JimCo

Did you ever want to dine at Austin Grill, but stayed away because of the turquoise walls and lack of guacamole made tableside? Then you will LOVE the changes at the re-opened Austin Grill in Old Town. Based on a brunch there yesterday, these are the only discernible changes made after the restaurant's "renovation" that kept them closed for several months. They also are boasting an expanded collection of top-shelf tequila, which is not ideal given the continued bottom-shelf food. The décor is noticeably improved. Dark wood everywhere, a color palette that has gone from blue and yellow to brown and rust, and some interesting ceiling fixtures. The chips are still bright yellow and resemble Tostitos. In lieu of the salsa coming in a bowl, it now comes in a tiny cup about the size of a ketchup cup thus making it more difficult to dip one's chip. The hot sauce on the tables is gone. Evidently the remodeling is being financed through restructured condiments. I ordered the Willie Nelson Plate, which is four tacos (Spicy beef, steak, chicken and carnitas). The steak was solid. The spicy beef was okay. The chicken was meh. The carnitas was foul -- bland, mushy pulled pork topped with cloyingly sweet (and ice cold) barbecue sauce. Rules of math be damned, a negative times a negative equals a negative. Most of the folks working seemed new, or at least out of practice. We were told the wait would be 20 to 30 minutes. We said okay, grabbed a beeper and sat down. Roughly one minute later, the beeper buzzed and we were on our way to the table. The restaurant was maybe half full at 11am on a Sunday. As a final note, there appears to be a designated staffer who handles nothing but the guacamole. When she's not making guacamole, she and her cart stand sheepishly in the middle of the restaurant with nothing to do. It sort of made me feel bad. Not bad enough to order guacamole however. So beneath the new packaging, the new Austin Grill is pretty much the old Austin Grill. Unfortunately, they chose not to put their money where your mouth is.

Tried the Chicken Alamo for the first time at the Old Town location today. The bartender made it in front of me, and the ranch dressing was not baked into the spaghetti. As others described, it is a pleasant combination of spicy and bland, hot and cold. It could have used more chicken. There were just three strips on top. I like the idea of adding bacon or jalapenos for extra punch. Now that I appreciate the canvas, I'll have to begin playing with the brushstrokes.

A trip to Houston last week led to a trip to Killen's Barbecue in Pearland. By way of background, Chef Ronnie Killen had been running a barbecue pop-up out of his steakhouse in Pearland for a while, with waits that routinely stretched into two hours on the weekend. Earlier this year, he opened Killen's Barbecue and already they have gotten buzz that is putting it in the same breath of Lockhart's finest barbecue joints. We arrived at about 10:30am on a Tuesday. The restaurant opens at 11. We were about the fifteenth folks in line, but by opening there were probably another 40 people behind us. The line moves slooooow. I wanted to try nearly everything, and came close: Brisket was a little tougher than I would care for, but I blame myself for ordering an end cut. While it was still better than most brisket I've had, it was still missing the deep beef flavor that I've found in the brisket at Kreuz Market in Lockhart. Still, it's probably the best brisket is going to find outside of Central Texas. Beef rib was practically a dinosaur bone. Flavorful, juicy, and pretty fatty but that should be expected. I took a large portion home and this actually tasted better the second day. Pork belly (on the bone) is a unique dish to Killen's. It's smoked pork belly so it's hard to see how it wouldn't be great. A roughly one-inch thick slab of bacon that had been smoked for hours. It lived up to my expectations. Creamed corn was the surprise of the day. It was fantastic. It shouldn't be surprising since the Chef owns a steakhouse, but it's clear some thought goes into the homemade sides. Potato salad was the consistency of smashed potatoes, with a deep yellow color and a heavy flavor of mustard -- the perfect flavor to punch through all the animal fat that was being consumed. I loved it. Banana Pudding was obviously homemade with vanilla pudding, chucks of banana and Nila wafers. I wanted more, but was forced to share with my two young sons. Damn kids... Overall I'd say Killen's is already one of Texas' finest barbecue joints, but I think still has some work to get to the consistency of the places in Central Texas. Their brisket falls short of the best, but their sides are already world's better than anything you'll find at another barbecue joint. I have not tried Franklin's in Austin yet because I'm not willing to endure a three-hour line, but I'd gladly wait 30 to 45 minutes to get more of Ronnie Killen's barbecue.

I want SO badly to believe this is true. I walked by two weeks ago and it didn't look anywhere close to be finished. But here's hoping... "Bombay Curry Company To Reopen In Del Ray By April" by Evan Milberg on northernvirginiamag.com

In general, Alexandria is home to a number of good neighborhood places and very few destination restaurants. Hank's is the best seafood restaurant in Old Town, especially if you stick to their specials. I had a pan fried grouper in a red pepper sauce on Friday night, and it was delicious. Yet it can also get very expensive for a restaurant with a casual vibe (and they don't take reservations). I think the Brabo Tasting Room doesn't get enough attention, but it's probably due to their limited menu. The few things they are seeking to do, however, they do exceptionally well. On a side note, Brabo's Butcher's Block last week was offering a Cream of Bacon soup. This is assuredly a sign of bacon becoming too prevalent on menus, and a "gimmick" soup that would be far too rich for mortal consumption. So I only ordered one bowl. It was quite good. Like a clam chowder, but with bacon instead of clams. If you can find flaws with that, I don't know what to tell you. One place not mentioned so far is Del Ray Pizzeria, where Eric Reid (Del Merei Grille RIP) is handing his hat. The bar food is done well. The dinner entrees can be delicious too. I had the chicken and dumplings a month ago that were very good. A recent hangar steak unfortunately was overcooked. Their buffalo chicken sandwich is something I can rarely avoid ordering. They've also now got one of the more impressive and extensive beer menus in Alexandria.

Papa John's is not half bad. Nor is Dominos. Nor is Pizza Hut. I remember a local tv segment about fifteen years ago where they toured the home kitchens of famous chefs. In one of the chef's refrigerators they found a box of Dominos. He made no apologies, and said it was one of he and his wife's favorite things to eat when hey got home late at night. To everything there is a season. Even Papa Johns.

On a previous trip, my mother-in-law (a Texan) complained that the food in DC wasn't spicy enough for her tastes. So with a sense of hunger and an eye toward revenge, we brought her here for the Laos menu. The crispy honey wings were good so far as wings go, but didn't really take things to another level like so many dishes here. The house special was a spicy sausage that delivered spice with herbal notes. A lot has been said on this board about the Watercress salad, and it is deserving. It seemed a tad sweet that night but was still devoured. It is the crispy rice salad that has captured our hearts. I cannot imagine going here and not ordering it. For entrees we split the beef larb, grilled chicken and chicken orm. All were ordered thai hot (their middle ground), and I cannot imagine what the orm would be like if it were laos hot. Damn. We couldn't finish it. We took it home and it became a running gag as to who would eat it. The flavors were great, but my scalp was tingling and forehead dripping. However, my mother-in-law did say that she thought it was spicier than anything she's ever had. With that, mission accomplished.

Had a terrific late dinner here last Saturday. We started with the tuna, which was served in large chunks atop a bed of chopped avocados. There was something savory in the avocados (soy sauce, fish sauce?) that really gave this dish a deep note of flavor. We also split the chicharones, which were like a combination of delicious bacon with the crisp of a potato chip. I'd order both again. For an entrée, we split the 18oz ribeye and ordered the bacon and chorizo on the side. We did not need to finish everything, but we did anyway. I would probably skip the chorizo if we went again, but the bacon was smoky and delicious as was the steak. Friends who were there and dining separately raved about the pork shoulder. Maybe next time. For cocktails, it's hard to skip the Limonada Sucia, a smoky lemonade that could get deadly after more than two. My only knock on the meal was the pacing. We were seated 15 minutes after our reservation which isn't a big deal, but then waited a long time before seeing a waiter. And because the waiter has to bring the menus and give you the spiel about the restaurant, we sat at an empty table for a long time. We then waited another long period before getting our appetizers. The server was gracious and friendly, so I'll just chalk it up to a busy Saturday night. I would definitely return to explore menu further.

Made my annual trip to Las Vegas last weekend. Awoke on Saturday morning and walked by a crowd of about 200 people (no exaggeration) waiting to get into Denny's. I casually slipped past them and headed to Bouchon at the Ventian, where there was no wait provided you were comfortable sitting at the bar. I ordered the day's special omelet with spicy bacon and mushrooms. I don't know what the "ideal" omelet is supposed to taste like, though I suspect the chefs at Bouchon probably do. This was thin and moist, without being runny or greasy. The bacon didn't seem spicy, but overall it was still a winner. The only disappointment was the bread. I've come to crave Bouchon's bread, but that mornings loaf seemed excessively chewy and without a crisp exterior. Perhaps it was made the day before? That'd be disappointing, but it certainly tasted like it. Friday night and Sunday night I enjoyed dinner at Heritage Steak, Tom Colicchio's new steakhouse at the Mirage. The attraction here is supposedly their focus on wood grilling. On Friday night I started with the steak tartare. The steak was overdressed for my tastes and a little too wet, also the steak was chopped a little finer than I prefer. It was good, but nothing I'd order again. For the entrée, I went with the bone-in ribeye. It was very good, cooked as ordered. It was here that I realized I can now cook a steak at home that approaches the quality of top-tier steakhouses. That's not a criticism of top steak joints or a brag toward my own abilities. Just that with a (newly acquired) Big Green Egg and access to Whole Foods, I'm reaching a point where steakhouse steaks seem a little less special. On my Sunday visit to Heritage, I started with the Bison carpaccio with olives which was probably the best thing I ate there. The NY Strip was ordered "black and blue" and while the blue part was nailed, it wasn't quite charred. I recall this tasting pretty good, but at that point my aperitif of multiple vodka-sodas began to kick-in so I won't render any firm opinions. Monday morning I had breakfast at Central at Caesar's. Their breakfast potatoes are really well done there. Chunks of potato that are golden and crispy outside, but soft on the inside. Their corned beef is "homemade" and hit the spot without being anything terribly memorable. I've spent many years hanging out on this side of the Strip, so looking forward to shaking things up next year and staying down at the other end toward MGM and Mandalay.

While I have not had the grilled pimento cheese sandwich at Cheesetique, I can report that Cheesetique is responsible for the best pimento cheese sandwich of my life. Buy a package of their store-made pimento cheese and a loaf of their rustic bread. Toast two slices and spread with the cheese. Amazing. My wife and I went to a party where there was a contest for appetizers. She made pimento cheese balls, which were Cheesetique's pimento cheese rolled in crushed pecans. She won.

I can't speak to the places you mentioned, but I've had really great experiences at Ethiopic on H St, NE. It was the first place I had ever tried for Ethipoian food, and I've now been back three times. They have an incredible vegetarian sampler that comes out on injera. While I enjoy the kitfo, it's not necessary. They also have plenty of meat dishes that are cooked. I would also mention that the servers and staff are helpful to newbies, and it has a very comfortable and relaxed atmosphere.

Jackson 20 is one of those places that really doesn't get enough attention. I don't eat here frequently (about 3 or 4 times a year), and yet I can't report a single bad experience. The food is always good, the service is always attentive, the menu changes frequently, and it's loud enough that you can dine with a couple of kids and hardly attract notice. Last night, I glanced at the menu for all of three seconds. The first dinner entree listed was kielbasa and sauerkraut with pierogis. Sold. Served with a side of sour cream and horseradish, it was great. The kids had chicken fingers and mac and cheese. But these weren't Sysco products, they were homemade and finished promptly. The brunches here are also a hit. Their hashbrowns are the real deal (none of this home fries crap). And order something with the sausage gravy which has a delicious hit of maple syrup within. I've had it on their Biscuits and Gravy, and their Chicken Fried Steak. You can't go wrong.

This is my Public Service Announcement on what happens when you try a restaurant without first checking it out on Don Rocks. This weekend found me in Reston, eager to try a restaurant that I don't have closer to home. My phone's internet was running slowly, so I impatiently shut down the browser and just headed in blindly to Big Bowl... and to an almost exact repeat of SeanMike's experience from 2010. The only difference is that I actually tried the salmon pad thai, which the bartender recommended. The salmon was served on the side cooked to the requested medium rare. That covers the nice part of this meal. Everything else about the dish was dreadful. As SeanMike said, it was like the whole dish had been cooked with Lemon Pledge. Acid was the overwhelming flavor of every bite. At least I won't be kicking myself that we don't have a Big Bowl closer to home. Lesson learned. I will be more patient with my phone.

Once upon a time, "frickles" were the only appetizer I would get here. Then I tried the pizza rolls. Crispy, doughy, bacony, with sides of garlicky ranch and a slightly spicy marinara. Can't ditch the frickles, but now there are two "must get" items every time I'm here.

You are right. I neglected to mention the eggs over easy that I got on top. Delicious. It can be tough to find good weekday breakfast places in Alexandria, but Del Ray Cafe is a welcome addition.

Don't know and don't care whether it's "authentic", but Bruegger's Honey Grain bagel is delicious. I get it to go. Get it extra toasted at home, and then apply a small amount of cream cheese. (The worst thing about most bagel places is the gallon of cream cheese they'll put on a standard bagel... a point I think Don has made in the past.)

I've only been there for breakfast a few times, but have enjoyed it immensely each time. Most recently I ordered their French bread with goat cheese, ham and potatoes. Sort of a classed up corned beef hash. It was delicious. Their croissants (regular and chocolate) are excellent, and if you call them a day out, you can order a bunch to go. They were a hit at a recent brunch we hosted.

Had it at the Central in Vegas. It is awesome. My favorite in DC used to be Capital Grille, which featured egg yolk. But it has been years since I tried it.

I've tried a number of different lump and briquette charcoals over the years for both my Weber Smoker and my Weber Grill. In my opinion, Kingsford is the best and most consistent. It doesn't give off as much heat as the lump, but I get around that by just stacking it so the fire is closer to the grill. Lump burns much too quickly for me, especially when it comes to a long cook or smoking.

Just moved into a new home with a yard that is large enough to accomodate a vegetable garden. Would like to get started on one over the 4th of July. Has anyone had experience planting a garden this late in the season? I'd like to try pumpkins, chili peppers, some herbs, and green beans. Anything else that might be good to plant in mid-summer?

Just moved into a new home with a yard that is large enough to accomodate a vegetable garden. Would like to get started on one over the 4th of July. Has anyone had experience planting a garden this late in the season? I'd like to try pumpkins, chili peppers, some herbs, and green beans. Anything else that might be good to plant in mid-summer?

Made my first trip here last night for a quick bite before a Christmas Party, and think Seventh Hill may be the finest pizza in Washington DC. As previously noted, the place is quite small. Just a few tables and space at the bar. But fortunately we were able to grab a couple of barstools. My wife and I split a Penn Ave (tomato, olive, pesto, pecorino, spinach) and a Union Station (goat cheese, mozzarella, pecorino, gorgonzola, garlic). The crust had a great char, cripy outside and chewy within. The Union Station was addictive -- cheesy and garlicky, but also with a hint of something tangy that cut the richness. We only wished we lived closer to make this a more regular spot.

Said farewell to Del Merei last night, and am glad to say that it’s going out on a high note. The cast-iron ribeye with jalapeno haricots verts and onion tangles was the best steak I’ve ever had there. Kicked things off with my last plate of frickles, and wrapped things up by splitting the grilled glazed doughnut. Eric and Mary should be commended for the restaurant they created. For years, Del Merei Grille has been the answer to a myriad of questions such as -- Where to take the visiting parents? Celebrate a birthday? Dine with the picky eater? Go for a date night? You could casually pop into the bar for a hot dog and tater tots, or dress up and enjoy a steak or seafood in the dining room. It was the ideal neighborhood restaurant. I’d imagine the greatest benefit and highest compliment for a restaurant is generating good word of mouth. We first heard about Del Merei from an insistent friend, and after trying it, turned on several other friends to it. Part of Del Merei’s charm was that hundreds of people felt like they ‘discovered’ it. So thank you, Eric and Mary, for the work and dedication that you and your team put into this place over the past five years. It was noticed and appreciated. And if you’re so inclined, please find another location in your neighborhood. We’re all eager to come back.

I was initially looking forward to a new barbecue joint in the neighborhood, but that changed with the news that it would be a BBQ/Sushi/Asian Wok restaurant. It's just a Sbarro's away from being a mall food court. No thanks.

I used to think of Bastille as a very good neighborhood restaurant, but I need to revise that -- it's a very good restaurant period. It's not just a place for locals, it's a place worth a trip. A recent visit was a reminder that this place is getting more sure-footed, and better, with every season. Bastille's caprese has long been a favorite. It's a reminder that the best versions of this dish depend on more than just ripe tomatoes, fresh mozarella and good basil; they also depend on good seasoning. Bastille excels at this. They always seem to add just the right amount of coarse salt or balsamic vinaigrette to really bring the ingredients together, making the sum even better than its parts. But while tomatoes are currently out of season (and caprese is off the menu), Bastille's organic beet carpaccio w/ housemade boursin cheese more than makes up for it. Here again, the folks at Bastille show a deft hand with the seasoning. Adding just the right amount of coarse salt and olive oil, they successfully make the earthy beets and the herbed cheese into a delicious treat. On previous trips to Bastille, I've had good luck with the steak and frites or anything that is braised. I shied away from seafood after having a piece of salmon once that was overcooked. But on my most recent trip, I put my toes back into the water and tried the rockfish with blood orange compote. Am I ever glad I did. The rockfish could not have been cooked better. It had a light crusty exterior, and a rich -- almost creamy -- interior. The orange compote was a great complement too. Bastille seems to be getting more accolades, and more business, as time goes on. It deserves both.