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wristband

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  1. Yes, interesting front page piece in WaPo. Should we be surprised at the vitrol voiced by ex-employees, creditors etc.? This latest venture is - what? - the umpteenth in our area he has mismanaged and fostered ill-will with patrons, staff and suppliers. As a past customer, my uninformed sense is the acrimony and poor service flows downwards from the top.
  2. wristband

    Lunch Deals

    I second the head-turning PassionFish $15 - good deal if in Reston. Minerva(s) have a grand Indian buffett at a low price. Clydes Tysons knocks 20% off the entire bill if you order by 11:30 M-F. Nortons @ Tysons I (by Banana Republic) knocks 25% off the entire bill before Noon weekdays. Lest we forget, Restaurant Week luncheon prices are soon upon us in August.
  3. I concur with the above assessments having been to BB only once. What I find odd is the parent company also operates Mon Ami Gabi just down the street. MAG is pleasant and offers surprisingly good food. Several recent lunch visits with colleagues revealed steaks, skate, pate, burgers and daily fish specials were enjoyed by all, service was attentive and informed and the wine selection by the glass decently varied and reasonably priced. If I had to choose for Reston, I would opt for PassionFish (even Il Fornaio). I will certainly return to MAG. Never to Big Bowl.
  4. True! But on both (levels?), this was not what I had expected based on the posts here. I do hope Orso will come into its "own" in the months ahead. Not there now.
  5. I did not mean to imply 2941 service should be replicated at Orso. The two share management. My hope is they instill a small whiff of attentiveness from 2941. Like refilling empty iced tea glasses (instead of asking too many times). Like do not deliver entree pizza while customers (who specifically requested the order not go in until the contorni were finished) are just taking initial bites of seafood salad and rice balls. For comparison, and to illustrate my negative comments on the food, check out photos of Suppli and Pizzas in Rome posted yesterday. Note the Margherita is not a soupy mess and the Suppli are not rock hard golf balls. Katie Parla's blog: http://www.parlafood.com/rome-pizza-showdown-stefano-callegari-vs-gabriele-bonci/#more-6497. If the link won't open, its www.parlafood.com to see "Rome Pizza Showdown."
  6. I have been twice in the past four months. The menu offers traditional Clyde's items (such as the monthly special available at all Clyde's - this month is a large grilled rib eye - chili, crab cakes etc.) and items only available at that location. Whenever I go to a Clyde's, I stick to basic fare - such as crab cakes or salad nicoise - so I can't comment on Willow chef's abilities. I can say there are a wide range of choices available that will satisfy a wide variety of appetites. There seems to be considerable effort to prominently feature fresh, locally sourced ingredients. For example, local asparagus plated with pecorino and olive oil as an appetizer was terrific and I swapped out potatoes for a generous portion of sauteed zucchini, squash and tomatoes without any lip. Willow Creek's size is enormous. However, there are a number of different dining rooms and a huge informal saloon - each has a distinctly different character with many interesting oddities all over the place (antique lamps, carriages, Audobon prints). The size of the physical plant was not a distraction until I wandered around (needed bread crumbs to find my way back to the table). Service was friendly, efficient, informed and most eager to please both times I was there.
  7. Funny enough, we had lunch at Westover yesterday and also enjoyed a very nice meal. I like that location for the very reasons you cite. I also had the hummus and house salad, table shared kibbe and the shwarma entree platter (half chicken and half lamb). I had not been back for a number of months but I always whack my forehead and wonder why we don't stop by more often. The LT consistently does a really nice job.
  8. Had lunch today - our experience comported with Joe H. and DrX's criticisms above. Margherita was, yup, soupy and bland. Crudo also lacked taste despite the arugula - proscuitto was tough and crust sponge-like. Seafood salad had small bits of bland, rubbery octopuss and mussels (why not grill 'em to generate some flavor?) soaked with dressing. The Suppli was just too dang hard to cut with a serated knife - one bounced off the plate after repeatedly whacking it - so our teeth broke open the rock-like rice balls. Waiter was enthusiastic which was nice to hear. We stressed: hold the pizza order until we finish the Suppli and seafood salad apps. Several salad bites in, here come the pizza. As service at 2941 is terrific, hopefully some of that culture can migrate to S. Maple St. Smiles are great but not enough. Though we were disappointed, I sincerely appreciate management and pizza makers are trying hard (surely exhausted after two weeks), that Orso is a welcome addition to FC and it takes time for a new restaurant to break itself in. I value the comments of Don and others here who had the opposite experience. Having enjoyed molto wood oven pies over the course of many years in Rome, Naples, Sicily etc., I looked forward to Orso with eager anticipation. But the pies today were mediocre. Orso has a ways to go. I'm in the Joe & Dr.X column. But I want to return in six weeks to see how today was an off day.
  9. Uh, sorry. Totally different experience today for lunch than our initial visit last week. Night and day. Loud Italian pop music, oblivious wait staff. Unfortunately, the only good aspect of the meal to report was a simple salad of greens. Soup of the day - minestrone with red beans - had all the charm and taste of being dumped out of a Campbell's can. Frozen chicken cutlet was quickly deep fried and it tasted precisely like that. A pasta dish was an overdone, flavorless glop. Odd to experience such extremes within one week at lunch. The new spring menu was initiated today so perhaps confusion reigns in the kitchen. Or the B Team was in. Or, it was just an off day. Today clouds my initial rave and readers should have a wary eye. That said, I really do want the place to succeed. It has a lot of potential to shine in the tundra of McLean restaurants - based on my initial experience.
  10. Another thanks from the peanut gallery for creating, nurturing and supervising this most valuable and interesting resource. Appreciate all of your efforts and good cheer Don!
  11. I agree with that post. We had a very nice lunch there yesterday - a lentil starter, swordfish with kale, a lovely cioppino, great bread, nice wine selection and the pleasant atmosphere all made a nice first impression. There is a $14 deal at lunch with either soup/salad/dessert and one entree from a fairly long list of choices. The cioppino alone was $14 so the deal is a good one. I thought the service and room were just fine, the wine list interesting and reasonably priced. The quality of ingredients and sincere effort to provide "authentic" Tuscan cuisine, including an array of unusual pasta choices, lead me to say I will definitely return and would recommend A.O. based on my initial experience.
  12. They carry an impressive selection of Italian wines, some of which are difficult to find, almost all are reasonably priced. The grocery store items, especially several of the Umbrian and Ligurian olive oils and artisinal dry pastas (the non-De checco brands), are worth seeking out. I do not recommend their pre-made sauces or in-house biscotti.
  13. Had a very nice lunch (again) during Restaurant Week - service was great, food was also very good. Skate wings atop pasta, the creamy clam chowder with some heat and a first rate key lime pie were all very nicely done. Bought a spectacular piece of Irish organic salmon and scallops at the market on the way out. The only knock I have is the hostess/host. Every time we have gone, the reception is chillier than the ice neath the fish on display at the market. Geesh. Could you please lighten up or, more specifically, warm up? Greeting customers as if they are in Siberia is not the best way to make a favorable first impression.
  14. Funny enough, that is exactly what I have felt! Smacked my forehead after eating stumbling out of the Wilson Blvd. branch. Every three or four years or so, I used to step into the place and leave with head shaking. Earlier on, when Atwater was involved, the brisket, pulled pork and ribs were much much better. Of course, my memory is addled so that assessment could be unduly charitable. I always felt the take out site (since closed) further up Wilson offered - for whatever reason - better quality than the restaurant. Take out pulled pork and ribs were significantly better there. Of maybe it was the New Amsterdam beer consumption at home that made it seem so much better in those days.
  15. I agree with you and ktmoomau. Chicken is best avoided. The dry and watery comment comports with my experiences. Still, Rocklands is a nice addition to the neighborhood if expect nothing special. And the sauce is good. Certainly better than RedHBlue. At least for me, the present location is far easier to roll in and out of in my Bentley as compared to the prior site which offered demolition derby ingress/egress. The outside mural is kinda cool.
  16. Forgot to add LT serves Counter Culture coffee which IMHO is a wonderful coffee. They do a fine French press offering with several choices and the coffee was truly outstanding the two times I had it this week. I believe only Dean & Deluca carries CC beans in the DC area. Happy to know LT serves CC in hot liquid and pure bean form. As they are taking over the defunct Murky Grounds space (calling it Northshore), that offers another nice option to enjoy Counter Culture beans brewed on site or beans for home use. Both the Ethiopian and Guatamalean (?) CC coffees were terrific this week.
  17. Yup, the very same samwich is entitled just that on the menu as a testament to the Brothers acumen (or girth?). That's what our chit-chatty waitress claimed. Love the Bros' web site.
  18. Ok, I am late to this party. Went several times for Rest. Week and had another terrific lunch today. They were clearly overwhelmed with the RW TGIF turnout but service was cheerful, knowledgeable and unflustered despite delays. I agree with the pizza comments - the Winter pie (excellente!) combined the salty brine of clams in their shell atop cheese and greens while with the Vermont pie was novel but, uh, not on my list to retry. Proscuitto was tough and the addition of apple slices did not mix well. That said, really nice crust on both pies from the wood oven. Skirt steak salad, scallops over Isreali cous cous, a bizarre sandwhich comprised of french fries, egg and pastrami were innovative, flavorful and memorable. Several appetizers (as posters above noted) were standouts: grilled octupus and white beans, the fried smelts/calamari/lemon (but parsnip soup was too rich for my tastes). NoVa lunches can often be same old same old. Liberty was really a pleasant surprise. We plan to return soon.
  19. Our first experience at BS was Rest. Week - terrific. Return visit was ok. Third visit yesterday B-. Yup, Susan Wallace's deserts are ginmormous and delicious with a most excellent macchiato and capuccini. But our fish dishes were, well, uninspiring. Sea bream atop pasta and wall-eye pike were nondescript, overcooked and disappointing. Clam chowder was overly sweetened by a prevalence of leeks which made for one strange brew. Oddly, the HVAC system cranked alternating waves of frigid AC blasts, followed by Tucson furnace heat. The wild fluctuations may mean mechanical problems which BS should remedy before the cold weather really sets in. I believe PassionFish in Reston is doing a far more accomplished and inventive job with fish - at 1/3 the price. That said, I smacked my forehead when leaving. Should have simply ordered one of the many beautiful specimens displayed on ice in the market to be cooked/grilled by the kitchen. I plan to do that if (big if) we return. On the way out, purchased lovely pieces of salmon, sashimi-grade tuna and very tasty shrimp spring rolls.
  20. Can't comment on the Mixmaster but we four had brunch this weekend. Major disappointment. Putting aside how charming the creaky old place is, I expected far far more than what was endured. Service issues aside (poorly managed and understaffed), one diner's roasted chicken salad was disgarded after several bites - an ersatz hummus concoction overwhelmed everything. Eggs benedict were pushed off and ignored after two unhappy bites. Salmon was swimming in a sickly sweet tamarind sauce and the savory tart was equivalent to diner chow. Avoid the charcuterie plate: two wafer thin salami slices, nondescript liverwurst timbale, a scoop of potato salad and a fingernail sized slice of rabbit pate. Dean Gold would be shaking his fist! Our waiter was invisible for most of the meal and it took a long time to simply order drinks once seated (we had reservations). Plates removed with a substantial amount of food brought no inquiry as to why the pile of leftovers. We debated the merits of sharing our thoughts on the mediocre quality to management for constructive criticism purposes(no freebies). 3 voted to scram and were adamant they will not return. The Tabard claims the menu changes every day. Perhaps the D Team reports for duty on weekends? I am really sorry to have had such a disappointing experience because I have fond memories of the place starting way back in the late 70's and truly wanted others in my party to enjoy the Inn. Ah well, a seat awaits me at the bar for a Suffering Bastard or dry Manhattan.
  21. I also agree with the grim assessments above. Service was uninterested and unimpressive. Went twice, both times: place only 1/3 full, waitrons chit chatting in a corner, studiously ignoring empty glasses needing refills and dirty empty plates that sat and sat before us. Food was average but the most basic requests (e.g. no sauce on asparagus, add some tomatoes and drop the potato on a salad) were blissfully ignored. Won't go back.
  22. I hate to chirp in this chorus but I too now patronize Haandi for take out. Haandi is completely different level of flavor and spicing. Taj once was a pleasant lunch spot with the buffett and take out was good but the quality for both really went down hill in recent years. Since Taj is far more convenient location-wise (vs Haandi) I am eager to give it another shot.
  23. This is most encouraging news. I too sallied forth 9-ish years ago and vowed never to return - once was enuff - joint was filthy and food awful. I look forward to returning shortly based on Rocks rec.
  24. I whole heartedly agree. Ate twice (lunch and dinner) this week at PF and each time enjoyed superb meals & pleasant service to combine for a terrific overall experience. Thank you forum members for crowing about certain choices - everything recommended from mojitos, Kamakaze roll and sushi assortiti to excellent (but simple) grilled fish entrees were stellar. The only off-note was the octopus due to the salted cheese that overpowered the dish. This is a destination spot for either lunch or dinner.
  25. Just returned from lunch at the Westover (original) branch in Arlington. The above post on Tysons 2 mirrored our experience perfectly. Service was excellent and friendly, mezzes were delicious and plentiful. Kibbeh, hummos (with pine nuts), house salad, tabouleh, another veg...all terrific for a mid-July meal. Plenty of refills on our iced tea and fresh baked pita bread and the staff was eager to please. Today reminded me how much I missed Taverna Westover and how it strives to provide a pleasant and fresh tasting alternative to the drab choices at lunch. I need to get back more often and enjoy their chicken shwarma sandwich!
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