Bottomless Mimosa Brunch at Front Page (this ain't your momma's all-you-can-eat-buffet)

Picture from frontpagedc.com

Usually when I hear the phrase "all you can eat buffet" I am haunted by memories of cold chewy chicken at Country Kitchen and nameless pasta concoctions at Golden Corral. Well thanks to Front Page these are distant memories that have been replaced by happy feelings, chef-run omelet stations, fresh fruit, Belgian waffles, fresh out of the pan bacon, grits, smoked salmon with capers, and any other food my little brunch dreams could ever conceive of. Oh and bottomless mimosas of course. 

Here's the breakdown:

• Bottomless Mimosas: $8 (with the buffet)
• Average Brunch Plate: All-you-can-eat $21 (hey, brunch is breakfast and lunch. Make it worth the money and sit it through)
• Check Splitting: Split it for you if you tell them in advance
• Try the: Biscuits and gravy
• Service: Our waiter was not playing- bottomless mimosas are no joke at Front Page. You will not have an empty glass.
• Bathrooms: Clean but a little treacherous to access (going down a flight of stairs after bottomless mimosas- whose idea was that?!)
• Outdoor Seating: Yes
• Transit: 2/10 of a mile from Dupont

 

Pros:

• All-you-can-eat for $21?? We stayed about 4 hours and made approximately 5 trips each to the buffet. Sorry not sorry. 
• OMELET STATION! I thought they only had these on vacations! And there wasn't a line for it either
• You can make your own Belgian waffles which I thought they only had this in college dining halls
• Huge variety of food. There is truly something for eveyrone
• Patio

 

Cons:

• The feeling of impending death when leaving. There is no controlling one's self at a bottomless buffet
• The buffet's feggs (fake eggs). I understand scrambled eggs are difficult to mass produce, but feggs do a number on my stomach so I had to avoid. No big deal thanks to the omelet station!
• I've had better grits- there is no living up to Mad Momo's Grits 

Moral of the story: can we go back next weekend? But for real, I have to call this one of the best places to get bottomless mimosas and brunch in DC. Major bang for the buck. 

 

 

Dupont Happy Hour at Firefly

the Classic Martini and Moscow Mule- $6 drinks in fancy glasses!

• Average Drink Price: $6 ($6 options and $13 options). $5 salty snacks
• Service: We sat at the bar- the bartenders were very attentive and quick
• Good for Groups: Not really- there was a big group there and they were accidentally elbowing everyone, there's just not enough room at the bar area for that
• Mood: Fancy Chillin
• Outdoor Seating: No
• Try the: Moscow Mule and Crispy Chickpea

Dupont Nail- $35 Waxing

Posted on the wall. My kinda place

"Wait so you go down to a sketchy Asian basement in Dupont and let them touch your coochie?" -Good friend 2 months ago. As of one month ago she is a regular at Dupont Nail. It's that much of a bang for your buck yall.

• Price: $35 Brazilian, $8-$12 eyebrow IN DC YALL
• Service: Kim is great. She's really sweet and truly cares about her service. And she waxes her own self. I don't know what says you can trust a waxer more than that...
• Quality: Same quality as an $80 wax I got a Groupon for a few years ago.
• Cleanliness: They change out the wax after every appointment and do the same with the table coverings. This makes me feel even better than other places that just don't "double dip"

image from betcheslovethis.com

I discovered this place 2 summer ago when they were advertising their $35 Brazilians- $35!!! In DC!!!! At that point I was so desperate for a clean-up that I didn't care that it gives off the aura of a Vietnamese basement dive salon, so I went for it and have been going back to Kim every 4-6 weeks since then. Kim is so sweet and gives you a hug every time you come in, like, she really cares. (They have since been taken over by a salon management company and it has a better feel inside.)

I understand one of the ways they can keep their prices so low is by using regular brand products (i.e. aloe vera, Neosporin), but an old waxer friend told me that most salons just put "Neosporin" into a bottle with an exotic label and tell you it is a special healing cream from another country, so I don't feel that gypped by the fact that Kim doesn't try to hide the products she's using. When I go in for the eyebrow/Brazilian combo they give a little discount and only charge $42 for all the services which is still half the price of just a Brazilian at other places. I have never had my nails done here before because it is a little pricier than Revo and I just can't justify that extra $8 (it's a whole eyebrow wax!), but a friend has said good things about their gel manis. Also not sure if this is a selling point for anyone out there, but they just got a new chocolate flavored wax that smells like chocolate. I might be missing something but I really don't understand that. Neither does Kim. If anyone has information about the benefits of chocolate wax, please let me know. Until then Kim and I are assuming the salon management company has a fetish.

Here is the price list:

Happy Hour at Cafe Citron

Average Drink Price: $5
Service: See below
Good for Groups: Yes! Room at the upstairs and downstairs bar, couches downstairs, and plenty of tables upstairs. Happy hour is available anywhere in the restaurant
Mood: Chill Party Mode- could go either way.
Try The: MOJITO PITCHERS!! JUST DO IT

This is officially the Summer of the Mojito for me, so the mojito tour continued this week at Cafe Citron in Dupont. We got a table for our eight person group and were able to chat and enjoy each other while we went through two (or three?) $30 mojito pitchers. The mojitos were amazing and perfectly refreshing as we escaped the 90 degree heat. I came here for National Margarita Day last year (yeah yall, that's a thing) when they were selling shitty sour margaritas for $4.00. They burned my stomach enough that I'll never order margs here again. One of the girls got a quesadilla which was...well, a really basic quesadilla that reminded me of Applebee's. We also got the guacamole which is NOT on happy hour special. Our server was fine, I think she had a lot of tables? But we spent a lot of time waiting to order refills which is not cool. We all paid and a few people left, which was when chaos ensued.

Something went wrong with the tip or the computer system or something and the owner came out and asked us for our cards back to have us repay. Everyone was (kind of drunk?) angry and going off about how they aren't going to let her charge us twice for our drinks. The owner was seriously seriously heated (for her mistake?) and started yelling in Spanish. Thankfully one of our Latina Heat Waves was with us and gave it right back to her in Spanish (does anyone else get nervous when people are yelling in Spanish? why does it always sound so angry?), then my friend informed us that it was fine give her the cards, then the owner brought back shots of tequila. I may never know what went down in that fight, or really even who won, but tequila transcends all languages so it was fine. It was a little stressful for happy hour, and tequila shots are a little intense (my college self would never believe I'm saying this) for happy hour, or really life in general, but whatever. The mojitos were good enough and priced right and my bank account was only charged once so I'll be back for happy hour. Moral of the story: if you want to save money, drink your pitchers and leave right after you pay. The others in our group didn't get charged at all.