El Paso is a sit-down, chain Mexican restaurant, but this location is our favorite (especially compared to the one in Woodbridge). Aside from the always friendly service, the food is generally well-seasoned and well-made. While they do have a slight tendency to over-sauce some of their food, it's generally not an issue.
Notable dishes: Carne Guisada, Chicken Colorado, also they serve arroz con gandules(!)
Dish to avoid: T-bone (dry and grisly - very disappointing given their other entrees are consistently well prepared)
Cost -- $$
Service -- Very good people. Andres is always nice, very professional and personable. Rosa is always says hello and works very diligently.
Cleanliness -- Notably clean.
Pluses
1) Very consistent in terms of preparing the more seasoned foods
2) Good happy hour food specials
Minuses
1) Special steak dish was awful
Overall -- Very good
And worth driving a little out of the way to eat here
Friday, January 28, 2011
Ray's Hell Burger (Clarendon) [CLOSED]
Burger joint that bustles like a weekend night at the Little Italy pizzeria in Athens, GA (packed). Robust menu of burger options (wide selection of cheeses and toppings). We probably should have gone to Ray's Too. Something to go back for. We wanted to stick to the original, not the imitator!
To remember:
Cost
$$ = Casual restaurant price point (think somewhere between Panera and Ruby Tuesday's)
Cleanliness
Clean considering how busy it gets
Service
*** - Average (commendable given the pace)
Pluses
Big burger! Flame-broiled! Cheeses galore! And bone marrow topping?? Seriously? A wealth of free toppings too. Business is good (bad for parking, seating, see below).
Minuses
Parking is TERRIBLE. Finding a table can be a challenge. Mac-n-cheese: noodles were soggy and one of the SEVEN cheeses was gritty (such promise!).
Overall value
Value-to-price ratio was good for the burger ($8 with cheese). Fries are good. Other sides aren't worth the extra cost, though, and can run the tab up quickly.
Definitely the place to go for a great burger. (NOTE: For those who stumble upon this, yes, we've tried Five Guys. We like this better. Deal with it.)
To remember:
- "Medium" came out "Medium rare". "Medium well" was right.
- Oh, and free water ;-)
- CASH ONLY!
Cost
$$ = Casual restaurant price point (think somewhere between Panera and Ruby Tuesday's)
Cleanliness
Clean considering how busy it gets
Service
*** - Average (commendable given the pace)
Pluses
Big burger! Flame-broiled! Cheeses galore! And bone marrow topping?? Seriously? A wealth of free toppings too. Business is good (bad for parking, seating, see below).
Minuses
Parking is TERRIBLE. Finding a table can be a challenge. Mac-n-cheese: noodles were soggy and one of the SEVEN cheeses was gritty (such promise!).
Overall value
Value-to-price ratio was good for the burger ($8 with cheese). Fries are good. Other sides aren't worth the extra cost, though, and can run the tab up quickly.
Definitely the place to go for a great burger. (NOTE: For those who stumble upon this, yes, we've tried Five Guys. We like this better. Deal with it.)
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