Sunday, October 28, 2007

Houston's

http://www.hillstone.com/
7715 Woodmont Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 656-9755


I picked Houston's as my post-marathon celebration dinner, so that should tell you something. The fact that we took the metro to Bethesda and then wandered around looking for it after I'd run 26.2 miles should also tell you something. I really like Houston's burgers.

The service was unbelievable at first (refilling waters and diet cokes so quick we never saw it happen) but then I think there was a shift change so things got a little confusing. Anyways, I ordered the burger with shredded sharp cheddar, hickory sauce, and three thick slices of Canadian bacon. Hey, I'd just burned like 2,000 calories so I really didn't care. The burger was perfectly medium, enormous, piping hot, juicy. It is served open face with a some shredded cabbage and onion, and the cheese shreds melt nicely once you place the top on. I smothered that thing in hickory sauce and devoured it in record time....it was delish. The bun was a toasted and buttered egg roll, which was reminiscent of Fuddruckers and wonderful. Fries came in a thin little stack like Chef Geoff's, and I think were cooked in peanut oil, but one of the cool things at Houston's is that you have your choice of any of their side dishes, so I chose the couscous salad which comes with mint, almonds slices, golden raisins, and diced radishes....or it used to. This time it was cold, the almonds were whole, I don't think I saw any raisins, and instead of radish there were big huge chunks of tomato. I wasn't all that pleased, seeing as I liked their old recipe enough to choose couscous over fries. Oh well. Burgerman was nice enough to share his fries, so I was happy.

We'd never had dessert at Houston's before, so we tried the three nut brownie with Gifford's vanilla ice cream on top. They didn't have whip cream in the house, the server said....huge bummer. Overall it was nothing to write home about, and I didn't even bother finishing it. When I got home I had an oreo; now that was a dessert!
The burger was a good deal for $12, but the dessert was robbery at $8.

Rating: 4 to 4.5

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