Seasons 52, An Orlando-Based Chain - Health-Conscious Dishes in Rockville and Tysons Corner

[Joe H]

Well, I have raved about Seasons 52 in this thread.

Recently, I went to the Rockville Pike restaurant and, frankly, didn't like it. I don't know what to say: Sand Lake road in Orlando has character and personality-this felt like a chain outpost of a large corporation-which it is. Cedar plank salmon was good, flatbreads OK, but there was nothing that I really felt put it over the top.

I really feel that for everyone that read my posts above I should apologize. And, Tyson's? Can't stand it-it opens to the Mall.

I like the Atlanta Seasons 52's (Perimeter Mall feels like Sand Lake road) along with Orlando's other location. I'm not a fan of their Tampa outlet. But based on the two in the D. C. area they are not rolling something out nationally which captures what their earliest stores have. I couldn't have been more disappointed.

[porcupine]

Seasons 52 has the great virtues of being located only a few minutes from my mother-in-law's house and having food she'll actually eat, so maybe the bi-monthly misery of where-to-go-for-brunch negotiations with the Millers is finally over, because I didn't think it was bad. Well, my starter salad of baby spinach, pear, pine nuts and gorgonzola wasn't bad, but come to think of it, the grilled shrimp over penne pasta with spinach, mushrooms, and red bell peppers was bad. The shrimp were tough from being overcooked, the penne were almost mushy from being overcooked, and the combined flavor of the whole thing was just...odd. Mr P didn't like it, either. I offered a bite to MIL, who liked it enough to say that she'll order it next time. She's already making plans to bring her lunch club and garden club here.

No way each of those dishes, at that portion size, was under 500 calories. I just don't believe it.

I appreciate the dessert concept. The coffee was undrinkable.

At least the menu is long enough that I can explore a bit more without being too disappointed. I hope. Because I expect I'll be dining at Seasons 52 a few more times in 2013. Here's to mixed blessings.

[Bob Wells]

_{I had a very nice meal at the Orlando location in November. I vaguely knew they had an outpost at Tysons but since I don't work there I've never been to it. Anyway, my three colleagues and myself all enjoyed it. I would certainly try the Tysons location.}

[kirite]

_{I had a very nice meal at the Orlando location in November. I vaguely knew they had an outpost at Tysons but since I don't work there I've never been to it. Anyway, my three colleagues and myself all enjoyed it. I would certainly try the Tysons location.}

Beware! The Tysons Seasons 52 is extremely noisy and crowded. I had a reservation and had to wait 45 minutes for a table. And this was on a week night.

[hm212]

I had a nice meal here last night;

Not the best meal that I have ever had but a nice healthy meal that I was very comfortable with. I have been avoiding eating out a lot because of the extra calories in restaurant food. I got the lamb chops with asparagus and based on the portion size (relatively small but not tiny) I think the 500 calories was probably accurate. Very tender and flavorful.

a couple of apps each at no more than 300 calories were split (mushroom caps stuffed with shrimp, scallop and a pinch of panko), I had some trouble believing that they really came in at the calories they claimed but it was not out of control. Not everything was a hit the non fried egg rolls stuffed with crab, definitely had a poor vegetable to ratio (but I am sure that is how they kept it in calorie check).

Desserts are nice and tiny so that you can have something sweet without worrying - The mango cheesecake and rocky road something were split between two and they were 300 calories each - based on the size probably accurate. Desserts were really good, sweet without sicky sweet and the small size let you savor it.

Service was really nice last night and I felt waited on without any pretense. The manager was walking around the dining room stopping at every table asking each table how the night was going. It was done nicely without feeling intrusive. I would go back anytime, they let me feel comfortable.

[B.A.R.]

Looking for a quick bite to eat yesterday before the IMAX showing of "Gravity", my lovely bride and I popped in to Seasons 52 yesterday as I assumed it was the place I would "hate the least" in Tyson's. Unfortunately, it did not turn out that way.

They have a nice special for $15, where you get a flight of three wines and a flatbread. You choose your favorite of the flight, and you get a glass of that. The flight pours were generous (about 2.5oz), so this was about 2 1/2 glasses of wine and a flatbread for $15. As mentioned above, the flatbread is impossibly thin, and although the toppings were well seasoned, balanced and flavorful, ultimately the flatbread needed more bread.

Other than that......everything was bad. Our server was very nice and helpful, but we ordered four items from the menu and all four were terrible. The tuna and avocado roll tasted as if it had been rolled the day before. It was dry, cold, with indistinguishable flavors. And they don't use nori to roll their sushi, rather it was bound by a thin white something that resembled rice paper but tasted like nothing. My wife ate one piece, and I ate two pieces.  We ordered a side of edamame which was overcooked and mushy. We ordered a side of Tamale Tots. No corn flavor, just little squares of some unknown dry paste flash fried and served with two cloying sauces.

I had the turkey burger. I eat a lot of turkey burgers. I LIKE turkey burgers. Hands down the worst turkey burger I have ever had. Pre-made patty, brick hard and devoid of any moisture, lathered with maybe teriyaki sauce. If this was the first turkey burger you ever had, guaranteed you would never have another. Just awful.

There are many people on this board and elsewhere who really, really like Seasons 52. I respect their opinions and concede that I may have just ordered the four shakiest things on the menu, executed by the B team. Other food coming out of the kitchen, like the trio of tacos and the snapper filet, looked really, really good. Wine program is solid, and God bless them for offering a $19 Godello BTG.

[DonRocks]

Wine program is solid, and God bless them for offering a $19 Godello BTG.

Is this a typo?

Assuming you mean BTB, do you remember which Godello it was?

Although I said this on page one, it's worth mentioning again: their flatbreads are deceptive - they arrive, and the diner is like, "Wow!" But then they're gone, and you're still starving. Still, they're tasty, and two of them with a bottle of decent Godello (which is probably unoaked since it's on the cheaper end - a good thing!) would make for a passable, if corporate, emergency meal, if in fact they really have a $19 bottle of Godello.

(We're expecting a full report of Gravity in the proper thread, btw.)

[B.A.R.]

Is this a typo?

Nope. I was paying more attention to my wife and just skimming the list but it was in the "Drink this before it's famous" section and it was a $19 BTG/ $70 something bottle of Godello. Cara said, "that probably sells as much as the premium Gewurztraminer at Ruths Chris"

(We're expecting a full report of Gravity in the proper thread, btw.)

Done. Loved it.

[DonRocks]

Nope. I was paying more attention to my wife and just skimming the list but it was in the "Drink this before it's famous" section and it was a $19 BTG/ $70 something bottle of Godello. Cara said, "that probably sells as much as the premium Gewurztraminer at Ruths Chris"

This is criminal. Shame on Seasons 52 for blatantly ripping off unsuspecting customers.

Maybe it's time to start a Wine Rip-Offs thread where people can call restaurants to task for excessive mark-ups. Finding the retail price of a bottle is easily enough done on wine-searcher.com.

This really, really makes me angry and represents about ten different things that I hate, from widespread ignorance to predatory greed.

[B.A.R.]

It was Bodegas Avanthia Godello, which retails around $30+ (information courtesy of Larry Page and Sergei Brin)

[DonRocks]

It was Bodegas Avanthia Godello, which retails around $30+ (information courtesy of Larry Page and Sergei Brin)

I'm getting more mid-$20s, and that's full-bore retail. Seasons 52 buys a *lot* of wine and, I suspect, negotiates discounts even off of the wholesale level - in fact, I'm willing to bet that they're selling glasses of this for a good bit more than they're paying for the entire bottle.

Hey George Miliotes, Master Sommelier, I didn't realize becoming an M.S. gave you license to sell your soul and rip off unwitting consumers. Isn't this sort of the *opposite* reason of why you got into wine to begin with? Well, I guess if you're going to cash in, it may as well be at a place like this Orlando-based theme park.

(Ironic that the first two bottles in my cellar were purchased at Village Vintner, a long-forgotten wine store in one of the Disney World strip shopping centers - I still have both bottles today, and I doubt I'll ever drink them.)

[wristband]

Agree with Don on the Godello rant.  I enjoy Godello, a bottle sells for less than $30 a bottle if you sniff around (low $20's at Balducci's) but this is quite a mark up - per glass! - over the top.  Seriously, $19 per glass for a pleasant but lower end white wine?  What's next, Albarino by the glass for $35?

I did like 52 when it opened at Tysons and posted so here.  But I have not returned after two "just average" luncheon experiences last year.

[schulju]

I've been avoiding this place like the plague.  I couldn't imagine what sort of precious portions of steamed/grilled protein and veg could make it to a plate and stay under 475 calories.  I'd still be wondering if it weren't that a friend's dietary restrictions resulted in a group of us meeting up at the Tyson's location on Friday night.

Hubby and I got to the mall early and had a cocktail and a bar snack across the way at BRIO in an attempt to stave off the starvation we were expecting to face at dinner.    (Which by the way, at $5 cocktails and $4 snacks, is a pretty decent happy hour.)

Honestly, for the most part, I was pleasantly surprised.  I was able to get a decent glass of wine.  The flatbreads were quite good.  The six of us shared three: chicken, shrimp and mushroom.  Hubby ordered the mussels, and they were absolutely awful.  The sauce was flavorless, but since I couldn't get past the gritty texture of the mussels themselves, I barely noticed it.  I had a tuna salad for dinner, and someone else got the tuna appetizer for dinner.  It was the same serving of tuna, mine came with a mix of greens and grilled pineapple on top.  The menu said it included almonds, but I never found one, I would have liked the crunch.  Hubby got the salmon.  It was well cooked and he enjoyed it.  But the protein servings are quite small and if you have a big appetite, you might leave hungry even after appetizers and desert.  Hubby wanted to hit up McDonald's on the way home.  This was definitely not enough food for him.

Service was okay, but the pacing was slow.  Two and a half hours for dinner.  We were enjoying the company, but there's no reason that the meal should have taken that long.  Dinner at Family Meal the next night cost the very same $101, and we didn't need to hit a different restaurant before and after the meal to get enough to eat.