Roy Rogers

Roy Rogers
540 East Market Street,
Leesburg, VA, 20176
Tel: 703-777-6322

Location: There are a couple Roy's in Leesburg. I cannot attest to which is the BEST one. I can say that the one that my husband and I like and go to is the one that is on route 7. Across 7, from the Dunkin' Donuts

I know there will be some of you that give me a hard time for putting good ol' Roy Rogers on the blog. But none of us can eat at the fancy places all the time, and for fast food, in my humble opinion, Roy's is hard to beat.

We were there the other night and the food was tasty and inexpensive, the staff were friendly and accommodating, and the restaurant was clean and comfortable.

I ate a hamburger, fries and a chocolate shake. My husband had fried chicken, fries, a biscuit and a chocolate shake. The shakes were extra good - made with Hersey's ice cream. Everything else was warm and good. What else can you ask for?

Pacific Restaurant

Pacific Restaurant
46240 Potomac Run Plz
Sterling, VA 20164-6608
703-404-5500

Location: In the shopping center with the Target.

For a slightly exotic night on the town, try Pacific in Sterling. Except on special occasions - like birthdays - I always forget that this place is here.

The food yummy - it is a mix of all many Asian cuisine. Although it can be a bit on the expensive side. Everything I have eaten there I have liked though. The quality is good.

The service tends to be good too. Friendly and quick wait staff.

My favorite thing at Pacific though is the atmosphere. Inside, it is very tropical. The colors are warm and embracing. There is a koi pound with fat happy fish just inside the from door. The outside seating area, it is also tropical; A lighted patio surrounded by a pretty water garden, that includes two totem poles and a wooden alligator.

And if you come on the right night, which I have a couple times, there is a hula dancer and a piano player. Where else can you find that?

The dessert that you cannot miss is the banana's foster. They fire it up right next to your table.

AVFD Pancake Breakfast

Pancake Breakfast
Ashburn Volunteer Fire-Rescue Department (AVFD)

When: Usually on the first Sunday of every month. The schedule that I have based on the handout I got at the breakfast is:

June 1 - Theme: Happy Father's Day
July 13 - Theme: Independence Day / Kids Activity Corner: TBA
Aug 3 - Theme: Beach Party Breakfast / Kids Activity Corner: TBA
Sept 7 - Theme: Happy Grandparent's Day **Our FIRST Annual Grandparent's Day Celebration
Oct 5 - Theme: Halloween / Kids Activity Corner: TBA
Nov 2 - Theme: Thanksgiving / Kids Activity Corner: TBA
Dec 7 - Theme: Happy Holidays

Breakfast hours are 8:00 am to 12:00 noon. In case of snow call (703) 729-0006 for breakfast status.

Pricing:
Adults $6.00
Ages 3-8 - $4.00
Under 3 - free
Seniors - $5.00

Location: AVFD Founders Hall

Web site: http://www.ashburnfirerescue.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.events

In the morning, on the first Sunday of every month (approx. See above schedule or look at their web site for details), the Ashburn Volunteer Fire-Rescue Department opens its doors for a reasonably priced community breakfast. In a buffet style, you can fill your plate with all you can eat pancakes and more.

My husband and I were glad to attend this last breakfast last Sunday The fire department is such a wonderful community service... and any financial contribution that we can make to them is I'm sure needed and appreciated.

The food was good (my husband was especially excited that in addition to pancakes, they also featured biscuits and gravy), and the volunteers were very friendly.

After breakfast, we walked over to see the fire trucks. They had an ambulance and a firetruck out for us to look at - with open doors and signs explaining what was what. They also had signs posted around the trucks, to show what all the equipment (trucks and uniform) cost! I had no idea.

Anyhow... I'm glad we went to this breakfast. We hope to go to some others in the future. It felt good to do something community-based, and to support our local fire department. Go Ashburn. :)

Carolina Brothers Pit Barbeque

Carolina Brothers Pit Barbeque
20702 Ashburn Road
Ashburn, Virginia 20147
703-729-7070

Location: You'll find CBPB in the old Partlow's General Store in Old Ashburn (near the trail).

Website: http://www.carolinabrothers.com/

The old Partlows store has been replaced by Carolina Brothers Pit Barbeque, a bbq joint serving simple delicious smoked bbq.

My husband, a friend of mine, and myself, went to try out this new stop last night. What a charming surprise - good BBQ right here in Ashburn.

To begin our meal, we were greeted with yummy smells coming from the smokers outside.

Within the restaurant - which used to be an old store - the place looks old but it is clean. And there are a bunch of tables, with room to grow if they need to. Nothing is real cramped. And at this stage of their restaurant growth, it just feels like you are eating at a restaurant that has been there for many years. It is really no frills eating. But that is part of its charm.

The menu is small (chicken, pork, beef, ribs, hot dogs, with beans, potato salad and coleslaw as sides). Which means no mac and cheese. No collard greens. No mashed potatoes. No fryer - so no hush puppies or fries. Getting over the lack of options was a little hard - but I am happy to report that everything they do serve, they serve well.

Their barbecue is Carolina-style - which takes a bit of getting used to if you haven't had it before. The meat is slow cooked for a long time at a low temperature, and when it is ready it is pulled from the bone and cut up into chunks. If done right, it is moist and juicy - thankfully for us Ashburnites, Carolina does it right. Their BBQ is served with a spicy clear vinegar sauce. The sauce doesn't flavor the meat, as much as just wet it. Don't expect to find a bottle of bbq sauce here. Don't worry though, you won't need it.

All three of us went for the pork bbq sandwich platters. For my 2 sides, I had potato salad and cole slaw. My husband and my friend both had baked beans and cole slaw. We loved our sandwiches and sides.

And if I recall, the price we very reasonable too. the 3 of us ate, with 3 drinks, for just about $25. It is hard to beat that. Particularly for dinner.

We'll probably add Carolina Brothers to our regular rotation. It was that good. And for a casual non-stress meal, this is a good option.

Tuscarora Mill

Tuscarora Mill
203 Harrison St. SE
Leesburg, VA 20175
703-771-9300

Web Site: http://www.tuskies.com/

Location: Market Station, in the center of the Historic District of Leesburg, Virginia.

It is hard to believe, but I have a 3 good reviews in a row. This review I'm afraid will start out a bit sour but will get better... I just think it is important to go through the whole experience with you.

My husband and I joined some good friends at Tuscarora Mill for dinner yesterday.

I had made our 6-person reservations at Tuskies one or two weeks in advance online. So imagine our disapoointment when we got there and rather then give us a 6 person table (for our 6-person reservation) they tried to give us a 4 person table and add 2 chairs to it.

Now let me be clear, this was a small 4 person table, so with out the addition chairs added to the table, there was NO elbow room around the table. We are not a small people, so this would not do. We asked to be moved to an actual 6 person table. There were at least 2 or 3 of those tables without people in them. The host said NO - that THOSE tables were reserved specifically. We had a lot of mixed emotions running through our head. What we have to specify that we really want a 6 person table for 6 people? WE MADE RESERVATIONS. How dare they pick other people that aren't here yet (better people?) over us in seating. Like my husband said, "A bird in the hand." The host, suggested that we wait for 20+ minutes for another table to open up that was bigger. At that point some of us were ready to leave... it was insulting. But instead we waited. And yes it was at least 20 minutes till the table they wanted us to sit in was ready. Again let me reiterate here - WE HAD RESERVATIONS. (And to add insult to injury, the whole night long they continued to sit 4-person groups at that tinny table that they had originally tried to put us at.. so it was just us. Maybe they thought we weren't complainers.)

25 or so minutes later though, once we were seated, I am glad to report, the food was good, as was the service, and the atmosphere. The restaurant is set in a restored grain mill - it is a pretty place. The meal we had was top notch. The top best things I think were the appetizers and the desserts.

For appetizers our table shared a meat platter and a cheese platter.

The meat platter had ham, pate, pork confit, mustard and pickles. Although I would have never guessed it, I really liked the pate. I had never had it before and the idea of ground liver kind of grossed me out. But it was really tasty. Like Lipton onion soup mix sort of. A bit oniony and a bit salty. And the pickles were pretty great too. Very sour. The Seranno ham was thinly sliced and great with a bit of that mustard.

On our other appetizer plate we had the cheese plate which included 3 kinds of cheeses with some fruit jelly. All was good. It felt very fancy.

The entries were mostly from the specials menu, the steak all around except one of us got the pasta and another got the salmon. Everyone liked their meal.

Desserts were way good. We had 2 warm berry napoleons on the table and one butterscotch bread pudding. All good. Coffee in my opinion was just okay.

I should also note, that we were served bread at the start of the meal. And it was served it with the very best olive oil that I have ever had. It was almost floral in its taste. Dipping the bread in the oil with a bit of ground pepper was out of this world. Yum.

Mimi's Cafe

Mimi's Cafe (Sterling)
21015 Dulles Town Center
Sterling, VA 20166
(571) 434-0162

Web Site: http://www.mimiscafe.com/

Location: Next to the mall, behind the Chuckie Cheese. Take a left on Atlantic Blvd from Nokes Blvd, and it is right there.

Yes Ashburn, we now have a good very restaurant for breakfast. I should also note that Mimi serves most breakfast item till 4:00 - hooray - but also serves lunch and dinner. As of today, I have only tried breakfast there.

My husband and I were so pleased to stumble on this great restaurant. It opened up last October. I cannot believe that we just found out about it! We just lucked into driving by it.

Mimi's is a chain. From their site, it looks like there are Mimi's all over. Decoration wise, it sort of feels like an Olive Garden or a Macaroni Grill, except that it has a French vibe to it.

We tried Mimi's on Saturday for breakfast. We ate outside. The coffee was good. Our waitress was friendly. I had a 3 egg omelet with potatoes. My husband ate pot roast and eggs with potatoes. Each of our meals came with fresh squeezed orange juice (yum) and a muffin (the current muffin feature is coffee cake muffin). All the food was good. We had a nice time.

We had such a nice time that when we woke up this morning we decided we would go BACK to Mimi's for breakfast.

This time, today, the place was a bit more crowded. We has to wait about 10 minutes for a table. We ate inside.

On a slightly disappointing note the first table that we were sat at was a bit low-rent. It was small Formica table (that reminded us of the bad one they like to sit us at, at Blue Ridge Grill, little and by the bathrooms) that the waitresses had to squeeze by. Infact after walking aorund the restaurant, we think it was the smallest table they had... like it was added there as an after thought. "Hey we can fit 2 more people there."

It felt cramped and uncomfortable to us. So when some neighboring dinners were done with their meal soon after we got there, we asked to switch to a bigger booth table. And they did - without fuss - move us. And my husband and I were MUCH happier at our new location.

Except for that first tiny table and the fact that about a third of the tables in there are cheap Formica (think old dinner or very cheap office furniture), the place is decorated very nice and we think that it is a fun place to be in.

There are 3 major dinning rooms plus a bar. The one we sat in was decorated like a wine cellar and it's ceiling was bricked and round. The adjoining one (the main one?) is decorated like a French bistro and the other looks like a musical Mardi Gras. It is a very playful place to be.

Our meal today was also good. Our waitress was friendly although a bit flustered by the crowds. I had the French toast with sausage. My husband had the pancakes with bacon. We also ordered coffee. And I had another juice. This juice we had to pay for because some meals don't come with juice.

We are so happy to have found a new breakfast place, other then Ihop, Clyde's
and Ashburn Cafe. Yum.

Yen's Cafe

Yen's Cafe
43490 Yukon Dr,
Ashburn, VA #113

703-723-8811

Location: Shoppes at Ryan Park - In the same shopping center as the new Red Robin. Behind the Panera Bread.

I am thrilled to tell you about this new jewel - they opened just a week ago. My husband and I just got back from eating at Yen's Cafe.

The name of this place doesn't do it justice. While it sounds like a deli or a cafe, it is really quite an elegant Chinese restaurant with a twist. The twist is that they also offer herbal teas, juice and smoothies.

While this place is a tad small (I would say less then 10 tables.. maybe 7), it is decorated just lovely, including a beautiful bar (no alcohol yet) and a crystal chandelier that is hung right by the door.

Our waitress and the woman who made the tea were both top notch. Very friendly and they offered great suggestions on what to eat and drink.

I ordered a beef satay (although I cannot find it on the take out menu.. so it may have been called something else) and my husband ordered the bourbon chicken. Both entrees were flavorful yet light. And their plates were uniquely decorated with turnips, radishes, lemons and cucumbers decoratively carved - nicer then I have ever seen. The white rice served with the meals was also good - extra warm and sticky.

In addition to our entrees, we also ordered the pot stickers. They were tasty as well.

For drinks, we both had water. I had the jasmine hot tea - extra yum - good quality tea leaves. My husband wanted to have coffee but the tea lady suggested that it was too late for coffee and he should have something else for dinner tonight and to instead come back again at lunch time to have the coffee. Not wanting to buck the system and not liking tea, on our tea lady's recommendation, my husband had a strawberry smoothie and asked for it without yogurt (as you recall if you have been reading this, he is rather allergic to yogurt). He throughly enjoyed his drink and said that he will get it every time.

Our waitress ALSO brought over free samples of hot tea and smoothies during our meal. I enjoyed both. The smoothie I drank did have yogurt in it - it was great. Very sweet and yet tart at the same time. The tea that was brought over was I believe a lotus flower tea. It tasted a lot like peach. Very smooth.

We had a good time at Yen's. I hope that they are able to keep up its quality. You could really see the care that they put into picking out the drinks, food, wait staff and decor. We shall return.

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On a side note... I struggle with spelling the word entree. It is always used on menus but spell check never thinks it is right. I found this defination on wikipedia... so I know I have it with the two ee's:
An entrée (French, literally meaning entry or entrance) is a smaller course that precedes the main course, except in North America, where it is the main course. (Source: wikipedia.org)

*~* Rumors - Bangkok BBQ *~*

Update: 5/6/2008 Good news. Bangkok is back open. :) I haven't tried them since they reopened, but I drove by the other day to confirm. And indeed they were open. Welcome back Bangkok BBQ.
------------------------
43761 Parkhurst Plaza, Unit 124
Ashburn, VA 20147-5470
Phone: 703.726.0972

It doesn't look good for Bangkok BBQ.

It was a few weeks ago - I forget when - when I peeked inside BB when I was visiting Buffalo Wing Factory one evening and on the door was a sign for new Kitchen Renovation. Now this wasn't alarming... people remodel all the time. But next to that was a bright orange sticker that said that their dishwasher or something belonged to this other company - which of course makes me think they aren't paying their bills to this other company.


I didn't mention it earlier because I was trying to give BB the benefit of the doubt - I like the place - but I looked in today, and sadly the signs remained on the door. I would be surprised if they open again.