The 219, Granby Street

The 219, on the corner of Granby Street and Tazwell, has been off my list of places to go lately. The past 3-4 times we had lunch there the servers snobby, it took too long to get your meal, and the food was boring. If I am going to spend close to $20 for lunch, I want some bang for my buck. However, one of the landmarks of a good friendship is compromise. Alex wanted to give them another try. She had recently been surprised by a great dinner there, so I folded. In my opinion, 219 did a 180! Service was prompt and appropriately friendly, our salads came in 10-15 minutes and the food was great. Is someone new in the kitchen? They are definitely paying more attention to preparation. There is attention to visual presentation that was lacking previously, and improved content. No more lettuce salads! I had the Pecan Encrusted Goat Cheese with Pears. It was chock full of the ingredients listed on the menu, nicely seasoned and flavorful. (Okay, the pears were too hard to eat, but it didn't ruin the salad.) Lunch entrees run $8-11, salads will cost $3.50-$.50 extra if you add a meat or seafood topping. The place was nearly empty on a Friday at lunchtime, which led us to believe that maybe we weren't the only downtowners to have written it off. Another interesting tidbit...the property and the restaurant are for sale. This may be another reason for the renewed emphasis on service and meal prep.

_Laine

The 219 is known for its eclectic atmosphere and great food. I have had some good meals over the years there, but as Laine said, we wrote them off after our last few salads were basically lettuce and the service was subpar. On a whim, I ate dinner there last Wednesday with a good friend of mine. Johnny* was in from out of town and had been to The 219 for lunch but not for dinner. We both ordered the crab cake, for which The 219 is famous. The Virginian-Pilot publishes a 'top 10' for one particular food item a few times a year and The 219 was near the top of the top 10 best crab cakes in the Tidewater area. Our meals were superb. The crab was jump lump, no filler and grilled to perfection. Johnny went with the standard julienned vegetables and roasted potatoes. I substituted bok choy for the potatoes (I am Sally from 'When Harry Met Sally' for those who have read our previous blogs) and also had the julienned vegetables (squash, zucchini, carrots). We finished with the Blueberry and Peach Cobbler served with Vanilla Bean ice cream. That was wonderful. Service was also good. Prices during dinner are slightly higher, a few 'market price' entrees, like the crab cake. I did not pay so I'm not sure of the total (thanks Johnny), but I would estimate the crab cakes were around the $25 mark from my past dining experiences there. A smaller version of the crab cake is always available during lunch as well.
On 'the review' visit with Laine, I had the Seasonal Grilled Vegetable Salad and it was remarkably good. Loaded with vegetables which were cooked perfectly. Their vinaigrette dressing is made with a unique olive oil which mixes well with this salad. As Laine mentioned, when you are paying $20 for lunch, the meal should be noteworthy, and in a positive way. The 219 has made it back onto 'the good list'. If it is sold, I hope the new owners maintain this renewed quality.

~Alex
*Names are changed to respect the privacy of our guests.

Tropical Fattie, I mean, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Granby Street

We decided to put chains that exist in Downtown Norfolk on our review list as well. I am a complete chain-a-phobe, but Laine and I agreed that to be fair we need to review everyone. Tropical Smoothie is running a promo: two wraps with chips or fruit for $9.99. This was before tax, of course. With two drinks our total bill was a little over $15, still not bad for two lunches, but boy, were we slightly disappointed by the time this was all over.
The tables were still messy from prior patrons for once - this does not please Laine and I in the least. Our food was ready fairly quickly, but it was not 100% correct. We both ordered Popeye's Favorite (grilled chicken, tomatoes, low-fat mozzarella cheese, artichokes) on the low-carb wrap. For the side, Laine had the Baked Lays and I had the orange. When our food was ready, mine had the wrong wrap - it clearly was not the low-carb. I had to ask them to remake it, which they did and about which they were very nice. They even gave me another orange (little spiff - I can often be paid off, like the mob). We thought the taste wasn't bad, but something did have a slightly processed after-taste. Not sure if it was the chicken or maybe the low-carb wrap, but something... The oranges were fresh, which is good. Bad fruit is such a let-down. Overall, for under $8 each, Tropical Smoothie, seemed 'okay'. Now, a pack of wild horses could not easily drag us back, but we gave it an average review...until Laine checked out the nutritional information for our lunch. I will let her take it from here...

~Alex

Their trademarked slogan is "eat better...feel better". I can only recommend that if this is your true desire, run screaming from Tropical Smoothie Cafe and eat somewhere else! Now, I accept full responsibility for every calorie and fat gram I consume, even those consumed with alcohol, so I have no idea why failed to check out their online menu and nutritional values BEFORE eating there. I plead a serious case of Monday-itis! But Gadzooks Batman, eating too much of their food will leave you shaped like a smoothie cup. Our Popeye's Favorite weighed in at 626 calories and 29.3 grams of fat. UGH! I could have chewed on a MacDonald's cheeseburger for 300 calories and 12 grams of fat, or a Wendy's 1/4 pounder for 430 calories and 20 grams of fat. Even their salads are loaded with fat. Nutritional disasters aside, I pulled three to four chicken chunks out of my wrap that could have easily substituted for bricks.The tables were all dirty, and we were part of the early lunch crowd, arriving slightly prior to noon. Although they messed up one of the wraps, I give kudos to the staff on their recovery. Two individuals came out separately to check on us and make sure that Alex's second wrap was okay, and to apologize for the earlier error. However nice they may be, Tropical Smoothie Cafe is now on my growing list of "restaurants to avoid like the plague" in downtown Norfolk.

_Laine

Machismo Burrito Bar, Norfolk

One of the things Alex and I enjoy about working downtown is that you can walk just about everywhere you need to go. On days we are up for bit a longer lunchtime stroll, we find ourselves heading out to Machismo Burrito Bar, located at 409 W. York Street. This is a stripped down joint with one purpose, getting a burrito in your hand as quickly as possible. No one greets you when you walk in (thank goodness). There are only six tables and 4 window seats inside. The patio, which is essentially in a parking lot, has three more tables and a door that opens the wrong way. So why bother walking out there? I love this place! Definitely makes my list of top 5 lunchtime favorites. The food is consistent. I always get a burrito. I love that they have pork as a meat option. The chips are just OK, so I usually pass, but who needs them? These burritos are big! Lunch is under $10 for a big burrito, adding guacamole and a soda. I am a spice wimp, but for fans of the burn, they boast stocking 100's of Hot Sauces from around the globe. There are plenty of vegetarian and vegan options available too, like vegan cheese and vegan sour cream. My only complaint is that they are a mess to eat. Most of the toppings are sitting in pans with sauces which tend to make the end product watery. DO NOT UNWRAP THE BURRITO! It will fall apart and end up all over your lap, making you the butt of co-worker jokes for the remainder of the day. Other than that...chow down!

Laine


I second Laine's review. I enjoy the walk. It gets us slightly out of downtown and gives us a new 'crew' to people-watch, which is half of the enjoyment of eating out. I always order a 'bowl' at Machismo. You can choose chicken, beef or pork or just go vegetarian. I am not a vegetarian, but I enjoy just the vegetables. I ordered the chicken one time (at band camp). It had a slightly odd taste, so I abandoned that going forward. You can then choose your type of rice (brown or white) and your type of beans (black and some other varieties). I forgo both because guess what, I don't like rice or beans. That is the best part of Machismo. You can customize it down to the type of salsa. For someone who is like Sally from 'When Harry Met Sally', this is super important. I then ask them to LOAD this bowl up with 'my' stuff, corn, sprouts, guacamole, sour cream, mushrooms, peppers, chunky salsa, olives, lettuce and spinach. Sodas are only $1.50 - a deal around this town, where restaurants like to sock it to you with the drink cost (not even an alcohol drink, I'm talking a soda or tea). This is our field trip for the week usually. We tend to go on Fridays and look forward to it. Machismo is the spot-yo. Try it out.
~Alex