#7: Panera Bread

Date Visited: 27 April 2008

Meal: Lunch

Diners: 3 - Me, Wendy, & Alicia

Experience: In case you couldn't guess from the name, Panera's big deal is bread, and it's good! Each Panera store is both a bakery and a cafe. You can buy all kinds of bread, bagels, and such, and you can also get a very nice lunch. Most of the offerings are sandwiches (no surprise there), soups, and salads. For those who must stay connected all the time, they also offer free WiFi access to the Internet.

For this visit, we took advantage of Panera's "You Pick Two" deal. You pick two of these three choices: a half-sandwich, a half-salad, or a bowl of soup. Optionally, you can get the soup in a round bread bowl - yummy! I picked the Sierra Turkey sandwich and the Broccoli Cheese soup. Wendy had the Chicken Bacon Dijon sandwich and the Tomato soup. Alicia had the Caesar salad and the Broccoli Cheese soup.

Panera is a great place for a nice hot lunch on a cold day, and we enjoyed that on this visit.

Location: 215 Fort Evans Rd. NE, Leesburg, VA, 20176

Web site: http://panerabread.com/

Total bill: $28.67

#6: Costco Food Court

Date Visited: 26 April 2008

Meal: Lunch

Diners: 3 - Me, Wendy, & Alicia

Experience: OK, so Costco is barely a restaurant by my definition, but they do have what is euphemistically called a "food court". It is a place to eat and includes tables and chairs. It's actually a fun place to grab a quick lunch before or after shopping, especially at such bargain prices.

I had a hot dog and soda, Wendy had a turkey wrap and a soda, and Alicia had a hot dog and frozen yogurt. What's not to like? I fed all three of us for less than ten bucks, including tax!

Location: 1300 Edwards Ferry Rd., Leesburg, VA, 20176

Web site: http://www.costco.com/ (Leesburg location)

Total bill: $9.05

#5: Jasmine Chinese Cuisine

Date Visited: 25 April 2008

Meal: Dinner

Diners: 2 - Me & Wendy

Experience: Jasmine is a relatively new restaurant in Leesburg, located in historic Market Station. Their slogan is "a better oriental dining experience", and I think they achieve it!

We've been to Jasmine once before (in November 2006, soon after they opened) and really liked it. The food and service were both great, and this most recent visit was the same. We had the Crab Rangoon appetizer - excellent! For the entree, I had the Scallops & Shrimp in Garlic Sauce, described in the menu as "Scallop, shrimp, water chestnuts, celery sautéed in a spicy garlic sauce". Wendy had the Crispy Prawn with Walnuts, described in the menu as "Prawns with walnuts cooked in a special tangy sauce". Everything was just wonderful, and the menu includes all the standard Chinese favorites. The service was unusally good, with much attention to detail, which made for an especially pleasant dining experience.

Location: Market Station, 110 South St. SE, Leesburg, VA, 20175

Web site: http://jasminecuisine.com/

Total bill: $41.88 + $8.00 tip = $49.88

#4: McDonald's (Market St.)

Date Visited: 24 April 2008

Meal: Breakfast

Diners: 1 - Me

Experience: What is there to say about McDonald's? They are everywhere, of course, and Leesburg has two of them. There used to be three as of several years ago, but the third one was a "mini" McDonalds located in the Leesburg Plaza Shopping Center, and I guess it didn't do enough business so it closed.

A long, long, time ago, as a senior in high school (1974 - you do the math), I worked at a McDonald's in Lomita, California. Somehow I never got tired of the food and I can still enjoy it today.

Anyway, McDonald's is now my place for breakfast-on-the-go. I'm old enough to remember when the Egg McMuffin was new. More recently, my favorite was the Bacon, Egg, and Cheese McGriddle, but my new favorite is the McSkillet Burrito with Steak. Just for fun, I looked up the nutritional information for this item on the McDonald's web site. The most significant numbers to me are that it's got 570 calories, 30 grams of fat (12 grams saturated fat), and 44 grams of carbohydrates (3 grams of fiber). Oh well, it's not exactly advertised as a weight-loss program. For this visit, I ordered the McSkillet Burrito with Steak combo meal, which comes with Hash Browns and a coffee (I always upgrade to a large).

For my quest, that's one McDonald's down, and one to go.

Location: 335 E. Market St., Leesburg, VA, 20176

Web site: http://mcdonalds.com/

Total bill: $4.86

#3: Taipei Cafe

Date Visited: 18 April 2008

Meal: Dinner

Diners: 3 - Me, Wendy & Alicia

Experience: Taipei Cafe is a small, Chinese fast food establishment. Most of their business is take-out, but the restaurant seats about 25 if you want to eat there. The menu includes all the standard Americanized Chinese favorites.

For us, the best reason to go to Taipei Cafe is when you want good, generous portions of basic Chinese take-out. The dinner combo meals are the best deal around. You get a main course, rice, soup, and an egg roll for $7.75 - you can't beat it!

During this visit, I got the Kung Pao chicken with Hot and Sour soup. Wendy got the Cashew Chicken with Won Ton soup. Alicia just got Chicken Fried Rice (no combo). These are the things we almost always get when we eat here, and they did not disappoint. The quality is good and very consistent. There are usually enough leftovers to have for lunch the next day! We'll continue to come back whenever we're in the mood for Chinese take-out.

Location: 946 Edwards Ferry Rd NE, Leesburg, VA, 20176, 703-771-8882

Web site: http://taipeicafeleesburg.com/

Total bill: $24.35

UPDATE, 3 January 2010: Tai Pei Cafe now has a web site (see above)!

#2: Roy Rogers (Market St.)

Date Visited: 18 April 2008

Meal: Breakfast

Diners: 1 - Me

Experience: Roy Rogers is a fast food restaurant, with locations in nine east coast states, mostly in Maryland and Virginia. It is named after the famous "Happy Trails to You" singing cowboy, Roy Rogers himself.

Roy Rogers is primarily known for their chicken, but for me, the only reason to go there is for breakfast. The Sourdough Ham, Egg, and Cheese breakfast sandwich is great. You can make it even better by using the "Fixin's Bar" - I usually add onions and a few Jalapeno peppers. If you buy the combo meal, it comes with breakfast fries and coffee.

The funniest thing to me is that I go to Roy Rogers for this breakfast about once a week or so. I always order the same thing, but the price never seems to be the same! I've paid as low as $3.50 and as high as $4.32. I always "upgrade" to a large coffee, but you would think they'd know how to calculate the price difference the same way every time, but they don't. Sometimes they give me the senior discount (without me asking), though I'm still several years short of qualifying!

There are two Roy Rogers locations in Leesburg; this is the one on Market Street. I usually only go to this one because it's on the way to work. Some time I'll visit the other one.

Location: 540 East Market Street, Leesburg, VA 20176, 703-777-6322

Web site: http://royrogersrestaurants.com/

Total bill: $4.32 (this time!)

#1: Del Rio Mexican Restaurant

Date Visited: 14 April 2008

Meal: Dinner

Diners: Me and Wendy

Experience: We were looking for a simple meal one night, and were in a mood for Mexican. We had visited Del Rio many years ago when it was called Sombrero's and didn't have a good experience. Knowing that Del Rio was under new management, we decided to give them a try. The atmosphere and decor are very casual and unassuming. They also have a comedy club on Saturdays, but we weren't interested in that.

The chips and salsa were above average; the salsa had a pleasantly prominent cilantro flavor. Drinks come with a semi-fancy touch: the straws are delivered with the top inch or so of paper still on. Wendy ordered the "Pollo Fiesta" special, which had chicken and shrimp in a garlic sauce. I had the "El Paso" combo, which included a chicken flauta, a cheese enchilada, and two bean tacos. The silverware arrived a bit late, but it wasn't a big deal.

One good test of a Mexican restaurant is to see if there are any Mexicans eating there. Although I didn't check passports, there were at least a lot of Latinos who appeared to be regulars. Overall, we liked it very much and would come again.

Location: 701 E. Market St., Leesburg, VA, 703-777-9554

Web site: http://www.delriocomedy.com/

Total bill: $25.12 + $5.00 tip = $30.12