Andrew: Celebrity Deli

Service: 4/5

Food: 4.5/5

Coffee: 4/5 

Atmosphere: 3/5

Bathrooms: N/A 

Overall: 4.25/5

I'm glad I waited to publish this one, because it means I have two trips to this little gem of a diner on which to reflect. It sits of route 50 in Falls Church in a pleasantly seedy shopping center. I imagine it's been around a long time. It feels like a diner, which to me is half the battle.

Our first trip here was for a little post-tennis breakfast. We sat outside under one of those white tents most restaurants seem to have purchased since the pandemic to expand outdoor seating. The tent, and some astro turf, could only do so much to obfuscate the fact that one is sitting in a parking lot outside of a 7/11, a liquor store, a Giant, etc. Still it's nice to be outside on a Spring morning and it's not like we were forced out there.

I ordered a coffee and a water after receiving the unfortunate news that they had no champagne--so no mimosas. The coffee was not burnt, which is the gold standard for coffee at a diner. Perfectly pleasant with a little creamer. 

After some hemming and hawing, I ordered a crab cake grilled cheese sandwich on sour dough. (Insert explanation about being from Baltimore area, MD, crab cakes are only good from MD, yadah yadah) Let me tell you, this thing was really fucking good. Rich! So rich. Just hot cheese and salty crab and butter. The sourdough made it, honestly. Thick slices of what tasted like homemade bread grilled to perfection. It was a huge sandwich, too, and I ordered a perfectly nice side salad to go along with it. 

...

OK! So second round. We swung by here on our way out to camp near Antietam, MD. Breakfast sandwich: everything bagel, scrambled egg, cheddar cheese, Canadian bacon. I don't have that much to say about it beyond that it was just perfectly executed. Again, the bread here impresses--this bagel had that slightly denser consistency I associate with a really legit bagel from like, New York, or whatever.

This place is, again, a gem and I'll be going back here with or without Tim as a go-to breakfast spot for the foreseeable future. And probably a go-to lunch spot if we're being honest.


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