Rankings

DC Area Pizza Rankings

Posted by Phil Hargis on August 7th, 2010 | 0 comments

1.  Fireworks Pizza – New Arlington location.  The smokey blue pizza is incredibly delicious.

2.  Pizzeria Orso – Authentic 4 ton pizza oven from Naples, Italy.  Fresh dough, fresh sauce, fresh ingredients.

3.  Ledo’s Pizza – Always a safe bet when in the Tyson area….always get the cooked bacon and whatever else you like.  The best of the franchise places.  Can get greasy though.

4.  Flippin Pizza – Good pie, real ingredients.   A little short on flavor, but not bad.

5.  Dominos – The new changes to their pie move the Brooklyn style pizza crust to the top of the list of mass produced junk pizzas.

6.  Mad Fox Brewing Company – Many will argue this with me…but it’s really not that great.  The crust is really bland, you can barely taste the sauce, but the toppings are solid.

7.  Breakers -  Pretty bland crust, a pretty average pie.  I will still take it over most delivery companies.

8.  Papa Johns – Just a notch above the cellar dwellers.

9.  Papa Joes – In Falls Church – This pizza used to be ok, but it had gone way down hill…haven’t ordered from them in a couple years.

10.  Big Bite – From a place that makes and delivers everything….we all know you cannot be good at everything.  The pizza is edible, just middle of the pack.

11.  Boardwalk Pizza – Disgusting.  Pizza sits in display case all day, then is thrown in the oven to warm it up.  This pizza would taste better if it were burned.

999. Pizza Hut – First mass produced, franchised pizza joint in the US, now last in the rankings with the most disgusting pizza you can find.

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Burger Rankings

Posted by Phil Hargis on July 18th, 2010 | 0 comments

I believe a great burger starts with great, fresh ground beef.   A burger is best served with potato or brioche bun.  The burger should never overwhelm the bun.  All you really need on a tasty burger is cheese, bacon and mayo.  That said, I think all burger joints should offer a ton of fresh, tasty ingredients to suit any palette.  All burger joints should serve fries.  I don’t eat a lot of burgers or fries anymore…but if I get that rare greasy craving…this is what I’d do:

  1. Good Stuff Eatery (Washington, DC)
  2. Ray’s Hell Burger (Arlington, VA)
  3. Elevation Burger (Fallls Chruch, VA)
  4. Sweetwater Tavern (Merrifield, VA)
  5. Five Guys (Everywhere)
  6. McDonalds (Everywhere)
  7. Wendy’s (Everywhere)
  8. Burger King (Everywhere)

If You're Looking For The Best Grilled Cheese…

Posted by Phil Hargis on July 29th, 2009 | 1 comment

1.  BASSETTS RESTAURANT, 19950 FISHER AVE, POOLESVILLE MD 20837
By far the greatest grilled cheese I have ever had.  The perfect bread, cheese and grilling.

2.  STONEY’S LOUNGE, Logan Circle, P St. NW between 14th and 15th
Based on WashingtonPost.com review and local hype I finally got to get the super grilled cheese for myself.  Fan-freaking-tastic.  Thick bread, perfect char, skipped the tomato, bacon needed to be a tad more crispy and mine needed just a slice or two more of red onion.  A+ though. They clearly have a reputation for this sandwich as it was the only thing coming out of the kitchen when I was there for an early Friday happy hour in late July.

3.  CAFE ATLANTICO, Penn Quarter, NW Washington DC
I love Cafe Atlantico, it’s my go to spot for a passion fruit jalapeno infused martini and Sunday brunch.  Pay attention to the bar menu sometime and get the over-priced but well worth it grilled cheese…Ole Ole….Ole Ole Ole!

4.  SWEETWATER TAVERN
In Fairfax, they do everything perfectly, grilled cheese included.  The bread was a little thin for my liking, but this place uses all the other great ingriedients, so ask them to put on all your favorite toppings.  Be warned, if you want it, you have to order off the kids menu, and there’s a slight upcharge, but it’s worth it.

5.  FIVE GUYS
In addition to one of the best hamburgers around, they also make one helluva a grilled cheese.

6.  HOOTERS
Just make sure they don’t undergrill it like they have a tendency to do.  Usually one of the best items on their otherwise ordinary menu.

8.  THIRSTY BERNIES
This restaurant does not know what they are doing when it comes to world of grilled cheeses….but they’re new so hopefully still learning.

9.  BREAKERS Fairfax, VA
New kids in town need to learn how to grow up and make a simple grilled cheese.  Just opened, probably growing pains, the one on the menu sounds like it has a lot of potential.  Will have to try again to be convinced.

10.  Mad Fox Brewing Company, VA
This is another one of the new kids on the block in northern Virginia.  The menu lists the Artisianl Grilled Cheese which is everything but.  The bread, while made of the proper thickness and cut has a little bit too much cheese layered inside it for an overwhelming cheese to bread ratio which, when pressed in their panini maker, creates a soggy mess and flimsy looking grilled cheese when presented.  I ordered it with the Nueske bacon which was not properly cooked and wreckless thrown on there and then suffocated by the cheesewad.  I opted for the brussel sprouts instead of fries….and a pittance handful of rather tasty brussels was placed down and completely devoured before throwing in the napkin after eating half of this 3rd grade level cooking disaster called the Artisinal Grilled Cheese at the Mad Fox Brewing Company.  I wish I had a picture of this grilled cheese wearing it’s panini prison stripes.  This was an insult to the grilled cheese genus.