Love... Here goes another love story. I have extremely high expectations and standards when I dine. St.Anselm was nothing short of spectacular. First, even though I've been to the Union Market District hundreds of times, I've never had dinner at St. Anselm. Shame on ME! My perfect significant other planned date night and kept this one a secret. I was excited to find out this was where we were coming because it was bookmarked! Yes, I've been wanting to come, for years. (I know, crazy) Thanks to my Beau, I made it! The wonderful host accommodated us when we encountered a mishap with our reservation. We were seated in minutes. Points for the smooth last minute accommodation. We started off with Monster Prawns, they were fantastic! Now this is a BIG Prawn and there was actually a lot of meat inside! Yummy! We then got crab deviled eggs, they were excellent! Observation; the egg whites were plentiful. Points for that! Good Quality eggs! Superb plating. I got the butchers steak and my Beau got the salmon! He shared. They both exceeded expectations. Brussel sprouts were great. Drinks were awesome!! Food and server were terrific, nothing amiss. Now, although service was great there was no manager presence and if there was, we missed it. I'm big on manager presence. Although this is only rated a 3 ($$$) for price it's not a low end establishment. It's one money sign away from fine dinning territory. It's moderately price for great food. Kudos to that! With that being said, it would have been nice to have a manager come over and ask how things were. At the very least do a temperature check, let me know you value our presence in your home. We are spending money, you should want us to come back. You should want to make sure every guest, new and old, are happy with the experience. Dining is like dating in D.C. There are so many great restaurants it's hard to commit to just one place. Some can't get a commitment and that is where I am here. I'm not sure I can commit. I mean it's good! They deserve 5 stars (more like 4.5) but manager presence may have lured me back quicker. I'll be back just not sure it will be soon. There are more restaurants to try out in the D.C and DMV area. For those who haven't tried, this place is fantastic and worth the visit! Enjoy! Eat your heart out. And so this story ends... And there she was in another great restaurant, she thinks she's in love all over again. St. Anslem wooed me, fed me well, and let me leave without a kiss goodbye. It was going so well. Perhaps not love but definitely lots of LIKE. Until I yearn for another rendezvous, it's "see you when I see you." #datenightwithmylove #hesthebest

As my boyfriend and I were looking into dinner options in the Union Market area of DC ahead of our trip, we were excited to find St. Anselm recommended through Yelp as "good for dates" and "great for happy hour." When they had a reservation available for the Friday night we would be in town visiting a friend, the choice was basically made for us. To start, we ordered some Little Things and Smalls From the Grill to share and some cocktails. We enjoyed the blue crab deviled eggs, Waldorf salad, and oysters! The Walford salad came out first, and I was happy that the portion was substantial enough that it easily split three ways. I enjoyed the interesting texture of the chicken cracklings. Next came the oysters, which went down far too easily. The smoked herb butter was to die for! With a total of 6 oysters, I was glad these also split neatly, and we didn't have to fight over who got an extra oyster. For my cocktail, I ordered the Poncha, which is on brand for me since I will always order the egg white cocktail. It was light and refreshing with the perfect amount of lemony uplift.  It didn't make sense for us to each get our own entree, so we decided to split the Ribeye and the Charred Bobo Chicken. We also shared the grilled broccoli and pan-fried mashed potatoes. The ribeye was perfectly cooked to our medium rare preference, and it melted in my mouth. The chicken was also very good and served with a delicious aji verde sauce. We were very tempted to ask for more of the aji verde sauce so we could put it on everything! This iteration of mashed potatoes is definitely the most interesting I've ever experienced. It was almost like a pot pie the way it formed a crust on the outside and was soft and creamy on the inside. We were not disappointed with any of the items that we ordered, and I would definitely come again!

Going to be short here, but could write a few paragraphs. Booked a big dinner for my team, about 25 people. Diane, who was my main contact, was amazing and VERY patient with me and all our changes. I can't thank her and St. Anselm enough for a great night, meal and overall experience. Few notes: Food: Delicious. Steak and seafood were all amazing. The biscuits were heavenly! Drinks: Very good and multiple folks commented how they good they were. Ambiance: So fun. We almost booked this stuffy steak house and I'm really glad we didn't. It was casual, but still very classy and fun. Table service: Amazing and so courteous, patient and attentive. We got our food and drinks in really good time and with a smile. Reservation/Follow up: Couldn't have had a better partner in planning it all and thanks again to Diane. Also, the follow up itemized receipt was so helpful for our accounting team. Thank you so much and we will definitely recommend St Anselm to our other friends and co-workers!

AMAZING restaurant. I could not have had a better experience anywhere for our group of 9. I was only in town for a few days, and was scouring Yelp for a good place that served steak and good for groups. I saw other places that looked good, but were WAY more expensive and everyone in the pics were dressed up. Not really what we were looking for. I had to modify our reservation like 3 times due to requests from our party, and not once did they give me attitude. When I got to the restaurant, I couldn't find the entrance at first, and one of the servers walked me to the door and opened it for me, very friendly and empathetic the whole way. The vibe of this place is fun and lively, entire inside and outside is packed. The style is cool, including the hanging bear by the bathrooms. It's not modern farmhouse, it's more like modern cabin lol. The food is high quality, but not pretentious. I love when the food is so satisfying and you feel so welcome and comfortable. There's no dress code, so we were able to go in casually dressed and not feel out or place. We were in town for a competition, so we weren't really packing dress clothes. The attention to detail was so there. The homemade biscuits are to die for, best I've ever had -- light and flaky-fluffy. Yes I said flaky-fluffy, no flaky or fluffy. Those are different things. Somehow they manage to get both textures. The giant grilled prawn blew me away. It was so fresh and such a satisfying bite and char to it. It was so good we had to order another one. The broiled oysters were very good too. I think they could char them a little more and add more carmelized cheese to get them on the same level as the other two appetizers mentioned, but they were still good nonetheless, just not quite as memorable. My ribeye steak was amazing, one of the best steaks I've ever had -- and I eat a lot of ribeyes. It was just simple, but high quality and expertly prepared. They have several steaks with sauces, but I opted for the one without. I also passed on the garlic oil, as I just prefer the flavor of the meat on its own. But man.. I was wowed. Our server was excellent, he quickly got us our rounds of shots and drinks all night. He sort of stayed in our private room like a butler lol, he was just so attentive to our every need but not overly involved, just right. The guys were anxious to leave and start hitting the clubs, as it was a celebration night for us. So we didn't have time for dessert, our server really wanted to get us something knowing we were celebrating, but we had to go. One other small detail, despite all that personal service and quality food for our large party, they don't even charge the automatic gratuity. Further adding to their genuine, non pretentious vibe. Whenever I get the auto gratuity, can't help but feel like there's a lack of trust or something lol. But here it's all trust and good vibes. This is truly what a restaurant should be. I'm disappointed I didn't take photos to share, but trust me... you want to go here, you will absolutely not be disappointed! A true 5 star experience in a fun and comfortable setting No tax on tips!

I took my family here for Mother's Day and they loved it. Most people got the omelette which is not pictured but they loved it. I got the steak and eggs which was very yummy as well. Steak cooked to perfection. The chicken sandwich was raved by my aunt! The game changer really was the French toast. We all wanted to try it but not as a main so we got it as an appetizer for the table. That blueberry blackberry compote on the French toast was so good you didn't even need syrup! Definitely try this place! The inside of the restaurant gave a divey country type vibe with good lighting.

Located in a transitional neighborhood. Never would I imagine this neighborhood would gentrify so quickly. We were there for brunch. We ordered the blue crab deviled eggs, steak and eggs with bernaise sauce, cheeseburger, and bodega breakfast sandwich. It was pretty good flavors for every dish we ordered except the steak and eggs. The steak was a little underseasoned and pre-cut. It would've been nice to cut it myself. Service was fine. Nice Americana decor.

I've been to St Anselm a few times over the years and it is a very good restaurant. My favorite items on the menu are the biscuits (four for $15, they can also do a half order), salmon collar ($22), and lamb leg steak ($28). The menu is focused, with standard steakhouse fare like oysters, salad, sides, and beef steaks. The restaurant decor is interesting; there's no other place quite like it in DC. It reminds me a bit of an 1800s hunting lodge, with lots of wood paneling, shutters, curtains, vintage USA memorabilia, and more. The best seats are a couple booths on the side of the restaurant that have full walls on three sides, so they feel very private and cozy. They also have lots of outdoor seating. On my most recent visit, I got the biscuits, salmon collar, and lamb steak, along with a side of brussel sprouts. The biscuits were excellent as usual. The salmon collar was bigger than I remember but just as succulent. It's rich, tender, and fatty. You have to watch out for some bones but it's worth it. It's in the "smalls" section but it could be an entree. The lamb steak was not as good as I remember, mostly in texture -- it was more fatty and sinewy than last time. The brussel sprouts were great. I was skeptical of the walnut caesar dressing, but it was delicious. It was like a caesar salad dressing but with bits of walnut in it, and the flavors worked great together. My companion got the butcher's steak ($35) and it looked fine. All the food together was enough for leftovers. To drink, I had the Gold Rush cocktail ($16) which was nothing to write home about. Then, the Schlenkerla Marzen Rauchbier (smoked beer, $18 for 500 ml bottle) which is a delicious beer that I've had before elsewhere. I was pleasantly surprised to see it on the menu. Service was friendly but very slow. Cocktail and beer prices are higher than they should be, especially since all of the draft beer is $7-$9 but only for a 9oz pour! This is disclosed on the menu but it's not customer friendly. I suspect many people miss this. IMO it's not appropriate to serve beer in anything smaller than 12 oz (standard can size) unless it's a taster, and really all drafts should be a proper pint size (16 oz).

I had been wanting to try St. Anselm for a long time, and it did not disappoint! We sat outside in one of the little nooks they created. It was hot out but they had fans going. The buttermilk biscuits were insanely delicious. The pimento cheese was a great touch to go with them! They were huge biscuits, so we took some to-go. The star of the show was the charred bobo chicken. The meat was very tender and juicy, and the sauce was so good. It was a big portion, as well. My husband loved the steak, which was rare, just as he'd asked. And we indulged with the cheesecake. The graham cracker crust was the best part. The service was fine, albeit maybe a little slow. They brought our appetizers before our drinks, which is generally a no no. But overall, we had a good experience! I would come back.

Really enjoyed our experience here! Biscuits were so freakin good obsessed with them they are a must get. Pro tip: you can get a smaller portion We got grilled okra, oysters and waygu skirt steak. All were good. Would definitely come back here again for a nice meal. Drinks were lovely too