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Showing results for tags 'Ballston'.
Found 37 results
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I will be finding myself in Ballston with regularity and am looking forward to seeing what is close (or close enough) to try. I'll be most often about 4 blocks from the Ballston metro. I see there is a Mussel Bar, a Kapnos Taverna, a Super Pollo and other places to try. Puputella is not too far either. A dash to the German Gourmet to load up on nussschinken and fleischsalat is cool as well. What places should I be trying? Lunches most commonly but also dinners sometimes. I eat anything and am happy with cheap eats to nicer places - I am an equal opportunity eater. TIA.
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So Ballston Quarter...is it going to make it? I realize that it's not fully open but there's something off about it. Maybe it's just that it's not fully open. I don't know. I have been to Mi & Yu noodles twice. The first time miso ramen was bland and beef way overcooked. This time dashi ramen was way over salty (and I love salt) but the duck and egg were nice. Hubby and kids at new barbeque down in the belly of the beast and said it was bland. To quote husband it "tasted like reheated catered food." 5 yr old girl child did eat all of my extra noodles so there's that upside. -
I have been watching this place get whipped into shape and cannot wait for it to open. I love Spanish food and wine. I see promise for Ballston's food scene since the chef was the first chef at Taberna del Alabardero, which is a fantastic Spanish stable in the DC area. "SER Restaurant To Serve Up Spanish-Inspired Comfort Food In Arlington" by Mary Ann Barton on patch.com Team: Chef/Proprietor Josu Zubikarai Sous Chef David Sierra Business Operations/Proprietor Javier Candon Guest Relations/Proprietor Christiana Campos-Candon General Manager Merv Laihow
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Wanted to grab a quick drink and bite with a friend and I thought we'd try Stageplate, having read about it somewhere. Meh - they opened in August and their menu still has "coming soon" teasers of appetizers. There were two and we ordered both - calamari and shrimp. Completely average Limited options of wines by the glass. Entrees were mid 20s to 30s - not sustainable. And a very odd vibe - we both were unsure what to make of the place. I give it 4 months, tops. -
Oh this looks good. Anybody been? Bistro 1521
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When's Rustico opening in Old Town (ish)? Mel? Rabbi? -
a clever plant in ts chat about willow. i don't know what's up but i think maybe its tracy mcgrady's new venture. --- RE: Your Fantasy Restaurant Job: Recently defunct Gaffney's in Ballston is in the process of being reincarnated into "Willow"- I work in the building and have spoken a couple times to the two women owners- they've both worked at Galileo, one was at Kinkead's for a long time the other was one of the originators at Firehook Bakery and spent a year in Tuscany. Their intent is to have EXACTLY the sort of place you describe. I can't WAIT for them to open! Tom Sietsema: Wow! (And good gossip. I'll have to check out the details.) -
I can't think of another Indian restaurant in walking distance of the Ballston metro at the moment. We will definitely give it a try. -
Yes, I am very much looking forward to the new Turkish place. Apr 4, 2018 - "Istanbul Grill Expected To Replace Ballston Area's El Ranchero" by Bridget Reed Morawski on arlnow.com -
The fridge, cabinets and freezer are excrutiatingly low on supplies right now, so the other night it was Doctor Delivery to the rescue. I wanted Thai or Mexican so I was scoping out the selections for the best options sans gluten. Decided to give El Ranchero a try since it had been a while and the menu clearly stated what had corn tortillas versus flour and a lot of the options were with corn, yay! We put in an order and when it arrived there was a bag of fresh hot corn chips and salsa, which I guess comes with every order. The chips were awesome and the salsa was really spicy, a little chunky and pretty good. A nice unexpected addition. I had one of the specials with a spinach and chicken enchilada and beef chalupa. I really liked the dressed lettuce on the chalupa, I put some on my enchilada, as well. The chalupa had gotten a bit soggy in the delivery on the bottom, but the flavors were still very good. The rice with the enchilada was well seasoned, Hubby thought his was a little underdone, but I liked mine and thought it was just right. Enchilada was good, the sauce needed a little kick, but most places do as many people in this area don't like spice as much as me. I believe it was a Ranchero sauce. But overall really good and they had good packaging for delivery and had everything we ordered which is a plus. Anyway it was good, probably would have been better if you had it at the restaurant. I always love the decor of this place when I go, it is cheesy in a good way.
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I don't remember how I heard about this joint. It could've been Tyler Cowen, or it could've been Chowhound. We ordered from the Chinese menu, which has pretty pictures and English translation. We had some mapo fish with tofu ($14), cumin lamb, ($14) pot stickers ($7), and hand scratch pan cake ($4). The cumin lamb arrived first, along with its body odor-like smell. Luckily it tasted much better than it smells. The lamb had some gaminess, but the cumin and chili peppers did a good job of covering that up. Other than 1 particularly chewy piece, the lamb was tender and plentiful. The mapo fish with tofu arrived on a plate rather than a bowl. The tofu was tender and the fish was not the least bit fishy. The more I ate of it, the more I enjoyed it. At first it was just spicy and salty but I detected more flavor as I continued shoveling the stuff down my throat. The pot stickers were nothing special, the dough being rather thick. The pan cake didn't have any flavor. A decent authentic Chinese joint (which makes it 10x better than any American Chinese restaurant in my book). They also have a buffet but I didn't see what was on there. -
Must give a shout-out to one of my favorite sandwich shops around. Generously-sized hand-carved sandwiches on fresh bread at very reasonable prices. Sounds very simple, but I'm always surprised about how few places successfully implement this concept. This is one of them. Last weekend: Roast Turkey sandwich piled with lots of veggies for $5.75 and my personal version of the Turkey Melt (hand-carved turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, sprouts, swiss cheese and honey mustard on a wheat sub roll) for $6.75. One of the best values around, IMHO. -
Rus Uz deserves a mention here. The prices are moderate, the portions generous (3 huge lamb shish kabobs for less than $20), and the food is very tasty. They're getting more popular, though we've been able to walk in and get seated each time. -
In my never-ending quest to find quick breakfasts in my neighborhood, today I tried the Marymount University Ballston Cafe next to the Starbucks at the Blue Goose location. I had a breakfast sandwich with sausage and it was quite delicious. Croissant was nice and buttery. Their morning fruit bar looked good too with fresh strawberries, blueberries, grapes, pineapple, yogurt, granola toppings. Coffee was decent though no match for the Starbucks next door.
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In the old Levante's space, which is closing at the end of the year. Planned opening for the spring. Clickety. Even as casual as this seems to be, it could instantly be one of the best restaurants in mediocre-heavy Bethesda. -
Kriedl sold Cafe Tirolo about a year ago. I tried it once a month later and it was okay (certainly better than Cafe Monti). But I haven't been to Cafe Tirolo lately. -
Big Buns Gourmet Grill, 4401 Wilson Blvd in Ballston (but it's not actually facing Wilson Blvd. It's on the other side of Vapiano in a courtyard between Wilson and Fairfax.) Click for website. I saw this place one day after leaving Vapiano and was curious to try it. It's a fast food burger place. They offer beef, chicken, mahi mahi, or portobello burgers (in a bun or bowl) with your choice of cheeses, toppings and sauces. They also offer regular fries, sweet potato fries, milkshakes, malts, floats, sodas, and beer. Near the soda fountain, they have four Italian soda type syrups that you can mix in your drink, like cherry to make a cherry coke. I had a beef burger which came well-done but was still juicy. (They didn't ask how I wanted it. I don't know if that's an option.) It's not a very thick burger, but it was wide enough that I needed to hold it with both hands. The burger was $5.95, not counting additional charges for special toppings. The fries were each $1.85. I really liked the regular fries, they were thicker than shoestring fries and had a very potato-y flavor though it would be nice if they were just a little crispier. The sweet potato fries were thinner than the regular fries and were ok but nowhere near as good as the ones at Eleventh. Has anyone else tried Big Buns? -
Is there a thread on Pepita? Google didn't find it. I had lunch there the other day. I had the tongue and goat tacos, the tongue was very soft and had good flavor, but the goat was really a star, the flavor combination was great with a little more texture than the tongue. We had chips and the salsa verde. The salsa verde was one of the best I have ever had- it was thicker in texture than most and had a nice kick to it. I also liked the music selection. $24 total for 2 people- 4 fairly good size tacos, chips, salsa and non-alcoholic drinks. Which isn't too bad. I would like to try the veggie taco because I think overall Mike Isabella restaurants have some great veggie dishes.
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Not sure if this is the right place (apologies if it is) but curious to see what everyone's three favorite restaurants are along this area? My 3 in no particular order 1. Pho 75 2. Cava Mezze (esp Brunch) 3. TNR, go to Fish in Szechuan Broth Honorable mention: El Pollo Rico, Green Pig Bistro -
This place has been around for a couple of years but I only decided to try it last night because of NoVa Restaurant Week. I'm on the fence about the place. Nice venue, sort of modern Milan-like. My caprese was good though small. My husband's fried calamari was good. My cappricio di mare was okay - fish and shrimp good, but mussels, clams, and bay scallops chewy and lacked flavor. The sauce was good though but salty. The bread was good. The tiramisu was really good though small. I'm going to give them another chance because I want to like them. I can walk there from my house. So I will go again and try other things from their menu. Service is friendly and good. An organization I volunteer with holds Opera Buffs Happy Hours here once a month and the restaurant is very supportive of that. That also makes me want to give them another try.
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Haven't tried the new incarnation (First Down) yet, but did notice the new paint job (bright green) in the otherwise drab block. A quick glance at the menu in the window shows typical bar food but a wide variety of wings (bone-in and boneless.) They also advertised delivery (for a fee) with $15+ orders. -
According to Kelly Andrews' tweet, Republic is having their grand opening next weekend.
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Buzz officially opened its doors this morning at 6 AM. The cupcakes, chocolate bombs and pies look amazing in their shiney new cases, and the morning pastries were hard to resist! I'm looking forward to several morning stops in on my way to work (even if it's not on my way). The shop is open every night until midnight. If you don't want to make dessert for Thursday, stop by and pick something up (or call & place an order!). The website is www.buzzonslaters.com. -
If this restaurant is already in the Dining Guide, then please move this post. But I couldn't find it and it's not a chain, so here I go....good find! Shiki Sushi had me expecting a typical suburban sushi place with some Asian fusion and so-so sushi. After all, the good sushi places are all downtown, right? Get your butts to Shiki Sushi in the Ballston Mall, and get there soon, before they discover that their quality is high above the typical suburban sushi joint. The sushi in this place is pristine as all get-out, and the quality is top notch. Lady KN and I had ample amounts of tuna, salmon, toro, shrimp and eel nigiro -- each one was spectular -- as well as spicy tuna roll and spider roll. I would eat here daily if I could. What a pleasant Mall surprise. I asked and asked and asked again, and they are not part of a chain. I don't know if that's good or bad in their case, because Mall rents can be rather hefty, but this is a first-class sushi restaurant. But this place is quite the surprise as far as quality goes, and I'll need to circle back to confirm that over multiple visits and multiple menu selections. But suffice it to say, as Northern Virginia sushi is concerned, Shiki Sushi is now in my rotation. http://www.shikisushiballston.com/ -
Had dinner with the wife and friends at Grandcru-Wine, which is located next to big buns and behind the Westin in Arlington. It is a store restaurant combination with an interesting concept. You can buy a bottle and enjoy it with dinner for a $5.00 corkage fee. The wine selection is interesting and all over the place. For me there seems an overall lack of direction in the collection. We found a decent Burgundy to settle on, after looking for a while. We had a few apps before dinner and had a hit with the mushroom tart and a major miss with the cheese and meat tray. It was a misdirected combination of hard cheddar, smoked Gouda, and salami, all could have been purchased at the local Safeway. By far the worst I have ever had. For dinner the wife had the white truffle orzo, which was well prepared and flavorful and well priced at $10.00. I had the duck breast with sweet mashed potato. The duck was well prepared, tender and flavorful. A simple well prepared duck breast is hard to find, they did it well. For desert we had port, which they let us sample before we purchased and the chocolate fondue, it was decent, but not great. Overall the food was good with some major misses along the way. I think if you are careful with your selections it could be a decent experience. My hope is that they tighten up their wine selections and provide more focus.
