Saurabh "Renaissance Man" G.'s Profile

Yay! I'm a fan.

I am a fan of the location, the landscape, the wines, and the people. There is always a reason to drive up to Berryville and spend a nice sunny day picnicking.

I can't comment on the wines as I lack the requisite cred, but I have tried their red wines and loved them.

I have an idea...let's go out on a whim and get all the people who are worthy of being on a social site suspended. Then, we can all reminisce about the good old days when Rich L bragged about how 'rich' he was, or when certain other Yelp heavyweights quit the site because Yelp deleted their reviews, or when not everyone was an Elite, or when the good ol' Yelpers worked for the Army and loved being Republican supporters.

Don't flag me bro.

On my trip to New Haven, I was told that Sally's was a definite stop if I wanted to try some of the best pizza on this side of the globe. Being the believer I am, I decided to try the food.

Being the Yale move-in weekend, we were expecting a huge crowd, but I guess fewer people eat pizza on a Sunday evening. The line, I was told, was distinctively shorter than what it is normally. After waiting for a few minutes, we were sitting in a booth. The server (seemed to be only one for about a dozen tables) appeared to be tired, uninterested, and weirdly, hard of hearing. For a moment, it felt like he was paying us to sit there.

The wait time, even when the restaurant is not very busy is huge. Also, forget about getting any refills. You'd be lucky to catch hold of the server once you have placed your order. We ordered 2 pizzas, that took about 30 minutes to get to us. Then, we had to spend 5 extra minutes getting paper plates and the silverware.

Once you get the food, you're bound to enjoy it! I relished the low salt, low on cheese, pizzas. The potato topping was unique. The crust was thin, had traces of coal, and cooked just right.

While I wouldn't say that I had the best pizza of my life at Sally's, it is definitely a good place to sit back and have pizza with your friends. Seeing how busy it is, I doubt the owner(s) would be hard-pressed for hiring more servers.

Would I try this restaurant again? Only if they deliver...!

This place wins on account of location, not for the quality of food. Go here on a nice weekend afternoon/evening, and you're going to have to face an hour long wait to be seated outdoors, even though there's hardly anyone inside.

Once inside, you're bound to find the faux-leather furniture comfortable, the decor tasteful, and the bar well equipped. The menu has more than just hamburgers, but is also surprisingly minimal. The wait time for food tends to be on the higher side, but you don't really mind it because you have company of friends, and if you're seated outside, a very nice and busy view.

Being a vegetarian, I thoroughly enjoy their vegetable patties, which are way better than the junk peddled at other fast food burger joints. But then, this place aims to be an upclass burger joint.

Given a choice between Hamlet and Chili's, I'd probably pick the latter for food, but this place is a nice diversion from your regular meal venues.

Note to the server(s): Please don't pick up someone's plate and then ask if they were done with their meal.

I usually just drive wherever I want to go, but this time we decided to try out something new - the water taxi, to get to the Inner Harbor from Fells Point. Like others have said, it's way too overpriced for what you get. The boats are old/cranky, and just seem unsafe.

Also, you have to switch boats around a couple times just to get from Fells Point to the Aquarium, and then they have like 3 stops there, just for the fat people, I guess.

I overheard from an operator that the management was trying to collaborate with the local government in making this the commuting service of choice for Baltimore residents. I doubt that's a good idea, given their current state, but anything's possible.

In summary,

The good: Kinda fun if you've never been to an amusement park before.
The bad: Wait times, price, boats, stops.

I am far from being a wine snob, but I love this place. Gadgets have always impressed me, and the fact that you can sample expensive wines for really cheap is awesome. I prefer just sitting at the bar and enjoying glasses upon glasses of fine French red wine.

The staff is nice and attentive. You'll be taken care of. Just remember to tip your bartenders. The bar stools are comfortable; outdoor seating plentiful.

The only negative I can think of is that this place closes at 11PM.

First, let me point out that this location is in fact at Fells Point, in regards to another review.

I am a complete fan of Daily Grind ever since I was introduced to it by someone a month after I moved to the area. The best way to enjoy a bright afternoon here is to roll up in your hybrid car, tie-dye clothes on, and unkempt hair. Also, don't forget your Apple laptop. Yes, this place is a hippie's dream hangout spot. But, guess what, it's pretty cool to be environmentally conscious these days, thanks to the rate at which we are destroying our planet. It's also cool to enjoy organic food and $4 bottles of water in the name of being green.

Daily Grind has some of the most luscious chai 'teas' I have ever tried (Why they call it a chai tea is beyond me). You get two options - regular milk for the genetically superior and soy milk based for the lactose intolerant. By my own count, I have driven out here thrice just to enjoy the hot milky tea; so much for being green.

The staff is so very cheerful. I like that they don't have weird names for the sizes of their cups, hence catering to unsophisticated folks like us. I am a fan of the little island with the cup covers and the straws and the napkins and what not.

Ambience wise this place is pretty simple. It's almost like it was built in between 2 adjacent buildings. There's plenty of seating, and you're sure to enjoy working on your Macbook here, what with the free Wi-Fi.

I have also had the pleasure of trying out their sandwiches and biscotti! Everything here is pretty darn fresh, albeit pricey. But, hey, live a little, and unwind.

Parking rocks, and once you have had coffee, feel free to enjoy the harbor.

Recommended A+++++.

Read on for a totally unbiased review of this place.

After craving Ethiopian cuisine for a while, and upon reading the umpteen number of reviews of Etete, we decided to check it out for a Sunday lunch. Most of the reviews seemed to have been less than a month old, so I am assuming there was an Elite event or something here.

Anyway, like others have pointed out, the decor is pretty basic. In fact, the seating downstairs is barely enough for any group bigger than 4 people. Luckily they have tables upstairs. Even then, this is not a place for a date, partly due to location, and mostly due to the way it's laid out inside.

Being Sunday afternoon, finding parking was pretty easy, but I am sure catching the Metro to the nearby station is the easiest way to get here any other time. Etete is located next to a few other Ethiopian restaurants, and so if you're a first time visitor, you should not have any problems locating it.

We started with a Sambusa based on a few reviews on here. They were pretty good, and came with a little bit of hot garlic-tomato-pepper sauce. The kitchen was fairly fast, and there was almost a zero wait-time to get additional injeras. For drinks, we tried an Ethiopian wine, which again, was pretty unique and tasty.

For the main course, we shared a vegetarian sampler. My opinion is that the size of the injera was pretty standard, but the vegetables and lentils could have been served more liberally. Now, the menu said nothing about the size of the portions, but I don't think those small tables could hold more than a plate anyway.

The quality was pretty average when it comes to Ethiopian preparations, and trust me, I have tried a few restaurants! Even then, just the fact that we got to explore a new neighborhood in DC was good enough to satisfy us.

The pluses - bar, generally ethnic crowd, location.
The minuses - service (very slow and casual), interior, quality of food left something to be desired.

All in all, a must try if you're on a quest to eat at all the Ethiopian restaurants in Washington DC.

I am really a fan of this location of Macaroni Grill, and have been dining here pretty regularly since the beginning of 2008.

It is a chain restaurant, so reviewing the food at this location would be like reviewing all the other Macaroni Grills at the same time. In terms of location, this is at a pretty good location. Browsing through the bookshelf at the nearby Barnes and Noble takes its toll, leaving you hungry. Luckily, this restaurant is right around the corner!

I am also a fan of the positive attitude of the staff here. I have always been greeted with smiling faces and quick service. Granted, it gets very very busy during the weekend evenings, but it's upto you to be cognizant of the fact and not expect someone catering to just your needs.

Food is pretty good for what you pay, and offers just the type of upscaleness that you would expect on a cheap(er) date. If you're nice, the server will even arrange for a custom-made pasta/pizza dish from the kitchen, like he did for us last night.

The house red wine is pretty decent, and I like the mini bar area with the HDTV.

Oh yeah, the rosemary bread - wish they would put it on the takeout menu! Or, maybe they do...I need to go back and ask...it's that good!

Try it.

A new addition to Fairfax's growing dining options, this location is what the Masala Wok chain would like to be graded on.

I wasn't expecting a lot, especially since my experience at their other locations had been less than exciting. In fact, the only reason I went in was because we did not want to try anything else that was open at 9:50PM. Fortunately, Masala Wok closes at 10PM on weekends, giving us 10 minutes to order our food for takeout.

The exterior of this location resembles every other Masala Wok in the country. The big windows help you get a sense of how busy it is inside, along with a certain level of architectural elegance. From the Bose speakers to the clean bathrooms, this place just reeks of new. I hope it keeps it that way. The furniture is nice and comfortable, but I dig the multi-colored porcelain(?) dishes, bowls, and mugs.

The food - delicious. My last review of the Herndon Masala Wok was pretty bad, but the Fairfax location won me over. We could not find anything wrong with our food, even though I tried hard to. In retrospect, you always expect worse quality of food around closing time, but not here. I strongly suggest the veggie manchuria, samosas, and the masala fried rice (which wasn't greasy at all).

Parking is plentiful, and the location pretty nice.

You will enjoy dining here. I know I want to go keep going back until I know for sure that this place is consistently good, trying everything on their menu along the way!