Ive traveled for a few days and went to some of my favorite excellent restaurants. The number of empolyees they are retaining seems to be about 60% when they reopen. All of these places guaranteed jobs after reopening.

The Wharf in DC has certainly changed in the 6 years I’ve been coming to DC regularly. Back in the “day,” the best you could hope for was a marina restaurant primarily focused on getting drinks and having a party. Today the Wharf is a happening spot for concerts, people watching, and food.

Lupo is unimpressive from the outside and decor. However the food is special. Particularly the pasta. Had the seafood Paccheri. Pasta is high quality and fresh. The dish had good spice. The red sauce has lots of flavor. This is definitely a dish to have again. The pictures don’t do this justice.

Been here before. First time back since Covid. I’ve forgotten about this place. It’s off the Mall near the Navy Memorial metro stop. Top 10 Mexican restaurant. Service is great, bartender Josh is awesome, and of course the food!!!!

Highlights

Chips and Salsa – love the taco seasoning on chips, fresh salsa not sweet; Queso fundido – skillet prepared with peppers and fresh made corn tortillas; Fish Taco – Baramundi (meaty); Chorizo Egg Taco – Heaven; Ceviche verde – this was made also with the baramundi fish so it had a lovely firm texture. The best part though was that the acid was balanced beautifully with the avocado and tomatillo. Too often ceviche is heavy on the lime.

Try the Hibiscus and the Tamarind aqua fresca.. yum

Nice surprising find in Great Barrington. This place is a higher end mexican restaurant. The food is all fresh and well thought out. Im not a crema fan but the little that was garnished was not overpowering. The ingredients are all flavorful as is. The salsa verde is worth the trip here alone. I tried the house hot sauce. Medium heat and good. Lastly have the house (skinny) margarita

I will return here.

Trolley Stop 7, 2nd Floor, Outside

• 

• 

Blackened tiger shrimp caprese and spanish beef grilled burrito

• 

• 

Bigger fan of the shrimp and caprese then the burrito. Good place for a view and a quick bite.

Vegetable chickpea based soup with a cajun flair toned down (with sugar?? can’t tell, not sweet…yet very good). Fresh fish and grits, blackened corvina today. Cheese plate for Rebe.

Ate inside this place when we arrived in St Augustine. This place has a very cool vibe. We would have liked to sit outside but it was busy. The wine bar closed early today and we ended up here. We are glad we did.

• 

• 

purple fish and grits —- cheese plate

Modern preparations. Grits were creamy and the fish was seasoned well. I never figured out why they were purple. I didn’t have any of the cheese.

Good restaurant. It has a little bit of a scene to it and the food stacks up decent enough.

Fresh ground hummus and a view to start dinner is just awesome. No Covid compliant belly dancing at this place tonight is fine by me. This is a MUST place to go, when in town. It is usually busy, but not tonight. Make reservations. Call ahead. This place is a bit old school.

Keftedes, Grilled Haloumi and Tomato, Opa Eggplant, Opa Shrimp

So far good start to dinner. They bring small plates out as they are ready. The haloumi is firm and cooked like someone loves haloumi back in the kitchen. The Octopus was not ours but looked amazing.

The keftedes were grilled. Light patti. Distinct greek flavor. It balances well with the tomato and tzatziki. The tzatziki is a bit strong so go easy when eating this. Good dish if you like beef and lamb. The herbal flavor in the meet is almost smoky.

Its started raining very hard. Quite a fun experience with the window open (our choice), back to food

That shrimp is amazing. Throw that on some rice or pasta and its a meal of its own. The feta is what made it special for me.

The eggplant was good. A little sweet for me.

This place is family run. They make good food with excellent service. It is old school so watch out for the greek maphia (lol). This is a nice restaurant. It hasn’t changed much after going here for 7 years. Solid!

Veggie nachos to start. Loaded with seasoned chips, fresh jalapeños, pico, black beans, queso and cilantro. (We skipped the sour cream.) Good good good.

This place opens at 1pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in October. They offer to-go drinks in coconuts or pineapples. What makes them really special is the food. There was line at 1pm and we waited in it. (For only about 60 seconds.) We enjoy sitting at the bar top looking out to the water.

The people watching and view are entertaining enough for the visit alone.

I went for tempura soft crab tacos in a soft corn shell, Baja fish in a soft corn shell, and a traditional ground beef taco in a hard shell. Rebe ordered all shrimp in hard shells, tempura and grilled.

Thumbs up to the Baja! Simple and focused on the fish. Breading is flavorful but not overpowering. I would eat the fish for an entire meal.

The soft crab was good. A little heavy on the breading. Being from Maryland I am a soft crab snob. This was good, but a little over done. Sorry Florida, but I’ll stick to Maryland for soft crab right now. Preparation was similar to the Baja taco. Emphasis of these tacos are definitely on the protein. This is a good thing and why we like this place.

The ground beef taco was everything I like about a gringo hard shell taco. It has a light crispy shell, lots of flavor on the meat, and simple in preparation.

Rebe thought the grilled shrimp was the better of her two. The shrimp was well cooked and flavorful without being overwhelming. The mildly spicy sauce and slaw were perfectly balanced.

The tempura shrimp was less satisfying. The tempura was heavy. It was tasty, but too much. The hard shell was still nice as were the slaw and pico. Rebe would default to the grilled in the future and go back to the mushroom as a second.

The message…you must come here and experience the view and food. Get crunchy for the tacos, get one less taco than you normally would, avoid the tempura and enjoy! Oh.. and don’t forget those seasoned chips.

PS: The Taco Joint down the boardwalk is not the same place. There is some controversy about how they became a place. We will stick to the original.

This place has great outdoor space and very satisfying tacos. This place has become our stop when we first arrive in Hollywood.

Home made crunchy corn shells! Yes! Lots of fresh well-balanced flavors. I really liked the marinated onions with the calamari. The queso on them was a little on the crema side, but that is really the only criticism I can give these tacos. This place didn’t disappoint us.

The margaritas are refreshing because they only have three ingredients – tequila, triple sec, and lime juice. Just the way Rebe likes them.

We decided to stroll to the Wharf today. We were able to get in to this Mexican restaurant. We are really happy we did. We asked for chips and salsa (not complimentary). Wow. Clearly fresh salsa. Tomatillos, cilantro, jalapeños, and onions. Good clean flavor with a little heat.

The fish tacos are cod. There is a spicy tarter that isn’t too over powering. The fish is not over cooked. Good crisp and texture.

The ceviche was fresh and light. The citrus balanced well with the fish.

Rebe wanted me to mention the margarita she had. She was very happy with the craft cocktail. She had the La Buena Vida. Reposado, GM, Agave, Orange

Another good modern mexican restaurant.