Laurie W.'s Profile

Apple dumpling. Warm. Dump some cream on it. Yes, some more. Don't feel bad about it. You can cut corners somewhere else, or not. This is the real deal. There is comfort food and then there is what my friend called "Rumspringa on a plate."

Have some water or some coffee to cut it. Allow Becky, the lovely girl in the traditional dress and sneakers to charm you while you eat it. Share it with someone you love.

Day = made.

I wish we'd gone for a full breakfast, but I'll be back soon enough. It topped off the great fun I had visiting the market perfectly. What a gem of a place to have downtown.

Three years later, I'm updating my review.

My mother loves this place and I just don't understand, but I keep meeting her for dinner here every other month or so and wondering why. The salsa is awful. Just terrible. The guacamole is so-so (if you can't get salsa and guacamole right at a Mexican restaurant, there is no reason for us to see each other anymore.) The margaritas are way more of the fake green stuff than they should be. The service is okay.

The redeemer for me is the crispy beef tacos, which are actually really good, but again, the salsa and guacamole -- meh. The food at the SIlver Spring location is really good, as I recall, so I think they need to import their folks up the Pike for awhile to fix things.

I've been going to the cafe on the Pike for years, and I was happy to have this location even closer to my house. I only ever get the Kia's Platter, with four mezze items plus chicken shawarma. I haven't noticed the meat being any drier here than at the other location, and if it was I'd probably just use that as an excuse to slap their addictive garlic sauce on it, oh my lord, so good. The hommos and fattoush salad are good as well. I don't like the kibbeh as much as I used to, and I'll be skipping their falafel from now on, as well.

The thing I don't like about this location is how much like a cafeteria it is, rather than a cafe. It makes it good for the families and groups who tend to dominate Rockville Town Center places, I guess,  but it's not a very inviting room.

Oh, and if you're one of the Montgomery County residents so destroyed by the bag tax that you try to balance all of your stuff on your head and in your arms, don't try that with carryout here.  There are lots of bags and boxes for the bread and sauces that come with your food, so bring a bag or give them a nickel for one. Better to do that than lose your hommos on the sidewalk.

Come on now, y'all, you know you go here for the main reason I do: that self-righteous thrill when the loss prevention guy at the front checks your receipt against your merchandise, and you're all, no sir, I haven't stolen anything! I am so awesome!

Right? Just me?

No really. I have dealt with the Geek Squad exactly one underwhelming time, but what can you expect from a group of people called the Geek Squad? The camera department, which is where I really care about service, and the only place I've spent any time, is mediocre. There is one young man there who went above and beyond for me, and I wish I could remember his name, because he's the type of kid who I want to see succeed in life, working on no commission but just a cool guy who wanted to help me find the charger I needed. I've mostly been unimpressed otherwise, but I just don't expect that much from a big box store. It's too bad and a loss for Best Buy, because for a big city, DC's camera store and supply scene is horribly lackluster, and with so many people in the suburbs who care about gear (with some with money to burn, I know) they could be a gem if they paid attention. But I know how that goes.

I have never had the pizza here (I know) but it's my go-to for a steak and cheese. I actually wish I didn't know it was so good, because the last thing my waistline needs is a go-to place for a steak and cheese, not to mention the crazy good curly fries. Oh, and I almost forgive the (very nice) owners for being Pens fans because they carry birch beer, which most places don't anymore.

They also have good movie ticket deals, which I always forget about, so maybe if I write it down here I'll remember.

I've been here before but it's been awhile. I stopped in the other day for lunch and first of all, had to run the gauntlet of three staff people by the door firing questions at me and hustling me through the line. That was jarring. I really did just want French onion soup. Also I can't even tell you what all of the questions were, I just know there were several.

"I'd just like some...soup," I squeaked, and obediently got my tray and got in line. The lunch lady there (seriously, that was how I felt. Lunch lady all the way.) barked some more questions at me about the salad options, so I ended up with a salad sampler that she said would include the soup, and two salad sides. Awesome. I felt calmer. She slapped some Caesar and spinach salad (no I did not want strawberries and pecans. Yes, I will just have some pecans. Almonds? OH GOD TURN OFF THE BRIGHT LIGHTS GAHHHHH.)

I asked for a bowl of onion soup instead of a cup, thinking hey, maybe a dollar charge or two? At the register, I paid for an entire salad sampler, I think, plus a bowl of soup. All told it was approximately $15 for what I had thought would be, maybe, ten. I should have spoken up but at that point I was irritated and I hadn't had breakfast (my fault, I know) so my reserves were low, plus there were so many of them in their hats with their ladles and salads and clipboards and questions, I just couldn't deal.

The salads were bland (almost entirely greens, certainly not worth what I paid for them, especially as there were only two instead of three.) The soup was pretty good, but sadly, the iced tea was the highlight of the meal. If I ever end up here again, which I will not be racing to do, I'M asking the questions. Simmer down, La Madeleine. (Also you owe me five dollars.)

Tower Oaks is a comfort food and drinks spot for me, and my go-to place to meet my mother for lunch or dinner. I like to sit in the bar booths in the front bar, because I like the cozy vibe and service is usually friendly. (We had a guy with an inexplicable attitude last time I was in, which is very rare for Clydes. Bummer, but meh. It happens.)

It's a typical Clyde's menu, and I am a fan of the chain in general, so I have no problem with that. I love that they have half-price oysters for early and late happy hour, as well as for brunch hours on the weekends. They're always fresh, beautifully presented, and that goes a long way with me. There is also a nice selection of white wines and beers to go with them.

I had a version of huevos rancheros in a tostada here once that was one of the best brunch meals I've ever had. I'd get that again if it were on the menu. Besides that, the cream of crab soup is really good, and I tend to stick with the steak salad or chicken #1 sandwich (I'm a creature of habit, mostly.) I also love the little pickle jar appetizer, but I'm a sucker for sour stuff too. It's also a fun place to go for happy hour (not at all Metro accessible, and off the beaten path in Rockville, so do make sure you have a DD, if that's something you need.)

I have no idea why I am obsessed with Tippy's Tacos, but I am, dear God help me, I am.

I believe that tacos are one of the great gifts we've been given on this planet, and I didn't have very high expectations for Tippy's, I admit it. And I'm not saying they're the best I've ever had, but there's just something about them, the hard shell Tippy's beef tacos. So good! They shut me and my low expecations up right quick. I tried the chicken as well, and it wasn't bad, but I'm mostly down with the beef here. I also tried the queso last time, and it's pretty good, too.

The guy who always waits on me is nice but pretty much underwhelmed with his gig at Tippy's, but I tend to go in at slower times and he's alone so maybe he's sad, I don't know. Maybe I'm projecting my feelings onto him, which is unfair. Regardless, he is very speedy and provides me with this hot sauce that I like very much too.

Please go to Tippy's, y'all, so it doesn't leave my neighborhood. I'd actually have to make my own tacos then, and that never ends well.  

PS These tacos are dirt cheap even without the special, so guacamole charges are pretty much on point with any sit-down Mexican joint in this county or ChipotLAY, for that matter. Avocados are even expensive at Giant, yo. I can't believe I have an opinion about this, and beyond that information about produce prices at Giant, but please cut Tippy's a break. I need them.

Welcome to the Hotel Gaylord California -- you can check out any time you like, but you can never find the door to leave.

Kidding. Kinda.

I told someone while I was there that I felt trapped in a nine-acre mall slash botanical garden with hotel rooms (seriously, some of my colleagues had their allergies aggravated by all of the greenery. It was crazy. Pretty and green, but crazy.) It was also so big I felt slightly confused and overwhelmed, and it took forever to get to the places I invariably needed to go for the conference I was attending.

Tips:

*Get a map. Read it. Keep it with you. All of the hallways look the same and if you end up in the Jack Daniels restaurant drinking with the band you'll need help finding your way home. I did. (I didn't drink with the band, just near them. That's different.)

*The meal I had at said Jack Daniels restaurant was the best. The fried chicken there was absolutely wonderful and a highlight of my Gaylord extravaganza -- not like I got to go anywhere else in Nashville,  because I couldn't find my way out of the hotel.

*Do not go into the sports bar if you are easily overwhelmed by lights and sound. They have eleventy billion televisions and you cannot escape any of them. I love sports and tv and I was blinking within minutes.

*The Mexican place is pretty good, too. You can eat well here just sticking with the apps, especially the guacamole. Entrees were okay, but not awesome, and you can easily make a meal on starters and drinks here.

*The lobby garden place that also serves sushi was my least favorite restaurant in the joint. Order there with care.

*Room service is really limited and super expensive. I was disappointed because we kind of wanted to hang in the room the first night and would have had to venture out for full service in the place pretty late, which we didn't want to do. Also, no Bravo on the tv! No Top Chef! We were sad. ;)

On the good side, the staff was friendly, the room was nice, and the restaurants were pretty good, although overpriced. It just wasn't my scene overall, and if I were going for vacation, I wouldn't find it relaxing at all. This would probably be good for the Jack Daniels' bottom line, however, as my friend's tea-marinated pork chop was so good I'd totally go back there again just to get my own.

I had my first patio meal of the season here the other night and I enjoyed it. I was alone and hungry before a reading at Politics and Prose, and asked for the last (small) table on the patio because the weather was just too beautiful to sit inside. I think in 2012 in a big city we should be past the point where a host looks irritated about a solo diner asking for a seat. Alas, Comet dude didn't look happy.

I don't feel like qualifying my habits: Whether I'm with people or by myself, I don't scrimp on meals, I almost always have a beer or glass of wine, and I tip well, so my one-top may well end up being more lucrative than a two or three who only drink water and are crappy tippers. I don't want to have to explain that to you, Comet man. I didn't care for your facial expression. I know what you were thinking, and it's not okay.

Okay. I feel better now.

That said, the service was very good, and "Broin", so it said on the check, couldn't have been nicer, faster, or more accommodating. They were out of the Stone IPA I wanted, so I took him up on his DC Brau suggestion, mostly because I'd never had it. It was okay. (Must have been, because I had two. I'm just not into canned IPA. It always tastes funny to me.) I got the chopped salad, which was LOVELY, so good. I would get that again in a heartbeat and was actually trying to figure out the dressing so I could try to make it at home. I knew I wouldn't be able to finish the pizza, but wanted to try it since I'd never been there. The Smoky was good -- smoked mozzerella, bacon and mushrooms. I actually think I'd go for that again, too, but there are lots of other good options on the menu. The busboy was helping the server out and wrapped it to go for me really quickly as well. If I'm back at P&P I'd stop in again for a bite again, no doubt.

PS: The inside dining room and the bar are quite big, but the patio is pretty small, and tables are very close together, so don't choose this spot if you're breaking up or telling secrets. It didn't bother me -- I had a good time listening to the girl at the table next to me tell her friend how awesome she was (the girl, not the friend.) Oh DC, I love you. Mostly.