Pollo Rico

932 N Kenmore St
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 522-3220
www.ilovethischicken.com

Visited: Too many times to count!!


Before I begin talking about Pollo Rico, I MUST share the nickname for this chicken joint that my friends and I have been using for years; Crack Chicken.

Yes, that's right...Crack Chicken. Why was such a name bestowed upon a popular purveyor of the powerful Peruvian poultry preparer? Because if you're like 90% of the population you'll be HOOKED after one taste. You'll itch...you'll think about your next chicken fix and will become an addict.

So who was the person that first introduced me to Crack Chicken? Well folks it was none other than my Mommy. Years ago when I was a wee laddy my mums brought home some chicken for the family to enjoy. Being the fat kid of the family I tore into that bird like a coyote that had been starved for 3 days (NOTE: We do not endorse the act of starving coyotes or any other canines in the name of humor).

As chicken grease splattered everywhere and my hands became covered in spices and juice I asked my Mom with mouth full of chicken, "Where did you get this?!?!"

Her response was "Wipe your mouth!" and then said, "Pollo Rico"

Since that fateful day the name was etched into my fragile little mind and came up often whenever my Mom would call from working asking, "What do you want for dinner?"

"Pollo Rico!"

"No, I meant what do you want me to cook!" would be her reply as she sighed and would ask me to take something outta the freezer to defrost.

Anyway, I digress....

Yes, the chicken is that good and anyone that has tasted it will tell you that they truly enjoy the combination of spices combined with the rotisserie cooking. Now as an adult I have the honor of working right across the street from Crack Chicken and can often smell the deliciously tempting chicken aromas and unique spices wafting from their ovens to my nose as I get into my car to go home.

For anyone that has never been to Crack Chicken, here are a few things to remember. Take them as friendly suggestions from a seasoned Crack Chicken addict:

1) If you're going there for lunch, get there BEFORE 12pm! Anytime after noon will have you waiting in a long line especially on warmer sunny days.

2) Bring cash! It's a cash only business and there is an ATM, but why pay 3 bux to withdraw 5 dollars for your lunch?

3) Quarter, half, white or dark. When ordering you'll be asked if you want a quarter chicken, half chicken or whole. The second question will be white or dark. Try to make up your mind before you get to the counter to avoid the wrath of addicts such as myself that are already gnawing on their hands. :-)

4) Mix your yellow sauce with the green sauce. The spiciness of the green will "kick it up a notch" for the flavor of the yellow sauce.
I myself am usually there at least once a week to get my chicken fix. The best part of sharing these lunch outing with my fellow addicts is that we all refer to Pollo Rico as "Crack Chicken"
All outing to Pollo Rico are always initiated by an email sent around 10:30am with the simple subject line, "Crack Chicken today?" In no time a flurry of replies flood cyberspace with "yes" and "what time?".

Sometimes being an addict is quite delicious. :-)

El Charrito Caminante

2710 Washington Blvd
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 351-1177

Visited: April 24, 2009


I can still smell the sweetness that is you. On my hands, in the air, on my face, all around me. Your taste fulfills all of my senses and my mind simply screams, "I want more!". Soon I lean back, tired, satisfied but saddened that our time together has suddenly ended. You're no where to be found...and I'm all alone.

I already miss the four of you. My deliciously tasty temptresses in the forms of a beef, tongue, goat and chicken tacos. My last taco has disappeared down my gullet and I indeed wanted more after they were all gone.

Had I been a smoker, I probably would've lit a cigarette after my first lunch at El Charrito Caminante. Yes, it was THAT awesome! After reading the reviews on Yelp a few months back I've been dying to try it out to get my taco fix. Today was the day and I managed to get some coworkers to join me for the walk to El Charrito.

As soon as we arrived, we saw a short line and quickly place our orders. As we waited we saw the various awards hanging on the wall with the Yelp award proudly displayed in the center of the sea of awards. As they cooked up our eats, I noticed on important fact for would be visitors of El Charrito Caminante; it's a cash only business so bring some green!

The good thing is that the prices are very cheap ($2 tacos and $4 burritos) and you won't need too much money to fill you belly. Once our food was ready we grabbed our eats and walked down the street to a pubic table. Ripping open the bags we all stuffed our faces briefly saying "umm, this is good" or "man this is delicious" in between bites. We were all obviously happy and I experienced sheer delight as I destroyed my four tacos.

For those of you that are fans of poo poo non-legit Mexican food (see Taco Bell), this is THE real deal. The burritos and tacos are made with real meat and you wont' find any of that nasty processed ground beef here. The selection of deliciously spiced meats at El Charrito are chicken, sausage, beef, pork and beef tongue for the more adventurous.

I was truly bummed when my four tacos were all gone and my stomach happily hummed with satisfaction as my eyes grew heavy with sleep. Sadly, I had to abandon work an hour early and headed home to spread the news of El Charrito...and to relax.

A few hours later after hyping up El Charrito, the wife and two monkeys headed back to Arlington. It was dinner time and my wife was skeptical at my enthusiasm for El Charrito but was looking forward to trying out the tasty burritos for herself. Ordering one chicken burrito supreme (chicken, beans, cheese, rice, guac and some tasty sauce) and one beef burrito supreme we dined in our luxury ride; the family mini van.

Oh yeah, the boss lady was indeed impressed and after a few bites of her chicken burrito supreme instantly became a fan of El Charrito. She ate half of her chicken burrito and switched with me finishing off my beef burrito supreme. Finishing off our respective burritos we sat there happily in our seats and both agreed we would be visiting El Charrito many more time in the days to come. We couldn't wait to share the word of El Charrito with friends and family.

As we headed home with stomach happy of a 2nd El Charrito meal...I thought about what my coworkers would say if they knew my fat ass came back to El Charrito for dinner. I think they would be jealous.

Qdoba Mexican Grill

13031 Worldgate Dr
Herndon, VA 20170
(703) 796-1101
http://www.qdoba.com/

Visited: April 19, 2009


As some of you know, even the most discerning food lover will eventually give into the need for a quick fast-food fix. Sometimes the fix leaves one satisfied, other times you feel like you needed something more. My first and most recent visit to Qdoba left me with the latter.

After hearing praises and accolades from friends about Qdoba's chicken burritos, I had to try it out for myself. I'm the rare freak that likes to get one single item (mine being a chicken burrito) and compare said item to various establishments. I've tried the chicken burritos from Chipotle, Baha Fresh and Guapo's. Curiosity, hunger and an obsessive need to compare chicken burritos drove me to try Qdoba's.

Walking into Qdoba, it appeared to be a distant cousin of Chipotle as the layout of the restaurant and the "burrito" line was very similar. I had to give Qdoba credit as their menu and selection of food offered more variety and choices. But for this simple minded man, I already knew what I wanted to order and proceed to have the kind lady build my chicken burrito.

The building of the burrito began with rice, black bean and chicken before being handed off to another lady who took over the task of adding salsa, lettuce, guac and all other topping goodness. As I paid for the food, my mouth watered at the anticipation of tasting my chicken burrito. I sat down, tore into the chicken burrito and came up with a mouth full of rice and beans. Okay, not too bad... Next bite, same thing. For my third bite I rotated the burrito trying to calculate the place where all the chicken hid.

Eureka! I hit the chicken and tasted poultry goodness. By this time my wife had already started on her steak burrito and our two baby boys looked like hungry little birds as they whined for a taste. Sharing some of the chicken with our boys, I did notice that the chicken was well cooked but still quite tender. I did my best to share with my twin boys but continued on the path of destruction as I devoured my chicken burrito.

Sadly, when it was all gone I had the following simple thought about my experience, "Eh...it's okay". I wasn't disappointed, but wasn't blown away. If we had to give letter grades to Qdoba I would give then a C+. The only thing stopping me from giving them a B would've been not enough flavors in the rice and beans and chicken simply tasted "okay". There was something lacking in the overall taste of the ingredients that left me unimpressed and wanting more.
I actually was a bit bummed as Guapo's was just down the street and they make a mean chicken burrito using rotisserie chicken. I mentally computed Qdoba's spot amongst my chicken burrito list and came up with the following ranking:

1. Guapo's
2. Chipotle
3. Qdoba

Hey, a bronze metals isn't bad in the world of chicken burrito Olympics. Overall I give Qdoba 3 stars as I'd like to go back but will try something else off of their menu that's not a chicken burrito.

Matsutake Hibachi Steak & Sushi

4121 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 351-8787

Visited: April 17, 2009


Sushi...ah yes, the beautifully addictive food that is so sexy when properly prepared and when the quality of fish is excellent. With that said, what separates a good sushi place from a great sushi place? Well it's a question that may be answered by two more questions:

What are you looking for?
What are your expectations?

Allow me to describe Matsutake to better convey my choo-choo train of thought...

As you walk into the main area of Matsutake, you'll see the wide selection of sushi on display; the centerpiece of the restaurant. Yet you must accept that as a patron of Matsutake, you're immediately embracing the idea of "quantity" versus "quality".

The quantity of sushi you stuff your face with is amazing for the price, but you'll notice that the quality isn't top notch...then again most people that come to sushi buffets aren't looking for top quality sushi. For this reason, I myself keep Matsutake in a separate category from other sushi places because I know it’s a buffet and its assumed that the fish quality won't be on the same level as a non-buffet sushi restaurant.

With that said the sushi isn't bad and is tasty...for buffet quality sushi. The quality of the fish isn't to the level of Todai's fish, but its good. The one thing you'll need to remember as the weather warms up is to get to Matsutake a few minutes before noon. Anytime after the 12pm mark will guarantee a looooooong line at the sushi bar. Badged employees from the various local offices congregate at Matsutake with blank faces, growling stomachs and one single thought (which probably has that drooly Homer Simpson like voice) playing over and over in their head, "Suuuuuuu-shiiiiiii".

Get there early! By 12:30pm most of the rolls and fan favorites (such as the Unagi) will be dwindling or will be complete gone. The times I did arrive late, I ended up dining on some of the hot bar food (noodles, fried rice, General Tso's chicken, Teriyaki Chicken, etc) until the sushi was replenished. The sushi buffet has a small hot bar with food that's not the best, but will hold back the hunger until they bring out more sushi.

For those of you that don't want the buffet, you can order sushi by the roll or by the piece. Matsutake also has "hot grills" where they'll cook up the food in front of you.

Now with the description out of the way, let me get back to my main point about "What makes a sushi place great?" Depending on what you're looking for and your expectations, we can answer this question. I've always had low expectations of sushi buffets, and for this reason the quality of Matstuake's fish can't be held to high standards. The fish won't make you sick and is not bad, it's just "okay". I (and my coworkers) seek out Matsutake for its relative cheap lunch buffet that allows us to gorge ourselves on a wide variety of sushi.

So "okay" quality combined with cheap eats makes Matsutake a "good" sushi place...definitely not great but what do you expect for the money you pay. Plus we tend to frequent Matsutake for it's close proximity to our office. My coworkers and I are just like the other mindless cows that are drawn to the sushi buffet line by hunger and the attractive notion of leaving an all you can eat sushi buffet with bloated stomachs. :-)

Cheeburger Cheeburger

14921 Shady Grove Rd
Rockville, MD 20850
(301) 309-9555

http://www.cheeburger.com

Visited: April 5, 2009


What makes a good cheeseburger delicious? I'm sure everyone's criteria is different but I'd like to go out on a limb here and use the following list:

• Juiciness - The burger must be juicy and not dry
• Flavor - Great flavor tasting of fresh meat
• Cooked to Order - Cooked exactly the way you asked (Rare, Medium, Well Done)

How well did Cheeburger Cheeburger satisfy the above requirements? Unfortunately it missed all the marks. The burger I ordered cooked "medium" was a cooked to a "well done" making it very very dry and lacking any flavor. The taste of the meat was okay, but didn't taste fresh...honestly it tasted as if it had been frozen for quite a while which may have also contributed to the lack of juice and flavor.

The interesting part of my experience at Cheeburger Cheeburger is that everyone at our table ordered their burgers with different cooked to orders; the wife ordered Medium Well, our friend ordered Medium and I ordered Medium. All three burgers were EXACTLY the same cooked to a "Well Done" level and lacking any juice.

To us first time visitors of Cheeburger Cheeburger, it appeared as if they tried to hide this fact by offering unlimited topping ranging from the regular tomato and lettuce to the more adventurous Guac, Jalapenos and horseradish. The toppings list will blow your mind as it's quite an impressive list but only serves to hide the dryness of your burger as most true burger connoisseurs will not get that true meat experience.

For those of you (such as myself) that LOVE french fries and onion rings, the portions served at Cheeburger Cheeburger are quite generous and the flavor of both are quite good. I was also happy with my mango flavored Ice Tea as they offer a variety of flavored ice teas and lemonades. For the money we paid, I shouldn't really complain but I'd rather take my burger business to Five Guys, Fuddrucker's or Red Robin.

After hearing so much about Cheeburger Cheeburger, I'm sad to say I'm quite disappointed and will not return. By the way, I figured out from this visit why you won't find a "S" and "E" in the Cheeburger Cheeburger name. Because you won't find a "Satisfying Experience" at this cheeseburger place...

Yogen Früz

1961 Chain Bridge Rd
McLean, VA 22102

http://www.yogenfruz.com

Visited: April 2, 2009


Ah, a frozen yogurt stand inside Tyson's Corner mall. The mall being that proverbial "Mecca" for all the local teenagers (myself included many years ago) to converge, chat, flirt and have a great time. What better place for a frozen yogurt stand with a trendy little "ü"?

My first impression of Yogen Früz with it's distinct use of the "ü", neat design and modern-minimalist appearance brought thoughts of a no-frills German efficiency. After standing in line for 15 minutes just waiting to place my order...that thought quickly went outta the window. Out of the four people staffed, one was working diligently, two of the "boys" were flirting with visiting girls and one girl appeared to be completely lost (she later confessed that it was her first day on the job).

The toppings looked great but the anticipation to just place my order was excruciating. My wife and twin boys waited across the way impatient for Fat Daddy to bring some frozen yogurt goodness back to their ravenous mouths. The good thing about such slow service was that it gave me ample time to review the "menu" and decide on a yogurt flavor and fruit mix-in.
What the freak is a mix-in? Well you can pick out any topping or fruit and thanks to the very modern looking mixing machine (which looks like some sort of futuristic laser torture device from an old Bond film), the yogurt and toppings are ground up, mixed and squeezed into a serving cup. I was able to discern the secret of the mixing machine from observing the people in front of me (who appeared to be Yogen Früz experts) as they ordered their yogurt and distinguished between toppings and mix-in choices.

I ordered a small chocolate yogurt with a banana mix-in which for the price (around $5) was a bit pricey for the small cup. The overall flavor of the chocolate yogurt was great as it wasn't overly sweet and based on the ingredients and fat level was safe to share with my twin boys (who proceeded to devour the entire cup).

The only thing I wasn't too crazy was that the high-tech mixing machine wasn't cleaned properly and there were very noticeable traces of raspberry flavor mixed into my chocolate yogurt. Some may have considered this a free treat, but I HATE raspberry. Despite the raspberry pollution of my chocolate goodness, the wife and I agree that we definitely would go back.

As mentioned before, we really enjoyed the fact that the yogurt wasn't over-sweetened with sugar/corn syrup and it has that great yogurt "tangy" flavor to it. We'll definitely go back, but this time we'll make sure to order a bigger size so the four of can our fill. Yüm yüm güd. :-)