Clarendon Culture

Loved @LimeFreshMex!

Upon my return from the warm and sandy beaches of Mexico, the first place I went in Clarendon was the newly opened Lime Fresh Mexican Grill.  A couple of my girlfriends and I took our babies there (three strollers, three high chairs, 3 loud baby voices, and 6 food-throwing arms) right before the lunch rush.  In addition to all of us loving our meals, the staff was INCREDIBLE!  I have to specifically call out Jasmine as one of the best customer service experiences I’ve had in Clarendon to date!  She was so accommodating, so efficient, and so sweet.  From opening the doors for us to taking our orders at our table (instead of making us stand in line) to bringing our food quickly to her gracious demeanor - from start to finish, she was wonderful.

The food totally hit the spot!  For me personally, it’s the best Mexican in Clarendon.  It totally beat out Baja Fresh and Mexicali Blues, in my humble opinion. The guacamole had nice, bug chunks of avocado in it.  The steak fajitas (recommended by Jasmine) were juicy and tender, my tacos (one crispy beef and one soft fish) were delicious.  This post is not my “official” LimeFresh review, but I promise do do a full review in the next few weeks.  This is more of a “welcome to the neighborhood, I think I love you” post.  Here are some photos from our lunch….

(P.S. LimeFresh: Does this post count as an entry to your Superbole Superfan contest??)

(P.S. I have a big backlog of emails, but promise to respond to each one!)

Lime Fresh Mexican Grill signs lease

@LimeFreshMex just signed one of its very first leases outside the state of Florida!  The Mexican restaurant chain will be opening their newest restaurant in Clarendon - in the space formerly occupied by ComfortOne Shoes, near the intersection of Wilson Boulevard and Fillmore Street.   Between La Tasca and Cheesecake Factory, across the street from Whitlows, one block from the Metro, and one block from Mexicali Blues, Lime Fresh chose a prime spot.   Like I’ve said before, Clarendon has a huge void when it comes to Mexican food (at least for this Texas girl), so Lime Fresh couldn’t have chosen a better time or place to move in to the ‘hood.

With $3 sangria happy hour specials, house-made queso, 4 different types of guacamole, and a huge menu with all my tex-mex favorites, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Lime Fresh give this area more of what it needs.

DC’s very own Spike Mendelsohn chowing down on (and apparently loving) Lime Fresh..

(images via Lime Fresh’s blog)

Lime Fresh Mexican Grill coming to Clarendon?

Was scoping out the Classified on Craigslist jobs, and came across this: a job posting by Lime Fresh Mexican Grill seeking to hire a General Manager and Assistant Manager for the chain’s newest restaurant in the DC area opening this fall, and listing Clarendon as the specific area!  Could this be true?  Could Clarendon be getting a much needed new Mexican restaurant?

Their menu boasts several varieties of tacos, burritos, fajitas, quesadillas, salads, sides, and desserts.  Lime Fresh’s Yelp reviews are solid - an average of 4 out of 5 stars on each of their locations in Florida.

If this is true, I sure hope Lime Fresh gives Mexicali a run for their money.  We desperately need more Mexican food competition in these parts!

Edit: Lime Fresh just confirmed that they are indeed opening a location here, with the opening date TBD.  Welcome to the ‘hood, Lime Fresh!  

Weekend in pictures

(Edit: I will be writing reviews on the restaurants mentioned in this post later this week.  This post is just meant as a brief introduction.)

Friday

Homemade fettuccine alfredo and a great bottle of wine;

Saturday

Dinner at Liberty Tavern, completely random craving for a cake pop (which Starbucks surprisingly delivered on), drinks on the Whitlows roof terrace, then the Correspondents’ dinner;

Sunday

Brunch at Ulah Bistro (thanks to the great recommendation by Bitches Who Brunch) with Alla & co., amazing baja style tacos in Alexandria, and spending the night glued to our screens with the news of Bin Laden’s death.  Our military and president are badass.