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Wild Tomato, MacArthur Blvd. in Cabin John - 43-Seat Restaurant From the Owners of Persimmon


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Drove by the Cabin John market strip center on Mac Arthur Blvd. What was once a pizza hut take out space and then an italian/ice cream concept connected to the Cabin John Market how has a sign for the Wild Tomato. Searching on the web, it look like a concept from the owners of Persimmon in Bethesda.

Interesting location but gets me excited given the lack of choices in Potomac Village. With this, Burger Joint in Cabin John Mall and Founding Farmers coming to Park Potomac, perhaps things are turning around for Potomac in terms of dining choices.

See Wild Tomato

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Stopped in last night for dinner with the family slightly before 6 pm and the place was half full but by the time we left the place was full.

I will hold off on any real review as it was the 3rd day they were open and there were some hiccups (no tuna tartare, no mussels, kale served with hangar steak instead of spinach per the menu). We will return but probably not for a few weeks until they are up and running smoothly.

Couple of general observations: the place is fairly small with a small bar that seats 5-6 people, wine and beer list was fairly short and uninspired (4-5 beers on tap and 4-5 wines by the glass), menu had a good mix of apps, salads, sandwiches and mains.

Despite being billed as family friendly there was no kids menu at least not last night, which left the kids ordering a hamburger ($10) and meatball sub ($10) - a little more than we like to spend on kids meals when we eat out.

I suspect this place will do very well as this area is starved for some restaurants, add in the ease of parking (free), and the persimmon pedigree and I think they have a winner.

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Stopped in last night for dinner with the family slightly before 6 pm and the place was half full but by the time we left the place was full.

I will hold off on any real review as it was the 3rd day they were open and there were some hiccups (no tuna tartare, no mussels, kale served with hangar steak instead of spinach per the menu). We will return but probably not for a few weeks until they are up and running smoothly.

Couple of general observations: the place is fairly small with a small bar that seats 5-6 people, wine and beer list was fairly short and uninspired (4-5 beers on tap and 4-5 wines by the glass), menu had a good mix of apps, salads, sandwiches and mains.

Despite being billed as family friendly there was no kids menu at least not last night, which left the kids ordering a hamburger ($10) and meatball sub ($10) - a little more than we like to spend on kids meals when we eat out.

I suspect this place will do very well as this area is starved for some restaurants, add in the ease of parking (free), and the persimmon pedigree and I think they have a winner.

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I went there tonight and for the first week, it was very good. Service was great. Food took a little while to come out, but I chalk that up to the chef still trying to get his/her timing.

I had the BBQ shrimp & dirty rice. It could have used a bit more kick but all in all, it was very good. The shrimp tasted fresh and high quality and were not over cooked.

My wife had the burger and remarked that it was great. Onion strings were also good. Fries are purported to be hand cut but seemed to be of the frozen kind to me (can't knock frozen when Mickey D's sets the standard for most fries), but were still crispy and not oily. Decent beer selection IMHO. All in all, I think this is a keeper, particulary given the current competition in the area. I could see the menu tiring, though, so hopefully they will have a few alternating specials. All in all, I give it a 7/10, which is much better than I expected for a first week in business try.

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I've been there for lunch twice so far---both on a Saturday. The first time, we enjoyed burgers, a club sandwich and the chocolate martini whatever dessert. Burgers were excellent as were fries. I didn't try the others, but plates were cleared. Service was pretty good--we were ignored for long stretches, left with empty water glasses and coffee cups.

The second time, service had picked up a lot. The place was full at one point, but was mostly operating with 3/4 tables full. The house soup was a very good white bean/kale and the cups/bowls were both large servings. Had a veggie pizza with the soup, crust was thin-ish and firm, toppings fresh and flavorful. Saw some very large entree salads going by, and both diners walked out with doggie bags. Some kind of pasta was finished by the diner at the next table, and someone else was commenting how good the seared tuna. was. Service was much better ---and even when it was slugish on the first, day it was very pleasant.

Have no idea what the crowds are like at dinner, but weekend lunch seems to be a big hit.

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Kind of an obscure location, but apparently a popular neighborhood place (it was packed on Saturday-- we waited about 30 minutes for a table). Loud and without much in the way of atmosphere, but the food was good-to-very-good and fairly priced. The wedge salad I had ($7) was like half a large head of lettuce (I gave a large cut of it to someone else at the table and was still left with a good sized salad), with a nice buttermilk-blue cheese dressing and good bacon. I paired the salad with a plate of two great short-rib sliders. My dining companions also enjoyed what they ordered. The fish tacos that one of them raved about (a house specialty here, we were told) looked delicious. There were some well-priced picks on the wine list, especially for MoCo (we went with the Chehalem INOX chardonnay, which I believe was $30). $9 for a Lagunitas IPA was a bit crazy, though. If you're near the Glen Echo area, this a great place for a casual meal. It's still owned and run by the Persimmon folks.

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