Restaurant 3 Brunch

To follow up my pretty positive happy hour experience at R3, J and I had brunch there on our way to the bike store in Ballston. He hadn't been back since You Know When. And looking back at our first visit to R3, I see that we had the duck confit with molasses lettuce wraps--basically my happy hour pulled sandwich, but with lettuce wraps instead of a bun. What was good stayed good, at least!

J knew he was getting the chicken and waffles, but he couldn't help but glance at the pulled duck sandwich. I reminded him that I already had it, and for half the price! Also, he muffled something about the short rib quesadilla--sounds good, but was actually not so identifable as short ribs and pretty greasy when S had it at happy hour. So he went with his first intention (with my peer pressure). The fried chicken was really tender, and although we both agreed that the waffle wasn't necessarily the most visually impressive one we'd ever seen, it was tasty and it was a good size for pairing with the chicken.



I had the omelet of the day, which had cheese, asparagus, tomatoes, red and green peppers, and squash, along with a side of grits. I can usually sum up my meal with: had vegetables, was healthier than J's, but not nearly as good. But seriously, I love omelets and feel like it can tell me a lot about a place. It's eggs, people!



My iced coffee was good (and re-filled before the check!), and J called their iced tea "bangin'," although that might have had more to do with his lemon-squeezing/Splenda-mixing skills and less to do with the restaurant's brewing technique.

The star of the show was the breadbasket. And by bread I mean muffin. Actually, there were a few pieces of regular bread in there, but I pretended I didn't see them. The cinnamon muffins were DELICIOUS. And of course I was a fan of the zesty jammy marmaladey situation. Who wants butter?!?!



Sidenote, R3 recently had signs up about a tiki-style party that would be in memory of Mama Quan's, which cracked us up. Such an inside Clarendoners' joke, but still. Good job.

UPDATE: R3 is apparently now 3 Bar & Grill (not sure if they dropped the Restaurant, but the Bar & Grill is definitely IN), and is going for a more Southern and American-y sorta thing. Changes include a focus on microbrews, availability of chicken & waffles for dinner (not just brunch), and slightly lower prices. For example, the pulled duck molasses sandwich was $11, and is now $9. Applause! I want to try the mac & salad.

Restaurant 3
2950 Clarendon Boulevard
Metro: Orange Line to Clarendon