Carryout Kingdom

Few Seats, Terrific Eats

By Warren Rojas / Photography by James Kim

Come fall, the days start getting shorter, the air gets chillier and your commute—well, that never changes.

So we figured we’d C if we couldn’t take care of dinner while traveling from point A to point B.

Here’s our grab-and-go guide for everything from sushi to made-to-order pizza. And though you might still need to turn the oven on when you get home, we’re pretty confident any dinner companions will gladly clean their plates.

Village Chicken
6230 Rolling Road, Springfield; 703-913-0617
Average entree under $12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner, Monday through Saturday; closed Sunday.

Variety seekers would do well to make their way to Village Chicken, a tiny eatery fielding a bounty of mouthwatering chicken, beef and lamb creations.

This strip mall standout never skimps on the gravy, loading up their array of specialty rice bowls, custom salads and bulging gyro sandwiches with as much homemade deliciousness as they can handle.

The namesake Village gyro folds a protein triumvirate of shaved lamb (so tender), chicken (nice spice) and beef into a warm pita filled with lettuce, diced tomatoes, onions and a cooling splash of tzatziki sauce (terrific sandwich). A Cuban sandwich by way of Cyprus summons a doughy pita stuffed with shredded, roast pork and grilled ham, all smothered in a tangy sour cream sauce and flanked by lettuce and diced tomatoes (lacks the crunch of a proper Cuban, but the pork-on-pork power play does not disappoint). A chicken souvlaki salad reveals a forest of field greens bolstered by grilled chicken breast, diced cucumbers, tangy red onions, tomatoes and bits of crumbled feta.

Meanwhile, savory rice bowls layer mixed proteins—including favorites like the Caribbean-style Cuban (rice, black beans, stewed pork, tomatoes) and the home-style chicken chili (pulled chicken, soupy kidney beans, chopped onions, corn)—with mounds of steamed rice, mixed vegetables, assorted cheeses and various sauces.

Jamaica Jamaica
348 Victory Drive, Herndon; 703-481-8641; www.jamaica2x.com
Average entree under $12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner, Monday through Saturday; closed Sunday.

It seems almost surreal that one would have to duck back into a Herndon business park for a bite of authentic Jamaican cooking. Then again, this sun-splashed island nation also has a world-famous bobsledding team …

Jamaican ex-pats Lloyd and Simone Washington founded their homey eatery a few years back and have watched their local fan base grow steadily ever since. Between the amazingly affordable prices (nothing is over $9) and generous array of hard-to-find Caribbean favorites (expect a daily array of chicken, oxtail and seafood selections), it’s easy to see why.

Hearty oxtail stew—a clear favorite, given the propensity for it to sell out on busy nights—reveals bulbous nuggets of tender beef (watch the bones) soaked through with spices; accompanying rice and vegetables provide a starchy base for the protein-packed brew. Goat stew summons a melange of curried meat (downright succulent) and vegetables guaranteed to get your heart rate pumping, especially after adding a few drops of the house “beware” sauce (expect a flash of heat, followed by enduring warmth).

As expected, the jerk chicken (the spicy-sweet zing is da ‘ting) remains head and shoulders above their traditional barbecue chicken (decent, but others certainly do it better). Meanwhile, the beef-, chicken- and newly available cheese-filled patties—baked cornmeal pastries brought in from back home—provide a terrific, hand-held alternative for those who tend to eat on the run.

Alvey’s Grocery
4661 Sudley Road, Catharpin; 703-754-4310; www.alveystore.com
Average entree under $12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

Granted, you can now get fairly decent fried or rotisserie chicken on just about every other block. But none of those commercial chicken huts can hang with the sides you’ll find at Alvey’s Grocery.

This family-run grocery seems to live and breathe poultry, hawking budget-friendly chicken specials several days a week—a six-piece, fried chicken meal with your choice of two 1-pound sides is just $8 on Mondays and Fridays, whole rotisserie chickens with two 1-pound sides are $9 on Tuesdays, and a 12-piece fried chicken dinner with two 1-pound sides is $15 on Saturdays.

One deli attendant says fresh rotisserie chickens are prepared daily at 8:30 a.m. and noon, while fried chicken is prepared at all hours. “We make chicken all day,” she insists. Rotisserie birds emerge covered in a bronzed skin that’s flavorful without being overly fatty. The fried chicken can seem a little dry from time to time, but the breadcrumb crust is typically good, and the wonderful homemade sides are always on point.

Chilly favorites include homemade chicken (shredded fowl, celery and some terrific spices) and shrimp salad (shrimp and noodles bound together by a whip-smart mayo-garlic salt blend). Hot bar must-haves include beefaroni (eat your heart out, Chef Boyardee), broccoli and rice (deadly delicious mess of diced broccoli and rice is stick-to-your-ribs terrific) or classic franks and beans (beefy hot dog bits swimming in a sea of savory-sweet baked beans). Best of all, the hot bar selections switch daily, running from international (Wednesday – Asian, Thursday – Spanish) to Friday’s All-American lineup.

America Seafood
4550 Lee Highway, Arlington; 703-522-8080
Average entree $13 to $20 ($$). Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Monday through Saturday; closed Sunday.

That first bite gets me every time.

The crunch of the spice-laden filet starts my head swimming. The tang of the herby, homemade tartar sauce makes me pine for a lime-spiked beer. By the time I feel that momentary sting of sliding into a sun-warmed chair on the America Seafood patio, I almost believe I’m back at the beach.

That is, until the blaring horns on Lee Highway rattle me out of my landlocked daydream.

Owner Gary Royce brings the best of the sea to Beltway-bound drones via a variety of daily soups (crab, grouper and New England clam chowder), homemade salads (grilled tuna, smoked mussels, shrimp vinaigrette) and robust specialty platters (conch fritters, sauteed salmon, fried, soft-shell crabs). Virtually all the fresh seafood on hand can be made into a generously sized sub of your choosing.

A serving of grilled swordfish summons a hefty steak sporting a properly charred exterior and tender white meat within (ready to rock with just a squeeze of lemon). The fried scallop platter brings more than a dozen tender scallops encased in a crunchy, herb-breadcrumb shell (well-seasoned nuggets, but they get even better with a dash of hot sauce). Blackened rockfish requires no such intervention, delivering definitive spice and an abundance of flaky meat.

El Charrito Caminante
2710-A N. Washington Blvd., Arlington; 703-351-1177
Average entree under $12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner, Wednesday through Monday; closed Tuesday.

Pressed for time? Need a quick, Tex-Mex fix? Then ground beef-filled tacos are just fine.

But if you crave a true taste of Mexico, you’ll need to stand in line at Arlington’s El Charrito Caminante just like everyone else.

This austere carryout is as plain as can be: a central counter, a grill perpetually crowded with homemade Mexican delicacies and a few stray stools for anyone who would rather eat than run. Most menu items cost less than $5—tacos are $2 each, burritos are $3, and traditional torta sandwiches are $4—and virtually everything is made-to-order.

The homemade tacos feature twin tortilla shells wrapped around a host of exotic fillings, including chorizo (crumbled Spanish sausage, mostly mild), carne de res (terrific, grilled steak), cabrito (slow-roasted goat meat comes densely packed, yet remains amazingly tender) and puerco (shredded swine can occasionally seem a little tough, but is typically still flavorful). A hefty beef burrito rolls thick strips of grilled flank steak together with beans, rice and the buffet of fresh vegetables—a homemade relish of diced green onions and ripe tomatoes—found in all the main dishes. The bulky Mexican torta is just as impressive, stuffing more grilled steak, savory pinto beans, cheese and the house relish into a bulging-at-the seams sub roll (magnifico).

Hooked
20789 Great Falls Plaza, Sterling; 703-421-0404; www.hookedonseafood.com
Average entree $21 to $30 ($$$). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

Good sushi, naturally, requires fresh seafood. Great sushi requires exceptional seafood and the watchful eye of an expertly trained sushi chef.

So, what’s required for great carryout sushi? Merely calling over to Hooked to make sure chef Yoshi Katsuyama is working.

This nautically themed newcomer does nothing but seafood, which it does pretty well. But the real lures are Katsuyama’s enticing raw fish arrangements, ranging from the basic (fatty tuna on rice) to bountiful (the house Las Vegas roll combines crab, lobster and caviar sprinkled with a sweet marinade).

The fresh scallop roll summons lengths of meaty mollusk draped across their steamed rice bedding. New York roll ties together salmon and crisp apple with a blast of mustard (sounds weird, tastes great). Jumping coasts, the Malibu roll appeases seafood lovers with hunks of white meat crab wrapped around thick-cut asparagus, with bright orange roe poured over to fill in any gaps (impressive). Likewise, a special dragon roll surrounds tuna, spicy mayo and more caviar with a soy-soaked eel (soy provides the sweet, while the spicy mayo plays cleanup).

Want something a little more substantial to pad those tired old bones? Miso-marinated sea bass yields a lily-white medallion of fish with a honey-like finish. Heat seekers can savor the dozen or so medium-sized, lightly battered (thin breading barely coats the pinkish prawns beneath) shrimp tossed in a terrific hot sauce. Or fill up on the chifa rice, a Chinese-style, fried rice blend packed with seafood (shrimp, mixed fish, scallops) and just a touch of cumin.

Papa Petrone’s
4168 Merchant Plaza, Woodbridge; 703-878-4100; www.papapetronestakenbake.com
Average entree $13 to $20 ($$). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

Easy ways to “shake up” your average pizza: Add a topping here. Switch sauces there. Inject ungodly amounts of cheese into every square inch possible.

When you are ready to truly break free from the carryout pizza mold, come see “Papa” John Petrone.

A nearly 20-year veteran of the bake-at-home dining scene, Petrone continues to reel in new customers and repeat business alike with his signature “scramble bread”—a piecemeal masterpiece of loose pizza dough, unlimited toppings (more than two dozen meats, vegetables and cheeses are always at the ready) and piles of scattered mozzarella. While baking, the mounds of dough puff up around the selected proteins and greens, producing a pick-apart sensation that begs for further experimentation.

“It’ll hook anybody,” Petrone says of his mountainous, priced-by-the-pound creation.

Homemade pastas (Petrone prepares everything in-house, using only egg whites for the noodles) include a variety of specialty raviolis ranging from standards like a portobello-mascarpone-caramelized onion medley (loaded with soft mushrooms and sharp cheese) to exotics like pumpkin and tarragon. Customers can also build a meal from familiar pastas (angel hair, rigatoni) and sauces (terrific white clam sauce yields loads of chewy clams steeped in butter and black pepper) or sample made-to-order stunners like his white lasagna (an all-out dairy assault featuring broad egg noodles interlaced with a proprietary blend of five cheeses and rivers of alfredo sauce).

Cosmopolitan
5902-A, N. Kings Highway, Alexandria; 703-329-3303; www.restaurant-cosmopolitan.com
Average entree under $12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

Gourmet burgers are becoming so ubiquitous. Corporate chains regularly trot out custom sandwiches sporting one “hot” topping after another.

BOR-ing.

Ready for a genuinely unforgettable burger experience? Stock up on Altoids. Brush up on your Bosnian. Then head over to Cosmopolitan and feast your eyes on the amazing pljeskavica.

Owners Ivica and Amela Svalina have been feeding fellow Slavic ex-pats for nearly four years, although Amela claims maybe 60 percent of their business comes from curiosity seekers and ethnic dining enthusiasts. Their tiny storefront contains little else than a drink cooler, a cash register and a TV perpetually tuned to European futbol matches. But much like the Great and Powerful Oz, they work some serious magic from behind the curtain that leads to their modest kitchen.

The so-called Bosnian burger summons a mammoth patty—a truely widemouth experience—of spiced ground beef smothered with sour cream and sliced white onions, pressed between a sourdough-like bun (the potent onions hit you from a mile away, while the silky cream-on-meat interplay is simply mesmerizing). The equally popular cevapcici heaps spiced sausages (put regular cocktail weenies to shame) into another homemade roll. The fabulous chicken pikata schnitzel produces a lightly-breaded chicken breast zapped with lemon (marvelous). Blast your taste buds even further with the peppery potato burek, a spiral pastry (looks like an elephant’s ear) filled with tender, diced potatoes. A spinach and cheese variety is just as filling, without the added spice.

Pie Gourmet
507 Maple Ave. W., Vienna; 703-281-7437; www.piegourmet.com
Average entree $13 to $20 ($$). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

If your pastry appreciation begins with “Three Stooges” clips and ends on the Marie Callender shelf of your frozen foods section, get thee to Vienna’s Pie Gourmet for a crash course in the art of primo baking.

The 20-year-old shop tempts patrons with rows of fresh pies—approximately a dozen seasonal savories along with 50-plus rotating dessert offerings—ranging from solitary wonders (chicken pot, pumpkin) to dynamic duos (crab and mushroom quiche, strawberry rhubarb). Most pies can be warmed up (heat at 375 degrees) in about 20 to 25 minutes if still at room temperature, or in about 40 to 50 minutes if frozen.

One crowd-pleaser takes the traditional sausage (crumbled, sweet Italian) and peppers conceit, rolls it with caramelized onions, eggplant and a robust marinara, then bakes the entire thing into a mountain of molto Italiano bliss (waves of flavor roll over you with every bite). A seafood number delivers mounds of sauteed spinach and flaky salmon protected by a bronzed cheddar and parmesan crust.

Whipped cream peaks blanket an ocean of rich chocolate fluff in the always popular chocolate cream pie. Or celebrate Halloween early with the terrific pumpkin bars (spiced pumpkin, sweet raisins and crazy rich cream cheese frosting, combined into a handheld slice of heaven).

Need something to nibble on the ride home? Tear into the cannonball-shaped stuffed breads—downy-soft rolls filled with zesty pepperoni (bleeds spicy oil with every bite), sweet Italian sausage (a diced pepper party) or a chicken-spinach combo.

(November 2007)

Tags: carryout, Food & Wine, restaurants