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Columbia Pike Restaurant Week Has Started

by ARLnow.com | February 19, 2013 at 12:05 pm | 2,359 views | 23 Comments

Columbia Pike’s inaugural restaurant week officially kicked off on Monday.

The seven-day event, which runs through Sunday, features a dozen restaurants offering a fixed price menu of $10 lunches and $25 dinners.

“This is a great way to get to know the restaurants on the Pike and a reason to revisit your favorites,” said the Columbia Pike Restaurant Week website.

The following restaurants are participating in the event.

Disclosure: Columbia Pike Restaurant Week organizer CPRO is an ARLnow.com advertiser.

Mike B

The restaurants are completely unprepared for this week. Last night I ate at twisted vines with my girlfriend. There was only one waiter for twelve tables, it took twenty minutes to get menus. Throughout the night they ran out of pretty much everything.
The restaurant owners in our neighborhood need to take Columbia pike more seriously as a place to do business.
- Corporate Accounts Payable
  
  Sounds like someone had a case of the Mondays.
AL

I can’t think of one restaurant on Columbia Pike that is worth $25 for dinner.
- jjj
  
  agreed
- Alex
  
  That’s what I was thinking, too. Bangkok seems like the best place, but I can go there and get a decent dinner for $25.00 or less w/o any special. The deals should have been better and the restaurants should be more prepared.
  - SARL
    
    Agreed with comments on this seeming an odd venture in general for Columbia Pike. I live within walking distance of all participating restaurants, but don’t plan to try this out. I visited the “feed the pike” website but it’s really difficult to track down any restaurant week menus that might give us an idea of what is worth $25. Even after digging on the TV website, I only found a the very non-descriptive: http://www.twisted-vines.com/images/Restaurant%20Week_Menu.pdf
- Edjey
  
  I understand for Red Rocks it’s 2 appetizers, 1 pizza, and 1 dessert for $25, so I think designed for two (or at least one and half?) people. Of course, the fact that I have only seen that on a neighborhood message board indicates the publicity machine isn’t exactly humming.
justaguyinnova

Abi Azteca and Thai Square are two that are worth it…
Charles

Thank you for not writing “first annual.”
John Fontain

If you go on William Jeffrey’s website, it refers to their participation in restaurant week. But rather than conveniently tell you what the offer is, the website says I have to go to their Facebook page to find out.

WHY??? Why make your potential customers do more work to find out what deals you are offering? Why make us go to multiple websites? Why not tell us directly on your own site?

Does this kind of nonsense frustrate anyone other than me?
- Not Me
  
  I’m annoyed just reading about it. Will not fall for the same runaround. ty for the heads up.
Ren

I think it is really unfortunate that whoever is organzing this cannot get it together enough to list menus for the restaurants or have links for the restaurants to provide as much. That seems to be a standard component of any restaurant week event. I agree that the prices seem steep, but as I have no idea what they are serving, I can’t say that for sure. It’s a lost opportunity. I would love to get friends together to particiapte, but not without any information.
AL

I tried Red Rocks the other day and it was pretty darn good. But when they’re offering Happy Hour pizzas for $6, it’s hard to justify paying $25 for a “special” dinner!
- da
  
  Most ‘restaurant weeks’ are misinterpreted by the public…we think it means come eat for cheap (because that’s what it used to mean), but really to restaurants it means let me fox a special 25 meal using my existing food cost practices. DC restaurant week is probably still ‘worth it’ but the rest just trying to figure how to get your money for 1 meal, instead of figuring how to get in future visors
Not so fast my friend…

I would be much more inclined to take part in restaurant weeks, in general, if I could get an appetizer, an entree, and a beer/glass of wine instead of dessert or some other course. I don’t need 3 courses of food, so instead I end up ordering off the regular menu 90% of the time.
PikeMan

Red Rocks last night wasn’t serving their “Restaurant Week” menu, which seems kind of deceptive given that they’ve been advertising it on the posters.

Dinner was still great, but that was pretty disappointing.
Patty

Why does every BID or “Revitalization Organization” think that a Restaurant Week will work in their neighborhood? Restaurant week’s model is based on fine dining’s serving sizes, so that you can eat an appetizer, entree, and dessert on your own. Columbia Pike offers more casual and family oriented dining, so you clearly couldn’t eat a whole order of wings, a pizza, and a sundae. Additionally, Columbia Pike prices are low enough so that you could get all three, family-sized courses at the same price or lower than offered by the restaurant week.
- John K
  
  This! Only a few of the restaurants on the list could I spend $25 for dinner and not be stuffed. I may have once sat down at Atilla’s and spent more than $25 on my own order. I actually like these places (usually) and would love for them or the Columbia Pike whatever organization to come a better strategy that fits the reality of the Pike.
- da
  
  Obviously you’re not a typical American, because that’s exactly what most stuff their pudgy faces with. Go to xsport sometime and watch how many slobs do 10 mins of biking at level 1 while blabbing on their cellio, then call it a day…
Mrs Chen

I’m dissappointed that Mrs. Chen’s Kitchen and The Broiler are not participating in the Pike Restaurant Week. Delicious!
YTK

SUPER! 14 Restaurants participating — we can eat at 2 per day.
Too bad about Mrs Chen’s. I love their food– even tho I sometimes get their version of Sienfeld’s Soup Nazi once in a while. Atilla’s is great. i used to work with Atilla when he was a busboy for Hot Shopes (yes, this is true) He had great ambition and did wonders with what used to be a hole in the wall restaurant before it became Atilla’s
YTK

WOW– Look at P brennans menu —
http://www.pbrennans.com/entertainment/upcoming-events/
Perhaps i shall see some of you there – we will of course be incognito even tho we will be in P Brennan’s
Anne

Went to Red Rocks last night but decided not to order off of the Restaurant Week menu. It was literally the worst service I’ve ever experienced. Food was great, but I’ll never be back to this location.

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