#125: Pinkberry

Date Visited: 1 April 2012

Meal: Snack after Lunch

Diners: 2 - Me and Wendy

Experience: After lunch at the Old Town Grill, we headed for Wegman’s to do a bit of shopping and afterward stopped by Pinkberry for a quick snack.

For review, there are eleven restaurants now open in the Village at Leesburg: Flame Kabob, Faang Thai, Noodles & Company, Travinia Italian Kitchen, Eggspectation, King Pinz (yes, they have a restaurant too), Wegmans (yeah, it's technically a restaurant), Finnegan’s, Firebirds, and the subject of this review, Pinkberry!

Pinkberry is a large franchise chain with hundreds of locations in the U.S. and around the world. Their main product is frozen yogurt in several sizes; many toppings are free, and a few cost extra. They advertise that their uniqueness is the signature “tang” in the yogurt. Well, here’s what we found...

On this visit, I had the Salted Caramel yogurt with Peanut Butter Crunch topping. It was creamy, definitely had a tangy taste, but a little light on the salt to my taste. the gooeyness of the peanut butter topping was a great match for this flavor. Wendy had the Blood Orange yogurt (seasonal) with Dark Chocolate Chips. This one had a most definite tang to it that was very pleasantly refreshing.

Pinkberry’s is the hip place to get your cool, refreshing frozen yogurt fix. Give ‘em a try!

Location: 1606 Village Market Blvd., Leesburg, VA, 20175, 703-771-3345

Web site: http://pinkberry.com/

Total bill: $8.30

#124: Old Town Grill

Date Visited: 1 April 2012

Meal: Lunch

Diners: 3 - Me, Wendy, and Andy

Experience: The Old Town Grill has been open since November 2011, where the Green Tree was located. The Green Tree used to offer 17th century menu items and we ate there a few times, but they never got really great reviews. Owner Fabian Saiedi finally decided on a new strategy, a complete renovation of the old Green Tree, transformed into the Old Town Grill, marketed primarily as a steakhouse. Mr. Saiedi also owns Bella Luna Ristorante, Georgetown Café, Ball's Bluff Tavern, King's Court, The Colonial Inn Bed & Breakfast and, now the new Old Town Grill.

On this Sunday afternoon visit (April Fool’s day), we were the only people in the restaurant; not a good sign to start with, but read on! The menu includes a good selection of Soup & Salad, Sandwiches & Kabobs, Burgers, and a Beer & Wine list. Some items were remembered from the old Green Tree menu.

I started off with the Mixed Green house salad. It had a unique dill dressing that was creamy but not too heavy, and a good mix of lettuces. Wendy had the Green Herb soup, which, according to our server, is made with 14 herbs; it was creamy, and we could detect thyme, rosemary, and something spicy. Andy had the French Onion soup. So far, so good...

For the main course, I got the Crab Cake sandwich, which was served with lemon caper sauce on a baguette, with big thick-cut fries. The Crab Cake was made with a fine mix, not much detectable filler, but not much crust. There was nothing else on the bun. It also came with a 1,000 Island-ish dressing, which I used mainly for my fries. It was all pretty good.

Wendy got the Grilled Chicken sandwich, which was served with bacon, jack cheese, caramelized onions, and fries. The chicken was a good-sized, thick portion. She liked it.

Andy got the Old Town burger, which was Angus beef served wth bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and fries. The burger was orderd medium, but was delivered more like medium-well. He said it was a “good standard cheeseburger” with exception of the bun, which he really liked. They actually used the same bun for all our dishes.

We decided to try the desserts this time too. Wendy got the Mint Chocolate cake, which had “pretty chocolate dots” but was otherwise average. Andy got his favorite, the Creme brûlée, which he judged as above average! It did have a nice thick top. For my part, I sampled both, and finished off with a coffee.

Overall, Old Town Grill was good, but not exceptional. We wouldn’t hesitate to go there again, but there are better steakhouses, like my current favorite, Firebirds.

Location: 15 South King St., Leesburg, VA, 20175, 703-777-7246

Web site: http://theoldtowngrill.net/

Total bill: $77.69 + $16.00 tip = $93.69