Portabellos, American Cafe on Lee Highway and N. Pollard Street in North Arlington

[liz2041]

How about Portabello's in Arlington? So far, we are 2 for 2 for overall good meals there. Anyone else have thoughts?

[Demvtr]

Welcome to DonRockwell, lggl! We're happy to have another posting member.

I've been to Portabellos a few times (most recently on Friday evening after foregoing CityZen), and I think it's a bit of a hidden treasure. Its got an expansive menu (and I mean "expansive" both in terms of number of items and in terms of geographically meandering), good to very-good food, lower-than-average prices, a comfortable, neighborhood atmosphere, and, in my limited experience, very friendly staff.

I've tried the Southwestern Grilled Chicken Tortilla Salad, which is a straightforward, no-surprises entree salad (but its cilantro honey vinaigrette makes it worth trying sometime), the crabcakes, which were not amazing, but not by any means disappointing, and the Moroccan-spiced lentils, which is the entree that keeps bringing me back. This is a vegetarian entree that puts all the meat entrees on the menu to shame. The lentils are cooked with Moroccan spices that give them a wonderful, complex flavor (though not "hot" spicy), and are made creamy by a coconut citrus cream sauce. Bright green broccoli surrounds the mound of lentils, and the lentils are mixed with cooked vegetables, sweet raisins, and tofu squares with a very appealing texture: crispy on the outside and hot and soft on the inside. My girlfriend and I decided that we didn't want to risk problems in our relationship at dinner on Friday, so we each ordered the spiced lentils entree instead of trying to split it.

The only appetizer I've tried is the fried green tomatoes (which is not on the online menu yet). This was only the second or third time in my life having fried green tomatoes, so I don't have a "gold standard" by which to judge Portabellos' version. The fried tomato slices were not particularly flavorful; in fact, if I had been served the dish blind, I don't think I would have identified the fried discs as tomatoes. That said, the tomato slices were served with stellar accompaniments: a mango-black bean salsa, ring of olive oil, and creamy, remoulade-like sauce (though not quite as thick as remoulade) that absolutely made the appetizer. The tomato slices are normally served with pepperjack cheese on top, but the kitchen was nice enough to split the appetizer into two plates, as I did not want cheese.

The other thing that keeps drawing me to Portabellos is the sweet potato spice cake, a trademark slice of warm, soft, gently spiced cake with a cream cheese-based frosting, whipped cream, caramel orange sauce, and thin, decorative wafer cookie. My girlfriend rarely opts for non-chocolate desserts, but even she concedes that the sweet potato spice cake makes dessert a mandatory course at Portabellos.

[Joshua Grinnell]

We'll certainly be back, though the chicken and fried brie salad and marinated chicken pasta we had were the safest things on the menu (we were sleepy and pre-paychecks) and still pretty good. The bread pudding for dessert was amazing- pecan praline topping and ice cream on the side.

It was the vibe that means we'll be back- nice nieghborhood place, comfortable decor, little touches (teacher discount on Mondays!), and the waiter and bartender genuinely seemed pleased to have us. It's just really, really nice to eat there. No adventurous cooking, no spectacular motifs, just the nice place down the block that you would take someone on the third date.

[Baccala]

I have eaten here a few times and find the space depressing and smells like mildew. My wife had the crabcake, which she liked and I had the steak. The steak was not prepared well, while the outside gave the apperence of being well prepared the inside was stone cold. It also tasted as if might not have been in the fridge a little longer the it should have been.

While my wife really enjoyed the crabcake, we stopped going becuase of the quality issues and the issues with the space.

[DPop]

I have eaten here a few times and find the space depressing and smells like mildew. My wife had the crabcake, which she liked and I had the steak. The steak was not prepared well, while the outside gave the apperence of being well prepared the inside was stone cold. It also tasted as if might not have been in the fridge a little longer the it should have been.

While my wife really enjoyed the crabcake, we stopped going becuase of the quality issues and the issues with the space.

I had different dishes, but this pretty much sums up my two experiences at Portabellos. Food seems ambitious and sounds quite interesting, but it has not lived up to the descriptions on the menu.

The nice part about Portobellos is the service and the neighborhood atmosphere, which I appreciate and respect. I think if they can ramp up the food quality and maybe lower some of the prices on a couple of the dishes ($12 for a salad with a couple strips of chicken and a small lump of brie and $10 for a small plate of fried calamari is not something that is going to bring me back), I think this will be a fine restaurant on the perimeter of the Ballston/Virginia Square area.

[The Hersch]

If you get to go there, it is fine, although I prefer the variety of Portobello across the street.

And what variety! Their dinner menu lists "Mixed Goat Salad" -- I don't believe I've ever seen that on a menu before, nor can I imagine what it's supposed to be.

[kirite]

I had different dishes, but this pretty much sums up my two experiences at Portabellos. Food seems ambitious and sounds quite interesting, but it has not lived up to the descriptions on the menu.

The nice part about Portobellos is the service and the neighborhood atmosphere, which I appreciate and respect. I think if they can ramp up the food quality and maybe lower some of the prices on a couple of the dishes ($12 for a salad with a couple strips of chicken and a small lump of brie and $10 for a small plate of fried calamari is not something that is going to bring me back), I think this will be a fine restaurant on the perimeter of the Ballston/Virginia Square area.

Has anyone been here since the most recent post in 2007?

[hopsing]

I went a couple of years ago because they had prime rib on Sundays and I was in the mood for prime rib. Big mistake. It was one of the worst prime ribs I've ever eaten. Thin slices of something that had obviously been microwaved--I had asked for it medium well. Chewy, no flavor and no horseradish cream sauce to make it go down easier. The table next to me ordered scallops and they looked good so maybe I ordered the wrong thing. I'll never find out because I'm never returning. To add insult to injury, I had a coupon that had come in Valpak. They wouldn't honor it because prime rib was not included in the coupon. I said, you have a picture of prime rib on the coupon!!! So bad customer service as well. I have much better luck food and service-wise across the street at Pasha Cafe.

[DonRocks]

Just in case anyone is looking for this restaurant, it really is spelled "Portabellos."

[Genevieve]

_{They're changing their name soon, I believe - I think to "Bistro 29" but am not positive.}

_{Our last couple meals there have been good, as has the service.  They're not a place I seek out, but when we need something convenient to that location they've worked well.}

[Genevieve]

ARLnow.com reported that it was the Pasha Café on the other side of the 7-11 from Portabellos that changed its name to Bistro 29.

Oh! Sorry about the mistake. Thanks.

In either case, I feel like Bistro 29 is a blander, less memorable name.  I suppose the 29 is because it's on Lee Highway/Route 29, but it's not as interesting as Pasha Café.

Edit:  well, heck, I think our last couple meals I was thinking of were at Pasha, not Portabello's!

[DonRocks]

Oh! Sorry about the mistake. Thanks.

In either case, I feel like Bistro 29 is a blander, less memorable name.  I suppose the 29 is because it's on Lee Highway/Route 29, but it's not as interesting as Pasha Café.

Edit:  well, heck, I think our last couple meals I was thinking of were at Pasha, not Portabello's!

Genevieve: Coffee!