Jackie's

When you drive into this neighborhood you are not expecting to find this restaurant. Things seem kind of seedy and just a few feet away there is a gre.yhound station. This is the neighborhood where you put on the club, the alarm and the viper. But then you see this bright sign that says Jackie's and a big furry curtain that you walk through to get to some doors and you enter Jackie's. When you walk in there you think why isn't this place downtown and not in Silver Spring but that adds to the quirkiness. It really reminds me of NY and maybe that's why I frequent this place so much. It's really like one of those spots in the meat.packing district... where you go in and its really high tech with bright colors with a pink base and and exposed surfaces and a big plasma screen on the wall that changes scenery. What I love is that this place is small and there is an open kitchen so I can sit at my table and see them cooking my food.

Food is what we were there for and let me tell you I love it. First let me start by saying I always go here with other foodies but on my visit yesterday I brought with me picky palleted people and guess what... they loved the food too. When looking at the menu their faces were twisted and they were looking like ehh what can I order but after some recommendations from our waiter we had a great meal. For appetizers we ordered two and sampled... the first thing was grilled calamari, shrimp and sea scallop with green romesco it was great and refreshing to try grilled calamari as opposed to the normal fried. The flavor of all was really good and the romesco sauce was wonderful. Our other appetizer was calamari "pasta" a la putanesca, in this dish the calamari was cut so it resembled pasta and had the sauce over it this dish was amazing just a little heavy on the olives.

For my entree I ordered chicken breast glazed in red wine vinegar with fries and mixed greens. This was one of the most succulent pieces of chicken I have ever had in a restaurant. The skin was crispy and perfectly seasoned and the meat was so juicy. Two of us ordered it and we both were saying how we were sad when we go to the last bite (that's how good it was). The fries served with it were crispy and seasoned well and the salad had a fabulous vinaigrette on it. The food there is just delicious and love going there. I think it's a PERFECT date spot because its a great ambiance and great food. I definitely say go there. You may even see me there...

www.jackiesrestaurant.com