Ted's Montana Grill, Four Virginia Locations - A Georgia Chain Featuring Bison Steaks in 15-20 States

[mxyzptlk]

I went to Ted's Montana Grill in Crystal City for lunch today and it was ok. Nothing spectacular or noteworthy. A couple things though:

1. Everything they offer in beef, they also offer in bison. There is a nominal upcharge.

2. The onion rings are enormous. If you order the onion ring appetizer, you will get what amounts to probably 3-4 onions on your plate.

3. Service today was very overzealous, but that's to be expected as they opened recently (not sure of the exact date).

4. I was the only uniformed military member in the place which is very odd for Crystal Drive at that hour.

Edited for grammar.

[BookGuy]

On Friday, I took a gastronomically limited friend to Ted's Montana Grill in Ballston. I know that the chain also has branches in Crystal City and out near the Eisenhower Avenue Metro. We both had the bison meatloaf with squash and mashed potatoes. He had the special apple crisp for dessert while I opted for the root beer float. The root beer seems to be made by the Montana Grill people and doesn't appear in a branded bottle. I thought the food was fine and reasonably priced, the cost for two with nonalcoholic drinks and side salads came to less than fifty dollars. I know we tend to look down on chains but this seems to be good enough to deserve more attention.

[DLB]

On Friday, I took a gastronomically limited friend to Ted's Montana Grill in Ballston. I know that the chain also has branches in Crystal City and out near the Eisenhower Avenue Metro. We both had the bison meatloaf with squash and mashed potatoes. He had the special apple crisp for dessert while I opted for the root beer float. The root beer seems to be made by the Montana Grill people and doesn't appear in a branded bottle. I thought the food was fine and reasonably priced, the cost for two with nonalcoholic drinks and side salads came to less than fifty dollars. I know we tend to look down on chains but this seems to be good enough to deserve more attention.

The burgers are always good, as is the beer can chicken. The food always taste fresh! This is one of the better chains

[ppsailor01]

They Crystal City location seems to overcook their burgers.

[Kibbee Nayee]

I have only eaten at Ted's in Atlanta, at the flagship. It was a decent meal, but elevated by the three bottles of Opus One that the guy paying the bill bought for our table of four!

[hopsing]

I was a regular patron of the Ballston Ted's in 2007. I thought their burgers were the juiciest and tastiest. Plus they had these really good margaritas. Unfortunately, my visits came to a crashing halt when I was diagnosed with high cholesterol. When I googled Teds, their burgers were twice as high in saturated fats as their competitors. Unfortunately, I have never been back. If I weren't worried about heart attacks, I would be all over that place.

[FunnyJohn]

I was a regular patron of the Ballston Ted's in 2007. I thought their burgers were the juiciest and tastiest. Plus they had these really good margaritas. Unfortunately, my visits came to a crashing halt when I was diagnosed with high cholesterol. When I googled Teds, their burgers were twice as high in saturated fats as their competitors. Unfortunately, I have never been back. If I weren't worried about heart attacks, I would be all over that place.

My condolences on your cholesterol difficulties -- believe me I feel your pain. Doesn't Ted's do bison meat burgers as well that have less fat? While I have only had the bison steak at Ted's in Ballston, one of my buddies swears by the kitchen sink burger -- which, as described, is definitely a heart attack on a bun.

[treznor]

My condolences on your cholesterol difficulties -- believe me I feel your pain. Doesn't Ted's do bison meat burgers as well that have less fat? While I have only had the bison steak at Ted's in Ballston, one of my buddies swears by the kitchen sink burger -- which, as described, is definitely a heart attack on a bun.

Ted's does indeed do bison burgers. They are a bit more expensive and a bit drier (as would be expected with less fat) but still very good.

[BookGuy]

I don't know if this is the place for this but three times have I eaten at Ted's, felt the food, mainly the meat loaf, was good, and felt qeasily full for a day afterward. One of my companions (who apparently has some sort of newly developed allergy to beef) was in the hospital for four days after eating at Ted's. So let's say that, while the food is very tasty, it is possible to have a strange reaction to it afterward.

[treznor]

I don't know if this is the place for this but three times have I eaten at Ted's, felt the food, mainly the meat loaf, was good, and felt qeasily full for a day afterward. One of my companions (who apparently has some sort of newly developed allergy to beef) was in the hospital for four days after eating at Ted's. So let's say that, while the food is very tasty, it is possible to have a strange reaction to it afterward.

I've eaten at Ted's numerous times (as I stay in Crystal City hotels a decent amount and it's one of my top options there) and never had anything like that. Of course, I've also been described as having a steel-belted gut, so I may not be the best sample :-)

[SeanMike]

Last night had a craving for a steak. Didn't feel like going very far. Hadn't been to Ted's in ages so figured what the heck.

The 14 ounce bison "Delmonico Ribeye" was $28. I munched on the slightly pickled cucumber slices they give out (which I really like) and sipped a Sam Adams summer ale (which, while I don't remember the exact price, ended up being quite reasonably priced it seemed). With the steak I got a baked potato and roasted asparagus.

The baked potato was fine. The asparagus was quite tasty (except one piece that still had the white end on it - oops!). The steak was done a bit less than I asked for (rare instead of medium rare) but that's fine for me - I usually do my own rare. The bread that came with it was kind of good.

The meat itself was quite delicious. The only problem was the knife! It was dull as heck! And on a rare steak, when you still occasionally get the bits that take a bit of cutting, that can be frustrating.

I could've said something but I was too hungry and just destroyed my way through the plate. The tab for the steak and about 4 beers after tax was about $50, which ain't bad. It wasn't Ray's, but it also was a nice change of pace in the realm of "big hunk of meat" category.

[SeanMike]

Since hopsing was asking about their prime rib...

I got the 16 ounce beef prime rib, which if I remember correctly went for $24. Not a bad price, and it was more than I can eat. It was sufficiently medium rare.

It wasn't the greatest prime rib I've ever had, but it wasn't bad at all, and best of all, it wasn't overly salty around the crust. I've had more than a few prime ribs that as you got closer to the outside portion were nearly inedible due to saltiness, and I'm not as sensitive to that as someone like Sietsma.

They're only offering it after 4 PM (IIRC) Fridays and Saturdays, and all day Sundays.

(The asparagus, this time, was nowhere near as good as last time, not showing any signs of being roasted or having any flavor at all. The baked potato was fine.)

I do have to wonder how they're doing, though. They're often pretty empty when I go by (or in). But that might just be time of day.

[hopsing]

I hadn't been to Ted's since I looked at their burger nutrition data some years back and was stunned at how bad it was for you health-wise, although it tasted absolutely delicious. Worse than many other burgers. I will give the prime rib a chance since I just love prime rib.

[jiveturk21]

I was at Ted's in Crystal City last Thursday for a business lunch. It was awesome to see my dining companion and it was a near perfect day outside, but the food was quite bad. My salmon (asked for it medium rare) was cooked to a point where no moisture was left. The green beans and fries on the plate were both terrible. The roll that came along with it was fine and I quite like the pickles that they put on the table, but when those are the saving graces of a meal, that is saying a lot. I also hate those freakin straws, they disintegrate in your drink, gross.

[ktmoomau]

It was this past Friday.  I had been craving a burger during the day, hopped on the interwebs to see if Green Pig Bistro had a ressie, nope, not unless I wanted to eat at 5:00 pm or 9:15 pm, which I didn't.  I came home and MK agreed it was a burger kind of night.  Now, I really don't like Big Buns burger as a burger that much, I normally go when we want to go somewhere with the dog and I normally get some sort of salad bowl.  I asked MK if he wanted to drive to Clarendon to go to Citizen, which we like in Cville.  I also said we could go to Willow.  He took me up on going to Willow.  We got to Willow, when we walked into the bar it was really packed, but we were seated at a table at the bar area, by the server/bartender for that area and then he promptly ignored us, even with eye contact on multiple occasions we were ignored for a good 15 minutes.  MK was disgusted, then we were finally given menus, but no offer for drinks and we weren't given a drinks menu and we figured out they changed the burger and it now has toppings that MK hates.  So we left.  I have had some good experiences at Willow, but I tend to eat at the bar on weeknights, every time I go with MK or he goes on his own they manage to really screw it up in just inexplicably awful ways.  This just added to his view that Willow is just terrible.

At that point I was hungry.  Not punch someone in the face hungry, but hungry.   And MK was grumpy.  So we walked to Ted's Montana Grill, which was a quick walk.  And you know what- we were greeted by a host who was nice to us as soon as we got in the door and we were seated right away, our waitress came to greet us and get our drink order in an appropriately timed manner, she was also really nice, they had Port City beer on draft which is my favorite beer right now, we got to order as soon as we wanted, the burgers were cooked the way we liked with toppings we got to chose and liked, the fries and beer also were good and it was reasonably priced.  This is why people go to Ted's Montana Grill.  It actually really turned a grumpy night around for us as our waitress was definitely new to being a waitress, but she was genuine, timely, competent, funny and nice.  Great customer service with acceptable food beats horrible customer service with arguably better food.  It just does.

[MsDiPesto]

I was in Atlanta for a conference this past Fall, and also to visit some old friends. One of them picked me up at my hotel and we drove around searching for a place that had an atmosphere conducive to conversation for dinner. My only requirement was protein and veggies. We ended up at Ted's in Decatur, and it was just right. We ended up closing the joint. Oh, and I love those green half-sour pickles they serve too, and I found out where to order them. The company says you can buy them at the restaurant now too.

[hopsing]

We haven't been there in so long.  I remember their burgers were very good and decadent!  Will have to give it a try again.

[durwoodx]

I have pretty much no other experience with Ted's other that the Hoffman location, but I can say without reservation that it is terrible and has been pretty much since it opened. The few dishes that we once enjoyed years ago have declined in quality continually. 

[DonRocks]

I have pretty much no other experience with Ted's other that the Hoffman location, but I can say without reservation that it is terrible and has been pretty much since it opened. The few dishes that we once enjoyed years ago have declined in quality continually. 

I can confirm that the Merrifield location is terrible.

[ktmoomau]

Ballston location closing per ARL NOW: http://www.arlnow.com/2015/06/09/teds-montana-grill-to-close-in-ballston/

[DaveO]

Ballston location closing per ARL NOW: http://www.arlnow.com/2015/06/09/teds-montana-grill-to-close-in-ballston/

Along with Ri Ra Clarendon that is the 2nd chain in the last month or so that simply closed doors at the end of the lease.

I'd guess astronomical new lease rates and simply middling levels of business don't work well together.

[pras]

They are building out a new location at Crown in Gaithersburg.  When it opens, there will be Ted's Montana Grill and Ted's Bulletin.  I am going to bet that reservations get messed up on a consistent basis once both are open.