Something New to Try: Seasons 52

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Seasons 52 recently opened in June and I finally got the chance to go try it the other day. The unique thing about this restaurant chain is that all of their menu items are under 475 calories, great for anyone who is watching their weight. They change their menu four times a year for each season*, and feature specials that change every week. There are 52 weeks in a year, thus the name “Seasons 52.”

I didn’t really care for the seating arrangement of this restaurant. There is the “main dining room” which is reserved for reservations and had a long wait. Then there is the other half of the restaurant that works as first-come-first-serve, meaning if you see people leaving a table, you had better run over there to grab it. When I asked my server what the difference between the two rooms, he said that there wasn’t a single thing different. Okay, why not just have the host/hostesses seat both sides of the room before hungry diners get into a fight over a table? Any who, that’s not the point. **

The entrees I got were pretty bland and not memorable. I mean, you can’t really expect bold flavors from a protein-filled dish that is under 475 calories (I had to refrain myself from asking for barbecue sauce to smother my entrees in). However, the thing that did stand out was their flat bread.

On my visit, I got the flat bread special of the week which happened to be the spicy pork taco flat bread. This thing was amazing. It was packed with flavor from the cheese, tomatoes, spinach, red onions, pork, and drizzled spicy nacho cheese. It really tasted like a spicy taco, except in flat bread form. The flat bread itself was very crisp and crunchy under the savory toppings. Unfortunately they no longer serve this flat bread as it was a weekly special, but I’m sure their other flat breads are just as good. If you plan to dine at Seasons 52, I would just skip the entrees and order two or three flat breads to share.

*Update: I was informed by a representative of Seasons 52 that the menu actually changes four times a year, as opposed to my previous post that said it only changed twice a year. I apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused.

** Update: The other half of the restaurant is completely segregated from the restaurant and is the bar section of the restaurant. I have been informed by a representative of Seasons 52 that this is a common practice of many restaurants to have their bar section on a first-come-first-serve basis.

- Mai Nguyen

Tags: flat bread, Gut Check, Mai Nguyen, Northern Virginia, Northern Virginia Magazine, NoVA, Seasons 52