Cafe Tirolo - Arlington

If you want a foodie gourmet feast on the quasi-cheap, look no further. Ignore the fact that you order at a counter and get appetizers, salads, entrees, wine, and maybe even dessert. The history is the Austrian owners of Tirolo used to run Cafe Monti on Duke St in Alexandria. It was my favorite dinner spot as a teenager and should maybe get some credit for the evolution of my fine pallet. For some reason the owners sold Monti and opened up Tirolo, which was the exact same thing in terms of concept and menu in a space that is cleaner much nicer. The menu is austrian/european fare like schnitzel but most of it is stuff widely consumed in America- chicken, fish, pasta- something for everyone. I recommend to go off the specials board- the little dry erase deal by the register. I 've always loved the chicken special which is grilled chicken with some awesome sauce of the day, often smothered in melted cheese, served with delicious potatoes and buttery green beans and a hearty slice of crusty but soft bread. The last time I was here I had an outstanding trout special- the fish was deliciously prepared with cream, onions, mushroom, and breadcrumbs with their signature potatoes and green beans. Not exactly health food, accept that this is food is laden with fat. I also recommend their salads which perfectly open up to the heavier fare of the mains. Their green salad is basic but delicious. On the specials board you 'll find more creative offerings like goat cheese and tomato or crab and avocado. Wine is a good deal here. There 's no wine list, it 's more like White or red and comes in a water glass but it 's a generous amount. It 's not that hard to find if you know that it 's on the backside of Tara Thai. Parking is bitch though. P.S. Have no idea why this place is categorized as a deli .

One of my favorite places from my two years in Washington. I'm probably a little generous in my rating, but I almost never give 5 stars. This place certainly bridged the gap between 4 and 5 with unfailingly friendly and unobtrusive service. Always a good central European beer on offer. The meats and fish (which I'm often hesitant to risk, given my usual budget) were always fantastic. And it's a place where it truly pays to order the specials. A restaurant that knows what it has and that advertises it honestly (as opposed, say, to the place that's trying to get rid of the now-iffy lobster) is good to find. I have a special fondness for places in weird locations, where the food impetus seems spontaneous. This place was in an office building, and it was quite, quite fine.

Notice that the good reviews were written years ago. The place is obviously under new ownership, and they 're living off of the old rep. The food is cheap (as in poor quality), the atmosphere is cheap. This only Austrian thing in the entire store is the name. I love eating out and this is the only restaurant I 've eaten at in years that I 've actually given a poor rating.

This is an absolute hidden gem of a spot! This is one of those places that only yelpers would really discover, as it 's kind of hidden from the main street. It 's to the side and behind the building from Tara temple, you see a little sign that says Cafe Tirolo but it doesn 't jump out. I noticed it from my walk and decided to use my trusty yelp app to get the low-down. For those who who live/work in the VA Square area, there is a real lack of food nearby, unlike Ballston and Clarendon, but at least there is this place which has awesome lunch specials. It 's a no frills convenient casual order at the counter place. So I 've been here 3 times already so I 've had a good amount of experience at this place, and I got to say they have some bomb-ass dishes! Like others have said, they do offer a wide variety of different cuisines that are not in the same region at all, from German food, Austrian, Italian, to Korean. Most places that try and serve a diverse set of food, usually don 't get any of them right (I 'm looking at you, Cheesecake factory). However this place does nail the Eurasian type food down, but not the Korean. Curiously, I believe the owners are Korean, but the Korean food is definitely not their strong point. I got the bi bim bap, and the rice was kind of soggy, it didn 't come in a clay pot, and the veges w/ the paste just didn 't mix, so basically don 't get the Korean food, save that for Annandale. What does impress me are the German/Italian/Austrian offerings. The Italian pasta quick lunches are quite good. The noodles are cooked perfectly and has a nice texture, the marinara sauce is tasty, and the meatballs are good (and I think, home-made). The seafood linguine is also good and tastes fresh. The other dishes that you can 't get anywhere else, like the Austrian Ghoulash is actually really really good. It 's a different dish, it 's a beef dish with these homemade noodles with this sauce and bread, and I 've had it cooked from a German chef before, but these were way better! The noodles were among one of the best I have had, I think everything here is homemade. Today I had the chicken parm sandwich, a relatively simple sandwich, but when I took a bite, it knocked my socks off! It had full of flavor, tasted a hint of garlic and seasoning. The chicken was not soggy at all, it was crunchy with flavor but still had good sauce on it w/ melted Mozzarella cheese, and the bread was also perfectly toasted, warm, and just the right amount of crunch to match the breaded chicken parm. I haven 't had a good chicken parm like this in awhile. The turkey sandwiches also use fresh carved turkey, (what my co-workers got), they liked it and it 's something I will try next. So in summary, my advice is to stick to sandwiches/Austrian/German/Italian food here, and not Korean.

I dunno if this place is under new management or if the people that gave this place good reviews are just smoking crack. Doesn 't matter. This place is not good not even from a for the price standpoint. We ended up eating here for lunch, today, because it was a highly rated place within walking distance of the office. This place 's rating would be one of those Yelp lies kinds of things. The first warning that things were not going to be good was the fact that it was an Italian restaurant that featured bulgogi prominently on the menu. The safest looking things on the menus were the sandwiches. I ordered the italian cold cut ...but with a great deal of trepidation. As expected, the sandwich that came out was on craptacular bread and Oscar Meyer quality (rather than deli quality) lunch meat. Underwhelming, but at least not disappointing. I could have gone to Subway and had better for less. That 's not in any way an indication that I 'm endorsing Subway, I 'm just trying to give a point of comparison. Maybe the other stuff was better. Dunno. But given that the first question out of my tablemates ' mouths was was anyone else 's food awful , I 'm thinking no . And it wasn 't that we were all having sandwiches, either. One person got lasagna, two got the bulgogi and one got a hot sandwich. It was a universal thumbs down.