Rio Grande in Reston Town Center

I've had good experiences at this Rio Grande, although it's always noisy and at times the waiters have seemed hurried.  But the food has always been okay.

At the Reston Town Center, Bistro Bistro, Paolo's, Clyde's, and the Market St. Grill in the Hyatt are all good.  This Clyde's gets fresh produce all spring and summer from local farms, and does well with it.  If there are long waits at any of these restaurants, you can get a decent meal at Cafe Allegro in the Hyatt.  It's less upscale than Market St. Grill, and not as pricey, and they do a decent job.

Jamie W. wrote:
>
> Jill B. wrote:
>
> Someone wrote:
> ->] Has anyone eaten at this restaurant location
> ->] before?  What were your experiences?  This was
> ->
> ->I've gone several times with friends and some of us refuse to go back.
> ->Experiences range from being completely forgotten about ("Oh, did you
> ->order something?") to complete mix up of what the group ordered _even
> ->when we wrote it down on a piece of paper to hand to the waiter_, to
> ->the wrong kinds of sauce, etc including an experience where someone was
> ->served something they're deathly allergic to...
> ->
> ->] NOT the Rio Grande I've gone to in Bethesda or
> ->] elsewhere.  I was rather disappointed by their
> ->] sloppiness and unfriendliness.  What restaurants
> ->
> ->We would also agree with your assessment of the staff's lack of
> friendliness.
> ->Even cracking a smile would be tough for some waitron.  One waiter I can
> ->think of in particular pretty much ignored us and when we complained
> claimed
> ->asthma was why we were receiving poor service from him.
>
> I've had the exact opposite experience with the Rio Grande Cafe, both in
> Reston and Ballston.  Great service and decent enough food, although I
> guess those swizzle drinks aren't something I'd want to have every day.  My
> only real complaint:  too much cilantro in the salsa (too much and salsa
> tastes 'soapy' to me, but that's just my humble opinion!!)
>
> ->My personal favorite is Paolo's (Italian).  The restaurants there are all
>
> ->pretty good.  Try "WrapWorks" for a quick and casual lunch "experience".
>
> I haven't tried WrapWorks, but Paolo's is indeed very good.
>
>

WrapWorks is good for something a little different: new-wave burritos. We have always had good meals at the Market Street Grill in the Hyatt. Clyde's is pretty dependable; the fried calamari appetizer is humongous, nicely done, and comes with an irresistable garlic aioli.

One thing I  really liked at the Reston Rio Grande was an entree of grilled vegetables. I forget its name, but it was delicious.

Bob Wells

Juliana H. wrote:

->It is my experience, both with Rio Grande Cafe and other restaurants
->inthe Town Center area, that they are much better for lunch than dinner.
->I've had great service at the RGC at lunch, and less fine service at
->dinner.
->'
->
->Curious.  The posters here, have you had your good (or bad) experience
->at a particular meal?

My good experiences at Rio Grande have been at early (before 7 pm) dinners.
 My husband and I both enjoy the RGC because it reminds us of the restaurants down in Acapulco, where we spent our honeymoon all those years ago...   :)

Jamie
The Macaholic Mom!
[email removed]
http://www.his.com/jamielw

I can't understand the big appeal of this restaurant. I've had dinner at the branches in Reston, Ballston and Bethesda; each time, it's good enough food, but nothing particularly exceptional or creative--and sometimes plain unimpressive, like the too-dry enchilada I had the last time I went to the Reston location. The place strikes me as the culinary equivalent of watching reruns of bad two-year-old sitcoms when there's nothing else on cable--passable entertainment, but not anything that you'll remember the next morning. I'll take Austin Grill or Lauriol Plaza over that any day of the week.

Am I eating there on the wrong nights, ordering the wrong entrees, or what? How many people really *like* Rio Grande?