DMV Dining

After years of vacancy at the former McDonald’s space, Tackle Box finally opened its doors yesterday. Between this and Medium Rare, new life has been injected into the Cleveland Park dining scene.

We had the opportunity to check out the restaurant’s newest location (the original is located in Georgetown, right next to sister venue Hook) for a friends and family event. Tackle Box offered a stripped-down version of their regular menu, at no cost, from 4pm to close. Talk about spreading goodwill to the neighborhood!

If you are not already familiar with Tackle Box, they are a casual seafood eatery that offers selections of grilled and fried fish, oysters, lobster rolls, clam chowder, and much more. The Cleveland Park location, however, is not only two stories, but also features an expanded menu.

The space sets the tone of a lobster shack, complete with buoys lining the walls while American flags are adorned in several corners of the restaurant. As their website proclaims – “We like summer vacation at the beach. That’s why we decided to open a lobster shack in the middle of the city for those days we couldn’t make the drive.”

Once we stepped inside, we felt like we were transported to the shore as the place was packed with communal picnic tables along with servers who looked like they were no older than 20 years old. Not that you’ll be looking for elite service with this type of venue as orders are brought out by number with servers hunting you down with plastic trays with meals prepared in paper plates/platters.

The huge bar that runs down nearly the entire length of the bottom floor looks like a great gathering place after work. The best part? They offer Natty Boh on tap!

Rachel and I split a half dozen raw oysters prepared at the raw bar by the front of the house. Accompanied with cocktail sauce and vinegar, these were some surprisingly large oysters. They were freshly shucked, very clean, and nicely presented in a wooden bowl (orders of dozen came out on a steel tray).

As for our entrees, we both ordered the Maine Meal which comes with a choice of fish, two sides, and a sauce. I ordered the grilled tilapia with lemon-garlic aioli, grilled broccoli, and mashed potatoes while Rachel got the grilled cod with a grilled portabella mushroom and corn on the cob.

Rachel originally wanted to order the whole steamed lobster, but alas, it was 86’ed by the time she stepped up to the counter. The fact that they included this on the complimentary menu spoke volumes on their effort to appease new customers though.

Anyway, I enjoyed the tilapia. It was nothing fancy, but for $7 a la carte (the Maine Meal is normally $14.50), one shouldn’t need to complain. While it was a tad salty, it was a decent piece of fish. When my platter arrived, I received a generous portion of grilled broccoli but my mashed potatoes were nowhere to be found. After informing the waiter, he told me that they had run out. Minutes later, he delivered a fresh batch of French fries! Nice gesture (and really good fries, to boot).

Rachel’s cod was excellently grilled and had great flavor to it, especially when dipped into the lemon-garlic aioli sauce. The corn was a little cold by the time she had bit into it, but it still had a nice char to it, if not a tad too buttery. The star of the show had to have been the mushroom, which she thought was huge, until she saw a fellow diner’s even larger mushroom. She said that alone could be an entree, and was a great deal as a side.

We also split a brownie sundae which arrived with two scoops of vanilla ice cream. It was a great way to end the meal as the homemade brownie was soft and delicious while the ice cream, which was nearly melted by the time we got around to eating it, was still very rich in flavor.

We can see Tackle Box being very successful in Cleveland Park given the location, expansive menu, and huge dining space. It’s been a long time coming for that long-vacant space, and we can’t think of a better restaurant to fill the void than Tackle Box.

Tackle Box is located on 3407 Connecticut Avenue in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of DC.

While you might find this rather surprising, this was in fact our very first visit to Ray’s Hell Burger. We know, we know.

That’s not to say we haven’t dined at some of Michael Landrum’s other fine establishments… because we have. Trust us. In fact, we had dinner years ago at the original Ray’s the Steaks location which is now, you guessed it, where Hell Burger is situated. That’s not to be confused with Ray’s Hell Burger Too, which is just down the street.

But in order to commemorate our inaugural visit to the place to get a burger in this town, we had to go on my 30th birthday. Yes, it was my real birthday this time around.

But enough with the side stories, let’s get to the beef. And let me tell you, there was a lot of it!

While Hell Burger keeps it simple by offering one entrée, there are so many permutations one can come up with given the smorgasbord of burger styles, cooking temperatures, toppings, and cheeses that it can almost be a little overwhelming. Sorry folks, there are no alternate burgers here for those who are vegetarians or don’t eat red meat. This is purely a burger place.

Yet what makes Ray’s even better is the price: $6.99 for 10 ounces of hand-trimmed, freshly grounded beef. And while cheeses, bacon, or even roasted bone marrow (yes, that is an option!) might cost you extra, there are a plethora of toppings offered free of charge which range from cognac & sherry-sautéed mushrooms to charred jalapenos.

As for my burger, I ordered it Au Poivre-style (seared with a black peppercorn crust), cooked medium, and topped with lettuce, tomato, grilled red onion, sautéed mushrooms, pickles, and piranha sauce (fiery, spicy green sauce).

Rachel kept it simple with their original burger, added their secret steak seasoning blend, and topped it with lettuce, tomato, pickles, grilled onions, and mushrooms. She just recently started liking real burgers (normally she would opt for the veggie burger), and this one definitely took the cake in her mind. Sure it was messy and a little hard to eat, but it was worth every bite.

We also split an order of sweet potato fries as well as a black cow milkshake. Hey, I mean if we’re doing Hell Burger for the first time we might as well do it right, right?

When the burgers arrived at our table, I nearly had to do a double take. To say they were monstrous would be an understatement. Let’s just say I don’t think the old Wendy’s lady would have any trouble finding the beef.

My burger was outstanding, although I kind of second-guessed ordering it Au Poivre-style after taking a bite of Rachel’s. Not that I didn’t like the peppercorn crust, but I was really able to enjoy the natural flavor of the beef moreso with Rachel’s patty than with my own.

The toppings were of high-caliber as the grilled onions and sautéed mushrooms were delicious but I felt the bun was rather ho-hum. It was able to keep the contents of the burger intact given all the juices and oils packed inside (which is important in its own right), but the bread was just average.

Meanwhile the fries were nice and crispy but nothing memorable. The black cow milkshake, on the other hand, was excellent. The vanilla/chocolate concoction was absurdly thick, impressively rich, and ultimately complemented the early summer weather as a refreshing treat.

I don’t need to tell you more about Ray’s than what you’ve already heard, but if you haven’t been yet, skip the overhype (as well as the lines) of Shake Shack and head over to this great local institution instead.