Elena James

Chevy Chase, MD · American restaurant

Rating
4.3/5
★★★★☆ 4.3
Reviews
20
Rank in Chevy Chase
#14
of 34 restaurants
City Percentile
39%
rating percentile
Address
Elena James, 8551 Connecticut Ave, Chevy Chase, MD 20815
Phone
(202) 897-9906
Website
www.elenajamescc.com
Status
Closed · Opens 9 AM

Elena James is a restaurant located in Chevy Chase, MD. It is one of 34 restaurants listed in Chevy Chase. Its 4.3-star rating is above the Chevy Chase city average of 4.1 stars. It ranks #14 of 34 restaurants in Chevy Chase. There are 10 photos associated with this location.

About Elena James

Located in Chevy Chase, MD, Elena James is an all-occasion neighborhood restaurant that serves New American cuisine for dinner and weekend brunch. The brainchild of restaurateurs Colin McClimans and Danilo Simic, Elena James embraces the same vision... More

Hours

Friday4 PM–10 PM

Customer Reviews

★★★★☆ 4.0 Vy H. · Feb 2025

Came here for dinner recently on a Wednesday night—the restaurant is fairly new so it wasn’t crowded, but we had reservations. Cute decor inside. Service was great—food came out fairly quick and our server was friendly and attentive. For starters, the Fried Honey Old Bay Duck Wings was delicious. Loved the Chicken Caesar Lettuce Bouquets, which was uniquely presented. For pasta, the Bucatini Cacio e Pepe was AMAZING—well flavored and probably the best cacio e pepe pasta dish I’ve ever had (and I’ve been to Italy!!!) The Pork Schnitzel was good—it was well-fried and tender inside, but was not a huge fan of the sauce, had a bitter aftertaste. The Forest Mushroom & Truffle Pizza was huge portion with lots of topping, but the overall taste lacked flavor. For desserts, we enjoyed the Bla

★★☆☆☆ 2.0 Carolyn Frank · Jul 2025

Do not bother ordering an entree, appetizers, salads and burgers are ok. Came with a group on a slow weekday evening, and service and food were slow to appear. The pork schnitzel was close to inedible, two different dinners at two different tables found it nearly impossible to cut even with a serrated knife, and once cut could only see and taste the breading, which appeared to lack any spice except salt. As reported by multiple parties, the trout was cooked perfectly but lacked any spice or herbal flavoring and was accompanied by a very limited amount of a completely bland white sauce. One who ordered the duck wing appetizer found the 4 drums to be tasty but dry. The salads were meal-size portions and decent versions. Wine selections were reasonable although priced $1 or $2 more than simi

★★★★★ 5.0 Cindy Lin · Aug 2025

The place is divided into a quick-order café counter with seating, and a full restaurant and bar with an open kitchen. The turkey cheddar club is delicious, with fresh, crunchy bread. The chicken Italian is also very tasty.

★★★★★ 5.0 Stacey McEneaney · Feb 2026

Went early on a Saturday night and the restaurant had a relaxed atmosphere and a warm ambiance. The waiter was great. Very personable and knowledgeable. He was very attentive and had some great recommendations. The food was amazing. Everything was cooked very well. The flavor combinations were unique and really creative. We ordered the chefs menu for restaurant week and everything that came to the table was 5 stars. This was our second visit and it is turning into our favorite restaurant in the area.

★★★☆☆ 3.0 Monica Chan · Dec 2024

Went recently to try out this new restaurant in the neighborhood. The interior design was very fun and modern. Restaurant was busy on a Saturday but we were able to walk in. Unfortunately service and food quality still needs work. Regarding service, it seemed like they ran out of menus and rushed us to order quickly, with 2 people stopping to try and get our orders within 5 min of sitting down. It seemed they were still training as we had 3 different people stop to ask us about the menu and our order and it wasn’t clear who was our main waiter. There was no communication that we had already ordered. Food was disappointing for the price and for the reviews I’ve seen at the sister restaurants (I have no tried them). The duck appetizer was too sweet and seems overpriced for $18 for 4. The

Accessibility & Amenities

✓ Wheelchair Accessible Entrance ✓ Wheelchair Accessible Restroom ✓ Wheelchair Accessible Seating

Services

American restaurantRestaurant

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This listing is informational. Contact the business directly to verify credentials, services, and availability.