La Abeja

La Abeja is a small Mexican panaderia (bakery) and restaurant.  I didn't see hours listed, but it only seems to be open for breakfast and lunch.  As you walk in, you are greeted by racks of fresh Mexican dessert breads, and as you eat, you'll likely see the bakers bring out even more.

Beyond the breads, the menu is filled with Mexican staples.  While it is entirely in Spanish, the woman tending the counter spoke English and was happy to explain any of the items.

We had a smothered carnitas burrito, a lengua taco, and a pastor taco.  The burrito was large, filled with plenty of meat.  The green sauce it was smothered in had a delicious spicy kick.  While not extraordinary, it was a better burrito than you'll get at many places.

The street style tacos were quite flavorful and the varieties we tried were just a touch out of the ordinary.  Lengua (tongue) isn't really very different from other beef, but this was tasty and had a good texture, better than what usually gets called "steak" in Mexican food.  The pastor was a marinated pork with pineapple, and was probably the better of the two.

None of it was unlike what you'd get at plenty of other places in town, but it was all tasty and not too expensive.  The drink situation was a little unusual -- there was a cooler with a selection of ethnic drinks.  Prices weren't readily visible, but they seemed to add a couple bucks each to the meal.

I know some people hunt down Mexican coke with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, and La Abeja sold it by the half-liter.  They also had a selection of Jumex "nectar", but that's not so interesting -- you can get that on the Mexican aisle of any grocery store.  Overall, La Abeja's menu is like what you'd find at lots of other places in town, but the follow through is good and the food can be easily recommended.  Also, if you like looking at ceramic chickens, they have a pretty good variety marching along the top of the wall of the dining area.

Pita and Hookah Grill

The Pita and Hookah Grill, located at 911 East Colfax Avenue, is wedged amidst yet another block of disparate uses. Between Emerson and Ogden one can take a payday loan and then be confronted with the choice of purchasing a Cricket phone, smoking accessories, a manicure, middle eastern food and time in front of hookah, cigars, or music (either live at the Ogden Theater or on vinyl or CD at Independent Records). And this only accounts for the north half of the block.

It is non-descript, meaning easy to walk by, and I have never seen more than a table or two taken. The dining room for this meal was no different. One takeout order came and went, otherwise we had the dining half of this establishment to ourselves. The dining room is sea foam green on the top half, and wood paneling on the bottom half. Art work was abundant, but was not the standard travel posters touting the beauty of the Tigris River or the Karakoram mountains, but instead an odd mix of botanical prints and poster of Halong Bay, in Vietnam.

One topical piece did include hookah use. Evidently the precursor to the modern hookah was a 55 gallon vessel.

The dining room and hookah lounge are separated by a windowed wall. Even with this barrier, the aroma of exotic tobacco blends was present and clung to our clothes hours later. The lounge is easily 10° warmer than the dining room, pungent with the smell of tobacco, and filled with music. Being a fairly intolerant ex-smoker, this is all the attention I gave to the hookah half of the business.
Dinner began, as all middle eastern meals should, with hummus and pita. The hummus was creamy, with a rich, firm texture. If accolades were based on texture alone, this hummus would earn many. Yet for all its silkiness, it lacked flavor. There was a little trace of tahini, but no hint of lemon or garlic. Billed as a garbanzo spread, it would be wonderful, but billed as hummus, it needs a few more ingredients.


The arayes, which is an oven baked meat pie made with spiced lamb, was as simple as it was good. The piquant lamb, pressed to the thickness of a steak-umm, was nestled in a warm pita and served with lettuce and tomato. It is a little dry and would be well served by tzatziki on the side, but if you like gyros, you will like this.

The combo plate features hummus, roasted vegetables, chicken, gyro and grilled lamb, served atop a bed of rice. The onion was charred on the outside but still pungent, roasted over high heat and seemingly rushed. The green pepper and the tomato were exactly as you would expect, redolent with an earthy sweetness, and firm but giving in texture. The meats are the keystone of the meal. All were moist and well spiced. The highlight was the lamb. Supple cubes of lamb with just a trace of pink in the center.

The greatest drawback is the speed of service. On our visit, and something that has been echoed elsewhere, is the fact that one server covers both the hookah lounge and the dining room. There are long periods of time in which you may want another a drink or another appetizer…pace your meal accordingly. Given the proximity of Shish Kabob Grill, I would likely walk the 1/2 mile to enjoy some of the best hummus in town, consistent service and a distinct lack of smoke.

Tom’s Diner

Located at 601 East Colfax Avenue, Tom’s Diner is a throwback to the golden age of diners. While other similar establishments have closed their doors over time, competing against the likes of Perkins and Village Inn, Tom’s, which I remember initially as the Rainbow Diner when I moved here in 1998, has been serving standard short-order-cook fare for approximately the last decade. Insulated from the chain pressures that inhabit interstate exits and the American suburban and exurban landscape, Tom’s location on a yet another rough and tumble corner of Colfax limits competition. There is little doubt that a Denny’s franchisee would not want the unpredictably of Colfax Avenue and Pearl Street.

The place is all windows, so before you even step through the doors, you know a long wrap around lunch counter, yellow and red formica booths and horseshoe shaped purple naugehyde tables await. Mid-morning sunlight streams through the windows, illuminating the soft yellow walls as any lingering melatonin is chased from your system, as you pass from Colfax Avenue and into the retro-chic bosom of Tom’s Diner.

The repetitive efficiency of lessons long learned are evident throughout, and include the exact same collection of condiments spaced ~4 feet along the lunch counter. A geodesic dome of creamer that would do Buckminster Fuller proud, flanked by salt and pepper and sugar.

And behind the counter, cereal. Two bowls for a few bucks, all economy sizes, none of those single serving boxes from childhood.

The menu, like any 24 hour diner, is extensive. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, the menu is multi-page affair, spanning full five pages, and brimming with the expected diner classics: blue plate specials, milkshakes (made on an ancient mint green milkshake machine), club sandwiches and dinner entrees such as chicken fried steak, that come with your choice of two sides.

The coffee is hot, offered fast, refilled often, and in the tradition of diners across the nation, fairly weak. This seems to be a universal truth, whether dining on Colfax or rural Route 29 in Virginia, or anywhere in between. The coffee will be watery, but what it lacks in boldness, it will redeem itself in sheer quantity.

The huevos rancheros featured a full plate that oozed a hansel and gretel drip of green chili from the kitchen to our table. It was what you expect from a diner, a large portion of food, all hot, some of it originating from a can, but completely serviceable.

Eggs and bacon! A staple of the American diet and staple of breakfast menus across the land (Watercourse withstanding).

The omelet was standard three egg affair that elicits alarm at its size, but then is inevitably finished and laying waste to any to-do list motivation for the next few hours. The toast comes heavily buttered and the hash browns a mix of crispy bits and soggy potato, unsurprising given the size of the pile placed on the griddle.

Tom’s Diner offers up classic diner fare in a vibrant environment. Catering to anyone and everyone, the mood changes with the time of day. Quiet mornings were inevitably preceded by a last-call lush rush just a few hours prior, with loud conversations and tipsy excitement evident. If you like food off a griddle you will find something at Tom’s to satiate your appetite.

Other reviews of Tom’s run the gamut, as to be expected, from great to awful. The negative reviews whined about the low quality of the food, but I have never considered diners to be on the forefront of the dining experience. Diners are known for uninspired food that will offend few, not for applewood smoked bacon and buckwheat pancakes. One should approach a diner expecting to hand out a “C” if asked to grade the meal. One should approach a diner expected to be fed for a low cost. If expectations are higher, then one should skip Tom’s Diner, and any other diner for that matter, and make room eaters with more realistic expectations, who will undoubtedly enjoy Tom’s Diner.

Wolfe's Barbeque

Wolfe's is the first stop in one of my favorite food categories -- BBQ.  I grew up in Kansas City so I've had plenty of exposure to the tangy, spicy good stuff.  I got the sliced brisket sandwich with spicy sauce and  beans, Sandy got the pork with sweeter sauce.

The barbecue was pretty good, the sauce was thick and not too vinegary, just like I like it, and the meat had the requisite pink smoke ring that lets you know it was cooked low and slow.  The atmosphere was perfect for barbecue, very casual, with vinyl tablecloths and food served on paper plates.

Wolfe's is our first casualty, as it closed on Christmas day after 25 years.  From this article it sounds like it is closing by choice, but still too bad to see a long time Colfax restaurant close its doors.  Here was the line on the Wolfe's last day.

Also, as I was leaving Wolfe's, I came upon a sight that you might only see on Colfax -- 3 bicyclists, one wearing a leapord costume, the next with a stuffed fish hat, and the last with a bear hooded cape.  Sadly, I didn't get my camera out in time to get a picture.

Cheeky Monk

The Cheeky Monk, at 534 East Colfax Avenue, serves up enough variety of Belgian beer to satisfy the most discerning Flemish fetishist, and if you venture across the expansive dark wood dining room and peruse the menu, you will find a menu that ventures well beyond Belgian staples (waffles and fries!).
The Cheeky Monk stakes it name on its wide selection of Belgian beer, offering a choice that is likely unmatched in the state. With exclusivity comes cost, with beers ranging from $4.50 to a soon-to-arrive specialty brew that will sell for $60. Most draft beers though are in the $5-$10 range, and unless you are connoisseur, you will likely be trying something new, with a name likely to flummox your American-English speaking sensibilities, such as the following: Blanch de Bruxelles, La Chouffe, Affligem, Kwak, and Koningshoeven.
I am a pale ale drinker, which is not in the repertoire of Belgian brewers, so I am not the person to offer up much of an opinion on the beer.  Everything I have had there has been drinkable, but I never found it necessary to order the same thing twice. Of course, Belgian beer lovers, and really anyone whose tastes go beyond hoppiness, will find something they like. Also, and I am unsure of the reasoning, but it may have to do with a distribution agreement, each beer comes in a signature glass. Order a Kwak, you will get a Kwak glass, etc. If they run short of glassware, you will be told to wait, or more interesting, given a beer after giving the server explicit permission that it is OK.

I have had sandwiches, croquettes, and frites over the course of several visits and have had mixed luck. The frites are always good. The croquettes, delicious, as fried cheese should be, but have been let down by the sandwiches. This time around we tested our luck by avoiding sandwiches.
The bangers and mash was good. It is hard to make a bad sausage, but the surprising thing, the sausages were overshadowed by the sauerkraut. The sauerkraut was spiked with carrots and had a roasted quality to it, not the biting flavor you get from hot dog vendors. This was all tied together with a garlic leek stoemp, which are, essentially, lightly mashed potatoes.

The fish and chips were…fish and chips. A little heavy on the breading, but was perched atop frites, which is a saving grace for nearly any food.

The three cheese penne in a cream sauce and topped with bread crumbs, was a wonderful marriage of texture and flavor. Think about what a three cheese cream sauce should taste and feel like and they nail it.

I would not consider the Cheeky Monk to be great, but it is a safe bet for drinks and a meal. And coming off the heels of the Great Wall and a drink at the Roslyn Bar and Grill, it is a shining star.

Great Wall

The gauzy Great Wall website does little to prepare for the real life color of this restaurant, located at 440 East Colfax Avenue. Prior to even reaching the door, patrons run a gauntlet of one of Colfax’s more interesting corners. An on-again, off-again area for crack dealing, it is also situated across the street from the Rosslyn Bar and Grill, a rough and tumble bar that fills plenty of bar stools, whether it is 7:30 AM or 7:30 PM.
Yet, the intention is food, and not the environment as it exists beyond the walls of the restaurant. Unfortunately, life inside does not differ significantly from life outside. Upon entry one is immediately confronted with the counter, with a full view of the kitchen and the myriad of ways that food can be fried.

The service is brisk, efficient, and will not be mistaken for friendly. Sodas, well as one would expect, they are not free, but I can only assume given the crowd that gravitates towards the corner at its entrance, this must stated, as well as the cost of refills.
 
The seating area is small and an amusing mash up of formica, padded booths and tables for two. Simple fluorescent light does little to hide the lack of cleanliness and fan blades lazily spin beneath the weight of their dusty exterior.

Back to the food, which sadly lacked the degree of flavor of either the location or the service. The chicken lo mein, usually a safe choice, was an oily pile of noodles with a minimal amount of protein or vegetables. The shrimp rolls, possessing a single shrimp amidst a bed of greasy cabbage, were not worth finishing. In search of the silver lining? The food was served fast and was cheap, meaning I did not wait long to be disappointed, nor was it costly.

This place has many fans, my friends among them, but when confronted with a food that soy sauce cannot save, I do not envision a return trip.

China Kitchen

China Kitchen, located at 406 East Colfax Avenue, is an a la carte feast where Chinese food collides with cafeteria style delivery. All entrees, of which there are many, sit in a long steam table, behind a surprisingly spotless glass partition, awaiting selection.

At a $1.35 per scoop (up recently from a $1.25) the adventurous eater simply walks along and points. Options include the following:

• Fried rice
  
• Beef and broccoli
  
• Lo mein
  
• General Tso’s chicken
  
• Egg rolls
  
• Whole fried fish
  
• Wontons

The portions are large. A scoop actually means two heaping scoops. Ordering two scoops of fried rice elicits a chuckle and a shaking of the head from the guy behind the counter, and then he proceeds to mound rice in a pile that is 8” across and 2” deep. Combined with two scoops of General Tso’s Chicken, suddenly there is food for three meals, for $5.40.

The food is Americanized, salty as Lot’s wife, and given the cost and setting, surprisingly good. This is not a ringing endorsement, it is an all things considered endorsement. All the entrees that were tried were within a B+ - C range, using an the American school grading system, and the temperatures varied across the entrees, and in one case, within a single entrée.

The space itself is cozy, read small, worn, but not dirty, and the air is filled with the singular smell that is omnipresent in Chinese restaurants across the States, which is that of frying oil. For the cost and convenience, I would brave the crowds always waiting for the 15, whose stop is directly out the door, and step in, expecting to be satiated, while spending $4 or less.