Tacos, Tortas and Tequilas

With an established branch in Silver Spring this combo street food cafe and upscale Mexican restaurant (Buena Vida, on the second floor and open only for dinner and weekend brunches) has made a much ballyhooed entrance into the Clarendon area. I managed two visits in a week to the the downstairs cafe ("TTT") and there are real pluses with a few minuses. On the plus side the food is very good. The four salad offerings are unique and flavorful. The "mix and match" tacos come on hand-made tortillas which melt in your mouth and the guacamole is delectable -- basically mashed avocado with a kind of salsa fresca. The crispy potato taco is "beyond", a small fried treat which will warm the cockles of your tastebuds with a crispy outside and a smooth, soft inside. The refried beans are vegetarian (yay!) and breakfast items are available all day. Those are the strengths. The weaknesses impact the overall dining experience. There is price gouging. You can order guacamole but the chips are extra (really???) You can switch out the beans and rice for a small side salad, but it will cost you $4. The wait staff is severely under-trained. On the first visit our waitress disappeared after handing us menus and we nearly had to get up to flag someone down to make our order. It took three requests to get the bill and at the end of the meal she mixed up the receipts and credit cards, returning the wrong bill with the wrong card. On the second visit I specifically asked the waiter to check on how vegetarian the egg dishes were, then got ham on my plate. After it was sent back (I hadn't had a single bite), I was charged double for the dish. Lastly, the bathroom is on the second floor (broken/inaccessible elevator) and was completely out of toilet paper (except for the many bits all over the floor). I was handed a roll of paper towels by a member of the staff, but I found that "insufficient". Bottom line -- the food is worth it. If they can clean and stock their bathroom and get their wait staff up to par, then we may have a winner.

Three establishments in one -- a downstairs cafe with "street food", an upscale Mexican restaurant and a rooftop bar
2900 Wilson Blvd, Arlington and 8407 Ramsey Ave, Silver Spring
https://www.tttrestaurant.com/

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Afghan Bistro

With family members moving to Springfield, it has been a struggle to find good places to eat so far afield. After flirting with some chain restaurants near the mall, we tried a Pakistani restaurant (there are many, many Pakistani restaurants there), but it fell flat. Finally, someone suggested this amazing place. It's a little hole-in-the-wall in a strip mall. With oilcloth table coverings, the vibe seems questionable. For about a minute. Then you are warmly greeted and given menus with a plethora of choices. My party ordered a great number of items and every dish rose above expectations. The staff are eager to please and checked in to make sure everything was okay, from food to drink needs. When a member of my party dropped a piece of silverware on the floor one of the waiters swooped in with a replacement before we could even ask. But onto the food. We ordered the Potato and Leek turnovers, the Aushak (leek and sc...

First Watch

Meant to invite some family members here but a friend beat me to the punch. We compromised and went together. Unfortunately, this is a place where it looks better than it is. Across the board. The funky design scheme makes it an echo chamber and, with the pumping music, very loud. Conversation was difficult. The menu is covered in glossy photos and descriptions of the food but ... I started with the Morning Meditation Fresh Juice, a pretty blend of citrus and beet. Or I tried to. Took three reminders to the waiter and when it finally arrived, halfway into the meal, it was 90% ice and 10% juice. My companions opted for coffee. It was ice cold. Another long wait (about 20 minutes) to get new coffee -- and included a reminder to staff that they wanted fresh cups as well. I ordered the Vegetarian Quinoa Bowl, which was described as having up to 12 ingredients. It had three. The quinoa, an egg, maybe two teen...

Dera

Was looking for a good Pakistani restaurant in Springfield and this one had some of the best reviews, so I gave it a shot. Arrived for an early dinner to find some regulars around a table in a cavernous room. The restaurant staff looked at us like we had interrupted a private party. We sat and were grudgingly given menus after asking. Tepid water in questionably clean glasses were eventually brought. One member of the party ordered a salad. It arrived in a large mixing bowl and was mostly iceberg lettuce. A plastic basket of cold bread was literally "dumped" on the table, then the waiter disappeared. Eventually we were able to get someone to take our orders, which included a curry, a biryani and a kebab. Portions were huge and the rice, again, came in what looked like a mixing bowl. It was enough to feed ten. The food wasn't bad. Sometimes the seasonings were a bit heavy handed (particularly for the rice) but it was...

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