Grass Roots Station, Italian and Ethiopian in the old La Piazza Space near Braddock Road Metro - Closed

[goldenticket]

Applicant says "it is basically staying the same" - we'll have to see about that.

Not feeling real confident that "staying the same" is going to mean good Italian. Sign over the door says "Grass Roots Joint" Coming Soon... thought I might have seen a hookah inside. Guess I'll reserve judgment until they actually open.

[Escoffier]

Not feeling real confident that "staying the same" is going to mean good Italian. Sign over the door says "Grass Roots Joint" Coming Soon... thought I might have seen a hookah inside. Guess I'll reserve judgment until they actually open.

Kind of what we're doing as well. That was our go-to place on those late metro days when we didn't feel like waiting to get home to eat (a 10 minute drive in the worst of times but, what can you say?). Either this is going to be a beer and BBQ place or a Flavors wannabe or...?

[goldenticket]

For those who may be more daring (or interested) than I am, today's Groupon is for Grass Roots Station.

(and it's neither a beer/BBQ place nor a Flavors wannabe - at least according to the menu)

[wlohmann]

My wife, son and I used our Groupon on Friday night at Grass Roots Station. What an odd place - - non-descript cafe-ish atmosphere with very random decoration (mannequin head wearing sunglasses, tree-branch mounted on wall). Menu that is part sandwich shop, part Italian pasta joint and part Ethiopian vegetarian. But, you know? In sort of an odd neighborhood-ish joint kind've way it worked for me! Prices are very reasonable (and the Groupon made it MORE reasonable), service was very friendly (if a bit scattered) and the dishes we sampled were tasty. I went for the vegetarian sampler, billed on the menu as sauteed spinach, a chickpea dish and a red lentil dish (no ethnicity specified). It arrive with a couple little rollups of injera and the promised red lentils and spinach but a third dish that seemed more yellow lentil than chickpea- -nonetheless all were well-prepared (and the red lentils brought some very welcome heat!). In keeping with the esoteric premise, my son had tortellini with pesto (humdrum but tasty enough) and my wife had a tunafish sandwich, which she enjoyed. We shared an(ample) glass of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. The owner, who I understand brings the Ethiopian connection (the chef is apparently Italian), was in the house and gracious when we greeted her on the way out.

[catharine]

My sister and I stopped in here last night and I have to say, I was pretty surprised by how much we liked it. We are definitely planning to go back.

I think wlohmann really nailed the pertinent details. Two things that haven't been mentioned: 1) The restrooms situation is unfortunate. You have to get the key and go outside and down a corridor to get to the restroom. 2) The place is adorable. In addition to tables, there is a bar area and a little informal sofa and chairs area. When we arrived there was a solo diner finishing his meal in the "living area." It looked like a very comfortable place for a solo diner and my sister, who lives nearby, plans to return on her own on occasions where she wants a good meal but doesn't feel like the formality of Evening Star.

Onto the food. We started with the Grass Roots Salad, which was mixed greens, beets, goat cheese, and green beans in an orange dressing. It was perfect. Just the right balance of ingredients and not heavily dressed. We were also served some delicious bread - slices of grilled or toasted french bread. Yum!

For my entree, I had the lobster ravioli special. It consisted of six (?) large ravioli in a delicious tomato cream sauce. I was shocked when I cut into the ravioli and there were huge pieces of lobster meat. It appeared to be claw meat, but whatever it was, it was terrific. And for $12.95, I thought it was quite a deal.

My sister ordered the vegetarian sampler that wlohmann mentioned above. Apparently the menu we were given was not correct so we were a little surprised that this included sautéed greens as one of the three items instead of the Bolivian potatoes. Not a big deal. I was skeptical about ordering Ethiopian food here, but it was excellent. The injera was as good as any I've had. I'm a huge Ethiopian food fan and my sister made fun of me for devouring my meal and part of hers, but hey, I'm eating for two. (In addition to the Vegetarian Sampler on the menu, they had the Mak's Special available. I think it was $12 for 5-6 vegetarian items.)

Everything was delicious and we will definitely be back. There was one adorable waitress working the entire place. She had the nicest demeanor and was very helpful in choosing our dishes. She was a nice ray of sunshine on a yucky, rainy night.

[DonRocks]

Catharine,

First of all - great, great review.

Even more importantly (from my administrative end), it is so vitally important to report omissions such as this from the dining guide. I would have never known - it was merely an oversight that would have gone undetected ad infinitum unless you had pointed it out. Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention.

If anyone sees a restaurant in this forum that isn't in the dining guide (every single restaurant should be), please, please, PLEASE bring it to my attention, either publicly or privately. This was just a pain old oversight that has since been corrected.

Cheers, and thank you (and everyone else) so much for all that you do for this community - this website is worth absolutely nothing without its invaluable members such as you. I love all of you guys more than you will ever know.

Thank you!

Rocks

[goldenticket]

Grass Roots Station is closed.

There is an SUP application posted for a change of ownership to Dos Amigos Tex-Mex. The application includes a request for extended hours ('til 11:00 pm on Friday and Saturday; 10:00 pm most other nights.

[DonRocks]

Grass Roots Station is closed.

There is an SUP application posted for a change of ownership to Dos Amigos Tex-Mex. The application includes a request for extended hours ('til 11:00 pm on Friday and Saturday; 10:00 pm most other nights.

What people don't know, and probably can't understand, is that I say a small, silent prayer for little independent establishments such as Grass Roots Station that close. People work so hard to open their life's dream, and when it fails, I want them to know that the individuals didn't fail; the individuals succeeded for having tried, and failed. Thank you, my friends, for trying, and good luck with your next venture.

Cheers,

Rocks