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Cafe Tirolo, Italian and Austrian Cafe in Ballston Originally Opened by Vic Kriedl of Cafe Monti - Closed


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ohstate said:
I think it has gone downhill since the original owner/chef sold it. The goulash used to be pretty good, and my husband liked the fish specials. The owner/chef was Vic Kriedl who has a new place, Cafe Tirolo in Ballston, last I heard, although I've never been there.

Kriedl sold Cafe Tirolo about a year ago. I tried it once a month later and it was okay (certainly better than Cafe Monti). But I haven't been to Cafe Tirolo lately.

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I haven't been to Cafe Tirolo in years, maybe four or five, but back then, it was a great value. If you wanted to go on the weekend, too bad, it was closed.

Now that it is on my mind, I have to go check it out soon. I always liked going there, splitting an appetizer or dessert, getting two entrees, maybe a few glasses of wine and leaving only $50 behind. Great value.

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I think it has gone downhill since the original owner/chef sold it. The goulash used to be pretty good, and my husband liked the fish specials. The owner/chef was Vic Kriedl who has a new place, Cafe Tirolo in Ballston, last I heard, although I've never been there.

Tirolo is a very good place tucked behind Tara Thai in Ballston. The menu can be hit or miss, but the wiener schnitzel and spaetzle and the chicken parm sub are the best I have had in the area hands down.

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I have eaten here several times. I would agree that it is hit or miss, but the wiener schnitzel is the best thing on the menu. I do think this place is a little overpriced for what it is, I have seen way too many items being re-heated in the microwave. I love the desserts, though!

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I just had the lentil soup and the linguini with clams. The lentil soup was like what my Mom made, not very thick, underspiced and good for you. Not a very good starter. The clams were just about off, they had that slightly metallic taste, not bad, but not completely fresh. I should have sent them back, but I hate to do that unless the dish is really off. The linguini was ok, but not as good as it used to be. Again, just a lack of flavor. Part of this is that I have been eating at Ravi Kabob, TECC, Thai Square, Bangkok 54, etc. But some of it is just a tired dish followed by a tired dish. And perhaps poor ordering, I used to like the wienerschnitzel, but I am on a low cholesterol diet and I figure 10 clams have to be lower in cholesterol that wienerschnitzel. I was looking with more than a little jealousy at the simple dishes of spagetti and meatballs at the table next to me. Simple dishes, but they looked like each forkful had more flavor than my entire meal.

The more I think about it, the more I think that I just didn't order well.

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Split the Austrian Goulash with spaetzle, a tomato goat cheese salad and a half carafe of Grüner Veltliner (which yielded two 1.5 glass servings for $9.95) for lunch. The goulash was great, especially the spaetzle -- the best I've ever had. The spaetzle was almost noodle like in length and buttery in taste. I may see if I can have just spaetzle and a sprinkle of Parmesan next time I go. I had neglected to keep this in my regular rotation. but the manager still remembered us. We will be back soon.

They are also serving a few Korean dishes now - but it sounds like just for lunch.

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Craving Italian food, and it being right around the corner now, I wandered in there tonight.

(As I left, a mom told her son "You want bread with butter, right? It's just like Wonder bread!" and yes, yes it is.)

The bread was...well, Wonder Bread. It was dessert with butter - really sweet.

The chianti was $6.95 a glass and...well, mostly drinkable. I've been craving red wine, and this was...red...eh. They left one glass off the bill.

The garlic bread was overdone IMHO - both in cooking (it wasn't completely desiccated but close to it) and in preparation (good garlic bread, in my opinion, consists of garlic, butter, and bread, and that's it - this had so much other stuff on it that it was an oyster away from being New Orleans style charbroiled oysters).

The lasagna - eh. It was okay. The meatball was okay too. It wasn't HORRIBLE but it wasn't anything good. It was cheap, which was a good thing, but making that level of Italian cooking is well within my remit as a cook, and I can do it for cheaper (and better).

The music was awful and too loud, the service spotty...sigh. It took care of tonight's craving, because now I never want Italian food again.

Next time walk a few more blocks to Cafe Tirolo - their lasagna is really good, even though its reheated. And the wine will be better and cheaper.

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People will be pleased to know that the Wiener Schnitzel, the Späetzle, and the Chicken Parm Sub are just as good as I remember them being, years ago. I know of nowhere in the area to get better Späetzle - I don't see how it can be anything but house-made.

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I'm a regular here for carryout:  chicken parm with spaghetti, wiener schnitzel, pizza, and Caesar salad.  All terrific.  I don't see a lot of customers here so I hope some Rockwellians will check them out soon.  Not foodie stuff, but solid, wholesome food.

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1 hour ago, hopsing said:

I'm a regular here for carryout:  chicken parm with spaghetti, wiener schnitzel, pizza, and Caesar salad.  All terrific.  I don't see a lot of customers here so I hope some Rockwellians will check them out soon.  Not foodie stuff, but solid, wholesome food.

I actually see that doordash.com delivers from here for a $2.99 fee, so if any people in Arlington want to try them out (or Bombay Curry Company's chicken wings, hint, hint, hint), you can do it via doordash if you don't want to go - of course, anything breaded and fried (e.g., the Wiener Schnitzel) will have gotten a bit soggy, but you have to expect that.

If you do get the Wiener Schnitzel, I urge you to at least try the Späetzle, even though it's a $1 upcharge from the potatoes - it really is wonderful. The Chicken Parm is only $7, and is kind of soggy to begin with by its very nature, so that will deliver better than the Wiener Schnitzel.

Although I'm now certain that my visit to Ripple was a one-off (i.e., I really did catch them on an off-night), the plain, unadorned Schnitzel at Cafe Tirolo towered above what I had there. That said, Cafe Tirolo's is done in almost a chicken-fried style - like something I'd expect to see at Jimmy B's in Indianapolis (that's a compliment).

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Speaking of soggy, when I go out of town like I did this weekend, my husband will order 2 meals to go from Tirolo.  The schnitzel he'll eat that night because he says it doesn't taste good as a leftover.  But the chicken parm with spaghetti works well the following night.

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On 5/9/2017 at 1:58 PM, hopsing said:

Speaking of soggy, when I go out of town like I did this weekend, my husband will order 2 meals to go from Tirolo.  The schnitzel he'll eat that night because he says it doesn't taste good as a leftover.  But the chicken parm with spaghetti works well the following night.

I'm in total agreement with your husband.

One of the nice things about this website becoming older is that you can get a sense of continuity. If you click on the snapback-arrow of ohstate's quote in the very first post (at the top-right of the quoted post - just hover your cursor there and it will appear), you can see why Cafe Tirolo was really good when it first opened. However, Gary says that Chef Kriedl sold Cafe Tirolo in 2007 - regardless, *someone* is doing something right there, even now.

[For those who don't know, the snapback function (a little curved arrow at the top-right of quoted posts) "snaps you back" to the original thread and post from which the quote came. Give it a try with hopsing's quote just above, then scroll up and try it with ohstate's quote.]

I was also just thinking: It's not impossible, and certainly plausible, that they buy their Chicken Parm patties pre-breaded. That doesn't mean they aren't good; they are good, but I suspect these are big sellers, and the breading isn't the same as it is on their Wiener Schnitzel (which *seems* breaded in-house, but I could easily be fooled by this - think Bojangles' Chicken, which has a similar, coarse, pitted texture).

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I just walked by today and the sign says they are closed for good.  Looks like they removed all the furniture.  They weren't the best restaurant in the world but we did regularly use them for takeout.  My husband and I are sorry to see them go.

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32 minutes ago, hopsing said:

I just walked by today and the sign says they are closed for good.  Looks like they removed all the furniture.  They weren't the best restaurant in the world but we did regularly use them for takeout.  My husband and I are sorry to see them go.

It had to happen - their Chicken Parmigiana with Spaetzle was really good, but Cafe Tirolo was just too grown-up for the area.

Tara Temple was also located at 4001 N. Fairfax Dr., and had closed earlier in 2017.

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