Antonio Burrell

does something become trite solely based on the fact of popularity?

OUCH! Wicked burn...

I am absolutely sure that some of you will make the obligatory 'meat' jokes. And despite this I pose this question. Where can I get a MaidRite style sandwich, or better yet a Runza? For those of you from the Midwest, you know what I'm talking about. For those that don't, a loose meat or a 'maidrite' is basically a tomato free sloppy joe. The meat is ground chuck seasoned with onions, garlic, salt and pepper and maybe a dash of tabasco and worchertishire (?) sauce. Kept in a hot well, it was kept moist with beef broth, when ordered the buns, steamed, never toasted, were heaped with a measered amount of meat depending on what size you ordered. These were then topped with, upon request, chopped onions, mustard, ketchup, mayo, pickles or cheese, always Don's favorite, American. When allowed to cool till you got parked or home or to your table, all the topping had fused into some other wordly sandwich that was soooooo much better than a burger. Sides includes o rings, crinkle cut fries, shakes and a very good maidrite dog, a hot dog topped with mustard, onion and meat! N I C E.. A Runza on the other hand is what I later learned is a basic piroshky, or Russian meat pie. (Nadya, correct my spelling please). A meat, cabbage, onion and spice kinda hand sized meatball/loaf wrapped in a wonderfull bread dough and baked till GB&Delicious. After baking they are kept warm and lightly steamed when ordered resulting in damn good sandwich that was easy to eat with one hand. Also had a salad bar way before Wendy's ever did. God, it's times like these that I miss the Midwest....

tender but flavorless ribs, dry brisket and they serve fried rice for christsakes....I know it's a function of location but still...fried rice!?!eta: I actually had some decent ribs and sausage from Old Glory the other night (not my first choice, but my first choice is 500 miles away). I got them dry and they were well seasoned, tender, good smoke and just darn tasty.

One am food run to Yechon....short ribs, tempura, man doo, miso soup all at 1:15am, really....how can it be bad?

that reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Jerry reserves the rental car and gets to the airport and they don't have it for him....

last wednesday, bad bun at Nam Viet....noodles way mushy (huge pet peeve of mine). Sunday, the usual awesomeness that is JNH. Schezuan Beef, Basil and Garlic Eggplant. The eggplant is wonderful, slight spice but comforting in every way. And a very good version of Ma Po tofu. Lunch today, loaded chili dogs and burgers at Vienna Inn with the kids followed by home cooked fried chicken tonight.

well now....all that I've read it doesn't seem very much like a chipper at all, too bad I guess...

driving down 18th today spotted this. Typical Irish pub look from the outside. Didn't have time to stop, but it looked like it might be open or close to opening. Anyone know more? I'd love a good chipper in DC as sometimes I'm just to lazy to drive to Eammons.

i really want to like this place as it is much closer than JNH but after my first visit, ithink i'll pass. I have been craving chili, chili, chili and wanted some schezuan crispy beef. Ordered some here, specified that I didn't want it to be sweet and that I wanted it as hot as they could make it. Unfortunately it was still sweet, no dried chilis, no schezuan pepper; the saving grace was that it was very, very crispy, which I loved. The dumplings with chili oil were flat, wet and flavorless. I wish my experience mirrored others here, and I'll probably try again if in the area, but for great schezuan, I'll probably stick to JNH. On the plus side, the service was great and the Lo Mein my wife ordered was as good a rendition as I've ever had.

they have wings?? I thought they only served chili dogs...

Ahhh...the good old days, when an admittedly camera shy Emeril stuttered and stopped his way through the original episodes of "The Essence", when a much thinner Mario cooked for a small crowd and seemed to impart volumes of knowledge on the waiting public. Having pondered the network many times I've come to the realization that TFN is trying very hard to cater to the notion that people don't have time to cook and that cooking is a chore, to be accomplished as fast as possible; whereas in the beginning it was about opening peoples eyes as to the possibilities of food (ohhhhhh look, I can do the same thing they do in their kitchens, but at HOME!!!!). Now they are trying to make everybody feel as if they can be a chef or at least cook a good meal, "I mean fu@@ if Rachel Ray can do that, I can!!" I'm all for the dissemination of information on cooking; for making it accessible for most people; for getting people back together again over food'; for making it healthier; for education. The problem is that the best information doesn't always come from the best teachers. I would really be excited to see more food driven shows about the food instead of the location or the theme or for christsakes "the tablescape". Thank God for Alton, he's the perfect example, smart, articulate, insanely knowledgeable about what he's doing AND accessible.

got out of town last week and got my que fix. Went to NC to see the rents and ate at Buzz and Neds. Got the St. Louis whole slab and two sides to go, very good, tough near the bottom of the ribs and could have been smoked abit longer but good none the less. The best of the weekend was, as always, my pilgramige to Wilbers. Ribs, chopped pork, slaw and hush puppies.....i was soooooo happy i almost cried. I might just have to open a joint to make myself happy. I wouldnt have to if Bens had never closed, i still miss his dry rubbed ribs....:-(

I like the noodle side dish. It's strangely eerie of pasta roni but in a really, really good way. Crispy, cheesy and breadcrumbed

i finally made it out to Eden Center on monday. I really should have been here more often as I used to live right down 50 five minutes...oh well. I have been craving Vietnamese food for days, a craving that lunch at Nam Viet in Cleveland Park and pho at Pho 75 couldn't end so the wife and I treked out to Four Sisters for dinner. We enjoyed the summer rolls, which were great but not mind blowing, fresh and tasty, I did not like the peanut sauce for some reason, can't remember why. Then I had the Bun Cha Hanio, with grilled pork and N had the chicken pho, which she really liked, more than 75. The Bun was AWESOME. I like the presentation better than at Mihn's. It was easier to eat and I really liked the fact that the sauce and pork were in a seperate bowl. I also noticed that the noodles were drizzled with shallot oil, which gave them great depth. Hopefully this will be the first of many trips not just to here but to all the restaurants in the center.

I'll be there, hopefully wife in tow

maybe....quite possible eta: My wife and I are in regardless of the day

I think my favorite is Fortune in Falls Church, in front/next to the home depot. Love the roasted chix, roasted pig and very good noodles. I like the radish cake at A&J and HEOTB, but the thing I don't like about HEOTB is that their selections vary to much and I had less of a good time the second time we went. I went to the one in Baileys Crossroad, Lucky Three, once. To much shrimp derived stuff ie(shrimp dumplings, shrimp and eggplant, fried shrimp, fried shrimp balls, just on and on. In fairness I have heard that they have improved but I am still wary.

this is my new favorite drink i like the version at Pilar which uses Tecate and a Tabasco branded mix and fresh limes. I love bloody mary's in their own right, so this is right up my alley.

Be glad you didn't. I have had the sandwich one time, when prodded by a Sietsma chat and thought it to be greasy with an unappealing flavor of overused, baked on oil of the griddle. The roasted pork tasted old and refrigerated and definitely wasn't the wonderful, fatty, flavorful roasted pork it should have been, and it definitely wasn't pork loin, it was a just not good. In all fairness, I only had the one sandwich, which i only ate two bites. If this is a rare misstep, i could be convinced to give it another try. But as it stands, i think the cuban at that cuban joint in the international food court is better and cheaper. Just my two cents.....

PIG ROAST !!!! PIG ROAST !!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, can we? huh?huh?

ohhhhhhh, vienna inn chili dogs, delish! :-) what else could you want? chili dogs, cold beer, decent conversation, vfw atmosphere? i *heart* this place. sooooooo much better than Bens, imho, except no half smokes :-( , it reminds me of matts on cedar in minneapolis, birth place of the juicy lucy (cheese stuffed burger) and a place we used to drive to from the u of mn campus to eat at....imma go an get me a couple dogs today!!

Ahhhh.....Tippy's Taco's how close you come to quenching my hunger for Taco John's. Ohhhhh Taco John's how I miss thee, white trash nachos (made with tater tots called potato ole's!!) the original Double Stuffed Taco you called a Taco Bravo.....oh lament for I miss thee

Corduroy pricing is 42 or 43 for adults and 22.50 for kids. It was a great meal last year so I'm taking my family (mom and dad, wife and boys) again. We'll be there at 1:30...say hi if you are there

I think Ricky will be fine, congratulations to him and I hope he wins his battle with Symon, which explains why he couldn't tell me who he battled....