reedm

When I lived in Arlington, Piola was always a great choice. Stick with the basics. (Diavola is outstanding)

I live less than a mile away and have never been there. I'm glad I followed my instincts. Now that Chuy's is here, I don't know why anyone would go anywhere else for tex-mex.

Enjoyed a fantastic lunch, and I highly recommend it as the best way to enjoy Black Friday (and any lunchtime) . The three course lunch crush included she crab soup, fried quail, and pound cake. For $15. Insane deal.

I've eaten at the Union Market location, the Partisan location, and the Mosaic location on multiple locations. For whatever reason, the Union Market sandwiches have never failed me, and the same goes for the Partisan/downtown spot. Unfortunately, the Mosaic sandwiches have not met the mark on more than one occasion. I will also add that their bread, while great at Union Market, was stale when ordered as a to go item at Union Market and Mosaic. Their burger grind is the best I've found, but their burgers are average. Not sure how that is possible.

Never made it to CM2, but we visited CM3 and it was eerily empty a couple of months ago when we visited for lunch. I had read The crowds were sparse, so the reports were accurate. Asad should seek some professional advice; the original CM's menu (other than prices) has remained unchanged since I moved here around two years ago. Second, Kama Sutra is a horrible name for a serious restaurant. Finally, his "high end" prices are just slightly more than the overpriced CM menu. Bear in mind I'm a frequent customer, and enjoy the food, but $17 for chicken tikka masala is about $4 too much for a Fairfax strip mall location.

My family and I went on opening night, and we had a great time. I'm a native Texan, and lived in Austin during high school and college. I'm a University of Texas graduate, and still recall going to the original Chuy's in the early 80's. Arguably, Chuy's was arguably the beginning of a new type of restaurant in Austin, and certainly broke the mold of places like Matt's el Rancho, El Patio, and even Pancho's (for those of you familiar with Pancho's, yes, I have some regrets.) For an opening night, Chuy's hit a home run; there were certainly some hiccups, but the food was hot and delicious, our server was friendly, and a manager stopped by tables to thank folks for coming in. The "New Mexico Martini", featuring tequila infused with hatch chiles, was unique and delicious. I love a great chile relleno, and mine was perfect. We also had fish tacos, as well as fajitas. By definition, there is no such thing as refined Tex-Mex. This isn't upscale or elevated, but it is fun, delicious, and the food is fresh. The comment about "not where she would go in Austin" is valid, but fairly irrelevant, since there aren't any Tex-Mex places in this area, while Austin obviously has a ton of choices. No guarantees everyone will love Chuy's, but they have some great choices for fans of Tex-Mex.

I'm looking forward to bringing friends for dinner this Friday, but I already know I'll be in for brunch to order the hill country chicken fried steak. Very excited to see this caliber of restaurant in Fairfax.