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Mon Ami Gabi, Bethesda Row and Reston - French Steakhouse by Chicago's Lettuce Entertain You Restaurant Group


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After going to the movies yesterday, we ate at Mon Ami Gabi, which it seems, is a branch of the restaurants of Chef Owner Gabino Sotelino (the card says Chicago, Oak Brook, Las Vegas, and Bethesda) I made the reservation thru OpenTable.com without knowing anything about the place other than what I saw on the website because it was right next door to the theater.

My wife started with the Steamed Artichoke. It was served with a lemon-mustard vinaigrette. While she said it was good, she did think it was a little undercooked. She then had the Onion Soup Au Gratin and the Butter Lettuce Salad which came with apple, Gruyère cheese and walnuts. The soup was very good, but much too much cheese for her tastes. The salad on the other hand was ordinary, the lettuce and Gruyere only so so.

My son started with the Gazpacho, which was perfect for the very hot weather, and the Escargots de Bourgogne. They were excellent, very tender (not at all over cooked) lots of garlic and butter, and piping hot. He then had the Beef Short Ribs, fork tender (even mor so, they were falling apart to the touch) and flavorful. Served on a bed of baby potatos in butter and parsley. He loved it, but felt the potatos were a little undercooked (is a theme emerging?)

I started with the Onion Soup, which I loved. It was huge, had enough cheese to start a heart attack, and was delicious. In addition I had the Duck Leg Confit & Barley Salad, a wonderfully cooked confit and a very tasty barley salad accompanying it. While I wish they had not been served together (I'd have preferred the soup first, then the confit), they were both delicious. For my main dish, I had the Steak Provencal. It was cooked just as ordered, medium rare, and delicious. Very tender and flavorful. It came with a huge mound of frites that were like none Ihad ever seen before. Thin ribbons of potatos, french fried and not at all chip like, but unlike any frites I'd ever had. They were very good.

We accompanied the meal with a 2001 Cháteau Moulin de Lavaud that was quite good (if a bit young but what can you do, it was the best value for Bordeaux on the small, all French, but well chosen and relatively well priced list imho) and which my wife really enjoyed. (She even asked why since she doesn't normally like the Bordeaux that I prefer, but since this was a Lalande de Pomerol and thus pedominately Merlot, I knew it would please her.)

Service was excellent, attentive without being too attentive. Water glasses were kept filled, empty plates were removed quickly but without anybody being rushed, and once I said I'd take care of it, the server left the wine alone and did not try to keep filling the glasses. The only problem was that it was so hot outside (high 90s) that the airconditioner was laboring to keep the restaurant cool.

All in all, it was a good meal with some misses, but some very good hits too. Considering the location in the middle of Bethesda, the prices were reasonable. Dinner for three with wine but no dessert (we went next door for ice cream), with tax and a 20% tip was just under $200.

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Mrs JPW and I did lunch here once and our experience pretty much mirrored dinwiddie's -- good service and decent, but not memorable, food. A good option if you're in the neighborhood, but nothing that I would make a special trek for.

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Mrs JPW and I did lunch here once and our experience pretty much mirrored dinwiddie's -- good service and decent, but not memorable, food. A good option if you're in the neighborhood, but nothing that I would make a special trek for.

Ditto - been here a few times. If you're doing a movie at the Landmark, and aren't in the mood for Jaleo, it's a very decent choice. The ability to make reservations on OpenTable is a plus, as is the outside dining - not ON Woodmont with the traffic, noice, and smoke, but on the sidewalk approaching the theater and Gifford's.

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After going to the movies yesterday, we ate at Mon Ami Gabi, which it seems, is a branch of the restaurants of Chef Owner Gabino Sotelino (the card says Chicago, Oak Brook, Las Vegas, and Bethesda)

It is a Lettuce Entertain You concept, which is not necessarily a bad thing but certainly fits in the "chain" category by some peoples' definition. LEY also owns Maggiano's, among many others. Sotelino is a part owner of LEY.

The Las Vegas branch of MAG gets lots of good comments on the Chowhound Southwest board, tho that may be in part due to its location with a great view of the Bellagio fountains. Cafe Ba Ba Reeba in LV (a tapas place), also a LEY concept, also gets lots of good comments on that board (which is fitting since it is in fact good). Sotelino, who is of Spanish/Basque extraction, is also credited with being the inspiration behind CBBR.

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After going to the movies yesterday, we ate at Mon Ami Gabi, which it seems, is a branch of the restaurants of Chef Owner Gabino Sotelino (the card says Chicago, Oak Brook, Las Vegas, and Bethesda)

I have not been to Mon Ami Gabi, and I have only heard reports of "good", so this is not a comment on quality, but Mon Ami Gabi is indeed a cleverly disguised chain owned by Lettuce Entertain You, a NYSE-listed corporation.

The strategy of misleading consumers to believe that the restaurant is independantly owned seems to be a more successful ruse than I would have thought possible.

Personally, I think chains service the needs of the overall dining public just fine, so this is not an indictment, just a clarification.

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I have not been to Mon Ami Gabi, and I have only heard reports of "good", so this is not a comment on quality, but Mon Ami Gabi is indeed a cleverly disguised chain owned by Lettuce Entertain You, a NYSE-listed corporation.

Personally, I think chains service the needs of the overall dining public just fine, so this is not an indictment, just a clarification.

I'd agree that it's good, though never great. An interesting note about Lettuce Entertain You...As a Chicago boy, I was intrigued to discover that the company also owns Everest, Tru, and Ambria, easily 3 of the city's most acclaimed restaurants, as I'm sure some of you already know...

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I went there for Bethesda Restaurant Week. Overall, I thought everything was pretty good. For the appetizer we had some buttery and garlicky goodness-- escargots. We were sopping up the sauce with their bread when we finished the tender little snails. 3 of us ordered the steak frites and the other ordered the pork chop. Steaks were a decent size but the cut was definitely not filet mignon, perhaps top sirloin? And Definitely Not Ray's!!! I had some trouble chewing because of the bits of tendon even when I asked for it medium rare. The pork chop with potatoes was really good. The potato had a vinegar butter flavoring with small bits of bacon mixed in was incredible. Dessert was suprisingly better than I expected it to be. The serving for the chocolate mouse was huge. The creme brulee was done right. It's a French restaurant I wouldn't mind going back to, which is very rare for me to say! :)

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Stopped in last night after a visit to the theater. This was our first visit, and we were pretty hungry, so were glad not to have to wait for an indoor table. I was surprised when my husband suggested it, because I said, "You want to eat at a chain French restaurant?".

The service was very good. Our water glasses were never half empty, the waiter knew the wine list, and recommended a reasonably priced bottle for us (well, first he tried recommending a more expensive bottle, but backed off when my husband said we wanted a lower priced bottle). Forgive me, but I don't remember what it was, I only remember that it was a relatively new addition to their wine list, and both the waiter and the manager came over later to inquire how we liked it.

The seafood special was sauteed soft-shell crabs with potatoes and peas, and the server reassured me that the crabs were in fact still alive, and since I have a hard time passing up soft shells, I ordered that. The nightly special was beef wellington, which my husband ordered. Since neither one of us ordered steak frites, we ordered frites to share.

The food overall was pretty good. I would have preferred the frites to be more crispy, although they were hot. The soft shells were good, but very buttery (a sheen of butter coated the plate when I was finished). Hubby enjoyed the the beef wellington. We were also happy that Montgomery County now lets you take unfinished bottles of wine home with you from a restaurant, a new law which the server was happy to point out to us.

I post about our experience also to bring up our dinner conversation about whether Americans are eating more French food these days, or if the idea of French food being stuffy still prevails. Besides La Madeleine, there is really no equivalent to, say, the Olive Garden for French food. One gripe we had in general was that the price at Mon Ami Gabi was a little expensive. If someone were to introduce a chain bistro or even a brasserie concept (where beer would be the focus), I think more folks would be a little more open to French food. Because who doesn't like steak and fries?

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I post about our experience also to bring up our dinner conversation about whether Americans are eating more French food these days, or if the idea of French food being stuffy still prevails. Besides La Madeleine, there is really no equivalent to, say, the Olive Garden for French food. One gripe we had in general was that the price at Mon Ami Gabi was a little expensive. If someone were to introduce a chain bistro or even a brasserie concept (where beer would be the focus), I think more folks would be a little more open to French food. Because who doesn't like steak and fries?

[Discussion continued here. Cheers, Rocks]

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Um, since the previous post was copied from another topic, let me reference back to my post upscreen from 4 years ago, which still holds true. Decent choice if you're in the area, and want something french-bistro-ish, but certainly not a destination.

[sorry! It seemed Mon Ami Gabi-specific! :)

It's a good time to introduce new users to the "snapback function" available with this forum's software. You see that little grey-ish bubble next to the person's name in a quoted block of text (for example, next to "DanielK" at the top-left of this post)? If you click on it, it will take you back to the original post, even if it's in another thread. So while things may be moved into other threads, you will always have a backwards audit trail.

If you click on the one next to "margefmartin" in this post, you'll "snap back" to the original Mussel Bar thread. Cheers, Rocks]

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I don't go often, but I end up here once a year for brunch, drinks, etc. Friday night was one of my yearly visits and, as always, it didn't disappoint. Scotch and dessert this time, not too difficult to mess up, but they did a better job of not messing up, the four desserts that we had were pretty spot on.

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Ate here on Tuesday for first time in years. Place was packed for happy hour but got a two top outside. Didn't realize it was restaurant week but decided to order off that menu. Our waiter was overwhelmed with aparty of 8 next to us and service was awful and slow. Steak frites were passable but I really dislike the frites here. We were trying to catch a movie t Bethesda Row so didnt have time for dessert from Restaurant week menu but was still charged $33 despite app and entree totaling only $29.

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