TimmySmith

Los Chorros is my goto when it comes to latin food. The Royal Mile has solid pub fare with good atmosphere (rather cozy place). Dusit is another quality Thai place (although the others are so good I rarely go) Christina's is home cooked Italian, and I like this place much more than some other local Italian spots that seem to have better followings.

Went Saturday night and enjoyed myself, but it was not nearly enough to get me to come back. Escargot Charcuterie Steak Halibut Frites Everything and I mean everything was WAY oversalted. A little sea salt goes a long way and they used a ton of it. Steak was very chewy and overpriced. I could spend less a RTC to get 3x the portion that I could cut with a fork. Wait staff was excellent.

There is probably not a more cozy restaurant with a fireplace in DC than the Iron Gate Inn. I wish I could say the food was great, but it certainly gets a 10 in the ambiance department.

Was at Ruan last Thursday. Ordered the Yum watercress which is always a pleaser. Like many other salad apps, it is steeped in cilantro, red onion and lime juice. All good things, plus a nice crunch from the deep frying of the watercress. I go back and forth between this and the tuna salad on each visit. The smoked eggplant was a bit too smoky for me this time, beyond smoky actually and venturing into ashy. My fried softshells were a bit soggy from the sauce and slightly underspiced (flavorful, but not hot enough), still good. My wife got the crispy chicken which was fine for her. The crispy duck is far superior IMO as I prefer darker meat and the glorious fat flavor that comes with it. Far from the best meal I have had at Ruan, but still better than most of what Wheaton has to offer.

Wish I shared your optimism. The owners are under investigation\indictment for multiple felonies. And while the Feds certainly aren't checking the clientele for papers, that does not mean an already skittish population is going to brazenly go inside simply because they serve excellent chicken.

Wow, but I am not a bit surprised. Is it safe to assume that this is the end of El Pollo Rico? One thing is for sure, their regular clientele isn't going within a mile of the place from now on.

Charlie's has been replaced by a place called Hot Stone I believe. I guess the pits must be too hard to move so BBQ places keep opening there. I have eaten the smoked turkey and the pit beef sandwiches. Both were sliced in front of me, albeit a bit too thinly for my taste. However, the flavor was good and the portions were generous. I am not sure I would make a special trip, but if you are in Rockville it's worth a try. I would go there over O'Brien's 10 times out of 10.

My friends and I do not call them "Old Dry Ones" for nothing. And for the record my grandparents lived on College Parkway for 30 years. And just in case cjsadler did not know, O'Briens, while close to Joe's, it is not next door anymore. There is a smoked beef/ pit barbecue joint in O'Brien's old location (the name escapes me) that I believe measures up to O'Briens (not a ringing endorsement, but worth a try) and has hand cut fries.

We paid for the drinks at the bar separately. It was 4 apps and 6 drinks plus tax I guess. Without dwelling on this too much longer, it simply appeared that the the floor is/was mismanaged. I suppose if a manager is weak, incompetent or just having an off night you are at the complete mercy of the wait staff. If your waitress is also off, you are sunk. Still, it should not happen at an establishment like BB. If I was not the guest of someone I would have been a little more forceful. I did recommend the spot though. I did hesitate to post this at all, not knowing if my vent would be to any good purpose. However most of the poor reviews I have read about Beck's (not just here) stem from lack of proper service. Add this one to that bunch. The food we received was excellent.

Apps and drinks.

To post or not to post that is the question. I suppose I would have posted had it been a good or great night so I can share this experience with a clear conscience that was bad at best, somewhat degrading at worst. First, yes, I am one of those infrequent fine diners. And yes, I have children. And no, I do not live in Ashburn. I am not the bread and butter of the high end restaurant industry and do not expect and generally do not receive the same type of attention as the frequent patrons. Give me good food in a timely manner. The chef need not schmooze my table. I understand this. On my end, I will be a quiet and gracious guest, and a solid tipper. My reservation for BB on Saturday was for 9pm, I expected to be seated somewhere around 9:20, it ended being about 9:30. No problem, a couple a Chimays in the bar were the perfect start to evening. My spider senses started tingling when were led to what appeared in my eyes to be very poor real estate. The kind of table that I am guessing did not appear on the original floor plan. A throw in. An extra grand a night. A schmucks cover. Had we not been a half hour past our reservation with 4 hungry people and a babysitter on the clock, I would have declined it. Rough accounting, I put times with in 5 or so minutes 9:35 drink order taken 9:45 some drinks arrive, apps AND entrees ordered (simultaneous ordering is waitress idea, fine by us, we are ready) 10:05 one member at our table gets his drink 10:15 some apps arrive (Tartare and charcuterie and salad, very good we are starving) 10:40 last app arrives (WTF?) 11:00 no entrees in sight call waitress. (Surrounding tables which turned over since our seating are eating entrees) Manager comes over and says 2 minutes. 11:05 Manager comes over again and says 2 minutes. We request check. 11:10 Check does not come, servers are running (I shit you not, they are running) to our table with plates of food which they are hastily trying to place at the correct positions. This proves to be an impossible task....because....IT'S NOT OUR FOOD. Right about now humiliation has crept in. 11:20 The manager has disappeared. The check has appeared. $139.00. We pay. No tip. We walk. My wife is starving, she did not order an app. Damn. I wonder how those skate wings and frites would have tasted. I'll never know.

My wife and I splurged and did a night at the Mandarin on our anniversary. The location is not ideal for bar hopping. But it is right next to the tidal basin, which is a much more romantic walk than G-Town IMO. Better bring 2 wallets though, my wife and I did not exactly go wild with food and drink, and the evening cost in the range of $600, which is alot for us.

I really did not know that SGP served anything but pizza. But then again I never have thought of ordering anything else. It's kind of a local divey pizza/pitcher place for softball teams and families with children, and has been that way since the beginning of time. Too bad nobody warned DG about this ahead of time, could have saved him alot of "Wudga expect, it's the Stained Glass Pub" responses.

Took the family last week. I ordered the chiliburger and fries. My wife had the chicken sandwich. In what seems to be a growing trend in hamburger places, everything was just about totally encrusted with salt. I could not imagine what damage the human body would endure if it was forced to consume this same meal everyday for a year. Of course I ate every bite, but I doubt I will make the 3 mile trek again, and would not make a positive or negative recommendation.

Mon Ami Gabi has a good brunch (open at 11:30 on Saturday), and is right across the street from a bookstore (Borders? B&N?) which is always a good place to kill time.