Moving to NOVA; tell me about the food (Arlington, Alexandria: appointed, transplants)

[piperdiva]

I'm moving in about a month from San Diego. I'm used to Mexican food, sushi, and fresh fruit and veggies year round. And avocados. Lots and lots of avocados. .

[ChristineVA]

You will be disappointed in the Mexican food.

Sushi, you will have no problem getting.

Fresh fruits and veggies are here year round but not anything like California. It's a major disappointment for me and I'm from here. You can always get avocados of course. Sometimes they are cheap and other times not.

[leighland]

Originally Posted by piperdiva

I'm moving in about a month from San Diego. I'm used to Mexican food, sushi, and fresh fruit and veggies year round. And avocados. Lots and lots of avocados. .

I'm from East County

The food is completely different here. You will not get any Mexican/Polynesian

You will get Salvadoreans attempting to make Jalisco or Baja style- they suck at it as everything to them is a pupusa- a soggy nasty pupusa

And if the restaurant says hula inn its not Hawaiian bit some chinese dude pushing shrimp fried rice.

There are some texmex chains here but as you know thats a diff ball game

There are avocados everywhere but not properly ripened (frozen in shipment)/not Hass

You really should just give up and dive into the bbq/central american/halal/FABULOUS Indian/AWESOME Korean/TERRIFIC Vietnamese

[leighland]

THIS is Nova food:

[url=http://www.foursistersrestaurant.com/]Four Sisters Vietnamese Restaurant[/url]

[url=http://www.honeypigbbq.com/]Honey Pig Korean BBQ[/url]

[url=http://www.namasteva.com/]Namaste - FINE INDIAN & NEPALESE CUISINE FULL SERVICE BAR[/url]

[url=http://www.restauranteve.com/]Restaurant Eve[/url]

[url=http://www.tedsbulletin.com/menu/]Our Menu | Ted's Bulletin Restaurant[/url]

[url=http://www.matchboxrestaurants.com/locations/merrifield/]Merrifield, VA Restaurant Location | matchbox american kitchen + spirit[/url]

Lots of food and nightlife in Old Town Alexandria/Arlington -some fab some miss

I've been to [url=http://hulagirlbarandgrill.com/]Hula Girl and Grill – E Komo Mai![/url] . I liked it a lot- been 2x - but its not SD

[piperdiva]

Leighland, do you like living there better than San Diego? How different are the people? Will the weather be difficult to get used to?

[leighland]

I'm originally from Chicago so going from SD to here was ok Summers are buggy and humid. Winter is cold, only a couple of weeks Re death freezer with 2 feet of snow. The east coast is very where do you work, drive super aggressive. Pushy move it. You won't be alone as most people are transplants from all over the world so everyone is trying to adjust. I feel like the DMV (DC, MARYLAND, NORTHERN VIRGINIA). Has much much more in common with NYC in terms of culture and the majority minority population. There's a bunch of California to Nova thread so you should search them too. Good luck and welcome!

[piperdiva]

Originally Posted by leighland

I'm originally from Chicago so going from SD to here was ok Summers are buggy and humid. Winter is cold, only a couple of weeks Re death freezer with 2 feet of snow. The east coast is very where do you work, drive super aggressive. Pushy move it. You won't be alone as most people are transplants from all over the world so everyone is trying to adjust. I feel like the DMV (DC, MARYLAND, NORTHERN VIRGINIA). Has much much more in common with NYC in terms of culture and the majority minority population. There's a bunch of California to Nova thread so you should search them too. Good luck and welcome!

Thank you! Personally, I get along very well with people from NY, because I like people who will say what they feel straight out instead of the passive aggressive crap in SoCal. I'm used to being around Israelis in fact, and I fondly refer to them as New Yorkers on steroids.

[Ffxdata]

Agree with everything said about Mexican food. Being from Texas, it took a lot of adjusting. We essentially eat no Mexican food except for Chuy's or Guappos (chains) a few times a year.

I was so spoiled with produce in Texas. It was cheap and plentiful and fresh. Here produce is expensive and sad. When I would buy from Trader Joe's or Giant, produce would barely last 3 days before spoiling. I buy from MOMs (My Organic Market) and farmers markets, so at least when I pay through the nose for produce it's fresh and will last the week.

[Pub-911]

Good produce can easily be found here, especially of course when local fare is in season. Like everywhere else, we depend on transported crops in the off-season. Because this is seen as a high-income area, we tend to get a bigger and better off-season selection than many places.

Mexican food is commonly served in Mexico. Nowhere else. Someone's take on Mexican cuisine can certainly be found here, and some of it can be quite good.

Some well-regarded places to try

Otherwise, the DC area is about as diverse as the UN General Assembly. Purveyors of surprisingly good fare can be found here representing simple and elegant cookery from many parts of the world. There is a lot to explore and decide on for yourself here. It will take years to make your way through it all.

[Hal Roach]

The frozen Tilapia at Costco will be very similar to the Talapia at Costco in SD. You can get the Guerrero tostado shells at any latino markets along with LA costena canned salsas and el pato...Walmart sells Herdez brand. Otherwise, people routinely wait an hour for a table at Olive Garden on Saturday nights....pizza is rarely Italian, Chinese is usually Vietnamese, and a lot of the produce tastes like a cardboard box.....Sprout's Farmers should be coming soon. Al
dies and Wegmans are decent. Harris Teeter stinks.