elizabethmmm's Profile
Choosy daughter and savvy visiting mother need to eat in manhattan
My mother will be visiting for four days and the focus will be largely on food. I, the daughter she is visiting, am mostly vegetarian with the exception of ethically/sustainably raised meat and non-farmed sustainably fished sea things. Mother is a well traveled and curious eater who would rather have amazing sushi than anything with butter, though good fish and chips would please her beyond words. I need some recomendations for some mid to expensive thai, vietnamese, japanese, mexican, italian...basically anything not indian. She just doesn't like it. Many thanks.
Disapointing/Infuriating Lola dinner in Cleveland
No no, it was about 300 for three of us...Appetizer, entree, dessert, coffee, a nice bottle of wine, and tip.
Disapointing/Infuriating Lola dinner in Cleveland
Dear Nancy,
I understand you being bothered by my post. Let me explain. I live in DC and I frequent a classic neapolitan pizza place called 2 Amys. I often feel that I am the chearleader for 2 amys when on chowhound. However, I do recognize the place has some faults. For one, their fried risotto balls are dry. A few days ago I witnessed a couple ordering the risotto balls and the waiter making the informed suggestion that the table also get an order of marinara, given that the balls can tend to be dry. I love this restaurant but it is not perfect. However, what I always get from the place is a genuine sense that care has been put into my meal. Yes, it is, all totalled, usually a 30 dollar meal, rather than the hundred dollar one I got at Lola, but it is not the price that I value so much as the quality and the feeling that I am a customer that the restaurant values.
You, as a Lola fan, should be more distrubed than I with my reason for complaint. I'm freely willing to admit that a restaurant can have an off day or an off service or just one off meal, and maybe I just got unlucky. I find it entirely possible that the risotto is usually a good dish and that on just one night something went wrong. I truly hope, for the sake of cleveland chowhounds, that this was the case. Maybe Lola was understaffed or they were training someone new or they had some mad rush right when I ordered. I understand, being in the food business myself, that things happen in a restaurant and mistakes get made. A restaurant kitchen is a hot, cramped, intense place to work. I think it is entirely acceptable for a kitchen to send out a few flops every night, simply because people are not perfect. What I do not think is ok is having a customer's complaint be dismissed. However petty, however particular, a complaint indicates that the customer is unhappy in some way, and the job of a good restaurant is to address the problem. Replace the meal. Get a different meal. Comp the meal. A free drink. Something. Something to make it clear that the restaurant wanted to do its job and provide a pleasurable experience to the customer. This is where Lola failed. My waitress, while sympathetic, did nothing to fix the situation. If a manager was involved in any way, I had no knowledge. I guess, in the end, what really got me was that my not great dish ruined the meal for my parents also because of how my complaint was dealt with, or rather, ignored.
It is insulting to be treated as if you know nothing about, or are insignificant to, a restaurant. That is my complaint with Lola. You are lucky to have found a restaurant you love in a city with not too many options. In the spirt of Chowhound, I posted my true account of my experience at Lola, definetely with the intent to express my shocked displeasure, but also to make others aware that they could get this sort of indiferent treatment at Lola. Or they could, in your experience, get great treatment and have a great experience. This forum is about sharing what is thought, known, tasted, felt, smelled, experienced at all with food ad restaurants. You may not like hearing this news about Lola, but it is true and so Lola does deserve this one criticism.
P.S. My father and I shared the "Rainy day in Cleveland" and it was only ok.
Disapointing/Infuriating Lola dinner in Cleveland
Hysterical, well, perhaps a little. All I meant to convey was that, at one of the few upscale and forward thinking restuarants in Cleveland, I would expect a better experience. I would expect a well prepared meal. My parents both got meals they really enjoyed, and I just wanted the same. The idea of complaining to a waitress is that they can fix your dining issue. They are the emissaries of the kitchen. My waitress, in effect, threw up her arms and said, yeah, this is not a restaurant meant for vegetarians. I found that insulting, not becuase the waitress was candid, but because I felt duped. I was led to believe that every dish coming out the Lola kitchen would be given as much attention as the next and this was just not the case. If you make a concession and put a vegetarian item on the menu, which it seems like Michael Symon did by including the risotto, make it be as spectacular as everything else that comes out of your kitchen. Yes, he didn't put a lame pasta primavera on the menu, but I'd take a well made pasta primavera over a poorly made risotto.
Bacchus in NW DC - CLOSED! What's the story?
Bacchus was one of the best little restaurants in DC. I heard the rent story before also, and it makes a lot of sense. The place seemed to be completely family run and they did things in a non commercialized way. A real lost treasure.
Rye whiskey in NoVA/DC/MD area?
You forgot Temperance Hall in Petworth. They have about 15 Rye whiskeys of all calibers behind the bar...and a good number of rye specific cocktails. The bartenders are friendly too and likely know where in DC any bottle of rye is available.
Disapointing/Infuriating Lola dinner in Cleveland
On my parental catch up trip home a few weeks ago I suggested we all go out to a nice dinner. I suggested Lola because the chef had been nominated for a James Beard award this year, and because their one vegetarian option sounded tasty. The dinner was going well until the entrees arrived. The vegetarian risotto with butternut squash and tofu came out as a stacked entree: all the ingredients were seperated. This presentation led me to believe each item could be eaten alone. Not so. Neither the tofu nor the Squash had been flavored at all...possibly not even salted! The dish was kind of ok when i finally mushed everything together, but it was still sub par. I complained to my waitress that the dish was not only poorly executed but it seemed as if the chef had not cared at all about my dish. She replied that he was " a meat guy" and had "begrudgingly put a vegetarian dish on the menu"!!!!
Fine, you don't want to cook a vegetarian meal, then don't put it on the menu at all. I have never felt more insulted in a restaurant than i did then. My parents were willing to lay down a few hundred dollars for this dinner, and in return the chef effectively gave me the bird. I guess I wanted to write this as warning. Lola may be a great restaurant for meat eaters (my parents loved their entres of fish and duck), but to have a chef who could be so blatantly rude to his customers is a sign of not good things to come. Restaurants are in the service industry. It's about pleasing people, not making judgements on their eating habits. That chef, by preparing me a careless meal, said to me that he was willing to take my money but didn't want to put any care into the preparation. Shame on Lola.
Toronto Chowhound in DC and in need of some suggestions
And, in another bid to get you to go 2 Amys...it is very close to the National Cathedral so you really have no excuse to ignore this gem of a place.
Toronto Chowhound in DC and in need of some suggestions
Please do not overlook 2 Amys. It is serious, real pizza. It is not that far from the Cleveland Park metro stop, on the red line...maybe a mile or mile and a half walk through a very pretty neighborhood of DC. If you get to 2 Amys before peak dinner time (6pm) you most likely will have no wait and join a restaurant full of neighborhood families with plenty of kids. It is the most 2 year old friendly and 2 year old welcoming place I've been to in DC. There is also a big variety of italian stuff and I've never had anything bad there...though the fried balls of risotto were disapointing. Colorado kitchen is not worth the trek or the inevitable long wait.
I would recomend, since it will most likely be really nice out, to go to either the Dupont Circle farmers market (i beleive this only happens sunday) or the Eastern Market(combining a bona fide tourist activity with breakfast, lunch, or dinner) either day of the weekend and pick up some foodstuffs and eat on some nearby grass. Cheaper and you will likely find a better quality of meat, cheese, bread, fruit, and whatever else you desire from the market.
Also, though not exactly convenient and sort of nearing the ghetto, there is a great restaurant called Domku in a neighborhood called Petworth. You can take the metro and walk a few blocks or cab it up there...it's not really all that far away from metro center. This place is fairly priced, has a strange but delicious mix of polish and scandinavian food, is furnished with 60's looking sofas and chairs and is usually about half full. Kids are clearly welcome since the owner's 4 year old? daughter is always running around. And if you go for brunch and just want to sit around for hours, unlike most other DC restaurants i've brunched at, nobody cares.
There are a ton of restaurants around metro center. There is also a great and so cheap place in nearby chinatown with a guy pulling noodles in the shop window. It's worth scouting this place out.
Breakfast in/nearish Greenwich Village
I'm coming to nyc for the weekend and staying at a friend's house in greenwich village. We've got Friday night, Saturday and Sunday meals pinned down but for one breakfast. I know we'll be hitting up H&H for bagels one morning (hopefully Sunday so I can tote some home to D.C. and distribute the day old bagels to friends and say "THIS is a bagel!"), but the other morning is up in the air. Sit down or take out, bakery, diner, or legitimate restaurant, I want this meal to count just as much as saturday night at Babbo will. Suggestions?
Good frozen yogurt in DC...seriously
I can't help it. I lived in Southern California for enough of my formative years that frozen yogurt seems to me like a food group unto itself, but I can't find a decent place in the city. It's silly, I know, and not "foodie", but I need it. Help!
Anniversary Dinner in Annapolis
I lived in Annapolis for four years (college) and trust me, you will regret missing O'Leary's. The restaurant is small, quiet, and casually elegant. It is a bit of a walk from Loews, maybe 1 or 1.5 mile(s), but you can walk the few blocks from the hotel to the city dock and take a water taxi over to Eastport which is just across the water, not far at all. I am a vegetarian and I fondly remember the meal that the chef served for me at O'Leary's when I went there a few years back, especially my entree. It was 5 or 6 of the house vegetable side dishes, all incorporating goat cheese in a different form (I told the waitress I liked Goat cheese). The care that was put into the whole enterprise of producing my dinner was great and evident. My parents visited me at least once a year in Annapolis from Ohio and they always made sure to get reservations at O'Leary's. I would love to have an Anniversary dinner there.
That being said, Yin Yankee is really really good also. It's a bit louder than O'Leary's, though not deafening like Tsunami, and it is a little bit more crowded than O'Leary's, but it is fun and the staff is friendly and the food is always good. You might also enjoy seeing the hubub of downtown Annapolis on a Saturday night. Good people watching. Whenever I go to Yin Yankee I have to get the grilled romaine with blue cheese and vinagrette. It's not so innovative or fancy, but it somehow works so well with the sushi rolls.
Harry Browns strikes me as your clasic "Fancy" restaurant. I went once and I really don't remember what was under my oily white sauce. Not good. If you are looking for a good bar, however, HBs is the place. It is above the restaurant proper and is a little bit hidden from tourists. I've never been clear on what idea their decor is supposed to evoke, but it is a comfortable bar and they have plenty of high brow liquor.
Make you reservation for O'Leary's as soon as you can. And for Yin Yankee, as far as I remember, they don't take reservations, but I could be wrong about that.
dinner and/or drinks near eastern market?
Do not for any reason go to Alberto's Trattoria. I went a few months ago wanting a simple italian pasta dinner. Well, it was simple. It reminded me of something I ate in a public school cafeteria when i was 9. There was a bug in my salad. The bread was one step above wonderbread. My red pasta sauce may very well have emerged from a glass jar with a "prego" label on it. The only thing this place did well on was pouring me a huge drink...but they served me my whiskey sour in a brandy snifter. It was all very odd. and bad.
Las placitas is good and certainly no one will care if you hang out. There is also another mexican restaurant on Pennsylvania in the 700 block that is very good and very relaxed...the ceiling is decorated with pinatas! And they make a good margarita, though sadly,the last time i was there, they had stopped serving the margaritas in the cactus stemmed glasses.
Waffle Shop
The food here is completely standard dinner food. apparently the place gets a fair amount of tourists. I say that because when i went a month ago I sat next to some out-of-towners and, rather insultingly, our waiter asked if I and my companion were tourists...so, D for service! but the seating arrangment is fun. and i'm told that the service is normally on point. and, you know, it's hard to find inexpensive personality in that area of town...too bad its demise is imminent.
Most Controversial DC Food Opinion
you had bad service at 2 amys? I've been to 2 amys for countless meals on every day of the week at various times. I've never had anything but superb service, and I usually recognize most of the wait staff from previous visits. As for the noise...well, yes, it is loud, but the noise is emanating from happy families enjoying good pizza and friends laughing together...i've engaged in both activities at this place. It's boisterous. You're eating pizza. Makes sense to me. The only substantial complaints I have regarding this restaurant is that they do not take reservations, and that they do not deliver.
Most Controversial DC Food Opinion
I fully agree with you. Ben's is not special because of its cuisine. However, it is still open and thriving, probably due to a good vibe and a decent milkshake. In addition, the lighting in Ben's is atrocious.
Week long vacation in DC...NEED HELP!!!
If you are at all interested in hearing music at smaller venues in the city, check out bigyawn.net. This site lists, by day, the bands playing at various venues. looking at this site is a bunch easier than checking out the individual websites.
also, only the indoor portion of the eastern market is open all week. If you want to peruse any of the crafts, antiques, doo-dads, etc, you have to go on the weekend. It is much more festive on the weekends also.
Food options in eastern market are pretty average. Do not go to Pete's dinner unless you happen to be hungover and just want super (i think fake)buttered cheap bread and greasy anything else. not even good coffee. The hands down most charming place in Eastern market is a french restaurant called Montmartre. The food is lovely and delicate(perfectly filling)and the waiters all have beautiful accents. plus, if you get a seat near the window, it is great people watching.
Most Controversial DC Food Opinion
The pizza at 2 Amy's isn't that great? really? It is certainly the best pizza i've had in DC (Pizzeria paradiso, the three times i went to the Dupont location, burned the crust in a thoroughly unpleasant way...and you ask, why did i got back again and again?...hope, thats why) also, the cold rapini and fried squash blossom starters are both great. the fried risotto balls, not so much.
Ben's chilli bowl is crappy. I commend them on having a vegetarian chilli (it's not great, but it's not inedible, and vegetarians in DC have to take what they can get!). The real question for Ben's chilli bowl...why is the nacho cheese so sub par? while i am not a connoiseur of nacho cheese, i know a good liquid cheese when i encounter it. I do not encounter good liquid cheese at Ben's. Seems like the cheese would be a staple there, and so they should get it right. but it is a fun place to go with friends.
