brunch review: america eats tavern;

So let me tell you about this past weekend!  I know we’re almost at this weekend, but I’m about to travel up to my parents for the weekend, and last weekend was a ton of fun!  T’s parents came to visit, which is always a good time. We really packed this weekend full of fun stuff, so I think I’ll be writing about this one particular weekend for a while!  We started off Friday with a trip to Artie’s, a restaurant that has been here for over 20 years, actually since his parents used to live in the area.  They were the ones that introduced us to it, and it’s a nice treat to go every once in a while!

Saturday we got bagels from our favorite local bagel place, Bagel Market, and then headed out to do a few tastings at wineries!  First stop: Mediterranean Cellars, one of T’s and my favorites of all the wineries we’ve tried.  It’s a little far out of the way for us, probably a 50 minute drive, so we don’t always go, but we do really enjoy it.  Then off to Quatro Goomba’s Winery (yes that’s the real name), where we met an old friend of T’s family, which was a nice surprise.  Grabbed some pizza as lunch there, and then headed back home.  We finished up the day with a trip to The Hot Spot, an asian hot pot restaurant, and I introduced them to Settlers of Catan, my family’s go-to game growing up (well once we were old enough to learn the rules).  But this post is about Sunday Brunch, when we headed to America Eats Tavern for the first time for both T and me, and our guests.

We decided to go to America Eats Tavern since we typically like to go somewhere early on Sunday before they leave so that they can hit the road and not get back to NC too late.  My friend J had gone here before and told us that it was good, so we decided to try it!  Plus it opens early, being located in the Ritz Carlton hotel in Tyson’s, so that was perfect for our needs.  It’s location was a touch intimidating, but we marched in there like pros in our jeans and T-shirts, and comfy clothes.  Of course everyone was nice as could be, and couldn’t have cared less how we dressed, and we had a really pleasant time.

The highlight of the meal by far was the complimentary biscuits and honey butter served to the table.  The waiter refilled us once before our meals even arrived, and I liked them so much that when I asked to take home the remaining two biscuits, our waiter got us a fresh batch to take back with us!  The biscuits, 10/10, hands down.  Light and fluffy, plus with that extra sweet butter–I couldn’t wait to dig into those that we took home a little later (it didn’t take me long…)!

However, the other things that we got and I tasted were good, but nothing that drove me wild.  I think it’s probably because it’s located within the Ritz Carlton hotel, but I think I was expecting a little more.  I got the Nested Eggs, poached eggs on crispy hash brown nests topped with hollandaise and alongside spinach and sofritas.  It was yummy, but I honestly wanted more on my plate.  The nests were crispy, but I actually wanted them a little softer.  They were a little annoying to cut into, and I wanted a little more substance to them, rather than potato chip sticks to go with my eggs.  The eggs themselves were a perfect runny and definitely yummy, and paired nicely with the vegetables and hollandaise.

T got the Eggs a la Benedick, which came with pork belly, and eating shut him up for a little, so clearly it had to be tasty.  (If you don’t know, T is a talkative boy.)  In his words, it was good, but not $18 good.  And you’ll notice on both of our plates, that there was foam.  I’m sure it’s aesthetically pleasing, and probably a fancy thing, but it left both of us a little underwhelmed.  I personally, actually found it a little annoying to eat around as I couldn’t always see what was under it.

T’s mother got the Johnnycakes, cornmeal pancakes with butter and maple syrup.  She said she liked them, and they came in a hearty stack that she couldn’t even finish!  T’s dad and brother each got the American Breakfast, that came with eggs, hash browns, toast, and a choice of bacon, scrapple, sausage, or tomato.  They also snatched up an order of doughnuts with blackberry jam that came with three doughnuts.  The jam was another personal favorite, although the doughnuts were no fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts for a much larger pricetag.

Overall, I’d give America Eats Tavern a 3.5 out of 5 chips (read: stars).  It was a fun change of pace to try something new, and it’s convenient in a lot of ways for us personally since it opens early and is within walking distance, but I don’t think we’ll frequent it often.  If your company is paying for it while you’re staying at the Ritz, it’s a nice, solid restaurant, but I have other favorites that I feel give you more food at a better price (e.g. Copperwood Tavern, or fuego cocina y tequileria;)

America Eats Tavern
America Eats Tavern Website
1700 Tyson’s Boulevard
McLean VA, 22102

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