriously, but they answer different appetites for ceremony, freedom and the length of a meal.
Fiola’s current kitchen, led by Antonio Mermolia at the restaurant Fabio Trabocchi founded in 2011, organizes menus around meat, seafood and vegetables. That last category is significant: the vegetable-led Verdi sequence makes produce the subject of dinner. The longer Brumidi menu takes a broader view and borrows its name from the artist of the U.S. Capitol frescoes. There is also a shorter tasting format, making the choice more nuanced than an all-or-nothing commitment to the longest menu.
Handmade pasta connects the restaurant’s formal and less formal offerings. Its published examples include filled pasta with roasted cauliflower and buffalo mozzarella, and a duck-based preparation with a Genovese reference. These are a description of the kitchen’s current direction; the menus explicitly allow daily changes. Fiola is most compelling when the diner wants to follow that direction through several dishes and, if desired, a beverage pairing.
À la carte is another way into the same kitchen, but it has specific boundaries. Fiola offers it in the dining room from Tuesday through Thursday and at the bar from Tuesday through Saturday. A diner planning a weekend bowl of pasta in the main room should therefore choose the format with care, rather than assume every seat operates like an everyday trattoria.
The Red Hen starts with a more direct proposition. Its mezzi rigatoni with fennel-sausage ragù is the restaurant’s enduring pasta reference, finished with fennel pollen and Pecorino Romano. Around it, the seasonal menu combines small dumplings with corn and mushrooms and pairs dark linguini with clams. Wood-fired cooking and Mid-Atlantic produce give the Italian-American kitchen room to move beyond those pastas into grilled meat, fish and vegetable preparations.
That breadth matters for a table with different appetites. One diner can center the meal on pasta while another orders a substantial main; the progression follows the people at the table. The Red Hen’s menu discloses a three-percent surcharge that can be removed on request. Fiola also lists a three-percent surcharge, identifying it as neither a tip nor money paid directly to employees. These are distinct policies, not interchangeable descriptions of service.
For an Italian restaurant in Washington that makes the evening itself a culinary itinerary, Fiola is the more clearly defined option. For a dinner organized around handmade pasta and individual choices, The Red Hen offers the more flexible structure. Choosing between them means deciding the desired experience before comparing a single dish.
Explore the profiles: Fiola · The Red Hen
Recommended restaurants
The profiles below explain each restaurant’s cooking and give practical details for planning a visit.
Fabio Trabocchi’s Penn Quarter restaurant explores Italian regional traditions through themed tasting menus and handmade pasta.
Italian tasting menus, handmade pasta and vegetable-led seasonal cooking.
An Italian-American neighborhood restaurant in Bloomingdale, centered on housemade pasta, wood-fired cooking and seasonal Mid-Atlantic ingredients.
Housemade pasta, fennel-sausage rigatoni and wood-fired Italian-American cooking.
Sources & references
Sources for the information and reporting discussed in this guide.
- Fiola: current concept, history and team ↗ Primary source www.fioladc.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Fiola: tasting menus ↗ Primary source www.fioladc.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Fiola: à la carte menu and service conditions ↗ Primary source www.fioladc.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Fiola: Google Maps listing ↗ Primary source www.google.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- The Red Hen: current identity and team ↗ Primary source theredhendc.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- The Red Hen: current dinner menu ↗ Primary source theredhendc.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- The Red Hen: pasta and culinary approach ↗ Primary source theredhendc.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- MICHELIN Guide: The Red Hen ↗ Primary source guide.michelin.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- The Red Hen: Google Maps listing ↗ Primary source www.google.com · Accessed September 28, 2026