CALLING ALL WAITERS AND WAITRESSES!!! Your chance to be on TV!!! Tell your story!!!

Vintage South Productions is a television casting and development company looking for a cast for a new national TV show that will feature waiters and waitresses who have contributed in wonderful ways to their communities

 above and beyond their jobs.  

Is that YOU?  Is it SOMEONE YOU KNOW who has served you food, but also touched your life or done something kind and wonderful that needs to be told?

If you know of a worthwhile candidate for The Kindness Project for waiters and waitresses, please contact Vintage South Productions.  They are looking for servers with a story of serving more than just food - those that 

are serving their communities in other ways. 

They are hoping to cast everyone within the next 3-4 weeks.

This is a nationwide show, but they want to have an episode 

on the Northern Virginia area. 

Contact them and let them know that you heard about it HERE on

 BILL & ELENA's NORTHERN VIRGINIA RESTAURANT BLOG!!!

Making plans to go out for dinner? Check out Northern Virginia Magazine's guide to the top 50 restaurants in the area

Northern Virginia Magazine's Guide to 50 best restaurants, even sorted by county.  How many of these have you visited?  Make your new to-do list!

NoVA’s TOP 10 for 2013

1. Maple Ave	2. The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm
3. The Ashby Inn & Restaurant	4. 2941
5. The Curious Grape	6. Mokomandy
7. Goodstone Inn & Restaurant	8. Pizzeria Orso
9. Peter Chang China Star Café	10. Lyon Hall

Tara Thai Restaurant - Vienna, VA - CLOSED - REPLACED BY TOM YUM THAI

CLOSED - REPLACED BY TOM YUM THAI

226 Maple Ave.

West Vienna, VA 22180 

Tel. 703-255-2467

Since Tara Thai in Falls Church is one of our favorite spots for a reliably good Thai meal, we thought we'd try another Tara Thai that is located in Vienna.  In the past, we tried Tara Thai in Arlington before it closed.  Bottom line for us is that decidedly Tara Thai in Falls Church is heads above its namesakes.

Though most of the dishes offered on the menu are standard and familiar Thai choices, the Chef's specials understandably differ from restaurant to restaurant, as does the preparation itself. One of the particularly noticeable issues we found with Tara Thai Vienna is the inconsistency of the spicyness level between the menu and the actual dish.  We ordered dishes with asterisks that turned out mild and dishes with no asterisks that turned out hot.  We suggest that regardless of what it says on the menu, you indicate directly to the waiter the level of hotness you prefer, otherwise you will be surprised when the food arrives, at least in our experience.

We ordered two appetizers - Salt & Pepper Calamari, which was lightly battered and fried, and the Num Tok, a beef dish.  The Num Tok was a bit of a disappointment not only because the two asterisks next to it on the menu did not reflect the actual rather mild seasoning of the dish, but also because the flank steak was just overall not nearly as tasty or juicy as it is in Tara Thai Falls Church.  Would not order it there again. Our entrees were a combination of one standard Thai dish - Pad Thai, which was fine, and one of the Chef's Specials.  We ordered the Tara Thai Vienna's Chef's Special the Crispy Golden Chicken, which was good, but, despite there being no asterisks next to it on the menu, it was on the hot side.

Service was not nearly as friendly or attentive compared with Tara Thai Falls Church.  While Tara Thai Vienna is perfectly fine, if we had to choose, we would select Tara Thai Falls Church hands down.

Bangkok Bistro at Ballston - Contemporary THAI Cuisine - Arlington, VA

Bangkok Bistro at Ballston
715 N. Glebe Rd. Arlington, VA 22203
tel: 703-243-9669
bangkokbistrova@gmail.com

Bangkok Bistro is a wonderful, busy, cheerful spot for lunch right across the street from Macy's (Ballston Commons Mall) near the Ballston Metro.  They get you in and out quickly with smiles and just the right amount of attention.  Corner location with huge windows gives the restaurant an open and bright feel.  The dark furniture is clean and modern.  The aromas that hit your nose when you first walk in make it hard not to stay and enjoy your meal.

We ordered wine at $7/glass along with Drunken Noodles ($11) and a Papaya Deluxe Salad ($9).  Both were excellent.  The Drunken Noodles, one of my favorite dishes, had just the perfect amount of seasoning and noodles were cooked to a perfect texture.  The Papaya Deluxe Salad came out with a fun presentation of shrimp on a skewer and was also delicious.  

If you are driving there, expect to see lots of paid street parking around, but on a weekday lunchtime spots are hard to come by.  Parking hint: The garage right next to Bangkok Bistro charges just $1 for the first 3 hours, and the guys there are very friendly and efficient.  Great experience.