#41: Peppermill Grill

Date Visited: 23 November 2008

Meal: Breakfast

Diners: 3 - Me, Wendy, & Alicia

Experience: Peppermill Grill is Leesburg's newest restaurant, as far as I know. We went there after church on Sunday after seeing a sign for brunch that lasted until 3:00.

The brunch menu had a wide variety of interesting choices. Everything on the menu sounded great, and I was having trouble making a choice. I asked our waiter (Tim) what he recommended. He answered that he had not actually had a chance to try many of them yet, but he had tasted the Hollandaise sauce, and recommened that. So I ordered the Eggs Benedict ("Poached eggs, Canadian bacon, fresh Hollandaise and scallions over croissant"). It was an excellent dish, and the Hollandaise sauce was very smooth and creamy.

Wendy had the Omlette du Jour ("Served with breakfast potatoes"). Today's omlette was Ham & Swiss. She liked it very much.

Alicia had the French Toast ("Served with choice of topping; Apple Cinnamon or Strawberry"). She chose the strawberry, and it looked pretty good to me. Her comment was that it was "eggy" (I think that's good).

All of our dishes included an assortment of fresh fruit, including huge globe grapes (mmm...), cantaloupe, and honeydew melon. The plates themselves were all of different design, which produced a nice effect.

Other brunch menu options that we'll have to try sometime are: Breakfast Burrito, Peppermill Steak & Eggs, Hash & Eggs, Home Made Crepes, Shrimp & Grits, Grilled Mahi Mahi, Wild Mushroom Pasta, and Chicken Picatta. I looked over the regular lunch and dinner menus, and they include a good variety of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, and beef/chicken/seafood entrees. I guess that's the "American Bistro" part of this place.

We also met some old friends while we were there. Dr Sampson (of Leesburg Chiropractic) and his family were there for their first visit too.

History: This is a Leesburg location that has seen a lot of change over the years. Before Peppermill Grill, it used to be Zeffirelli Ristorante, and from their web site, you'd think they were still there! It was a fairly high-end dining experience; we only went there once. There are still etched "Z"s on the interior windows. Before Zeffirelli's, it was Waffle King's Virginia Kitchen (not sure I'm remembering the name exactly). It was a simple family-friendly restaurant, and we ate there a few times.

The verdict on Peppermill Grill: love it, we'll be back! They do need to get a decent web site too.

Location: 5 Catoctin Cir. SE, Leesburg, VA, 20175

Web site: none

Total bill: $38.52 + $8.00 tip = $46.52

UPDATE, 5 April 2009: I've been informed that Peppermill Grill now has a web site; it's http://peppermillgrillva.com/

UPDATE, 10 May 2009: We went to Peppermill Grill for a Mother's Day dinner. This restaurant continues to impress! I had the Pork Spare Ribs (extra-large, meat falling off the bone, excellent teryaki sauce), Wendy had the Pork Scalloppini, Andy had the New York Strip Steak, and Alicia had a Caesar Salad (even the salads are outstanding here). For desserts, we got a couple Creme Brulees and a Chocolate Mousse cake. See the online menu for more details. Go to the Peppermill Grill today!

#40: Domino's

Date Visited: 22 November 2008

Meal: Dinner

Diners: 2 - Me & Wendy

Experience: When in the mood for pizza, our preference is usually Vocelli's, because of their excellent pizza and sandwich combinations. When Domino's started advertising sandwiches too, it was time to check them out.

When at Domino's, our favorite is a large Deluxe Feast ("A mouth-watering combination of pepperoni, savory Italian sausage, fresh green peppers, fresh mushrooms, fresh onions and cheese"). We've had this one many times and it's always good - except this time! For some reason, it was a bit undercooked and chewy. Oh well, I won't hold it against them, but it's ironic that it happened the one time I'm going to write about it on this blog.

On to the new item: "Domino's Hot Baked Sandwiches". We tried the Philly Cheese Steak ("Tender slices of Steak, Premium American & Provolone cheeses, and Onions, Green Peppers & Mushrooms all layered on an Artisan Italian Bread and baked to a perfect golden brown"). It was underwhelming and again, it seemed a bit undercooked. The "artisan" bread was pretty tough and did not make for a pleasant eating experience.

For fast pizza, we'l probably stick to Vocelli's for now.

Location: 944 Edwards Ferry Rd. NE, Leesburg, VA, 20176

Web site: http://dominos.com/

Total bill: $21.68

#39: Bob Evans

Date Visited: 15 November 2008

Meal: Breakfast

Diners: 2 - Me & Wendy

Experience: It's a sleepy, rainy, unusually warm winter Saturday morning, and I'm starving! So off we go in search of a new breakfast experience. Bob Evans is the choice today.

I grew up on the west coast, and there were a lot of IHOPs, but no Bob Evans. On their web site it says Bob Evans "provides homestyle food and friendly service to our customers primarily in the East North Central, mid-Atlantic and Southern United States." Well that explains it.

I had the Farmer's Choice ("Your choice of one fruit crepe, two hotcakes or two slices of French toast served with two eggs, Bob Evans Sausage or bacon and home fries") and selected the hotcakes and bacon. Wendy had the Western Omelette ("Diced smoked ham, onion, green and red peppers cooked
into the eggs, then stuffed and topped with shredded cheddar cheese").

The food was fine but unremarkable; I think I still prefer IHOP.

Location: 225 Fort Evans Rd. NE, Leesburg, VA, 20176

Web site: http://bobevans.com/

Total bill: $18.95 + $3.00 tip = $21.95

#38: Starbucks (Edwards Ferry Rd.)

Date Visited: 13 November 2008

Meal: Dinner

Diners: 2 - Me & my friend Gary

Experience: I meet with my friend Gary every other week to discuss theology, parenting, music, and software development (some combination, eh?). We used to meet at Market Street Coffee until they closed this summer. So on this Thursday night we went to Starbucks.

My research on their web site's store locator reveals that there are six(!) Starbucks in Leesburg:
1. Market Street in the Bellewood Commons shopping center
2. Edwards Ferry Road in the Battlefield Shopping Center (this one)
3. Edwards Ferry Road inside SuperTarget
4. Promenade Drive in the Lansdowne Town Center
5. Fort Evans Road in the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets
6. Xerox Document Training Center - Lobby Alcove (this one I'll have to research further)

Since this is a restaurant blog, I thought I should make sure to order a food item in addition to my standard Grande Latte. I checked out the pastry case and selected an Apple Cinnamon Stella; it was kind of dry and not very tasty to me. Oh well. I really do like the coffee.

Gary and I were there talking until closing, at which time we got asked to leave. Well, that's one Starbucks down, and five to go!

Location: 1011 Edwards Ferry Rd. NE, Leesburg, VA, 20176

Web site: http://starbucks.com/

Total bill: $5.53

#37: Ruby Tuesday

Date Visited: 11 November 2008

Meal: Dinner

Diners: 3 - Me, Wendy, & Alicia

Experience: On this Tuesday night, Veteran's Day, we went out to one of our most favorite comfort-food restaurants, Ruby Tuesday. The one here in Leesburg has been consistently serving fresh and delicious meals ever since we moved here.

One of the big draws for us is the Fresh Garden Bar. It's got everything I love: all kinds of veggies, broccoli salad, cottage cheese, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, peas, edamame, red onion, pumpernickel croutons, real bacon (not "bits"), and much more. The only minor irritation is that it's located right next to the bar area's smoking section, and you can smell smoke while loading up your dish. We all added the Fresh Garden Bar to our meals.

For entrees, I had the Bacon Cheddar Minis ("Mini masterpieces made even more magnificent with crisp bacon, melted cheddar, garnished with mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and a crisp pickle. Served with a side of crisp, piping-hot fries"). Alicia got the Ruby Minis ("Fresh, USDA Choice mini masterpieces topped with American cheese and crisp onion straws, garnished with mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and a crisp pickle. Served with a side of crisp, piping-hot fries"). Wendy got the Chicken Fresco ("A fresh, grilled chicken breast topped with seasonal vine-ripened tomatoes, lemon-butter sauce, and a splash of balsamic vinaigrette. Served with fresh, steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes").

It was all good, fresh, and filling; we left very satisfied.

Location: 1003 Edwards Ferry Rd., Leesburg, VA, 20176

Web site: http://rubytuesday.com/

Total bill: $37.54 + $8.00 tip = $48.73

#36: Pizza Hut Express

Date Visited: 9 November 2008

Meal: Lunch

Diners: 1 - Me

Experience: Pizza Hut Express is located inside Leesburg's SuperTarget at the Battlefield Shopping Center. It turns out that Pizza Hut and Pizza Hut Express are two very different entities. From the Wikipedia article on Pizza Hut, it is explained that "Pizza Hut Express locations are fast food restaurants licensed by Pizza Hut and operated independently. They offer a completely different menu with many products not found at traditional Pizza Huts, and are often found on college campuses, food courts, theme parks, and in stores such as Target." Other than this mention on Wikipedia, I couldn't find any reference to Pizza Hut Express on Pizza Hut's main web site.

Leesburg's Pizza Hut Express offers personal size pizzas and breadsticks, as well as some very un-Pizza Hut items like salads, deli sandwiches, soups, and even hot dogs.

On this visit, I got a combo meal with an Italian Sausage pizza, breadsticks, and a drink. It was OK; they did have Cherry Coke on tap, which was a nice surprise. The pizzas are made ahead of time, so you just pick the one you want from the rack and hope it hasn't been sitting there too long. The menu is obviously oriented towards providing quick snacks to shoppers on the go.

Location: 1200 Edwards Ferry Rd., Leesburg, VA, 20176

Web site: http://pizzahut.com/

Total bill: $6.28

#35: Arby's

Date Visited: 8 November 2008

Meal: Dinner

Diners: 1 - Me

Experience: Arby's is the place to go when you have a fast food craving, but are tired of average burgers and fries. Arby's is mainly about roast beef sandwiches and curly fries.

On this visit, I got the Bacon Beef 'n Cheddar Sandwich ("Thinly sliced, oven-roasted beef and thick-cut pepper bacon with cheddar cheese and Red Ranch sauces served on an onion roll"). The meal combo also included Curly Fries ("Curly-cut French fries with a crispy seasoned coating") and a drink. It was a nice change from normal burgers, well-prepared, and tasty.

In addition to roast beef, Arby's offers chicken, deli-type sandwiches, wraps, salads, toasted subs, shakes, and desserts. They have some other unique items on the menu such as Mozzarella Sticks, Potato Bites, and Onion Petals. Check 'em out!

Some background info from About Arby's on their web site:

"From day one, Arby’s Roast Beef Restaurants offered an innovative menu, offering guests something other than hamburgers in the newly inspired quick service segment. When foodservice veterans Leroy and Forrest Raffel opened the first Arby’s in Boardman, Ohio on July 23, 1964, customers enjoyed roast beef sandwiches, potato chips, and Texas-sized iced teas. To name their new venture, the brothers decided on Arby’s, which stands for R.B., the initials of the Raffel Brothers - although many suspect the R.B. stands for roast beef."

"On September 29, 2008, Triarc Companies Inc. merged with Wendy's International, Inc. to form Wendy's/Arby's Group, Inc. Wendy's/Arby's Group, Inc. is the third largest quick-service restaurant company in the United States."

Location: 605 Potomac Station Dr., Leesburg, VA, 20176

Web site: http://arbys.com/

Total bill: $7.26

#34: Deli South

Date Visited: 8 November 2008

Meal: Lunch

Diners: 1 - Me

Experience: I found myself on my own for the day, and ended up having a wonderfully enjoyable and relaxing Saturday.

I started off the morning by attending the Men's Steak 'N Study breakfast at Cornerstone Chapel (my home church). Steak, eggs, fried potatoes, fresh fruit, donuts, and coffee - not to mention fellowship with friends and good teaching. An excellent start to the day.

Next, I stopped at Leesburg's Saturday farmer's market at Virginia Village. I picked up some Golden Crisp apples from C. Hess Orchard & Produce, Martinsburg, WV. I also discovered a new Leesburg winery called Zephaniah Farm Vineyard, and I bought a bottle of their Cabernet Franc - my favorite!

On the way home, I dropped in at The Coffee Bean (110 South King St.) and had a cup of the flavored coffee of the day. Mmm...

And now for the real purpose of this post - lunch at Deli South.

Deli South has been in Leesburg since 1993, located in the Virginia Village shopping center. It's not a chain or franchise, just a good local deli! They offer an interesting selection of sandwiches with names that somewhat reflect our region's heritage, like The King, Rhett Butler, Robert E. Lee, New York Special, Grilled Turkey Special, Scarlet O'Hara, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Stonewall Jackson, George Mason, Michelle's TNT Club Wrap, Bill Clinton, Patsy Cline, Fried Fish Delight, and John Mosby. They also have name-your-own-sandwich (you pick everything), homemade deli salads (like potato salad, macaroni salad, cole slaw, etc.), garden salads, and a full breakfast menu.

I ordered the John Mosby ("Pork BBQ on a toasted Kaiser roll with our homemade cole slaw. A guaranteed treat for all BBQ lovers"). Well that's me, a BBQ lover, so I had to try it. It was pretty good.

On a previous visit (way before this blog existed), I tried one of their breakfast sandwiches, which had egg, cheese, and lots of bacon - it was very good. I recall that their coffee was pretty good too. Now they also have an espresso bar.

After all this eating, I had to go outside and rake some leaves to work it off!

I urge you to help support local restaurants like this in Leesburg; go our and eat at Deli South!

Location: 38-D Catoctin Cir., Leesburg, VA, 20175

Web site: http://delisouth.com/

Total bill: $7.69

#33: Zpizza

Date Visited: 7 November 2008

Meal: Dinner

Diners: 1 - Me

Experience: According to their web site, "we opened in Laguna Beach, California in 1986 to create a pizza that was lighter, healthier, delicious & creative." Zpizza has locations in sixteen states, most of which are in California, and many more all along the east coast.

Zpizza lives up to their claim of "creative" pizzas; they offer such creations as the Napoli, Greek, Thai, ZBQ, Mexican, California, Moroccan, Mediterranean, American, Santa Fe, Berkely Soy Cheese Veggie, Casablanca, Tuscan Mushroom, Provence, and Italian. They also offer "normal" pizzas as well as salads, pastas, sandwiches, and desserts.

For this visit, I ordered the Provence ("Organic tomato sauce, homemade roasted garlic sauce, mozzarella, artichoke hearts, capers, tomatoes, basil"). It was very good! The artichokes, garlic, and capers give it a very strong, different taste, compared to average pizza. On a previous visit (about a year ago), we tried the ZBQ, which was very different, but made well. In line with their "lighter" claim, Zpizza crusts are somewhat thinner than average, and the whole thing is fire-baked, for a yummy result.

Leesburg's Zpizza is located in a sort-of back corner of the Potomac Station shopping center (or, more properly, "Marketplace at Potomac Station"), which also includes Moe's and Subway. It seems to me an unfortunate location, as it can't easily be seen from the roads surrounding the shopping center. But now you know it's there!

If you want to try an alternative to "normal" pizza, check out Zpizza.

Location: 659 Potomac Station Dr., Leesburg, VA, 20176

Web site: http://zpizza.com/

Total bill: $17.85

#32: Subway (Catoctin Circle)

Date Visited: 4 November 2008

Meal: Dinner

Diners: 1 - Me

Experience: According to Wikipedia's Subway page, it "has over 30,016 franchised units in 88 countries as of October 2008 and is the fastest growing franchise in the world. Currently, Subway is the third largest fast food operator globally after Yum! Brands (35,000 locations) and McDonald's (31,000 locations)." Also, "Many restaurant analysts attribute Subway's fast growth to the growing concern on health by restaurant customers, a trend that Subway has taken advantage of in its marketing."

Subway has two locations in Leesburg; one on Catoctin Circle (this visit), and another in the Potomac Station shopping center (to be visited soon). As I've mentioned before in reviews #29 and #33, I tend to like Subway over other sub sandwich restaurants such as Quiznos.

On this visit, I ordered what I almost always get at Subway: the 12-inch Big Philly Cheese Steak! I usually ask for exta onions, banana peppers, and their southwest sauce to spice things up a bit. It was very good and filling, as usual. You can't go wrong with Subway.

Location: 47-D Catoctin Cir., Leesburg, VA, 20176

Web site: http://subway.com/

Total bill: $8.45

#31: Quiznos (Market St.)

Date Visited: 2 November 2008

Meal: Lunch

Diners: 1 - Me

Experience: This was my obligatory visit to the second Quiznos in Leesburg, located on Market St. in the Bellewood Commons shopping center. I visited the other Quiznos (on Edwards Ferry Rd.) back on 27 September - hmm... not that long ago.

On this visit I got the Mesquite Chicken with Bacon sandwich ("Mesquite Chicken, bacon, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, red onion, Ranch Dressing"). I ordered it as a combo lunch and got a side salad with Caesar dressing, and a drink. I really like that they offer the salad as an alternative to the normal chip selection.

That's it for Quiznos; I still think Subway is generally better.

Location: 525J Market St., Leesburg, VA, 20176

Web site: http://quiznos.com/

Total bill: $9.53

#30: Burger King

Date Visited: 1 November 2008

Meal: Dinner

Diners: 1 - Me

Experience: Burger King is just another fast-food burger chain, but it holds a special place in my heart because I went there often while growing up in California.

On this visit I got the Steakhouse Burger ("...packed with Angus beef, melted cheese, crispy onions, lettuce and tomatoes, all smothered in A.1. Thick & Hearty Steak Sauce"), with a king size side of onion rings (substituted for french fries) and a drink. It was good, but I woke up later that night with a stomach ache - too much grease?

This particular Burger King has a somewhat shabby feel to it, and is not particularly inviting. Nothing much more to say about Burger King, except that now it's checked off my list.

Location: 940 Edwards Ferry Rd., Leesburg, VA, 20176

Web site: http://bk.com/

Total bill: $8.45

My California Culinary Adventure

I haven't posted for about a week because I've been in Orange County, California (yes, the real O.C.) from 23-28 October 2008 taking care of some family business. Since I'm a native Californian, it was great to visit old favorite restaurants. I was hosted by Larry (my wonderful brother) & Stephanie (my wonderful sister-in-law).



I wanted to write up a few culinary highlights of my trip, but of course these don't officially count for this blog, since the restaurants aren't in Leesburg. I'm also including these notes here because some of the places we ate at are California classics, and have no equivalent here in Virginia. I may be stretching the term "Culinary Adventure", since most of these places were fast-food, chain restaurants, but it was an adventure nontheless.

A couple of times we ate at L&L Hawaiian BBQ. It's a kind of fast-food chain store, but very unique. The first store was in Hawaii, and now they have many locations, most in California. The menu is full of apparently authentic Hawaiian favorites, served in the classic Hawaiian "Plate Lunch" style. The main offerings are BBQ beef, BBQ chicken, BBQ pork short ribs, Mahi Mahi, and shrimp; all served with rice and macaroni salad(!) If you can't visit in person, at least check out their web site to get an idea of what it's all about (the intro video is interesting).

Keeping with the island theme, we had lunch once at a place called Islands. They have old surfer videos playing continuously on the monitors placed throughout the restaurant, for "atmosphere", I guess. It's basically a hamburger joint, and all the burgers have Surfer/Hawaiian names; I had the Kilauea ("jalapeno & black pepper-crusted burger with pepper jack cheese, chipotle aioli & seasoned red onion strings") and Larry had the Bleunami ("bleu cheese dressing, lettuce, tomato, red onion & crumbled bleu cheese"). Interestingly, when you go to their web site, you get redirected to a secure (SSL) URL - I guess this is really sensitive data!

One morning we drove into San Juan Capistrano and had breakfast at Sarducci's Capistrano Depot. The weather was perfect and we were able to eat outside in their beautiful brick courtyard; it was very relaxing. Their homestyle potatoes, served with most of the egg dishes, were unique and delicious.

Carl's Jr. is a classic California burger chain that's been around since the 1950's. The menu is typical burger joint but better than average quality and taste. One of their newer items is "The Guacamole Bacon Six Dollar Burger"; it's made with a charbroiled Black Angus beef patty, guacamole, bacon, and more. The joke is that although it's called the six dollar burger, it really costs about four dollars - it's just big. Larry and I had breakfast there a couple of times; the breakfast burritos are pretty good.

We had two dinners at the Claim Jumper, a slightly upscale chain restaurant, with locations mostly in California. It's basically a steak house; on one visit I had Barbeque Ribs, and the next time the Ribeye, and it was all good.

We had breakfast at Denny's twice. Not that Denny's is anything special, but it was fun because we don't have any very near Leesburg. I have to confess that I really liked the "Lumberjack Slam" breakfast, plus it just sounds cool.

Finally, we had lunch a couple of times at that most iconic of all California burger joints, In-N-Out Burger! Their menu only has burgers, fries, and drinks - that's it. The only burgers on the official menu are singles and doubles. However, they also have a "secret menu" (no so secret anymore, since it's on their own web site), that you can order from if you're in the know. I had a Double-Double Animal Style, and there are other interesting choices. And of course they have a store (online & in the restaurants) where you can buy t-shirts, hats, etc. to show you're a true devotee. Yes, I bought a t-shirt.

Thus concludes my California fast-food chain restaurant adventure.