1900 Moore Street Arlington, VA, (703) 527-9007

CHRISTIAN:
Brevity is impossible this time. I'm not even really sure what restaurant I'm reviewing. Is it the corpse of a cheesy sports bar or a prematurely-born mexican dive? The overriding comment at the table last night that "this is a REALLY wierd place" was wholly justified. We were told that the new San Antonio Grill is located where "Pettibons Sports bar used to be" in Rosslyn. In fact, it's located WHERE PETTIBONS STILL IS! When we visited (several weeks after the transition had occurred), all the Pettibons signs were still up (which made our initial rendevous a tad difficult and confusing ("I thought you said . . .")). Ultimately, the only indication we could find that this was a Mexican place was the menu. This bar/restaurant is a single, cavernous, loud, smokey room. The karaoke was absolutely the worst I've ever seen/heard. By all appearances, some extra from a Huey Lewis video had managed to convince the owner he ran a Karaoke company and brought in his terrible CD collection and a microphone. That said, the food was quite palatable and our waitress was friendly. When she spilled a bit of beer on Jen, the waitress quickly got Jen another beer on the house. Having neglected to give us the traditional chips and salsa at the outset of the meal, the waitress gladly did so afterwards, as we all sat dumbfounded at what we were experiencing (and yes, Peter, the chips were well-sized). This is a great first date place if you're sure you don't want to go out with that person ever again and a great place to propose if you want to make sure she says "NO!"

AMY:
I was served the weakest Margarita I have ever had in my life. Then, my Coke was completely flat. The salsa had a canned tomato flavor, and it was too hot, as though to cover up the flavor. I got a Caesar salad, which is not Tex-Mex, but shouldn't be too hard to make regardless. The lettuce was crisp, but the salad was flavorless, and it had the smallest croutons I've ever seen. At 1/4 inch diameter, I think they qualify as breadcrumbs. You'd make a much better salad with the Caesar salad kit at the grocery store, and it would be much cheaper, too. I liked that they had pepper grinders at the table, even if we only had one set of salt and pepper for 11 people. The atmosphere was like a hotel ballroom AFTER a convention. The room doesn't seem suited to Tex-Mex, but maybe they'll work some decorative magic. Maybe they'll also get a real bartender.

CONRAD:
The atmosphere sucked, the clientelle gave me the creeps, and the food was okay. I had a beef Chimichanga. Also, the martinis were quite bad; they charged for Tanqueray but it must have been Aristocrat. Overall: I was not pleased with the dining experience. In fact, I went home and cried for hours.

SANDRA:
This place was utterly bizarre. My first inkling that something wasn't quite right: when I ordered a Lone Star beer from the menu, (don't ask me why, I just wanted a little taste of Texas!) the waitress told me they didn't have any, and not to believe anything that the menu said. The highlight of my meal was the guacamole. In spite of the relatively unexciting food I did have a very good time, most likely due to the oddness of the place. We never knew what to expect next, expecially once the "karaoke" began. I'm sure I'll go back, but this is most likely due to the fact that there are only two bars within walking distance of my house, this being one of them.

RANDY:
I arrived at the restaurant at around 6:25, having the distinction of being the first of our group to take in the majesty of the San Antonio Grill or was it Pettibons, I'm still not sure. The signs on the door said Pettibons, the menus on the table said the San Antonio Grill, and the environment said crap, crap, and more crap. The air was thick with smoke as people clamored around the bar area while the "dining" tables were empty. The food had a familiar flavor a la hungry man dinners or stouffers meals for one (the mexican versions of course). About half way through our meal, I seem to remember some Karaoke starting although by that point I was getting quite drunk in order to numb the pain. I give this one a big red light.

STEVE:
So, this is the restaurant formerly known as Pettibon's... I got there late, so I can't comment on the food beyond the grade B+ chips and the really tasty salsa. FWIW, the chips were far superior to the pre-bagged ones at the "Tex-Mex" down the street. (And yes, Peter, they were bigger.) The salsa was reminiscent of the now-defunct El Faro that used to be on 18th Street in Adams Morgan - the good, un-chunky kind with a nice cilantro kicker. $2.89 for a Sam Adams draft was a good deal, for sure. The place is new, but that doesn't excuse the fact that the "Pettibon's" signage is still all over the outside of the place, nor can it account for the complete lack of "atmosphere" - the bare faux-wood panel walls and dim lighting made me think "70s notquite 'finshed basement'" or "suburban all-occasions-rent-a-banquet- hall." Tip to new restaurateurs: I know you're eager to get going, but don't open for business until you're 100% ready to go, otherwise your early customers might see things in dissary and not want to come back.

BRYCE:
After a bitterly cold 8 block walk from my house, I showed up at the location for the SanAntonio grill which I new to be in or around the Old Pettibons in Rosslyn and saw no sign of... well NO SIGN really for that restaurant on the block or the ones next to it. Thankfully, I saw signs of life in the old restaurant and was glad to see my freinds setting down in the middle of a gutted TGIFridays-type restaurant. Aside from the missing "flare" in the server's apparel and decor on the walls, they were missing almost all their customers in the large, but sparsely tabled room. The movers had apparently settled in at the bar with some "working-girls" and appeared to be enjoying the static on the bigscreen TV while sipping their drinks. Having already eaten, I just enjoyed the salsa which was a little overly peppered (w/ black pepper) and commenced an evening-long game of beer-roulette with our friendly but apparently un-attentive waitress (she could have been deaf from the ear-piercing ultra-crappy karaoke). Anyway, I was 2-for-5 or 2-for-4 in beer roulette - - not bad - - and all of the beers, even if they weren't what I ordered, were cold, cheap, and tasty. Despite all the weirdness is was a lot of fun, but mailnly b/c we amused each other while marveling at substandard and bizarre nature of the dining experience.

MARY:
I'm not quite sure what to do with my impressions of San Antonio Grill. There are so many aspects of it to bag on, it makes me feel kind of well, MEAN. But I guess I'm restaurant reviewer and that's my job, so here goes. I got off on the wrong foot with San Antonio Grill when I was walking up and down Moore street on a cold January evening, hands freezing, wondering where the damn place was. Turns out, when Christian said it was near Petibons, he meant it WAS Pettibons. Because all of Petibons' old signs were up except for a little 8 by 10 piece of paper scotchtaped to the door that said, "San Antonio Grill." All of that, fortunately, tapered my expectations, so I didn't get too disappointed, when the food was mediocre and the atmosphere bit. I had Quesadillas and a Corona -- all of which were reasonably priced, but my Quesadillas were nothing special. The waitress was decent -- and she probably would have been even better if she hadn't be drowned out by absolutely AWFUL karaoke that made it way too loud to talk. It really killed the atmosphere -- oh wait, I forgot, there was no atmostphere.


Also in attendance were Jen, Bob, and Lee.