Anson "just a big kid" P.'s Profile

I hail from the land of disappointing bbq especially given that DC is technically "the South" given its position relative to the Mason-Dixon Line.  Seeing as how I hadn't eaten all day, I figured why not break my self imposed fast with various pork products.  Mmmm...pig.

I went with the ribs and pulled pork combo, with the ribs being Memphis Style Wet.  Now, I'm sure that there are better ribs somewhere else in the universe, but the ribs here were pretty darn good.  The meat fell off the bone and broke apart in my fingers.  My favorite sauce was the Carolina Sweet.  When combined with sweet tea, I could feel the enamel coming off my teeth, the standard by which I judge sweet tea.  The other sauces were ok.  The pulled pork was very tender as well.  I went with cinnamon apples and potato salad.  The cinnamon apples were crisp and not mushy like baby food.  However, I was not a fan of the potato salad.  It tasted like they used mustard in it or their mustard bbq sauce as part of the recipe.  It didn't work for me.  The sweet tea was good and they had pitchers of it ready to go.

Service was ok, although I could see this place getting overwhelmed during a busier time.  Decor is that of a sports bar, which I definitely like.  This place looks similar to Famous Dave's.  I'd definitely come back if I was in the area.

Chick-Fil-A is an organization that I frequent but ignores me...much like Yelp.  I have sent requests to have them extend breakfast to either all day or to a more reasonable hour like 3 pm.  I'm just too lazy to make it out to Chick-Fil-A by 10:30 am on a Saturday.  They are just asking too much.  They have since either ignored my requests or sent me responses that say "it's a quality control issue to serve breakfast all day".  Why do the suits always gotta ruin my day?

Now, this store is clean, mainly because it's new.  I walked in and ordered six chicken, egg, and cheese biscuits.  That's right, that's how I roll.  The biscuits were really dry.  I had to down an entire bottle of water with each biscuit.  The chicken, egg, and cheese portions were all good.  Aside from all the urinating and having biscuit stuck in my throat, the experience was alright.

This location can be annoying to pull into especially if you're on 50 headed west and trying to make a left.  I'll give this spot another try down the road.

I saw this place featured on either the Food Network or the Travel Channel.  In fact, that's how I choose many of the eateries that I visit.

The chicken fingers were pretty good, definitely better than anything at KFC.  However, not as good as Popeyes.  The coleslaw was meh.  I'm a fan of crinkle cut fries as they were the shining point of the tragedy that was my elementary school years.  The Cane sauce tasted like a peppery southwest mayo.  I prefer ketchup.  The Texas toast that came with the box meal was a nice touch.  More meals in general should come with Texas toast.  Their sweet tea was definitely the real deal as I could feel my teeth melting.

Overall, definitely a good alternative to KFC.  They should bring this place to the DC area.

If anyone is familiar with Sizzler, Golden Corral, or Old Country Buffet, then you'll probably have a good idea what to expect here.  Granted, it's exactly like the old school Sizzler where you walk in and order some meat and then add the massive "salad" bar to your order.

I went with the bourbon glazed pork chops and added the salad bar to it.  The pork chops were ok, not overcooked to hell like I would have expected.  However, they were not glazed, rather they were smothered in a sweet bourbon-y gelatinous sauce.  Once I scraped the sauce off, the meal wasn't so bad.  The sweet potato came with butter and brown sugar (all the "bad for you" stuff).  The salad bar wasn't particularly impressive but had all the salad requisites such as beets, four been salad, and ambrosia.  It also had a baked potato toppings section, soups, and dessert section.  Pretty decent selection for people who can't make up their mind.  

Decor is pretty much like that of any of the aforementioned restaurants.  Service was pretty good.  Food comes out fast and they bring you fresh rolls.  This is one of those places where Europeans walk in and then make jokes about obesity in America.  (Granted, McDonalds is slowly but surely getting to them...take that Europeans.)

All in all, those with higher standards or even regular standards won't like this place.  Those of you who don't particularly care (like myself) will be able to recognize that this isn't high quality...it just gets the job done.

Lately, I've been on a Chinese food kick.  I'm talking about the cheap take out variety, the kind that raises your glucose levels to ridiculous highs, and puts you into instant coma.

I tried the orange chicken, the combination fried rice, and the crab rangoon.  The crab rangoon were ok.  Not as sweet as I would have liked.  The combination fried rice was good, decent amount of meat and not super greasy.  The orange chicken was really dry.  Not only was the sauce dry, the chicken itself was really dry as well.

Overall, the place is ok.  They have decent lunch and dinner plate combos.  However, they don't have shrimp toast, which is a negative for me.  Food coma isn't settling in as fast as I would have liked.  I'll continue the search.

This holiday inn express looks bigger on the inside than it does when you first enter.  The lobby area is pretty nice.  The room was huge and internet worked well.  Definitely nice to have more than just prepackaged vending machine pastries for breakfast.  No complaints.

Not bad.  If you're into Chili's, Applebee's, etc., this is essentially the same thing.  Their ribs were decent.  Pretty good sized portions and their appetizers are essentially meals by themselves.

I have always been a fan of Boardwalk fries.  Back in the day, Landmark mall used to have the Boardwalk fries in their food court and people would go there just to get a big cup o' fries.  Big cup o' fries + Pocket Change (the arcade at the time) = happy fat kid.

Now, I'd like to take the time to beg for forgiveness for cheating on Five Guys.  I saw a more attractive younger burger and decided to give it a go.  I should have known better than cheating on Five Guys.  The burger at Boardwalk was smaller, less juicy, and didn't hold up as well in the sack.  Not something I look for in my burgers (or women).  Definitely not as satisfying as Five Guys, but basically the same price.  I like the fries here better though.  The fries are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  They also have a hint of sweetness and flavor that doesn't have to be enhanced with "cajun" spices.  I still have yet to try their funnel cake.

The place is relatively new and is still pretty clean.  The perfect meal for me would include a couple of roast beef sandwiches from the Roy Rogers next door, a huge cup o' Boardwalk fries, and wash that down with a Boardwalk funnel cake.  If you want shakes and/or ice cream, you can get it from the Roy Rogers.  Now that I think of it, that sounds good... time to make a road trip.

For anyone that went to UVA, I'm sure that you're familiar with Bodo's.  This is basically like having a better version of Bodo's.  I went with an Old Dominion bagel sandwich (turkey, ham, lettuce, tomato, sprouts, sundried tomato cream cheese) and a chicken salad bagel sandwich.  The Old Dominion sandwich was really tasty.  The bagel was thick and chewy and the sundried tomato cream cheese was a good mayonnaise replacement.  The chicken salad tasted odd.  The main problem with it was that it was too sweet.  It is as if they added sugar to it.  I prefer my chicken salads more savory as opposed to sweet.  The potato salad and pasta salad sides were pretty good, although I'll have to work my way through the other sides.  The sandwiches were a good size and a decent price.

The location had a decent amount of tables and the staff is pretty friendly.  If you go early afternoon, just watch out for them not having the flavor bagel you want.

One of the best doner kabobs I've ever had was out of a street cart.  This place has a nice decor and prime location, but at the crux of it, the doner kabob was meh.  I had the yogurtlu doner kabob.  The meat was good, but the dish itself just didn't work for me.  It was meat swimming in grease and yogurt on top of what appeared to be pita chips.  There weren't very many pita chips.  Also, for 15 bucks, I would have expected a lot more meat.  I left still hungry.  Not cool.

Service was good and while I appreciate the fact that this place is trying to be upscale, it's just not something I'm looking for.  I just want a good doner kabob.