Well, the bar at Palena did not disappoint. We had the plate o' fries, noodles with duck and the roast chicken and shared a bottle of house red, which is a cabernet/merlot blend from France. Now, I'm from the south and I thought I had consumed every possible fried food, including pickles and twinkies. But the fried lemons! They're so good! We asked if they did anything to the lemon slices before frying, and the waitress came back with "yes, but they won't tell what." So now my husband is planning on spending Christmas vacation in the kitchen trying to fry lemons. I think there's some salt and some oven-drying involved.... The noodles with duck were just ok. The noodles were nice and firm, but the duck ragout wasn't as good as the one I ate at a little trattoria in Tuscany.. oh well, it was fine for $9. The chicken was the best chicken I have ever had and well worth the 40 minute wait (which, with a plate of fries and a bottle of wine did not seem that long) All in all, very nice for my celebration. If I lived in that neighborhood, I would go often, and even driving in from Arlington, we'll be back! We saw many hot dogs being consumed and they looked very yummy, as did the burger.