dgreen

We bought a La Sandia groupon recently and used it Saturday for lunch. My overall impression: it was fine. That's about it. Nothing was really, really good, but nothing was bad either. Well, actually, we did have a lot chips that were stuck together, but whatever. Our waiter was a bit forgetful, but nothing horrible. The kids meals were decent for kids meals. I see others in here praised the guacamole (or ate with people who praised the guacamole). Like everything else, I'd say it was just ok. And am I the only one who doesn't get the whole "made tableside" thing? I mean, who really cares where it's made? I just want it to be good. Am I paying more just because they smash it all up right in front of me? I just don't get it.

Oh, and $3 for a soda? Oof. Is this typical for Tysons/downtown/high-rent-district restaurants? Maybe if they prepared it tableside it would be worth $3....

Went over the weekend. I thought the pizza was simply ok, but overpriced. No, it's not insanely priced, but it's $3-4 more for a large than my usual go-to at Tony's NY Pizza in Fair Lakes or Ciro's in Centreville. I think we'll go back, though, and let the kids do the make-your-own pizza. I'm sure they'll enjoy that. They even get their own white chef's hat!

The buffet at Preet Palace, by the Trader Joe's in Centreville, is free for kids under 5 and our 6-year old was 1/2 price. We went for the Sunday buffet and it was pretty good. Didn't blow us away, but good. Not a ton of options.

(Regarding the thread title, I didn't even realize there was one in Ashburn. My only experience has been at the Centreville location.)

Ordered: Hush puppies, crab cake appetizers, admiral's platter.

We liked the hush puppies, but didn't really care for the crab cakes. That binding is just weird. Even though I could see a good amount of crab, I didn't get much of a crab taste. The fried shrimp and scallops on the platter were good. The fish was a little dry. We asked for clams instead of oysters on the platter, but got the oysters. Just not a big fan of oysters. We had enough to eat, though, so I didn't ask for the clams.

I want to go back and try some other stuff. The menu looked very appealing. The pastas sound good.

As others mentioned, great place to take kids...although we left ours with a babysitter.

Kiki's was only five minutes away but it would have been packed, too. I probably would have walked a couple of blocks and sat at the bar where I believe you can have dinner. Neither place is known for fajitas. Machaca, caldo de rez, enchiladas, chili Colorado, if you have the opportunity to go back. There is nothing in the D. C. area that even begins to approach how good these two places are.

Yeah, unfortunately, I hadn't looked up the second place (Kiki's) you suggested before leaving my hotel room, so I was flying blind at that point. I'm sure I'll have the chance to go back to the area in the future. I'll plan better and probably be more willing to wait.

Hit Roberto's, Si Senor, and Cattlemen's Steakhouse. Cattlemen's wasn't the worst steak I've ever had, but it wasn't anything great either. Just meh. Really enjoyed Roberto's and Si Senor. At Si Senor, the complementary chips came with four salsas/dips. A regular red salsa, a bean and something, a green chili salsa (the same stuff they pour over the burritos), and a sour cream and jalapeno.

I said that I doubted that I'd tire of real Mexican food. Well, my taste buds didn't, but my stomach did. It was all very good (even the lunch served at the college), but I had to take a break.

Thanks for the recommendations.

Well, my one night in El Paso was unfortunately disappointing. I drove by the L&J Cafe and it was PACKED. No parking spaces in sight and people spilling out the door. Since it was cold and I was getting pretty hungry, I passed. I ended up at Andale and ordered fajitas. Not very good. If I go back, I'll have to make a better effort for L&J.

Addressing the original question, is it actually legal to prohibit infants, toddlers, or any other child in a restaurant?

I'm no lawyer, but I believe the laws against age discrimination only apply to those over 40 (or some other "old" age). IOW, you can discriminate against those under a certain age but not over a certain age.

Dining out with a newborn is a breeze.

Exactly. They sleep. A lot. Feed it just before you leave for dinner and it should pretty much sleep all the way through dinner. Keep it in its portable car seat so you can easily rock it back to sleep if need be. Or, as mentioned, get up and walk around a little if it starts to cry.

I'm headed to Las Cruces, NM, in a couple weeks. Apparently I'll be using the El Paso airport. Any recommendations?

Holy cow, what are the odds. I grew up here. Stand back and watch over 20 years of local yore fling into action.

Thanks for the advice. It's a work trip and I'll have to share a rental car with a coworker, but hopefully I can steer him towards some of these...or maybe I'll the car to myself one evening.

If you're really not in the mood for mexican, I'd first advise you to try to get in the mood (because you are in green chile Mecca after all) but if you absolutely can't take anymore...

I'll only be there 3-4 days, so I doubt I'll tire of real Mexican food.

I'm thinking just about any Mexican restaurant will be worth trying, but if anyone already knows of something, I'd appreciate any info.

Also in Sully Plaza is Don Churro's. Minerva is in the same shopping center as Picante and Thai Basil. Willard's BBQ is in the office parks surrounding the Dulles Expo.

Anyone familiar with Rio San Juan? Wife and daughter are headed to the DR this week. They'll spend most of their time at an orphanage near Rio San Juan and eating meals prepared for them there. But, their trip is planning a day in Rio San Juan where they'll be able to go to a restaurant. Any suggestions? If no particular restaurant suggestions, what are some recommended dishes that should be good in most restaurants there?

My advice for the place is put a changing table in the man's bathroom too. Come on, this is the 21st century, dads change diapers too.

Shhhhhh. Come on, man, this place is doing you a favor. "Ooh, sorry honey. They don't have changing tables in the men's room. I'd love to help you out and change this one for you because you've had such a long, hard day, but unfortunately I can't."

I loved those cheesy potato balls last fall/winter.

Made a second visit for carry out. This time I ordered the spicy kubideh. They say they grind their own meat. The main problem is it wasn't spicy...at all. They either messed up the order, assumed I really didn't want spicy even though I said spicy, or simply don't make a spicy kabob despite giving that option. That left the kubideh fairly flavorless. But, the sauces were still good. I wish the saffron rice was a little more saffron-y.

So, second visit not as good as the first. It is a pretty nice dining room, though. And a very empty dining room. The owner (I assume) said they've been open for four months and have being doing ok, but it's been really slow recently. When I walked in (around 7 PM), there were no customers and they seemed very excited to see someone walk in.

Not sure what area is the wasteland, but based on these recommendations there is a very good (vegetarian) Indian place called Saravana Palace that is near the Wegman's.

Fairfax, Centreville, and Chantilly aren't nearly the wastelands they used to be.

Disclaimer: My wife and I were REALLY hungry, so just about anything would have tasted good.

Having said that, we really enjoyed a take-out order from Mazadar Kabob last night. I went simple with the chicken kabob and the wife had the eggplant stew. She couldn't stop saying, "Mmmmmmmmmm," and I thought my kabobs stacked up well against others. Entrees come with a little salad and bread. That green sauce was spicier here than other places I've had it. We also had the Paneer Sabzi appetizer. The herbs were very fresh.

My wife picked up the order and mentioned the impressive decor inside. Their facebook page has a few pictures.

This place is in that little shopping center on 29 just west of Wegmans.

Went to see a movie today at Fairfax Corner. While there, I noticed signs for a new Italian GAR establishment. It's in that building that used to have an organization/shelving/container type store.

Yes, this is the same shopping center as the Fairfax Coastal Flats.

I noticed that the other day. Looks like that whole corner up to 28 might get a face lift. Any idea if either of those new buildings currently under construction will be a restaurant?

I love that Sweet Tea. On trips down to the beach I stop and get a couple gallons of it for me and the Hubby's fam. I truly believe it could rot out your teeth in about a month's time, but it is soo good to me. And of course once stopped I must get a chicken sandwich.

And you can always ask them to mix the tea with some lemonade.

Many people rightly talk about Chick-Fil-A's food being better than other fast food joints. But, more needs to be made of their service. Yesterday, we had an employee walking around passing out samples of their cookies and cream shake and another employee walking around to get cups for beverage refills. And it's not like this was the first time I've experienced these things at Chick-Fil-A, especially the refills. In fact, I can't remember one single subpar moment of service at a Chick-Fil-A.

Probably heading down to Williamsburg this weekend. Anything new and exciting this year? If not, the wife and I will probably hit Blue Talon again and there's certainly nothing wrong with that.

Ended up at Green Leaf over the weekend. It was somewhat disappointing; not as good as I remember from previous visits.

I noticed a new pho house, but didn't try it. Maybe they'll get a couple more soon and get some good pho competition going. Pho sure is spreading like crazy.

And I am sorry, but why do you need two patties for a regular burger? I would have been happy paying a dollar less for half the meat.

For me, one patty is nowhere near enough. It's tiny. It's more of a snack. I went to Elevation Burger the other day for the first time and thought their burgers, even the one with two patties, was too small. Same with Good Stuff Eatery. When I want a burger, it's generally because I'm in the mood for something filling. Tiny burgers are a disappointment.