Photo Courtesy Co Co. Sala

I love following restaurants on Twitter so I can hear about everything from what dishes they’re cooking up, to what events they’re hosting, to what specials they might have coming my way soon. Last week I took a look at how DC restaurants use Twitter successfully. Today I’m happy to award We Love DC’s first Food Tweet of the Week award to Co Co. Sala!

The chocolate lounge & boutique serves American cuisine and specializes in espresso and chocolate-based drinks, artisanal chocolates, and exquisite pastries. Co Co. Sala first got on Twitter in June 2009, but started using the social media tool actively in June 2010. The restaurant currently has more than 4,000 followers and sends out about 20 Tweets a day, all actually in conversation with diners.

See the cutest tweet ever after the jump.

The mind behind the account is Monica Sethi, founder & president of e-Buzz Edge. Sethi says Co Co. Sala responds to everyone on Twitter who mentions the restaurant, and always tries to check in with diners once they leave to get feedback.

“Above all, what we have found is that Twitter has been great for building relationships,” says Sethi. “We were giving away two tickets to a Wolf Trap show as a small token of our appreciation for our Twitter friends. To enter, we asked that the individual tweet why they loved Co Co. Sala. The first tweet response, and the one that resonated the most was, ‘I love @cocosala bc I missed a reservation due to illness & they checked on me to see if I was feeling better! *Very* sweet!’ That’s what Twitter is about to us: building and strengthening relationships.”

Co Co. Sala has also used Twitter to give lost diners a hand and help others get reservations times already filled on Open Table.

I was going to say that the proposal tweet will be hard to beat, but something tells me we will see more of that on the 14th. While we’re on this romantic theme, try Co Co. Sala out for Valentine’s Day event or make a reservation day of! And congratulations from us too @SnyGuy.

Tricia Barba

Tricia is a native Washingtonian, born and raised in Columbia Heights. She loves DC so much that she was only able to leave the city for one year after college and immediately came running back. Tricia works in PR during the day, and spends her nights trying out new restaurants in DC with friends or watching The Good Wife, Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. Tricia recently decided to eat her way though all of Zagat’s 2011 restaurants until she realized she would be old and broke by the time she finished. Follow her on Twitter and email her at Tricia (at) welovedc.com.