Red Dog Cafe, Grubb Road in Silver Spring

[acquamatta]

i heard that the red dog cafe on grubb rd is under new ownership. has anybody heard or tried it lately? i am curious to try it and thought the food community might have some scoop?

cheers...doug

[jhermes]

I don't know about new ownership, but the original chef left some time back to go to the Morrison Clark Inn, and in my opinion, Red Dog has declined since then. At its best, they put out very good pizzas, and I also greatly enjoyed their salads. Both have been disappointing in several recent visits.

[acquamatta]

thaks for the scoop. anymore info out there? i'll share my thoughts after i try it. thanks again.

I don't know about new ownership, but the original chef left some time back to go to the Morrison Clark Inn, and in my opinion, Red Dog has declined since then. At its best, they put out very good pizzas, and I also greatly enjoyed their salads. Both have been disappointing in several recent visits.

[DonRocks]

thaks for the scoop. anymore info out there? i'll share my thoughts after i try it. thanks again.

The fresh-squeezed juices (fruit and vegetable) are worth getting. I've always enjoyed the Ripieghi sandwiches, but more for the pizza-oven-baked bread than the actual fillings (the chicken one sounded appealing, but the meat itself was dry and bland). Last time I went was awhile back, but I had a bowl of chili and I was surprised at how good it was. My suggestion, looking at the menu online, would be a redDog chili ($6.95), beg for a piece of ripieghi bread without the sandwich fillings (and if they don't give it to you, get some Route 11 potato chips ($1.95)), and a large "Good Morning Sunshine" ($4.95). Sit outside on the patio if you can (yeah, yeah, I know, it's an ugly parking lot, but still, in this weather...) Stray from this plan at your own risk...

Cheers,

Rocks.

[legant]

I don't know about new ownership, but the original chef left some time back to go to the Morrison Clark Inn, and in my opinion, Red Dog has declined since then. At its best, they put out very good pizzas, and I also greatly enjoyed their salads. Both have been disappointing in several recent visits.

Welcome JAH and congrats on your first post!

[JPW]

Sit outside on the patio if you can (yeah, yeah, I know, it's an ugly parking lot, but still, in this weather...)

And count the hours it takes you to get served.

After swearing never to go back given how bad the service was in the first 6 months they were open, I went back a few months ago and they still hadn't figured out how to serve people efficiently. I also agree with Rocks assessment on the chicken sandwich.

[slarochelle]

We were there two (three?) weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon. Technically, they may have been closed, or at least at 3 PM, were in between lunch and dinner service. But our waiter said we could get any salads or appetizers. We did get the baby greens w/goat cheese and dried cherries. The two of us split it, and it had plenty of both cheese and cherries. We also got a mac and cheese with a side of mac and cheese. Salad was very good, mac and cheese was good - could have use a little more time in the oven or microwave. I think I saw something about desserts being from Kristin's Cafe? If they did buy it, they are slowly incorporating it.

Service was good, but we were just about the only ones there. In the past it had been horribly slow - enough to keep us away as well.

[xcanuck]

FWIW, Kirsten and Jerry (of Kirsten's Cafe on Georgia Ave) have take over ownership of the Red Dog Cafe. I'm eager to support a local, independent outfit so we'll give this place a try or two. I don't know if this is what Doug (aquamatta) alluded back in Sept but there are signs up now confirming this.

I've read the previous postings about the bad service and given my experiences at Kirsten's Cafe, I don't expect things to change too much. My experience with service at Kirsten's has been terribly uneven (and I've been able to draw some generalizations across certain demographic lines but I won't expand on that). I still go to Kirsten's about twice a week in spite of the uneven service, if for nothing else other than supporting the locals over the mega-chain coffee outlets.

[squidsdc]

FWIW, Kirsten and Jerry (of Kirsten's Cafe on Georgia Ave) have take over ownership of the Red Dog Cafe. I'm eager to support a local, independent outfit so we'll give this place a try or two. I don't know if this is what Doug (aquamatta) alluded back in Sept but there are signs up now confirming this.

I've read the previous postings about the bad service and given my experiences at Kirsten's Cafe, I don't expect things to change too much. My experience with service at Kirsten's has been terribly uneven (and I've been able to draw some generalizations across certain demographic lines but I won't expand on that). I still go to Kirsten's about twice a week in spite of the uneven service, if for nothing else other than supporting the locals over the mega-chain coffee outlets.

Has anyone tried them since the new ownership? We need a new place to eat lunch on Sunday, and may end up here. (unadventurous picky parents will be in attendance) We usually go to Moby Dick after the Sunday morning movie at the AFI, but we want to try to convince the 'rents to branch out a bit.

[DanielK]

Has anyone tried them since the new ownership? We need a new place to eat lunch on Sunday, and may end up here. (unadventurous picky parents will be in attendance) We usually go to Moby Dick after the Sunday morning movie at the AFI, but we want to try to convince the 'rents to branch out a bit.

Parkway Deli is in the same shopping center, no?

[squidsdc]

Parkway Deli is in the same shopping center, no?

Correct. We figure if doesn't look good, we can always try Parkway.

[squidsdc]

It's quite difficult to find places to eat lunch that appease all in the group on a Sunday in downtown SS. As we are here many a Sunday morning, we need more options!

The report--very good brunch option and will be added to the rotation. While not a "destination" restaurant, it sure is nice to have another place to go that is not a generic chain, with tasty food. The service was fine--considering the fact that I think there was one waitress for the entire place. The tables are close together, but that's part of the charm; being able to chat with your neighbor and ask what they ordered since it looks so good! Or in the case of my Mom, run into someone who she worked with nearly 20 years ago at B'nai Israel.

We arrived at 1pm and were only given the lunch menu. After chatting with the neighbor's, who thought breakfast was served until 2:30, we asked the waitress who confirmed with the back before getting us the menus. It appears she was trying to keep from having problems with people ordering items that had rund out, as she informed us they had run out of many pastries (and I actually got the last piece of spinach and tomato quiche.)

Mom had egg white frittata, Dad had a pork ripieghi, husband had a chicken ripieghi and I had the aforementioned quiche. The quiche was incredibly tasty, one of the best I've had, but the piece was pretty small for $10, and it came with a side of salad. I asked if I could order the bread from the ripieghi, and the waitress first told me no, as it would take a long time to cook and they needed them for the sandwiches. When I asked how long, she actually did ask behind the counter to find out that it would only take 5 minutes and cost me $.50 and would be no problem. (I imagine she must've had customers throw hissy fits if something took that long) Everyone said they enjoyed their meals. I also had the house lemonade, which is a frothy lemon/apple concoction that is quite tasty.There is a juicer on the premises, and it tasted as if they juiced the entire lemon, including the peel. They have several juice/smoothie options and coffee options, that I'd like to try out on another visit.

All in all, the food was good, the service is not exceptional, but that is part of the charm of the place. The waitress was trying, and she definitely did not have an attitude. The space is tiny, yet has a nice comfortable neighborhood feel. The prices may seem a bit steep, but I would much rather pay them here, than to go to Macaroni Swill.

[jhermes]

I dined with the family here last weekend. Red Dog is a neighborhood place for us that we used to patronize regularly, but had not been to in several months because of a string of disappointing visits. We had not been since they revamped them menu a bit to add some pricier (around $20) entree options, but most of the old favorites also remain. They have more appetizer choices than before, and are offering several more wines by the glass, most of which are decent if not overly exciting.

I made a meal out of two of the new appetizer options. One was a trio of fried risotto cakes topped with pesto that made for a satisfying snack and the other was a cup of "White Truffle Chili" or something to that effect. While I did not sense anything truffle-like in the chili, it was still a nice cup of chicken chili with spring onions and pinto beans, if memory serves. My wife had the lemon chicken ripieghi, which she enjoyed, and the kids had the mac and cheese, which has always been good here and still is.

None of us had the pizza, which at its peak I would have rated just below the top places, but it had declined in quality. Based on this last visit, I am encouraged enough to give it a try soon.