Good Quality Lowbrow

[WoodleyGrrl]

i heartily and highly recommend getting to know your local pupuseria. oddly enough, on every occasion that i've sampled one (in both the district milieu and purlieus) they [pupusas] consistently delight - not transport one to san salvador street vendors in a daydream of gustatory bliss but very delicious nonetheless. and ive never had an inedibly atrocious one. only a thought.

What is a pupusa?

[Minister of Drink]

The Washingtonian's cheap eats piece this month brought me back to this thread. I used to go to Marios and Bob and Edith's all the time when I was in college and living in Arlington (about 7 yrs ago). Another consistent favorite is El Pollo Rico, which moved locations in the last year, but is still rockin.' And I recently got back to the Italian Store on Lee Hwy for their capri sandwich--delicious as always.

Steve, if I'm remembering correctly I hit Luciano's many times as a mallrat teen in Fairfax--has it really been around since the early 90s? Survival in Tysons?

Any new favorites the Washingtonian missed?

Sara -- I can't see what you (and others) like about Mario's. There's just something about their food that stays with me much too long (as in days!) after I've slept it off and sobered up But word up on B&E, Il Pollo Rico, and The Italian Store (especially the Capri)!! The fact that these places have been around forever is a testament to the quality & value of what they serve!!!

Another great place that fits the theme of this thread is a Pervian restaurant in Gaithersburg called The Nibbler -- excellent Lomo Soltado and the Inca Chicken special is a must have!!!! I keep trying to convince Manfred and Rowena Ochs, the proprietors, to open another in Arlington!!!!!

Edited May 25, 2004 by Minister of Drink (log)

[bbq4meanytime]

The salvadorean street food/appetizer: two thick tortillas (2-3x thicker than a mexican one)' date=' sandwiched together with melted cheese in the middle. If you eat pork, try the pupusa [i']revueltas, which is cheese and little bits of pork. Served with a little salsa and salvadorean cole slaw

[morela]

The salvadorean street food/appetizer: two thick tortillas (2-3x thicker than a mexican one)' date=' sandwiched together with melted cheese in the middle. If you eat pork, try the pupusa [i']revueltas, which is cheese and little bits of pork. Served with a little salsa and salvadorean cole slaw

I'm a huge fan of pupusas and propane on a 96 degree day. Nothing like that and a good nap on the sidewalk...

Where are the best pupusas?

Edited May 25, 2004 by morela (log)

[Busboy]

Addis Abbaba in Adams Morgan is serving substantially better food than most of its Ethiopian competitors, but success has not gone to its head, or interior design. I feel a bit mean calling it "crummy," but it is a little down about the heels. No matter, it's a swell place to eat.

[JennyUptown]

More about pupusas

[Tweaked]

I'm not going to claim the Papusas at Tortilla Grill on the Hill as the best, but the ones I had over the weekend were really good, nice mixture of cheese and shredded pork, and they cook their plantains down really well, almost caramalized on the outside. I'm sure you can get better ones in the El Savaldorean nieghborhoods in NW and out in the burbs, but for $5 for 2 papusas and plantains 5 minutes from my house, they definitely work!

[Haggis man]

My fav low brow

The Tortilla Factory in Herndon, good, cheap and been going their for years.

[sara]

On the way to Indique last night I noticed that a new location of Cold Stone Creamery is opening next door in Cleveland Park! I know this prolly doesn't excite most of you, but that place is definitely a guilty pleasure for me. Anyone else with me on this one?

[sweetfreak]

Yes! I must admit, I am a fan of the Cold Stone. Just had it in Charleston, SC over the weekend and that Birthday Cake Remix is gooood! I wonder when it opens...

[bexdc]

Ever since I had vegan green tea ice cream on my last visit home to Southern California the other week, I can no longer eat full-fat ice cream or gelato. Sad but true. I am a convert to vegan ice cream - subtle and not overly sweet, with a slight grainy texture that is somehow very appealing - it has a nice mouth feel. Now I'm figuring out where I can buy it here - Mom's in Alexandria, perhaps??

[The Doctor]

In case anyone is interested, the "crummy but good" reviews live on at the WAMU website:

http://www.wamu.org/mc/crummy.html

And for the record, I give two thumbs up to Bob & Edith's. They have some of the finest corned beef hash this side of the Mississippi, and I'm quite sure their butter is laced with some form of cocaine. It doesn't happen every time, but sometimes they'll slap a ridiculous amount of butter on your toast and you'll think "OK, this is insane, I can't eat that much butter," yet you'll be licking the plate and suffering from withdrawal in minutes.

[My Confusing Horoscope]

Half Moon Barbecue on Georgia Avenue Silver Spring near Thayer St. has gotten some good reviews lately from the Post and the Gazette. Their ribs are great! Texas-style sausage links and pulled pork, too.

Good music piped in, and live local bands too.

Lots of music memorabilia on the walls from the owner's old days running the fabled Twist and Shout and Tornado Alley music clubs.

[Chef Shogun]

I also like "highbrow-lowbrow" food, excellent versions of ordinary meals. Have you ever tried the fried fish sammich at Bread Line? Brioche bun with battered cod and house-made slaw with pickled red onion. Mmm mmm good.

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Had it for lunch yesterday! Love that sandwhich! I'm definately a sucker for a good fish sandwhich.

On the way to Indique last night I noticed that a new location of Cold Stone Creamery is opening next door in Cleveland Park! I know this prolly doesn't excite most of you, but that place is definitely a guilty pleasure for me. Anyone else with me on this one?

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Oh, I'm with you on that one! They're putting one in the row of restaurants where Jaleo and Oyamel will be on the Post Road (It is NOT 'the jefferson davis highway'!) in Crystal City. Very exciting!

[The Doctor]

I noticed Ollie's Trolley was mentioned earlier in the thread. Does anyone know if the 15th and L location is affiliated with the 12th and F location?

I work around the corner from the L street location and I love it. The Olley burger with Ollie fries is the bomb. There's something about the hamburger that keeps me from giving it a 10/10, but the greasiness of the ollie sauce with the tomato onions and cheese blows my mind. And those taste-of-a-thousand-spices fries are unbeatable anywhere.

I'd like to know if I could get the same meal at the downtown location. They look like two totally different establishments, yet they have the same name and are only a few blocks apart. What gives?

[eunny jang]

I noticed Ollie's Trolley was mentioned earlier in the thread. Does anyone know if the 15th and L location is affiliated with the 12th and F location?

I work around the corner from the L street location and I love it. The Olley burger with Ollie fries is the bomb. There's something about the hamburger that keeps me from giving it a 10/10, but the greasiness of the ollie sauce with the tomato onions and cheese blows my mind. And those taste-of-a-thousand-spices fries are unbeatable anywhere.

I'd like to know if I could get the same meal at the downtown location. They look like two totally different establishments, yet they have the same name and are only a few blocks apart. What gives?

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I love those Ollie's fries, too - especially dig the fennel seeds that bloom and soften a little in the oil and snap between your teeth. And believe it or not, the fettoush there is pretty good.

Dunno about the downtown joint.

[mnebergall]

The Exxon station on the road to St. Michael's just outside of Easton, MD makes exquisite cheese-steaks. They also sell really good home-made country style fresh pork sausage. It is worth a short detour if you get hungry on the way to/from the beach. They also make home-made fruit pies, but I have never tried any of them.

[babka]

I noticed Ollie's Trolley was mentioned earlier in the thread. Does anyone know if the 15th and L location is affiliated with the 12th and F location?

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They're both descendents of the same Ollie's Trolley franchise, co-founded by former KY gov John Brown and modeled a bit after KFC (in which he was an early investor) with proprietary spices for the fries and the hamburger sauce.

The franchise collapsed years ago, but a few locations survived. Each kept the trademark items and then did whatever an independent fast-food operator wanted to do. I think the two locations in D.C. are separately owned--the 15th & L one is run by a Lebanese family that makes fantastic baba ghanouj and fatoosh, and eunny pointed out, (so fantastic that I've never actually tried either the burger or the fries), while the 12th street branch, if memory serves, doesn't. The burger & fries, though, should be the same at both, since they were both Ollie's.

edit to add:

"The shoestring potatoes are hot and fresh, and what's better, they are heavily (sometimes too heavily) sprinkled with everything in the spice cabinet: red pepper, caraway seeds, fennel, poppy seeds, cumin, paprika, oregano, etc."

--la grande dame de Washington food, 1979.

Edited September 14, 2004 by babka (log)

[Nadya]

Tastee Diner location in Silver Spring has the best blueberry pancakes. I lived across the street from them for two years, and they were my weekend brunch pleasure and reward for the sweatshop that is going to graduate school on a teaching assistantship. The right thickness, loads of blueberries, nicely browned and just enough. For this, I can forgive families with five children brunching at the booth next to mine (hello, unsolicited massage of back via kicks of little feet), refills of coffee that splash like Niagara Falls, and waitresses with no teeth and Fedex truck-size bottoms.

Everything else in TD sucked, to my taste.

On a different note, anyone went to Komi for Saturday-only brunch yet? They have corn pancakes that are just excellent...

Edited September 14, 2004 by Nadya (log)

[DonRocks]

Tastee Diner location in Silver Spring has the best blueberry pancakes.

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You say this because you've never had the bluebucks at Market Lunch, Eastern Market.

[Nadya]

You say this because you've never had the bluebucks at Market Lunch, Eastern Market. 

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You taunt me enough, I just might bike there and check them out.

[eunny jang]

Tastee Diner location in Silver Spring has the best blueberry pancakes. I lived across the street from them for two years, and they were my weekend brunch pleasure and reward for the sweatshop that is going to graduate school on a teaching assistantship. The right thickness, loads of blueberries, nicely browned and just enough. For this, I can forgive families with five children brunching at the booth next to mine (hello, unsolicited massage of back via kicks of little feet), refills of coffee that splash like Niagara Falls, and waitresses with no teeth and Fedex truck-size bottoms.

Everything else in TD sucked, to my taste.

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If I get married someday, I am going to have my reception at the Tastee Diner, and not just any TD - the one in Laurel, with the extraordinarily unbelievably sketchy "TD Motel and Lounge" attached. The only thing we serve will be the extraordinarily unbelievably inexplicably delicious corned beef hash. CORNED BEEF HASH, people, crisp and oniony and lubricated with God-knows-what lipids from years of griddled food.

If my groom-to-be has a problem with this arrangement, I will call off the wedding and just go to the Tastee Diner myself and eat a big plate of corned beef hash of my very own.

[Nadya]

If my groom-to-be has a problem with this arrangement, I will call off the wedding and just go to the Tastee Diner myself and eat a big plate of corned beef hash of my very own.

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Methinks this calls for a new thread:

"What eating/drinking habits of your beloved would be a deal-breaker?"

For instance:

Would not date an otherwise serviceable teetotaler.

Or:

Women who avoid garlic need not apply.

Or something like that.

[hillvalley]

You taunt me enough, I just might bike there and check them out.

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Do it.

They are well worth the ride no matter where you live

Plus you'll burn off the calories on your way home

Go across the street to pick up some Mexican for when you get home and have built up an appetite. Their tamales are fantastic.

[Chef Shogun]

Clearly you groundlings have never been to Nell's trailer in Crystal City.

Is that thing still around?

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Erm....that's over behind the mall, on the Borders/Best Buy side of the street, right? The *trailer* is still there, if I'm thinking of the place, but it didn't strike me as an actual operating business. Then again, you never know.