William_V

The Falls Church location apparently suffered from low turnover, so they closed it.  I liked it because it was quick, casual and self-service (unlike the other locations that are all sit-down waiter service places).  The other locations are still going, but I have the feeling RH&B has its best days behind it.

Check out Dickie's Barbecue, a Dallas Texas chain now open on Gallows Road near the Dunn Loring Merrifield metro.  I think it's excellent value.  Hope it has enough turnover in this location to continue in the area.

We tried it a few nights ago and I was impressed. I lived in N.O for several years, so I'm fairly well-versed in the cuisine, and this was very acceptable on a neighborhood joint level. I hadn't had authentic tastking Beignets in many years. It's very good value for money too. Most of the dinner entrees were 16-17, a plate of three beignets was 4 and a very nice bottle of Pinot Grigio was 21.

The one in Merrifield is very good - has a nice homey feel to it. The sauce is great. I don't like the one in Springfield as well for some reason. I have a feeling they operate pretty independently.

You have to look carefully for the Merrifield one. It's on the north side of Lee Highway just east of Cedar lane.

My pet peeve about dining in the D.C. area is the high price of enjoying even a simple wine with your meal. So often, I scan the list and discover that the cheapest bottle is 36 or 38 bucks, which means over $50 when tax and tip are added. House wines and carafes are rare. Glasses often start at 10-12 bucks, and you don’t even know how much, or how little, you’re getting (throughout Europe, menus have to include the volume of every drink sold). In all, a real financial deterrent to eating out frequently, unless you want to forego the wine (for me, not an option).

As a result, I am always on the lookout for restuarant wine specials (not bar specials)– usually mid-week or happy hour specials. I would like to compile a definitive list, and hope that some of you can contribute. Many of these specials are known mainly to regulars and are not much advertised. Arlington, and maybe other jurisdictions, prohibits the advertising of drink specials.

I am interested only in wine specials that you can drink with your regular restaurant meal. Please don’t list bar-only happy hour specials. There are zillions of those.

I’ll start out the list with some that I know about. Please correct them if they are out–of- date:

-Floriana (Italian, 17th St.) – Half priced bottles on Monday and Wednesday evenings (good stuff, too).

-Veranda (Mediterranean – 11th St.) – Half priced bottles on Tuesday evenings.

-Brasserie Beck - Selected bottles (expensive ones) half priced on Tuesday evenings.

-Bistro Bistro (Connecticut above Dupont circle) - Happy hour house wines at @4.00/glass until 7:00 pm M-F served with meals.

-Café Odeon (Connecticut above Dupont circle) - Happy hour house wines at @3.50/glass until 7:00 pm M-F served with meals.

-Whitlow’s on Wilson (Clarendon) - Happy hour house wines at @4.00/glass until 7:00 pm M-F served with meals.

-Mexicali Blues (Clarendon) – Half-priced bottles on Wednesday evenings.

-Vapiano (Chinatown, M Street, Ballston) - Happy hour house wines at @4.00/glass until 7:00 pm M-F available with meals.

Feel free to mention places that regularly have lower priced options, i.e. bottles for $26 or less. Also, are there any good BYOB venues these days? I don’t know of any.

Wendy's has been going downhill for several years now. I used to think it was the best of the ff hamburger joints and would look for one while traveling in strip mall land. Now I don't bother. The quality control has gone to hell. I think it started to fall apart about the time the old guy died.