Admo & Raya's Food Adventure

Frozen strawberry, blueberry, pineapple, vanilla yogurt, vanilla extract, and a little bit of sugar= yummy smoothie morning!

In the middle of Old Town Alexandria there is a suburbanites idea of a “nice” Italian restaurant and this restaurant is called Pines of Florence. It looks mildly cheesy inside and could pass for a non-italians idea of an Italian restaurant. That is why the fresh homemade pasta was a wonderful surprise. They have cheap prices and yummy food. I got the gnocchi with marinara and a salad with Italian dressing. The dressing was homemade and the gnocchi was yummy, though the marinara could have been a bit better.

Adam had the chicken parm, of course, and loved it.

Dan got the fettuccine carbonara. He said it was really delicious.

We ordered tiramisu and tortoni for dessert and both were great but the tortoni was better.

Scores:

Dan: 8

Adam: 9

Raya: 7

On 8th St SE between Matchbox and DC-3 lays Ted Bulletin’s. Owned by the same guy that owns both Matchbox and DC-3, Ted’s is like a 1930’s diner in an old train station in NYC or Pennsylvania. The entryway is ornate and beautiful with a bar that has both classic alcoholic drinks as well as milkshakes and adult milkshakes. The menus look like newspapers with articles about the restaurant and food they offer. In the main dining area, they have a big old timey projector playing moives and cartoons from the 20s, 30s, and 40s. This is our second time here.

The first time we had a gift card from our wonderful friend, Dan. There was a wait so I munched on one of their homemade brown sugar poptarts. Yes, my friends, they make homemade POPTARTS! Epic! And we hadn’t even sat at a table. So the first time there we ordered some of the dished that Ted’s is know for. Adam ordered a tomato soup and grilled cheese with a side of fries and I ordered a vanilla milkshake and Drew’s peanut butter and bacon burger with a side of onion rings. Thats right, peanut butter and bacon burger. The fries were clearly homecut and yummy. The milkshake was amazing. Adam liked his meal, though the soup was quite thick. The first bite into the PB bacon burger was as follows: bite into burger, chew and stare off trying to decipher what was happening in my mouth. After the first bite was swallowed I realized that this burger was a stroke of genius. Different and awesome all at once. The only criticism I had was that i wished there was more PB. The onion rings were actually just 2 massively huge rings that were perfect for the old Audrey Hepburn(taking the onion out and eating the crispy goodness on the outside).

So Rating for the first time.

Adam: 8

Raya: 7

The second time which was yesterday, we chose to grab a quick lunch after I got out of work. I ordered a chocolate and banana milkshake and a egg salad sandwich with fries. Adam ordered a bacon cheese burger. Milkshake was, once again, amazing. The sandwich was great in that it didn’t have any celery, but otherwise just a normal egg salad, though the lightly toasted texas toast was a great choice of bread. Fries are consistent and tasty. Adam said that the burger was great. Not too greasy, but not dry either. Filled him up but didn’t leave him sick. “Not something I’d eat everyday but good for what i wanted.” Though they were playing Casablanca this time and it was awesome.

So time two’s rating.

Adam: 7

Raya: 7

Ted Bulletin’s.

Milkshakes, oh the milkshakes.

With country and classic rock playing in the background, this place is a townie dive bar that you can call home. We’ve been eyeing The Rock It Grill since we moved here. We heard it was like Charlies Kitchen in Harvard and the WWII club in Northampton. So far, the place has not disappointed. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap. And pretty yummy at that. I got the spinach and artichoke dip with bread and Adam got a bacon cheese turkey burger with fries and the mozzarella sticks. The dip is really garlicy which I love and the turkey burger was an 8 on Adam’s scale. We both ate the fries which were dirty fries. Handcut. Look unappetizing. But Yum! Adam called em hangover fries. The mozz sticks were “lackluster” in adams terms. “Even for mozz sticcks which are generally lackluster.”

All in all though we really liked this place. Its divey feel and cheap food will keep us coming back.

Adam: 6 Raya: 6