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Ozzie's Corner Italian, Grand Commons Avenue in Fairfax Corner


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Went to see a movie today at Fairfax Corner. While there, I noticed signs for a new Italian GAR establishment. It's in that building that used to have an organization/shelving/container type store.

Yes, this is the same shopping center as the Fairfax Coastal Flats.

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Went to see a movie today at Fairfax Corner. While there, I noticed signs for a new Italian GAR establishment. It's in that building that used to have an organization/shelving/container type store.

Yes, this is the same shopping center as the Fairfax Coastal Flats.

Thanks, dgreen. Here's GARG's press release from June 19th.

Also, the day after you posted, the Washington Post came up with this online (without any attribution to you, I'm sorry to say).

Cheers,

Rocks.

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Based on the name, I must ask if all of the waiters are heavily tattooed with prison quality ink and stumble around like a drunken idiot, speaking in a form of gibberish that would even perplex a Welshman?

Short-smoked salmon with pasta pomodoro?

Close, actually "Salmon Puttanesca …lightly smoked & wood grilled Scottish salmon w. mascarpone polenta"

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Why don't you go and find out?

From what I can see on the menu it just looks like any other GAR but with an inordinate amount of code-switching and a few things to make their dishes honest to goodness Eye-talian... that is not to say that they will suck, I just cannot see myself driving to Fairfax to try them.

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I tried them this past Friday...I can't say any of us had anything too Italian though. I had Grilled Halibut on Lentils. It was a very generous serving and the fish was cooked perfectly. Husband had Hanger Steak with mashed potatoes which came out medium rare as ordered. Kids had salad and chicken fingers? There were Italian sounding entrees, just was not in the mood for them. All in all, same as all other Great American restaurants, consistantly good quality food at fair prices with good service. BTW servers were the same as all other GAR, clean cut polite young people.

People should refrain from "reviewing" without actually trying. It comes across as pure arrogance.

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Their take on that sit-down chain standby, spindip, actually contained Mediterranean spinach, roasted eggplant, and pine nuts. It definitely had an Italian flair about it, and was probably the best spindip I've ever had.

The pasta was certainly a step more advanced that primavera and alfredo, but my rigatoni gorgonzola dulce was sadly underseasoned.

If you've ever eaten GAR's highly addictive "donut bread" (my term), you'll love their focaccia. I don't know what they do to it, but the texture is unique and exciting: it's almost like the bread is deep fried.

All in all, Ozzie's brings the solid if predictable formula I've come to know and love from the other GAR establishments: I'm consistently impressed with the efficiency of their service, and can't imagine most restaurants being this "on the ball" after only two days of being open.

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Dan, how is Mediterranean spinach different from regular spinach?

BTW servers were the same as all other GAR, clean cut polite young people.

People should refrain from "reviewing" without actually trying. It comes across as pure arrogance.

Well, there you go, no more commenting about restaurants unless I have been there the requisite three times, for lunch and dinner spread over a number of weeks, oh and absolutely no comments concerning the menu I have read online, or making jokes of any kind. I will be sure to keep all of that in mind as I wouldnt want to come across as I generally prefer my arrogance to be of a sullied nature, nothing pure about it. I will be sure to patrol the site for violations of the Raisa Rule and bring it to everyone's attention.

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Dan, how is Mediterranean spinach different from regular spinach?

Well, there you go, no more commenting about restaurants unless I have been there the requisite three times, for lunch and dinner spread over a number of weeks, oh and absolutely no comments concerning the menu I have read online, or making jokes of any kind. I will be sure to keep all of that in mind as I wouldn’t want to come across as I generally prefer my arrogance to be of a sullied nature, nothing pure about it. I will be sure to patrol the site for violations of the Raisa Rule and bring it to everyone's attention.

No you most definately can give you opinions/views after one visit... What made you think I was referring to you? :( And no need for you to patrol, Don does a great job without the help.

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Just had a quick lunch there with a former colleague. It feels like a GAR restaurant as far as the space is concerned, although much less crowded than they normally are, likely due to the awful weather and the newness of the restaurant. Service was fantastic, as always. Some people don't like the service at their restaurants, some think that they are TOO on top of things, but I always like it and felt that everyone was up to speed, even at such an early date. The menu seemed restrained to me. Some things sounded very good, but you could tell that they didn't want to go full on Italian. Essentially, they want to be all things to all people, which usually doesn't work out very well, but I figure that if someone wants to eat a cheeseburger at an Italian place, who am I to stop them? Wine list, again, seemed restrained. They had the requisite Italian wines, but they had to put all the stuff on there that the normal suburbanite would recognize as well. Cocktail list followed a similar pattern (i.e., let's make an Italian version of a margarita or a mojito or sangria).

As for the food, it was fine. I had the lasagna which was filling and had some high points, but the low point (the meatballs) were pretty low. I ate them, but they had a funny taste to them, couldn't figure out for the life of me what it was, but I can tell you it wasn't good. My friend had a chicken parm sandwich with fries, he seemed to like it. Many more interesting things on the menu, but we both had to eat and run, so it will take a few more visits to make a good determination on the food.

Overall, typical GAR restaurant. I don't have a problem with that at all, others obviously do. But, there are obviously many more people who love them than hate them out there, so it will be wildly successful. I see myself heading there for lunches or quick dinners on off hours every once in a while. But, I only live 2 minutes away, I definitely wouldn't make a special trip out there.

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I had the lasagna which was filling and had some high points, but the low point (the meatballs) were pretty low. I ate them, but they had a funny taste to them, couldn't figure out for the life of me what it was, but I can tell you it wasn't good.

I had the same feeling, especially about the meatballs, Saturday night. Overall, it was just an ok dish, which is kind of disappointing for $17. I was deciding between the lasagna and the other pasta that had the wild boar bolognese and I opted for the lasagna since it had meatballs. Like you, I ate them and didn't really like them.

Minor nitpick. I wasn't the biggest fan of the lasagna being served in a hot cast iron pan. I just don't get why they would serve it in something like that and tell you to be careful not to touch it because it was so hot. They nicely asked whether I was right handed or left handed so they could have the pan handle on the opposite side, but for some reason I was slightly annoyed that they'd serve it in a dish that I had to work around in order to eat my meal. How about just put it on a plate so I don't have to worry about burning myself? Not a big deal, though. I think I was just already somewhat annoyed at the lack of interesting options on the menu. Not sure I really expected anything different and maybe I just wasn't in the mood for Italian. But, I was really hoping something would jump out at me as something I really wanted to order. I almost just went with a steak or the Italian Panini.

My wife had the Chicken Panini and the mushroom soup. She really enjoyed the soup and the panini was pretty good and served with the typical thin fries.

We called at 5:15 to put our names on the list and we were told it would be about an hour and a half, so I think they are in full GAR swing with long waits.

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