kgottwald

Is there anyplace left in Northern VA that has cask ale?

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The decor at the inns was stamped out of the same colonial cookie cutter: the white frame "house" exterior with the electric candles in the imitation upstairs windows. The dark wood tables and the wainscotting. The pale stucco walls adorned with the collection of old farm implements, or pieces thereof. Stamped out or not, this is a comfortable place. The candlelight gives a soft glow and the carpeting yields relatively soft acoustics.

Does anybody use this kind of décor anymore? I haven't seen it in decades. It would be a nice throwback and a welcome change to the 100% hard-surfaced clatter-fest that all the new restaurants are going for.

 . . . and it's closed now. That didn't last long.

And the Dunn Loring location is now closed (without warning, as usual for restaurants)

Tysons Galleria is "moribund"? Really?? It looks just about as busy as it's ever been. Methinks I detect groupthink about "all malls are dying".

I've been following this saga, as the Galleria is across the street from my office and I have a salad at Sweetgreen every now and then. Part of the front sidewalk of the mall was blocked off for months while the escalators were installed (aside: the place seems to go out of its way to not be pedestrian-friendly; there's a huge tree at the end of the driveway which seems to be there solely to hide oncoming cars and walkers from each other, and the closest way onto the sidewalk is to squeeze into a tiny gap between a light fixture and a concrete barrier). I wonder if they'll shut off the escalators and close that entrance now. 

Never ate at Isabella, because the only thing that sounded appetizing there was the pizza, and why pay $5.50 for a mediocre slice when I could stroll down to Harris Teeter and get a good slice for $2.50?

All those sparkling-new fixtures and furniture. I hope they open some kind of restaurant there soon. Don't like seeing the space go to waste.

RJ Cooper used to post regularly in the Gypsy Soul thread, and after his restaurant was shut down I saw there was a nice long post from him and I thought it was going to be an explanation/apology/whatever, but it was just a lot of long rambling rubbish that said basically nothing at all. Kind of peeved me a little. What was all that about??

On ‎8‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 11:17 AM, weezy said:

Put all the kiddie stuff up there and then have ancillary shops with things that the parents can grab in a hurry for themselves, or make it the teen gathering area

Teens don't go to the Galleria; there's nothing there they can afford.

On 8/16/2018 at 1:48 PM, Bob Wells said:

This raises another good point. For a mall that has many -- not just a few, but many -- of the finest, most recognizable names in fashion/retail in the WORLD, the eateries are remarkably pedestrian. Anyone got a theory about that? Corner Bakery, Legal, Maggiano's... it's as if the restaurants are a completely separate entity, aimed at the white-collar drones in the neighboring office buildings, that was grafted onto the Galleria's retail.

Are malls simply not conducive to higher-end dining?

The Galleria even used to have a Ruby Tuesday's.

Just ate at the Merrifield location. The online menu lied; smoked gouda is gone forever from the Fire and Smoke. 

I don't think I'll be going back. Once a restaurant starts to cut corners - to cheap out - it never does get better, does it?

Don't want to take a chance on any of the other menu items, for fear that, say, they replaced the onion straws on the mini-burgers with Funyuns and the meat with Libby's Potted Meat Food Product.

Ate at the Chinatown location yesterday, my first time in quite a while.

The bar was almost empty at 3:30 on a Saturday, when it used to be packed at all hours. I always get the large Fire & Smoke, which used to have smoked gouda. Now it comes with mozzarella (an effort to cut costs?) and it's just not the same. Also they changed the color of the napkins for some reason.

My biggest issue, though, is the ambient music. They used to have some kind of uptempo jazz; it gave the place a sophisticated feel - music for grownups. Now they play typical sportsbar pop, music for fratboys and superannuated adolescents. "Shattered" came on and, I don't know about you, but when I'm relaxing over an Allagash White, I really don't want to hear Mick Jagger screaming at the top of his lungs. Disappointing.

I think I'll stick to the Merrifield location from now on (which still lists the gouda in the Fire & Smoke description. It's walking distance from my house too; I only went to the downtown location because I was seeing Hochelaga at the Landmark later.