joycek

We were comped the one glass of wine spilled, btw

Probably very trite to report on bad service at Bebo at this point, but here goes. Second visit last night, second time at the bar, although this time at one of the two-tops along the perimeter. Waiter barely spoke any English, so asking questions or soliciting recommendations was moot. Ordered a couple glasses of wine and tried to put in appetizer orders, but were told that we had to order appetizers and entrees at the same time so the kitchen could be more efficient with our table. Eh, ok whatever - no biggie. So we wait for our wine.... Wine comes out fairly quickly and SPLASH, gets dumped all over my fiance's suit pants and my legs. Again, no big deal - the waiter was mortified but we didn't make a stink about it. These things probably happen nightly or at least weekly at most places anyway. Our concern was not with the waiter's slipup, but with the utter lack of corporate/house response to the situation. The waiter seemed terrified to let anyone else on the staff know what happened, so for about 10 minutes we're left standing beside a table that is covered with red wine with a sticky, slick floor underneath. Ick. My fiance has a very obvious red stain covering at least 50% of his pants, but again no response - the waiter has disappeared apparently in shame and no one else seems to care. Let me say that this table probably sees the most traffic in the entire house (right in front of the bathroom and kitchen corridor behind the bar), so it's not like 10 runners, bussers, and other floor staff were not passing by the mess. Finally, a runner takes pity and gets a mop - waiter reappears frantically explaining himself, ok fine fine, can we just re-take our seats and get on with it?! Meanwhile, the manager finally appears - NOT to apologize for the mess and take note of our new decorative stainage, but to completely ignore the mops, puddles of wine, etc to berate our waiter over a bill snafu elsewhere. We might as well been invisible. Sigh. With this incident over, we moved on to the menu. What, you say you want the pork ribs? "We don't have those anymore." Ok, what about the pork rib ragu? Nope, "that's the point, we are out of pork ribs." Aha, I see. "Wait, let me check on the pork ribs again." He comes back, and all of the sudden they have them again. (Note that this was another 10 minute process of the waiter disappearing and reappearing to take our order. Finally, appetizer and entree orders are in. As with others' opinions, here is where the night greatly improved. The food was very good, but not over the top great. I had the mussels, which were far and away better than the pork ribs in tomato sauce (little dry, not terribly tender - Tallula's beef ribs with salsa verde and grits are much better). Fiance ate lighter, ordering the sausage from the bar menu and the pasts fagioli. Pasta fagioli I thought was fantastic - he thought is was just ok. The point is that the rest of the night was blessedly free of any other service snafus. Overall? Well above average food, but the experience does not match up. I left there feeling more stressed and on edge than I did when I arrived to unwind and indulge in above par food and wine. Snippy attitudes, LOUD clanging, crashing of dishes and glasses, runners and servers who race around looking like they are one spilled glass of wine away from being deported unless they run, RUN to get this huge tray of food out to table 49, and a lack of passion "alignment" regarding the food between the kitchen and the rest of the house (who couldn't care less about the food, it seems). My mini rant/review ends here - but I have to share a tidbit about O'Faolain's Irish Pub in Ashburn. Last week, I was there for a pint after work with a couple "exurban" friends. Friend A is gesticulating wildy and knocks over a full Stella (of which my pants are the lucky recipient). Totally our table's fault, we're embarrassed, contrite, etc. (Note that this happens before any of us even take a sip of beer!). However, the house springs into action, bringing over floor caution signs, mops, buckets, runners to reset the table, bartenders pouring up fresh brews, and the owner is rushing over to ask if I'm ok and is there anything he can get me (towels, club soda, etc). Note that this is with a near-full bar and WE spilled the beer, not the waiter! Just food for thought on how service dffers across the spectrum of dining experiences.

Which Giant? Did they look halfway palatable? Thanks

Ok, so I know Mardi Gras is a week behind us. However, I have been anointed as the party planner for a New Orleans/LA themed send off for a coworker who is being sent to LA for a year long assignment on a recovery project that my company manages. I need one or two king cakes - plain is fine, no fancy fillings necessary. I know a few area bakeries and restaurants were serving them up until Fat Tuesday, but not anymore apparently. Any ideas? Will anyone do a special order? Thanks

Indeed we were only given one of each. At the time, we questioned this, but were told that the chef was trying out different variations on presentation/approach. Also, we were asked several times to critique the experience, and we did provide constructive criticism that seemed to be appreciated. As for my post on Tom's chat - while not entirely positive it was meant to elicit initial opinions from others on EatBar, since I hadn't gotten any perspective on it from anyone else. It is my right to 1) offer constructive criticism privately when asked by a staff member, and 2) share my initial impressions (good and not-so-good) from the viist, give perspective on what I had loved at Tallula and hopes for EatBar, and solicit opinions from others. What better place to do that than a public forum? Isn't all publicity GOOD publicity?

As a longtime (if 2 or so years is a longtime) semi-regular patron of Tallula, I was initially disappointed with EatBar. Partly for selfish reasons (my SO and I had the two-bite and bar menu lovingly committed to memory), but also because we felt that the food on our first post-EatBar visit was a bit....flat. A Scotch Egg, dates with bacon and marscapone, and the blue cheese tater tots seemed hesitant to release any hint of their promised pungency. The hot dog, while we thought was good, missed the mark in a bar setting where drinking, smoking, laughing, carousing etc is occurring - my SO had to eat the dawg with a knife and fork (it's size and awkward presentation made it difficult to eat by hand). Not only that, but we were disappointed that our beloved risotto fritter, corn dog, et al (those two-bite items that survived to the new bar menu) were now $4/pop, instead of the usual $2.25-$3.00. I posted about this on Siestema's chat a few weeks back, and am glad to see (last I checked) that the original prices for these items have returned. A visit last week has given us hope that the Tallula bar and bar food scene that we know and love has indeed been preserved, although with a few food/flavor kinks still to work out. A request though - bring back a couple more of the original two-bite items (not just for the dining room patrons), or at least rotate them weekly/monthly.

I have to up the ante here - it may be somewhat common knowledge that southerners like to defile their hot dogs with cole slaw (which I also love), but it apparently is not well-known that many of us from WELL below the Mason-Dixon line also enjoy a good slather of Duke's mayonnaise on the bun, topped with a boiled or broiled dog of questionable origin, ketchup, and chopped onions. YUM

Had dinner here for the first time last week after years (literally) of pushing SBC aside for the slop served elsewhere in the Clocktower center. Nothing fancy, just a bowl of the pepper jack and black bean soup, the tuna tartare with wasabi cream, and the Cuban sandwich with potato salad. Everything was exceptional - with a caveat. Maybe not "exceptional" when compared against DC's finest, but truly a breath of fresh air in the culinary wasteland (IMO) of the Dulles corridor. And yes, I've tried El Manantial (waaaaaaaay overpriced for good but not great food), and the other supposed standard bearers of Herndon/Reston. It has been a long time since there's been a post for SBC - any other Rockwellians out there who have tried it since the new owners have come in?

Any news on a spring/summer menu for Tallula? I think I've exhausted the current two-bite menu with my frequent visits! With the exception of the risotto fritter (which I found to be a bit bland and the texture not terribly exciting), most items are winners. I particularly enjoy the crab wonton - great sauce.