New Restraurants

I'm chiming in too...with the same understanding that they need a few weeks to get the kinks worked out.

We stopped by for a late lunch yesterday, and thought it was awful. We waited for a few minutes to get someone's attention that we were waiting to be seated. Finally sat down and decided to order a fajita quesadilla. About 45 minutes later we finally get the quesadilla, after the hostess/waitress that was extremely perturbed with us argued that they didn't have fajita quesadillas on the menu (we had to point them out to her). We ordered the chicken which is marketed as the "Cadillac of all quesadillas." Half had shredded spiced chicken and the other had plain, tasteless chicken....um, shouldn't it all at least be the same??? It was truly was not good. They were out of black beans so they gave us refried. On a positive note, the salsa was pretty good.

I guess what surprised us the most is that it's their first weekend being open, and there's was no welcoming feeling at all. The manager was nowhere to be seen. Granted it was lunchtime, but the place was pretty full. This was a huge opportunity for them to really make a favorable impression on their first weekend, and they pretty much blew it. Again, giving it a few weeks....for now we'll head back to Saigon Star, Orchid Thai, or Bonefish.

 

With these latest comments this does not sound like the same place that I went to on opening day especially about the service.

Sad but I don't think I will go back for awhile and I will go to the Rio Grande like I have been.

Lee j

 

Went to IHOP this morning, its open! 30 min wait 9:15 or so. Service was very good, food was good as well but a tad greasy. Everything was hot and fresh. Coffee was excellent. 3 of 4 stars! Only word of warning: the place was PACKED getting in.

 

We got carry out from Del Ray on Friday night. My husband called at 7pm and was put on hold then hung up on. He tried calling back and there was no answer. After deciding to just go up there and order in person, he was told it would be ready in 20 minutes. Well...40 minutes later our food was ready. I had the Chicken Fiesta Salad that was supposed to have "hot grilled chicken breast strips" in it. The chicken in the salad was cold - like it had just come out of the fridge. We only live about 2 minutes away from the shopping center so I know there was no way the "hot" chicken could have cooled down that much. My husbands Del Ray Super Burrito was filled with steak and onions - none of the other ingredients that the menu boasted. Oh, and even though there is Queso on the menu, he was told they didn't have any.

It'll be quite awhile before we try them again. It's Moe's all the way for me.

 

I hate to agree with the majority here too, but our family tried Del Rey on Friday for dinner - my 2 kids were slightly fussy, but the fact that we went almost 15 minutes without anyone stopping by to take a drink order meant that we had to bail as our kids had reached their melting points. I can say their chips and salsa were ok, but like everyone else, I'll have to come back when the kinks are worked out. From what we could see, the place was packed, but there were only 2 waiters working the whole restaurant - not a good recipe for timeliness with food.

 

We thought it was a fluke until we saw your response. Last night it took about 45min for our order was ready. By the time I got home(under 3 minutes) our meals were stone cold. So my wife sent me straight back to get a refund...So I agree it will be a long time before we try them again.

 

I'm not busting chops here, just a legitimate question. Did you leave any money for the chips/salsa? There's a couple of times that I've been to restaurants where I've really wanted to leave due to poor service but I've already eaten some of the 'free' stuff (bread/crackers/chips/peanuts), so I've felt obligated to stay because I didn't know how to handle that.

 

I agree with the posts on Del Rey. We went for a late dinner tonight with quads and friends--service was not good either. After waiting 30 minutes--we cancelled our food and went elsewhere. When I ate there opening day for lunch with friends--it was good. A little slow because of new restaurant routine, etc.

Del Rio (not same company!!!) is better in Leesburg on Rt. 7.

I will also stick to Rio Grande in Reston.

Foodie

 

brim, it's not their fault the server never came in a reasonable amount of time. If they can't be troubled with servicing the customer, then I see no problem with leaving and not paying for some chips.

 

I have to agree with Boomer here - I have no problem not paying for chips and salsa, mainly because no one came by to even take a drink order. I have in the past paid for stuff I have ordered and then had to leave, but in this case, the bus boy was the one who dropped off the chips and salsa, and I never even saw a waiter/waitress the whole time we were seated.

 

Lee: try Tolteca over by the movie theatre in Sterling or Casa Gonzales in Leesburg.

 

Homer thanks for the tip or should I say info on this thread.

Never knew about those places!!!!!

Lee j

 

One thing I've noticed from what others have told me...what they list on their menu and what you actually get are WAY different. Very bland food, hopefully that's just a case of not ordering enough supplies for the amount of business they have been getting. I'll be REAL disappointed if the one Mexican place in Broadlands ends up being yucky.

 

SarasMom,

How are Del Ray's prices compared to Moe's? I have been driving to Moe's ever since discovering them. They are consistently good and very reasonably priced. I hear they are going to open one over by the Five Guys. That will probably be too close for me - way too tempting.

LvBlands3

 

LvBlands -
Del Ray has 1 burrito on the menu and it's $9.95 - sounds like it's about the equivalent of a Homewrecker at Moe's. The Homewrecker is $6.49. 2 Salads at Del Ray (both with chicken) are $7.95 and at Moe's the vegetarian is $4.99 and one with choice of chicken or steak is $6.39. Cheese Quesadilla at Del Ray's is $6.95 and at Moe's it's $3.99. Del Ray gives rice and beans as sides and Moe's has chips & salsa. While Moe's is definitely "fast food", I think it rocks. Can't wait till the one by Five Guys opens!

 

With all the good reviews about Del Rey, my husband and I went to try it out for lunch the other day and I must say that we had a much different experience.

I had to go back to the kitchen to ask if we need to seat ourselves because no one was in the front. The man barely mumbled and pointed to a booth. We sat there for a good 8-10 minutes with no service. We overheard the booth behind us complaining about the food to the waitress. Everyone looked miserable. We decided to just head up to the buffet. There was one sad enchilada, empty trays, and some condiments. We asked one of the customers who was going up for seconds how the food was and she said, "they are working out their kinks". At that point, we made up our mind that it probably was not worth staying for especially considering how long we had waited until that point.

I understand it is a new restaurant, so maybe some time in the future we will visit again, but not anytime soon. We were really looking forward to a good Mexican restaurant finally.

 

I have heard from several of the restaurant owners in Broadlands that they were overwhelmed with business when they first opened. Normally when a place first opens, especially without advertising the opening, business is slow. This gives them time to train staff and work out the bugs. Around here, they hit the ground running as soon as they open the door!

 

We saw something similar with California Tortilla in Brambleton when they opened. Totally overwhelmed and unable to handle the volume both with the level of service and with actually having a sufficient stock of food. I remember seeing threads about Panera when it opened being slow and not very service oriented. I wonder if IHOP will be the same. There are so many new restaurants opening up as we have discussed often on this board, but it still seems that when a new one opens they get a far higher volume of customers than they had expected. I would hope most that had a bad experience early on at least give the different restaurants another try once things have settled down to see if things have improved. It will be very interesting when Clyde's opens what kind of rush they get and how they are able to handle it.

 

The good thing but scary is how many more will open shortly and over the next year.

It is unbelievable the amount. Remember wendy's when it first opened you could not get in the door.

I wonder how many will stay in business. Especially with the major slowdown in new homes.

Lee j