Worth Its Weight in Gold
Regulars, GAR owners still treasure Silverado
By Warren Rojas / Photography by James Kim
Make some noise for bubble and squeak.
The neighborhood has undergone a major demographic shift since the original foundation was poured. And its parent company has mushroomed from tightly knit group to burgeoning dining empire.
Even in the shadow of relative obscurity, Silverado endures.
The Southwestern-style restaurant wasn’t Great American Restaurant’s first hospitality venture: that’d be the now-defunct pizza shop the aspiring restaurateurs opened in Fairfax in 1974. But its history makes it special to its operators all the same.
After cutting their teeth on the pizza joint, GAR CEO Randy Norton said he and his partners launched their first “big” restaurant, the family-friendly Fritzbee’s, in 1976. Fritzbee’s, in turn, became Silverado following a wholesale makeover completed in 1996.
“That place is obviously near and dear to our hearts, Norton says of the longstanding Annandale locale, noting that they literally gutted the place—“We tore the place apart. Built a whole new kitchen. Moved the dining rooms around,” he recalls—and started fresh with Silverado.
Or so they thought.
A prominent horseshoe-shaped bar does all it can to offer refuge for tired legs and parched gullets. But extended families appear unwilling to loosen their near stranglehold on every other available seat. And I don’t mean scattered tables hosting late 30-somethings with the single kid they had to placate anxious grandparents/solidify their urban hipster credentials. We’re talking about career breeders. More tables than not appeared to be occupied by families gunning for Brady Bunch-like status (three kids seemed to be the biological ante).
And these aren’t first timers who wandered in off the street. They’re lifers. One GAR hostess began preemptively apologizing to a large party as she ushered them into a booth within the kid-filled side room at the far left of the restaurant, only to be cut short by the family matriarch.
Sizzling fajitas exemplify the thrill of the grill.
“Oh, we had a wedding shower in here once,” the woman sputtered, pausing for half a heartbeat to close her eyes and possibly relive that joyous occasion. “It was wonderful,” she said after her intrapersonal quantum leap.
Norton suggests that Silverado served as the beta test for Sweetwater Tavern, the similarly-themed, Southwestern-style brewery that would join the GAR family in late 1996. The cowboys-and-Indian décor certainly matches up. And the cooking clearly shares many familiar elements.
The most obvious parallel is Silverado’s once-signature fajitas, which never made the leap to any other GAR menus until they were exported to the Centreville and Merrifield Sweetwater cartes this past September.
Norton suggests that the fajitas didn’t immediately transfer to the original Sweetwater (Merrifield) because management didn’t really want to butt heads with brand new neighbor, Chevy’s. Logistical concerns—including the need for homemade tortillas and additional grill space—delayed the migration after that.
“They have been singular to Silverado for a long, long time. And that’s not like us,” Norton admits of the near decade-long, favored status enjoyed by the fajita originator.
Annandalians have evidently had it pretty good.
The steak fajitas do not disappoint, yielding mouthwatering strips of cooked-to-order beef, grilled onions and blistered jalapenos piled high atop a sizzling cast iron skillet. Warm flour tortillas serve as the canvas for any carnivorous construct of your choosing, while white rice, soupy pintos, raw onions, a shredded Monterey jack-cheddar blend, sour cream, homemade guacamole (very creamy) and zesty pico de gallo can be layered on at will.
The filled-to-the-brim tortilla party continues in soft-sided tacos stuffed with blackened catfish—the freshly-fired filets matted with scorched herbs and cayenne pepper—a chipotle-style aioli (had some kick to it), shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes. Add a squeeze of fresh lime for some bonus sting.
Once hooked by the catfish tacos, I had to know if the kitchen was as adept with other seafood offerings.
Are they ever.
Zesty salsa, cold drinks. What’s not to like?
Grilled grouper rides in on a wave of sweet corn- and red pepper-studded polenta, all encircled by a ring of basil oil (keen color, fresh taste) and pierced by a single squiggle of lip-smacking balsamic. Jumbo shrimp are split down the middle, stuffed with jalapeno strips (not explosive hot, but certainly expressive) and Monterey Jack, wrapped in bacon and slathered in sweet hickory barbecue before being paraded across the grill. Although the bacon was inescapably delicious, I really felt like the shrimp—big, fluffy and suffused with smoke—remained the stars of this particular flavor rodeo.
Fried bird gets the nod in a hearty serving of bubble and squeak.
A cakey, home-style buttermilk biscuit serves as the foundation for this breakfast stunner, with the chicken-fried chicken, poached egg and country gravy building excitement with every bite. The epicurean denouement comes once the pierced yolk and thick, lightly peppered gravy converge, dousing every aspect of the dish—the tender chicken breast, thirsty biscuit and seasoned potatoes—in rich, salty release.
The brunch fun doesn’t stop with food either.
The aptly named Texas Tornado very much leapt out of the glass, flooding my taste buds with tart pineapple and orange juices (first swig made me pucker), while a splash of Sprite merely adds fizz.
I wish I could say that the service was as the same “GAR-star” material I’ve experienced at Silverado’s sibling establishments, but things are awfully spotty almost every time I visit.
One server certainly looked the part (crisp shirt, winning smile), but failed to follow up at critical junctures (drink refill requests went unheeded; entrees arrived before the proper silverware had been replaced/delivered).
Another waiter tried TOO hard, overselling appetizers and daily specials (they can’t ALL be your favorite, bub), fawning over our every order (“excellent choice,” he blubbered as we ticked off our desired plates) and altogether coming off as just plain needy.
Should you experience a similar hiccup, make sure to take it up with Silverado managing partner Dustin Ranney—son of GAR partner Mike Ranney (aka the namesake of GAR’s Springfield stronghold, Mike’s American Grill).
Most folks, however, seem perfectly content with the way things have always been.
“It’s by far got the most eclectic crowds we’ve got anywhere,” Norton says of the Fritzbee’s carryovers and newcomers they see every day. “But they’re all comfortable there.”
Silverado
7052 Columbia Pike, Annandale; 703-354-4560; www.greatamericanrestaurants.com
Hours: Open for lunch Monday through Saturday, dinner daily, late-night dining Friday and Saturday, brunch Sunday.
Prices: Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$).
(February 2011)
2 Responses
Dave Says:
April 6th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
April 6th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Actually it was still at Fritzbee’s through at least 1978 or 79. The Fritzbee’s in Fairfax City was still a Fritzbees through at least 1980. I remember they turned me down for a waiter’s slot at Pico’s in Fairfax City. Later got a job at Tt Reynold’s and opened that place. Wonder if the current place repalced the brass urinal I ahd to polish. Original owner’s of Tt Reynolds did hard time for forging their books. they got in trouble for selling more liquor then food back in 1977 and 78 when you had to sell 50% food and 50% liquor.
Later worked at the Franklin Stove.
April 13th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
We lived in Annandale 1977-81 and were regulars at Fritzbee’s. As soon as we came in, we got a big fresh bowl of hot popcorn on your table.
When my wife was pregnant over the winter of 1980-81, I’d order pizza to-go and pick it up at the bar. If it wasn’t ready, the bartender would give me a free beer. If it still wasn’t ready, I’d get a 2nd beer. My wife wondered why I’d always phone in the order from home with my winter coat on and my car keys in my hand.
The food now is more elegant at the GAR restaurants, but I still miss those bowls of popcorn.