26 March 2014

#149: Cupcakes Actually

Date Visited: 22 March 2014

Meal: Dinner

iners: Me, Wendy, & Andy

Experience: Cupcakes Actually is located in the Village at Leesburg, in between Noodles & Company and Firebirds Wood Fired Grill. Besides this location, they have another one in Fairfax. Cupcakes Actually is a product of the relatively recent cultural obsession with upscale, gourmet cupcakes. The menu is pretty simple, it’s mostly cupcakes! Different styles are featured every week, and there’s plenty of variety, including gluten-free and vegan choices. They also have other goodies, such as homemade gelato and sorbet, a coffee bar, breakfast pastries, and frozen treats - a full-service restaurant!

Our real purpose for this visit was to get some cupcakes for Andy’s birthday instead of a cake. We chose an assortment of three cupcakes: Fudge, Simply Red, and Dipped Peanut Butter. I only got to taste the Fudge one, and it was pure, creamy deliciousness. Andy devoured the other two before I got a chance to taste them, so they must have been good. To balance out all that sugar, I also got a small Cappuccino, which was just fine and well-made.

Check out Cupcakes Actually for yourself, and support a local business!

Location: 1607 Village Market Blvd. #108, Leesburg, VA, 20175, 571-442-8210

Website: http://cupcakesactually.com/

Total bill: $11.96

17 March 2014

#148: Which Wich

Date Visited: 16 March 2014

Meal: Lunch

Diners: Me, Wendy, & Andy

Experience: Having our usual Sunday afternoon post-church discussion on where to eat, I suggested that we go to Quiznos, since the company just announced they were filing for bankruptcy, and we might not get another chance. So we headed over and found that Quiznos was already gone, replaced by Which Wich! Apparently they opened back in October of 2013 but I didn’t notice. Other restaurants in the Battlefield Shopping Center include Five Guys, Golden China, Ledo Pizza, Cold Stone Creamery, Starbucks, Ruby Tuesday, and Sweetz Bakery (not yet reviewed).

Which Wich is a franchised restaurant chain with a unique approach to ordering. Here’s a quote from the website, explaining things for those new to Which Wich:

“Which Wich is a fresh, innovative concept featuring superior sandwiches served in an edgy, magnetic environment. In addition to more than 50 customizable “wiches”, including the signature Wicked loaded with five meats and three cheeses, Which Wich is known for its revolutionary ordering system. Find the bag with the category you want, grab a red Sharpie, and mark up the pre-printed menu on the sandwich bag. Select your sandwich, then choose the bread, cheese, spreads, and veggies. Your wich is prepared just the way you want it and delivered in your personalized sandwich bag. After you’ve enjoyed your wich, grab another red Sharpie, doodle on the back of your bag, and hang your masterpiece on the community wall. Wicked, right?”

Well, I’m not sure about the “magnetic environment”, but it is a pretty cool system. There are really just ten different bags to choose from: Turkey, Ham & Pork, Beef, Chicken, Seafood, Vegetarian, Italian, R&D, Classics, and Breakfast. There’s plenty of variety and customization possible once you select your bag.

For this visit, I chose the R&D (Research & Development) bag, which for now equates to a Shrimp Po’ Boy. It includes ⅓ pound of breaded butterfly shrimp, plus lettuce, tomato, pickles, and Cajun Tartar Sauce. This one comes with a bag of chips, and I chose the House chips, which were crinkle-cut potato chips with salt & pepper. I did enjoy my sandwich and the chips were kinda different. Wendy and Andy both chose the Turkey bag and customized them appropriately. You can order the sandwiches hot or cold, with different kinds of bread, different sizes (7”, 10.5”, or 14”), and lots of cheeses, sauces, mustards, mayos, dressings, veggies, oils, and spices. Andy also got a Vanilla Shake and he said it was pretty good, but I don’t know because I was too slow to ask for a taste before it was all gone!

Our visit to Which Wich was pretty positive, now you give ‘em a try!

Location: 1015 Edwards Ferry Rd. NE, Leesburg, VA, 20176, 703-687-4345

Website: http://whichwich.com/

Total bill: $33.87 + $5.00 tip = $38.87