KeithA

Thanks for the responses. On Monday, we ended up at nearby Shamshiry. We ate there, but you could easily get kabobs to go and make a picnic at Wolf Trap. Regarding the lack of drinks in the Pavilion, we didn't read the prominent signs closely and just before the show bought a cocktail and then we're told to drink it on the lawn, d'oh. Shamshiry was good - it was our first time there and we enjoyed it. We also read the room and had a helpful waitress to guided us to the half-rice, half-salad option so we got some veggies and weren't served our weight in rice. We split a chicken kabob and filet steak/barg combo with half rice (paid the few bucks extra for the sweet orange peel and nuts polo) and half shirazi salad. When you add in the free, super thin pita-like bread, we had an ample meal for two. If you were extra hungry maybe add a 3rd kabob. We still took home a bunch of bread, part of the salad, and half pound of rice (good eats the next day). Not sure where we will go in a few weeks, when we head back on another Monday night - but we have lawn seats so probably try to grab something and make a picnic.

I'm reviving this old thread to seek more current recommendations for good carryout or even better restaurants close by Wolf Trap for pre-show dining. One special caveat - we are going to a show tonight, Monday, and another in a few weeks also on a Monday - when many restaurants are closed. Please share suggestions. Thanks.

I've found Talenti to be pretty tasty - I especially like their salted caramel flavor. For those who want basic, simple ingredients in your ice cream - just make your own. Ice cream makers are pretty cheap, super easy to use, and work best with simple recipes and for eating ice cream soon after making (after a short cure period in the freezer). I use the pretty ubiquitous cusinart ice cream maker. I've found basic flavors like vanilla or fresh fruits like peach, blackberry, etc work best. Depending on the recipe, you can have a basic vanilla made in a few hours (with only about 30 minutes "cooking" time and 24 hour advance time to pre-chill the mixing container). With this basic vanilla you can add any baked good, candy, liquid flavoring, etc very easily. I mostly use the old little red B&J ice cream cookbook for homemade recipes. When I go to buy store bought ice cream I'm typically looking for more complex flavors/mix ins a la caramels, B&J's with multiple mixed in candies/baked good.

I don't know how to do this but Don or another moderator - you should probably add these comments to a general AZ thread

Just got back last week from a similar spring break NE Arizona trip with little kids. Started in Phoenix with mostly nothing special foodwise - except the rather good Chelsea's Kitchen which is a brunch/Mexican place. Then, Grand Canyon we had a really nice dinner at El Tovar Dining Room - fresh rolls and cheddar biscuits were great, a good squash soup served in a fry bread bowl was fun and really nice and huge apple crumble and chocolate taco desserts. Chocolate taco was a dark chocolate taco-shaped shell filled with chocolate mousse. The downside was uneven service - great bussers, but disappearing/slow waiter. Next, we headed just over the border into UT to Monument Valley (which is really awesome) and stayed in the valley at the only hotel there - the View Hotel. Great hotel, highly recommended - breakfast buffet wasn't too special but was well made with a lot of good variety. Dinner was ok - the fry bread with honey and sugar appetizer was good because how could that be bad, main courses of Navajo vegetarian taco on fry bread was hearty and pretty good, the "world famous" green chile stew was only ok - fresh decent quality ingredients but lacked flavor and was more of a soup, then stew. Drove back to AZ and stopped at Sunset Crater National Monument (highly recommend the easy and surreal lava flow trail). We stopped for lunch in the historic downtown area of Flagstaff for really good burgers and fries at Diablo Burger. All of the food is cooked to order and extra tasty - seasoned fries, burgers all on English muffins (not my usual burger bread preference but these held up well and tasted good), and I had mine topped with chili-spiced grilled onions that really elevated the burger. If you are in Flagstaff - Diablo Burger is a good place to check out. Lastly, we went to Sedona for several days. Mostly we ate at the hotel - Amara Kimpton - the restaurant is the Salt Lick. Some of the food was only so so but the stand out dish was their salmon topped with sweet relish on a bed of beans (black and green). We also ate at the Creekside Restaurant, which was hit or miss. My wife's coucous was weak, but my white fish in palpiotte was excellent and the Elixir of Life cocktail was very refreshing. I had a bite of the kids' cheese pizza and it was ok too. Dessert here is supposed to be very good especially the peach cobbler but we skipped dessert. Better was Oak Creek Brewery in Tlaquepaque shopping village - where we had a surprisingly good lunch of great fish and waffle chips and a tequila-salmon salad special. The service was very friendly and attentive - especially for a casual brew pup that was packed with a wait during lunch time. We also went to the "best" ice cream place in town according to several locals - Brown Cow Café in Uptown. It was decent ice cream, but nothing special. The whole place also smells like waffle cones so I got one of their waffle bowls which was a mistake - it was tasteless. Overall, we didn't have any really great meals but we also didn't seek out any fine dining as we were focused on the kids and traveling more. A few unexpected good places though above.

Actually doesn't surprise me that all are still open - these are some of the places with the most loyal customer bases and are run by families. Not sure why I never updated my second 2006 post - but both of those two are still open and were merely undergoing renovations to their buildings in 2006. I've been to the Hobbit several times in the last few years and it is still very good.

A few weeks ago, I had the Crown of Cauliflower dish at Ris which was wonderful. It uses the cauliflower as a nice base to add many elements together to make a filling, delicious vegetarian entrée (not vegan though as it has a yogurt sauce, which was really good).

For those driving - Breadfurst has about 5 designated spots in the back - plus there are usually open spots in the larger Burger King parking lot next store. There is also usually neighborhood parking a few blocks away. Parking shouldn't ever be a problem. Figuring out where the ordering line is - now that is a different story. Love the baked goods and lunch items.

Not sure if Indique is homemade. I agree with your views on their samosa chat and 2 sauces, but I can never eat the lime pickle - it is insanely sour and I love pickles. So be warned - anyone who is in the mood for a serious pucker eat this lime pickle.

The donuts were very good - but OMG the chicken - SOOOO good. We didn't even get any of the special glazes or rubs, just the plain chicken was crunchy and delicious. I was telling a friend in DC about how great Federal Donuts was last weekend and he responded you know we have GBD with the same menu. So sad this is true because GBD's donuts and chickens pale in comparison.

Over a decade ago, I used to go to the Ollie's Trolley tiny storefront on L St off of 15th around the corner from my office at the time. It was quick, cheap and mostly satisfying - but not spectacular. I do remember their fry seasoning (which was like Old Bay, but different) was good - lots of spice, little bit of heat.

Went here on Friday for lunch and really enjoyed it. It was crowded but not too crazy a line around 1230pm. A friend who is a native of Jerusalem and I shared the hummus with fried cauliflower and the one with chopped pastrami and pickled mustard seeds. Both were very good - but not surprisingly the pastrami one was better (their pastrami is just so good). All of the other options, except the pastrami, are vegetarian and I saw several of them and they looked good. The pita is warm and legit. The side salad is simple but has a tasty dressing. Also on the table is an unlabeled bright orange bottle of mildly hot harissa sauce that was rather good for giving a kick to the vegetarian hummus. The hummus itself is creamy and good - very balanced flavors no big flavor bursts of lemon, garlic, etc that many people may be used to in store-bought hummus (or even prefer). Service is quick and the place is cozy. It is a basement crammed in with 2 large communal tables. You order at the back and wait 5-10 minutes for either carryout or someone to bring your order. Since the food is pretty simple and comes all at once, the table turnover is quick, but I wouldn't plan on dining in with a big group. The portion is a good size for the $9-12 price and it is a pretty filling lunch for 1. Some may want to pay the extra buck for a second pita since there is a lot of hummus. I'd go again but bear in mind the hummus is similar to any good homemade hummus and hummus isn't very hard to make at home if you have a food processor. The one thing missing is the good pita. If anyone had a source for good pita - please let me know (I'm always looking for more options. I haven't been able to master it at home and for now my go to packs from Yaffa Grill downtown).

Went last week for lunch the first time and was really blown away by the great flavors. Especially liked tapioca-skin ground chicken. I had the fish ball green curry which was good, but the khai soi gai that I tasted was even better. The curry with the chicken was so tasty. Also, the noodles in both entrees were cooked perfectly.

I've been twice in the last few weeks and likewise enjoyed it a lot. My favorites so far are the morrocan carrot and mushroom. I also liked the creamy kale. The only one I didn't like so much was the garlicky greens (possibly now the smokey greens that Don mentions above) as it was just too much leafy green for me. Love that the tortillas are made to order. Definitely worth checking out and I agree 3 are a rather filling lunch.

Anyone know if this place ever opened? It is much closer to me that Sushi Capitol and since I've heard such good things about that place I was excited for this one.

My current DC favorites are Breadfurst, Baked by Yael across from the zoo, and Bethesda Bagel - north of Dupont Circle. For people who ate fresh bagels before 1990, you may like the first two as they have smaller size and chewier crust bagels that are more traditional (which I like). The downside of the first two is the limited varieties - mostly plain,sesame, and everything (might be something else at Baked by Yael too). Another downside of Breadfurst is I've had really really good bagels there but sometimes like some of their breads they come out overdone/slightly burnt. For most people who have eaten bagels only since they became mainstream circa the 90s, Bethesda Bagel is your go to - it has large, more pillowy bagels (still good) and in 20 some odd varieties. [bullfrog is probably a good choice too - but I've only had tried them once at Open City at the Cathedral so won't opine generally] Outside of DC, I'm still partial to Bagel City in Rockville (partly because they were my bagels growing up) - a big smaller, more traditional but still offer lots of choices. Their onion and egg bagels are still my standards I compare against. I wish Breadfurst and Yael made onion bagels.

I'm in.

I agree with the others per my own comment that it just sounds fundamentally wrong from a cultural/tribal perspective- not offensive. As for Jewish delis and kashrut - there are only a small number which are kosher and it has been that way for a LOOOONG time in America. Hence the deli classic - the reuben. So don't worry about offense. It would be the same as someone eating shrimp parm - just seems wrong but the Goldbergs like it.

Flint Hill; Front Royal Columbus Day weekend we tried several places in and near Shenandoah national park (most thanks to the recommendations above :-) We really liked Griffin Tavern in Flint Hill (about half way between the Thorton Gap mid-park entrance and I-66) - great beef chilli and amazing apple cake. Apparently, an old granny makes all of the desserts - I'd go just for another slice of cake. Had a good meal at Osteria 510 - not great, but good - in Front Royal. We went to Spelunkers in FR for lunch too - basically an independent Five Guys with good burgers, ok fries/onion rings, and good custard. Very friendly staff - you order like fast food, but they make it somewhat to order and bring the food to your table. Had a great lunch in the park at the Skyland restaurant - great stick to your ribs food in ample portions - I really liked my chicken pot pie and my wife's fish and chips were good too. We passed on their dessert specialty - black or blueberry ice cream meringue pie - one slice we saw was literally 6 inches tall. We were less thrilled with Blue Wing Frog for lunch - it got excellent Yelp and other reviews - but it took forever to get the food, they forgot silverware when the food came and forgot come back with any either, my wife's Panini was somewhat burnt, and the sandwiches have too much bread to filling ratio - albeit good homemade bread. We may have been there on an off day. One of the workers actually cried while apologizing to another table about something that those patrons didn't seem to think was a big deal.

As for good deli in the area, I wholeheartedly agree that DGS is great. I've eaten a lot of deli and DGS's pastrami is one of the best anywhere and their rye bread is great too. DGS makes great chopped liver too (and I'm usually not a fan). I liked their corned beef less than the pastrami, but it is still good. I recently went to DGS for dinner and managed to hold off on getting either and instead had a great "family style" meal where you get a pickle plate (pretty good), matzo ball soup (pretty good), big platter of braised brisket topped with a bit of horseradish (excellent), your choice of two of their great sides and apple filled donut holes. You can't beat this for a deli-style tasting menu. I think it is a minimum of 2 people per table but probably enough for 3 or 4. I haven't been to Potomac Deli, but my Dad is a big fan (although he doesn't eat red meat so I can't vouch for the meats).

Despite poor website design (and I agree with your annoyances above), when I have dropped in the store on a few occasions in the last few months, I've found the staff to be very friendly and happy to answer questions about their nice variety of products. I think the prices might be a bit high for some things, but everything seems to be high quality and include some things tough to find in the city. Worth stopping in if you are nearby.

Had a great large slice of chicken pot pie for lunch last week. Great crust, amble chicken, and nice like gravy. I also love that this place has mini pies (almost like a cupcake in size) if you want just a nibble. Worth a walk over here.

Great post on places in Marshall. We are headed out in the near future for a fall trip to Shenandoah park with the little ones from DC. Any other good suggestions along I-66 or more importantly in Winchester or Front Royal or north of or near the northern park of the park? Its been a few years since we went so not sure what is new or what I missed before :-) Thanks,

As for another quick serve option in the neighborhood - check out Donburi. It isn't "quick serve" but if the place isn't too busy it usually only take about 5-10 minutes for your order and you pay in advance and sit at the bar so you aren't waiting for a waiter or pay a tip.

I've been to Breadfurst several times over the summer and found it still has some great stuff, a few misses and some customer confusion. The desserts continue to be the high point for me - amazing fudgy, rich brownies, canele mini cakes are rich yet light, had a mini peach cheesecake that was superb - fruity, rich, but not dense like many other cheesecakes with a nice crust. Chocolate and regular croissants and fruit muffins are also really good. The donuts and cookies are good, but not as good as other stuff. I've also enjoyed the pecan roll thing with the Germanic name and the bagels. My one wish is that they had onion bagels - come on Mark, they are traditional! After a few less than favorable bread experiences, I mostly skip the bread. Which I know is super odd at a bakery specializing in bread, but I found most of them just weren't my taste. Too dense, heavy, and many with an almost burnt taste to the crust. Still good bread, just not worth a special trip. That being said, the baguettes and mini baguette-like rolls are good and what you'd expect from a good baguette - medium crusty outside, light chewy inside. I did recently have a few good slices of walnut raisin? bread which was great at home with some peach jam and slices of cheese. I usually go around weekday lunches or breakfast, they have a steady stream of customers which is great. However, people still don't know where to line up for food as it is odd to walk to the back of the restaurant and then move forward. And many of the lunch salads, stews, and sandwiches often have no signs - which is confusing since a few do. If they put up some better signage and maybe a rope line it would help the traffic flow and better labeling of food on display would be great as the staff sometimes doesn't even know what something is or what is still available on a given day. Nevertheless, I have enjoyed the lunch options a bunch. Sandwiches on baguettes are good. Salads and stews are very flavorful and it is nice you can make it your own little sampler. I especially enjoyed a creamy orange lentil stew a month or so ago.