Fast Gourmet, Uruguayan Sandwich Shop at 14th and W Streets NW - Closed

[yfunk3]

FYI, I had the chivito a few weeks ago, late at night, and it was pretty lame (and yet, I've had two people approach me recently, raving about it). A place like this is only as good as whomever is making the sandwiches on any given shift.

Yeah, I sort of figured. I went on a Sunday afternoon, around 3:00, in case anyone was wondering. I would go back if I'm ever in the area (don't really go to U Street area a lot). Tuna would've been superb if the mayo wasn't applied with such a heavy hand. I think they just need a bit of a lighter hand when dressing the sandwiches sometimes? They had all the potential in the world for me, if that makes any difference to anyone reading this. I hate criticizing restaurants when it's probably as much personal preference as it is the restaurant's doing.

[Kibbee Nayee]

I stopped in Fast Gourmet for lunch today, and had a Cubano (eat-in). I've been searching the DC area for a really great Cubano, and while this one wasn't bad, my search will continue. On the plus side, the bun was nicely cross-hatch charred for good flavor and texture, and the cheese had that pleasant melty pull. On the other hand, the ham was a single thin slice, the pickle was indistinct and the pork was pulled as opposed to sliced. But put it all together into a Cubano and would score it a passable B- or thereabouts. The fries were thin, but nicely crispy right out of the fryer. Not a bad lunch meal overall, but not worth a detour. I definitely will try other menu items in the future.

I would also add that Fast Gourmet is not really "fast" and the music is turned up to a level that inhibits the eat-in experience. However, a good sandwich shop is a rare thing in the DC area, so I'm glad this place is on the scene....but unlike a certain WaPo food critic, it probably wouldn't make my list of 40 places I would want to be a regular.

[giant shrimp]

unlike a certain WaPo food critic, it probably wouldn't make my list of 40 places I would want to be a regular.

unless i am mistaken, it looks like he left off the chivito, which has been the big draw for this place. what's that about?

[Pat]

The owners are going to open a new restaurant at Dupont Circle, estimated opening in late March.

[New Foodie]

After hearing about Fast Gourmet for so long now, we finally made it over to 14th and W to try it today for lunch. The place was quite busy, but we were able to grab a table easily, and after a short wait, dug into our massive servings of food.

We shared a Cuban ($8.50 Pork butt, black forest, Swiss, kosher pickles, mustard, Cuban bread) and a Chivito ($13 Tenderloin, mozzarella, black forest, bacon, green olives, hard boiled eggs, escabeche,l,t,o, mayo, Soft roll). The chivito came with fries, and we also shared Beer Battered Eggplant ($4). The Cuban was good, but not one of the best I've ever had. It was a little bit dry (I couldn't really taste the mustard, so perhaps more of that would've helped), but the pork itself was good. We ordered the chivito without olives (neither of us likes them), but there was so much other stuff on the sandwich, I don't think they were missed. It was a bit heavy on the mayo, but had some good flavors between the bacon, steak and ham. The fries were very thin cut and crispy, and the eggplant was good and different. It was sort of like onion rings/straws but with eggplant in the center instead. A bit greasy, but good flavor.

We probably won't head back to Fast Gourmet too often since we're not out on U St that often and parking isn't always the easiest over there, but I'm glad we tried it. It's quite a nice place for being in a gas station! We'd definitely recommend dropping by if you're in the neighborhood.

[DrXmus]

I hit Fast Gourmet for the first time on Friday afternoon. The experience was great, although it was marred by a few issues.

I had Mrs. DrXmus and my elderly aunt and uncle with me. I'll say that Fast Gourmet is *the* place to bring your visitors. They'll have a great story to tell their friends. My relatives were so psyched we had to have the "tourist picture" in front of the gas pumps. The meal started perfectly in that I parked in the second spot from the gas station and the meter still had 45 minutes on it. I figured I'd be screwed for parking, so I couldn't believe my luck. Next, we were accosted by a scammer (I'm guessing) who asked us two guys if we had a twenty for two tens. This isn't the typical scam, but we thought maybe he was dyslexic:-)The third great thing that happened is that my phone didn't get stolen after ending up on the driver's side seat for about 10 minutes before I realized I didn't have it. With women teaching their toddlers to steal iPhones and BikeShare riders punching women and taking their phones without stopping, I figured the phone was a goner. I was elated.

Personally, I really, really like the Chivito. It was salty, but I'm OK with that. I agree that it could've been a much messier sandwich, but it held together to the last bite. My aunt thought the Chivito was too much of a kitchen sink kind of sandwich. She didn't feel that she could tasted all that was going on. My Cuban uncle had the Cubano. I agree with others above who said it wasn't quite flavorful enough, but I thought the pulled pork was tasty and moist enough. Now for the "mixed" part of the review. My wife had the turkey sandwich and asked for no mayo or tomato. Actually, I should say she screamed over the music that she didn't want mayo or tomato on the sandwich. I was repeated by the cashier dude (one of the brothers, I think) and he typed a small essay into the POS computer. When he brought the sandwiches to us, he even said the turkey sandwich was no mayo or tomato. It had both. On the plus side, the turkey wasn't sliced loaf but very flavorful and tender pulled pieces of turkey breast. My relatives wanted the fried yucca, and that turned out to be our biggest mistake. These were easily the worst specimens I've ever had. We each tried 2 pieces and dumped the rest. Considering I'd had the most fluffy and flavorful yucca in Georgia just 2 weeks before, I was sadly disappointed. All of us loved the fresh bread and I liked the narrow fries, although I didn't eat many of them. I ordered the Russian Salad because I was curious. I enjoyed it, but I'm a mayo guy. It's a potato salad with capers, peas, hard-boiled egg and maybe some other stuff I can't remember.

I'll go back to Fast Gourmet, for sure. I'll probably get the Chivito again, but I'm also very curious about the other sandwiches. Mrs. DrX wants to try the felafel. The experience was great, especially with the relatives in tow. My biggest complaint is heavy metal music is way, way, way too loud.

[sphere777]

When Village Voice food critic Robert Sietsema used Twitter to ask for DC suggestions, I replied that he might like Fast Gourmet's chivito. He seemed more than satisfied with his visit:

https://twitter.com/...823054801735680

Rob

[ad.mich]

Just as an FYI the brothers who were the original GM and cook at Fast Gourmet, Manu and Nacho, have not been affiliated with the spot for a while. They have split from their partners at FG and are now solely at the new place on 19th and M NW, called TakEatEasy. Unfortunate name aside, the sandwiches that everyone raved about for a while (then wondered why they dropped off in quality/consistency a few months later when the brothers left) are now located there.

TakEatEasy opens today.

[DonRocks]

Just as an FYI the brothers who were the original GM and cook at Fast Gourmet, Manu and Nacho, have not been affiliated with the spot for a while. They have split from their partners at FG and are now solely at the new place on 19th and M NW, called TakEatEasy. Unfortunate name aside, the sandwiches that everyone raved about for a while (then wondered why they dropped off in quality/consistency a few months later when the brothers left) are now located there.

TakEatEasy opens today.

Wow, I *knew* I wasn't crazy when I was complaining about consistency issues. I had no idea.

I'm downgrading Fast Gourmet in the Dining Guide - this confirms what I've been wondering about.

[Pat]

The owners are going to open a new restaurant at Dupont Circle, estimated opening in late March.

Well, it was a year off on the opening date, but they opened!

It looks like the split between the gas station people and the owners of the new place happened in August.

[KeithA]

Went today for the first time and found it to be good, not great. Nice option if you're nearby, but not worth a trip by any means. I had the Milanese sandwich (breaded thin steak with roasted peppers, hardboiled egg, olives, lettuce, tomato and mayo on a soft roll) and it was made fresh on great bread. It was also huge - I ate half and took the other half to go. I would be a better sandwich with some tweaks IMHO - fried egg, not hardboiled, a bit more sauce and something more exciting than plain mayo, and more olives/peppers, also the steak doesn't need to be pounded to a milimeter thin, a quarter inch would be just fine :-) I subbed out the very boring looking fries that come with lots of the sandwiches for the beer battered eggplant fries - very nice crust and soft gooey eggplant inside - rather tasty. Again would be better without the ranch sauce - something a bit spicy would be better - but I enjoyed the eggplant a bunch without any topping too. Place was pretty clean, service was fine, and music/noise was loud. I was solo, but if you come with someone plan on shouting a bit if you dine in.

[Rhone1998]

KeithA, you can ask for the egg to be fried. Or at least, you used to be able to.

[DonRocks]

Wow, I *knew* I wasn't crazy when I was complaining about consistency issues. I had no idea.

I'm downgrading Fast Gourmet in the Dining Guide - this confirms what I've been wondering about.

Has anyone been recently, and if so, how is the quality these days?

As far as I can see, Fast Gourmet is the only restaurant I can think of without their hours posted on their website - does anyone know what they are?

[Rhone1998]

Fast Gourmet isn't the restaurant it used to be, but it doesn't deserve to be completely written off, either. Think of it as a place for slightly upscale, higher-than-average quality fast food standards (e.g., steak and cheese sandwiches from fresh sliced steak, not the thin frozen pre sliced stuff). It's not the place for revelatory new experiences anymore (I won't soon forget my first chivito there) but for what it is, it's still pretty good, IMO.

[Waitman]

it's a decent sandwich shop now.  Not, to tell you the truth, that I was blown away by the original edition. 

[DonRocks]

My not-so-bold prediction for 2011; once the Logan Circle/U Street/Columbia Heights/Dupont yuppie crowd hear about this place you will have to wait an hour plus on weekends during lunch and dinner for a sandwich. The staff are as nice as it gets but the place is not built to handle high volume and I get the impression that they are very laid back. As Don is fond of saying, GO NOW, as this is the best this place is ever going to be.

Your final sentence was correct.

(If they had retained their cook, your first sentence probably would have been, too. Then again, why didn't TakeEatEasy survive in the downtown-sandwich world?)

[Rieux]

Yes, alas, the Chivito is now a pale imitation of a real Uruguayan one.

[cheezepowder]

Closed.

[DonRocks]

3 hours ago, cheezepowder said:

Closed.

What a senior paper it would make for a Sociology major to write about Fast Gourmet becoming the media darling it was, then Juan "Nacho" Olivera opening TakeEatEasy - which was serving the exact same Chivitos next door to Vidalia - only to be a complete flop for some still-unexplored reason, and then for Fast Gourmet to explode silently, like a muted gunshot on TV, several years later.

Go to post #1 of this thread, and enjoy Rieux's "discovery" of Fast Gourmet while it was still a complete unknown on Jan 10, 2011, and then within days, it exploded like wildfire.

[Gadarene]

58 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

What a senior paper it would make for a Sociology major to write about Fast Gourmet becoming the media darling it was, then Juan "Nacho" Olivera opening TakeEatEasy - which was serving the exact same Chivitos next door to Vidalia - only to be a complete flop for some still-unexplored reason, and then for Fast Gourmet to explode silently, like a muted gunshot on TV, several years later.

Go to post #1 of this thread, and enjoy Rieux's "discovery" of Fast Gourmet while it was still a complete unknown on Jan 10, 2011, and then within days, it exploded like wildfire.

The still-unexplored reason is pretty easy, in my opinion: there's not a ton of foot traffic on that block during the day (as is the case in many blocks in the concrete canyons in that area of downtown), and even less foot traffic at night.  Result: few spontaneous customers, not much buzz, and thus it doesn't/didn't stick in many people's minds, even if they work in that area, as a go-to lunch/dinner option.  Is the izakaya that replaced it still there?  I work a few blocks away and love izakayas, and yet it's never on my radar.

[funkyfood]

8 hours ago, Gadarene said:

The still-unexplored reason is pretty easy, in my opinion: there's not a ton of foot traffic on that block during the day (as is the case in many blocks in the concrete canyons in that area of downtown), and even less foot traffic at night.  Result: few spontaneous customers, not much buzz, and thus it doesn't/didn't stick in many people's minds, even if they work in that area, as a go-to lunch/dinner option.  Is the izakaya that replaced it still there?  I work a few blocks away and love izakayas, and yet it's never on my radar.

I lived a half-block from TakeEatEasy at the time, and it was doomed for a few reasons.  First, the front of that store has this big wall preventing people from seeing inside.  Second, the food I got there the twice I went was really bad (inedibly salty).  Third, as is a damning problem at many places, it didnt know what it wanted to be.  It was part sports bar (with Latin soccer on the big TV), part sit-down restaurant, part...something else.  It just felt off the two times I was there.

I used to go to Fast Gourmet frequently when I lived near there (~2014).  It was declining at the time and I've heard it's gotten much worse since.  The half chicken was pretty good back in the day. 

[DonRocks]

12 minutes ago, funkyfood said:

I lived a half-block from TakeEatEasy at the time, and it was doomed for a few reasons.  First, the front of that store has this big wall preventing people from seeing inside.  Second, the food I got there the twice I went was really bad (inedibly salty).  Third, as is a damning problem at many places, it didnt know what it wanted to be.  It was part sports bar (with Latin soccer on the big TV), part sit-down restaurant, part...something else.  It just felt off the two times I was there.

There is a rather explosive comment in one of the sources cited. Since we have no facts at hand, there really isn't much to discuss about it, but I thought I'd at least let people know it existed - feel free to comment about it over there.