Just got home from the Malibu Grill, the latest tenant of the end building on "Restaurant Row" at Bailey's Crossroads. (formerly Papa Razzi and Dalts, and I think something else). It's a Brazilian BBQ beef house (currascaria) with a single menu - all you can eat for $14.95. There are side dishes including the obligatory (and pretty good) rice and black beans, a nicely spiced stew, steamed veggies, roasted potatoes salads, and strangely (perhaps left over from the former Italian restaurant tennant) minestrone soup and a penne pasta dish. The main course is brought around by roving waiters with skewers of meat who stop by your table, tell you what they're carrying that trip, and if you want some, slice off a hunk. The selection (which probably varies by the hour) included pork loin, flank steak, sausage, chicken wings, beef and pork ribs, and lamb. The flyer, which sort of serves as a menu, also lists turkey, top round of beef, rib eye and NY steak, and beef tenderloin, but I didn't see any of those. All the meats are nicely seasoned, mostly marinated with a citrus-garlic flavor, and fairly crusty. This is kind of low on the hog, not your butter-tender Ruth's Chris beef, kind of chewy, but very tasty cuts of meat. All in all a satisfying meal, and kind of fun. I suspect that the service is better if you go in a group (and particularly if you speak Portugese, as a large table sitting near me did). They seemed to get the meats just as they were coming out of the kitchen. Vegetarians beware - although you can opt not to eat meat, and the salads and steamed broccoli and carrots were perfectly reasonable, this isn't really the place for you. Also, if you're sensitive to tobacco smoke, best to sit in the center of the non-smoking section. There's a neck-high divider between the bar area and the non-smoking tables, and I saw a few people on the bar side with their ash trays on top of that divider, right over some people seated in the supposedly non-smoking section. I don't understand the logic of this, but perhaps it complies with the law. Malibu Grill is difficult to find, which perhaps contributed to the demise of the previous restaurants located in that building. You can get there by driving up a steep hill off Columbia Pike across from the shopping center with the Circuit City. A less challanging approach is from Leesburg Pike (Rt. 7), just east (toward Alexandria) of Columbia Pike. Turn at the Black Eyed Pea and follow the service road back toward Columbia Pike. Not bad at all. I'd go again. They also have a Sunday Brunch "extravanza" (it says here).
Washington, DC
Malibu Grill
Dr. F. wrote: >Just to keep the record straight, Rte 7, where it meets Columbia Pike, >is still Leesburg Pike; it doesn't become King St. for quite some >distance farther east. And that "swordlike carrier" is a skewer. > >And I have _got_ to find this place; I had dinner at a Brazilian grill >like this in Las Vegas once and have never been able to locate another. There's been another one for several years at Coco Loco on 7th (or 9th)? Street near Gallery Place. They also have a tapas menu and dancing.
On this groups recommendation, we had lunch there today. Definitely a must for meat-eaters. Updated information to previous posts: Lunch weekdays $7.95 Lunch weekends $9.95 Dinner $14.95. Lunch to dinner changes at around 3:30. Location is 5715 Columbia Pike, at intersection with Route 7 in Baileys Crossroads. Malibu Grill is directly opposite on the Pke from Circuit City &Today's Man, in Lone Star Plaza. Several other restaurants formerly occupied the location. Ph 703-379-0587. Lunch has 5 different barbecued "meat" offerings (including chicken/turkey, dinner has 10. Drinks, dessert, coffee are extra.
I couldn't resist and checked it out today. In spite of what some have said, I found the vegetable dishes irresistible. Gotta have the polenta, the rice (put the black beans on top), and try the stuff (forgot the name) made from yucca that looks like wheat germ and put it on top of the beans and meat. The red skin potatos also have a wonderful seasoning. You could make a meal of just the vegetables, but you would miss the star attraction - the meats. The best meats are the sirloin and flank steak - hold out for them. The ribs are good but you have to dig a bit to find the meat. The sausage was a bit dry for me (the same in the black beans is much better) and the chicken unmemorable, so pass on them. The meats can be either overcooked or undercooked on the same skewer, so by all means tell the waiter which part of the meat you would like for him to cut off for you. All in all, an enjoyable bargain at $7.95. It is not tapas, but called "churascos" (doesn't that mean "cowboy"?). Hopefully more people will discover it and it will stay in business! Scott
Someone wrote: > Location? Er, it's in Bailey's Crossing. I'm sorry, I don't have a > street address. It's just past Rte 244 on Rte 7, going toward > Alexandria. It's on the right hand side of Rte 7, but very difficult > to see. It's in the same general place as the Lone Star. > > Someone, please give this good man a street address. Actually, it's Bailey's Crossroads. A streed address won't help because it's not actually on a street. You have to get to it via service roads. North, south, east and west don't really work there, but if you assume that Route 7 (which changes it's name from Leesburg Pike on the west side of Columbia Pike to King Street a few blocks east) it's at the southwest corner of the intersectoin of Leesburg Pike and Columbia Pike. Going toward Washington from Annandale on Columbia Pike (which is considered EAST), just beyond the overpass for Route 7 there's a road going up hill on the right. That goes directly to the Malibu Grill's parking lot. If you're coming from Falls Church toward Alexandria on Route 7 (which is ALSO considered east), you'll pass it on the left and if you turn left and go back west on the service road parallel to Leesburg Pike, past the Lone Star Steak House, you'll get there. > * The one time service was bad, I was seated behind a large > object on a not-too-busy day, and the waitors just couldn't see me. > When I pointed this out, I had a plate full of meat in less than three > minutes, and people were falling all over themselves to apologize. I mentioned a visit to Malibu Grill here when it first opened, but we were having a news feed problem (which still continues) at the time and I suspect nobody saw my message. I concur with the couple of recent mentions that I"ve seen. I too had a problem with service even though I was out in the open (though it wasn't very busy, too), and once I snagged a waiter, the meat started coming fast and furious. At the time (do they still do this?) they had a wooden block on the table with one end painted red and the other green. You put one end up when you wanted service and the other end up when you needed to slow down. My short term memory doesn't work well enough to remember which way was which (I DID have it right the one time I was waiting too long for service). They should print instructions on it for us gringos. As to whether they'll remain open or not - well, that location has a history of a succession of not outstanding, but fairly decent restaurants opening and closing within a couple of years. It was last Papa Razzi, previously Dalt's, and at least one other that I can't remember. I suspect that they lose some business because people drive by but can't figure out how to get there. ------------ I'm really [email removed] (Mike Rivers) On the road. Somewhere east of Lost Angeles and west of the moon
Malibu Grill is in Alexandria/Falls Church on Columbia Pike at the corner of Route 7 (Leesburg Pike), in an area called Bailey's Crossroads. It occupies the building where Dalt's used to be. Directions: o From I-395: Exit King Street W Continue for about 2 1/2 miles Turn off at the Columbia Pike (north?) exit, where you see a Lone Star and Chi Chi restaurants o From Route 50 (Arlington Blvd): Turn onto Route 7 East (Leesburg Pike) Continue for two miles Turn off at the second Columbia Pike exit (north?) Schnood wrote: > > Will someone please post the address.