Mark Dedrick
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Dining Guide
Everything posted by Mark Dedrick
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I think it's mostly number two (unseasoned or unprepared restauranteurs), followed by number three (increased supply). Initially I get the sense that the area was so starved for restaurants that pretty much anything would succeed wildly. When people serious about what they were doing got involved, and more and more places opened, a lot of places weren't seeing the business they needed. On Pho Bar and Grill, for example, I have no idea about the backgroud of the people who owned it, but they didn't seem to have a clear idea of what they wanted to be. Initially they appeared to want to be pretty much a divey spot doing a lot of takeout business. They then added first one, and then two bars, and attempted to attract more of a drinking crowd. I think they lacked a clear vision. Others may have a better idea or more insight. -
Per Frozen Tropics on Twitter, they are closed but looking to rent the space out. I'm shocked that, even with them not putting out great food, they weren't able to make it.
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I should probably stop posting and paying attention to them until they open, BUT, the owner is now saying January targeted opening. We will see.
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Last Monday at about 7 we were quoted a wait time of about an hour. We were able to get bar seats much quicker so took them, but that's what it would have taken to get a table. Our bartender said that the best way to game the system was to show up around 7:30, stand at the bar, and wait for those people's tables to be ready, opening up bar seats.
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My understanding is that the Pug and Toki share the Pug's liquor license. And since you never actually leave the building this is no different from taking your beer from the first floor to the second floor of any restaurant.
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My guess is that this would be way too much. I've over-ordered every time I've been there, so I may be a terrible judge, but I'd probably do two appetizers, one steak, and a couple of sides.
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- Capital One Arena
- Mexican
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Really happy to have them come to H Street.
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We went on Friday. Loved it. The cocktails by the pitcher were, unsurprisingly, delicious, and everything we ordered to eat was great. Our wait at around 7:30 pm on a Friday was about 30 minutes to get two bar seats, which wasn't so bad. This isn't something I typically complain about, but I would warn people that this place is quite loud, at least in the front room, and as a result might be a challenge for a group larger than two.
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FWIW, the Impala folks have been serving food in the courtyard next to their upcoming restaurant on Saturday evenings recently. They typically tweet the details. I haven't been, so can't comment on the experience. I also just want to comment that while restaurants often have very slow buildouts in DC, this is one of the absolute slowest I can remember. I do notice them doing work, at least sporadically, when I walk by, but I have absolutely no idea when they'll be opening up.
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Yes. I find it rather challenging to get super-involved, however, until they cull the herd a bit. Otherwise I pretty much just root against certain contestants (like the obnoxious dude from New Orleans this season) rather than for anyone in particular.
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Yeah, I think that's the issue. I saw they'd added Saturday hours (initially just Monday-Friday), and the website said they opened at noon. It's a minor annoyance, but an annoyance nonetheless.
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I can't for the life of me figure out when they're open. My neighbors went a few weeks ago, so I know that they are at least sporadically serving food to customers, but I've tried to go twice, and have found them completely closed both times. What is clear is that the hours posted on their website aren't accurate. Also clear, I may not ever eat there until I can know when they're actually open.
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Returned last night from a weekend in Albuquerque for a wedding. Since it was for a wedding, I didn't have quite as much free time and leeway to explore the city as I would have liked, but we still were able to sample a few places. Here are some very scattered thoughts: Gruet Winery - For the price, I think Gruet's basic sparkling wines are a fantastic value, and I'm always happy to drink them. The tasting room experience is fine, although nothing spectacular. We love visiting wineries, and if you're the same then I would stop in. We did the reserve tasting, which is $15 (includes Riedel logo glass), and were able to taste five or six sparkling wines (only one of which I'd seen before) and two still wines (Pinot Noir and Syrah). The other tasting option, which I think was $8, had the two Gruet wines I see out here frequently, and then a number of wines that were off-dry, so I'm confident that we made the correct choice. Oddly, they open at 10 am weekdays, but not until noon on Saturday, and not at all on Sunday. Season's - Had dinner here on Thursday night, as it was both recommended and was within a block of our hotel (the ridiculously large Hotel Albuquerque). Side note, Albuquerque is not very pedestrian friendly, which shouldn't have caught me off guard but did. Anyhow, it was good. I wouldn't say great, but most of us were happy with our meals, and I would go back. We also hit up the bar on Saturday after the wedding reception, and enjoyed that as well. They were serving the Deschutes River Ale for $3.50, which was a bonus. Q Bar - In our hotel. It's a strange bar, part cocktail bar, part lounge, part nightclub. They shook my Manhattan, which I didn't enjoy, but they have a relatively extensive bourbon selection, which I did. If you're not sitting right at the bar, however, the wait staff don't know what options they have, and might tell you that they don't carry a particular spirit that you've seen sitting behind the bar. High Noon - Caveat, it was 2:30 pm when I ate here and this was my first meal of the day, so it's possible that anything would have tasted good at that point. That said, I really enjoyed my lunch at High Noon. I had some sort of platter which included a chile relleno, enchilada, tamale and taquito in addition to the ubiquitous rice and beans. I ate it in approximately two minutes. Nice beer selection, and margaritas were good as well. El Pinto - A bit out of the way (we didn't realize exactly how much out of the way until we were nearly there), but we really enjoyed El Pinto. My enchiladas with both green and red chile were fantastic, and the chile rellenos reminded me of those that my grandmother used to make for me when I was a child. Frontier - The folks from Albuquerque in our group were huge fans of this place, and I enjoyed my breakfast trip here, during which I ordered the breakfast burrito with carne adovada. My friend ate both that and a green chile cheeseburger, which is an exceptional feat that I would not recommend attempting. In non-food news, we did the Sandia tramway, and it was fantastic. Stunning views, and a really cool experience. Finally, throughout the weekend I had a chance to sample a local whiskey, Taos Lightning, which I quite enjoyed.
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I'm quite a fan of this place, and it is, as you say, "delightfully cozy." I haven't had anything here that's blown me away, but I've enjoyed everything I've eaten.
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- Rittenhouse Square
- British
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Due to various weddings, etc, as well as our love of visiting wineries, we've hit up a number of Virginia wineries recently. Here are a few quick thoughts: Barboursville - Barboursville is a good place to go if you have somebody new to Virginia wine. You get to try *a lot* of different wines, all of them are at least pretty good, and you get an idea of what Virginia is capable of. It can also be like wine tasting on an assembly line, as you get in line and then slowly shuffle forward with the rest of the crowd, getting your pours of the various wines when your turn comes. When crowded I do not find it a particularly enjoyable experience. Pippin Hill - Beautiful space. Just absolutely gorgeous. I enjoyed their wines on site (I'm never sure when tasting exactly how much I really like the specific wines until I get them home and open them), and you can do the full tasting outdoors, looking over the vineyard. Great experience. Albermarle Cider Works - It's right next door to Pippin Hill. Not a winery, obviously, but they make great cider, and it can be interesting to mix things up now and then. Keswick - I like Keswick, they make very solid wine, and I'd recommend visiting. Jefferson - The same. Linden - The tasting that Linden does their cellar, the reserve tasting, is fantastic. It's never a group larger than six or so people, and you typically taste three reds and three whites. And within that you'll typically do something like three Chardonnays from the same vintage but different vineyards, or three Chards from different vintages but the same vineyard. Interesting and educational, and a great setting. Rappahannock Cellars - The property is beautiful, and I think they do a nice job on their wines. Chateau O'Brien - Like most of the places listed above, absolutely gorgeous, and we enjoyed the wines as well. Delaplane - It's beautiful, as Joe H much more eloquently put it above.
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We happened to stop by both Castle Hill Cider and Albermarle Cider Works during trips to the Charlottesville area last month and were very impressed with both. Both are definitely worth stopping in to if you're in the area.
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Went here pre-dinner on Friday night for the first time. I liked it, a lot. Great atmosphere, cocktails were interesting and well made. If it were in my neighborhood I would be a regular. Food menu seemed to be limited to nuts and snack mixes.
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We finally made it here on Saturday for lunch, and I'm rather upset with myself for not eating here earlier. It is definitely out of the way for me both during the week and on the weekend, but I'm going to go the extra mile to work my way through this menu. We had the Shiraz and the Havana, and both were fantastic. A great sandwich spot.
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I've had lunch here a few times as my office is close. The steak salad, which I believe I've ordered every time, is fine. Not better or worse than that. On a nice day they have a great patio, which makes the whole experience better.
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I want a pastrami sandwich (from Katz's) so bad right now.
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Apparently it will appear in an upcoming George Pelecanos novel. http://frozentropics.blogspot.com/2013/10/boundary-road-mentioned-in-upcoming.html
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- Atlas District
- H Street
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Was wondering that exact thing. I haven't been to either, so I'm uniquely positioned to have absolutely no idea.
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Per Young and Hungry, Fusion Grill is no more and is being replaced by a Medium Rare.
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Does anyone know if Pho Bar and Grill is closed or if they'll actually reopen? They've been closed the last few times I've walked by there with a sign that they're closed temporarily for renovations and training. No work appears to be taking place inside.
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- H Street Corridor
- Atlas District
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While I love tacos, I hadn't made it to Chupacabra until this past weekend, perhaps to avoid what I was certain would be another disappointing experience at a DC taco place. Instead, however, I was quite pleasantly surprised. These are certainly the best tacos available on H Street (this is an extremely low bar), and among the better available inside the District (a higher bar, but not that high). Tortillas were good, all three meats (al pastor, barbacoa and lamb) were moist and flavorful, and the salsa provided enough heat without being overwhelming. My wife's ham and cheese arepa was not nearly as much of a hit. I like the space and murals as well. As mentioned above, it's tiny. Almost all of the seating is outdoors on picnic tables, and given that Sunday was beautiful this wasn't a problem. There was also zero wait at 12:15 this past Sunday, and we saw only one other customer while we were eating our lunch. I wouldn't recommend traveling to get here, but I would recommend stopping in if you're looking for a relatively inexpensive meal on the H Street corridor.
