Flat Top Burger (Formerly Chickpea Mediterranean Grill), Hamburgers Replace Quick-Serve Middle-Eastern in Del Ray near Potomac Yard - Closed (Temporarily?)

[anhdeluxe]

Chickpea Mediterranean Grill soft-opened a couple months ago and I have been pleased each time I have been able to eat there. (The hours were a little wacky. Late-night dining is only available some nights and they do close early and unexpectedly when they run out of food) Imagine a Chipotle but with hummus and falafel. They have bases of different rices, pita, salad greens or quinoa. The protein options are a rotating mix of chicken, steak, lamb, pork or meatballs and falafel. (I would stick with pork or lamb but others have really liked the spicy chicken) The toppings are standard but the house made sesame slaw is really tasty. I could eat a dish of that alone. They top it off with dressings and sauces of your choosing and off you go to eat! I also recommend washing it down with housemade lemonade that you can add mint to. Best thing is the special Greek fries but it's hard to dispute the genius of hot fresh fries tossed with herbs and feta cheese. 

[noamb]

We really wanted to like this place, but were underwhelmed. We had a salad, spicy chicken, hummus, and falafel. Nothing was better than OK, and everything needed more flavor. The hummus was kinda cold and bland - desparately needed something, lemon juice or tahini or salt. The spicy chicken was just spicy, not much else. Some of the toppings were decent, but not enough for me to remember specifics. We'll give them a few more weeks to see if some of the recipes improve.

[plunk]

We were here for lunch a few weeks ago.  In this genre, I prefer Roti, but can't really articulate why.  But for a quick, relatively cheap lunch with the kids, I give Chickpea a B+.

[Kibbee Nayee]

On 6/27/2016 at 9:25 PM, noamb said:

We really wanted to like this place, but were underwhelmed. We had a salad, spicy chicken, hummus, and falafel. Nothing was better than OK, and everything needed more flavor. The hummus was kinda cold and bland - desparately needed something, lemon juice or tahini or salt. The spicy chicken was just spicy, not much else. Some of the toppings were decent, but not enough for me to remember specifics. We'll give them a few more weeks to see if some of the recipes improve.

Stopped in for lunch today. This place is trying hard -- bubbly service behind the counter and around the dining area. The food doesn't seem to have a lot of taste. It's like a Chipotle-meets-Mediterranean-lunch-counter kind of place. The bowl I ordered had mixed greens, grilled beef kafta, cucumber and mint salad, hummus and roasted veggies. The flavors just didn't seem to come together, and the kafta and cucumber salad were on the bland side. I'll try it again, but this visit was in the B-/C+ range.

[noamb]

Seems to have abruptly turned into a burgers and shakes place, Flat Top.

[anhdeluxe]

I have no idea what happened to Chickpea but I stopped to try the burgers last night- great brioche buns, prices, milkshakes, pickles and fries. Burger patty was a little dry. Basic toppings are free and included, the single burger is under 5 bucks. The cheese is extra. You can get bacon, grilled mushroomsnor onions and other toppings for extra too. They have beer and seem to be doing pretty busy business. 

[Simul Parikh]

Tough location ...

[DonRocks]

6 hours ago, anhdeluxe said:

They have beer and seem to be doing pretty busy business. 

Now you know why Chickpea Mediterranean Grill may have abruptly closed.

Don't forget, Chickpea was owned by Del Ray Pizza.

Flattop Burger has the exact same phone number that Chickpea did - does anyone know if this is simply a new concept, as opposed to a closure and a sale?

(I'm going to assume yes until told otherwise.)

[ktmoomau]

Flat Top is in our new hood, so we tried it out Sunday.  I got a bacon cheeseburger, which I would prefer a little more rare, but their burgers are kind of thin style, and it wasn't bad at all, it just wasn't my favorite burger either.  (Holy Cow is a couple more blocks and makes a better burger IMHO)  BUT I thought the onion rings were REALLY good.  I thought for the price of the large fries onion rings basket it could be a little bigger, but the rings were small, crispy and good with the sauce.  The fries were fine, just not special, but not bad.  I would like to try the pitcher of beer special.  It took a little bit longer to get them on a Sunday than I would expect, but there was a little bit of a line in front of me.  I think some of the add on prices, for seasoning added to fries or say $1 for american cheese is a bit rich, but their base prices are pretty reasonable.  The bacon was very good and worth the upgrade for me.

[ktmoomau]

Word on the street is this place may be closed.  It wasn't for lack of Hubby and I trying.

[DonRocks]

On 1/20/2019 at 9:15 PM, ktmoomau said:

Word on the street is this place may be closed.  It wasn't for lack of Hubby and I trying.

I'm not sure what to make of this - I guess for now, I'll keep it in a holding pattern.

[anhdeluxe]

Now it’s a dog park that offers food and drink. Barkhaus.