Ted’s Bulletin

I called a week ago to try and make reservations for fathers day and was told to call day of as they don’t take reservations in advance for weekends.
I called at 7:01 am today only to be told they already had a large volume of call aheads so they couldn’t accommodate my party. I asked how is that possible since I was told to call day of and the manager said they had new people training last week and that’s what they told some people but management decided to open up reservations earlier. He said he could try and get us seated at two different tables but couldn’t guarantee anything. Not exactly the best setup for a father’s day lunch.
Haven’t eaten here but already turned off by the service.

Ambiance/​4
Food/​3
Service/​5
Ted’s is definitely charming with their newspaper menu and the design of the whole restaurant makes the atmosphere top notch. I gave the food an average score because while they did have some stand outs; some dishes left much to be desired. I was a bit disappointed by the pop tarts as they were so appealing and cute, but didn’t give me that wow factor I was looking for. On the other hand, the service was stellar! My server was very personable and took me through step by step on the menu and drinks. I didn’t even have to ask when he recommended me some of his favorites. The whole staff in general seemed in good spirits.
I’m going to have to come back and try something different. Luckily the atmosphere and staff makes it an easy decision to come back!

The menu looked SO enticing! We had a great waiter who was very eager to tell us what not to order. The pretzel sticks with beer cheese were delicious. One of us had the country fried steak. Nice portion but the steak was very chewy and bland. The other two had the short rib sandwich with the homemade tator tots. The sandwich was just mediocre. Lacked in the meat and for the price we could have gotten it anywhere. Now those homemade tator tots were the only thing that gave them a 3 rating instead of a 2.5 (well and also we don’t have that option). They were really good but not good enough to bring us back here. The banana cream pie tasted old and their homemade pop tarts… We would rather go home and pop some of the boxed ones in our toaster.

Had a delicious lunch here on a weekday. I love the baked tarts — in general they have good cakes items. I enjoyed a salad and my dad liked his chilli. I will definitely come back in the future and probably try some of their breakfast food they serve most of the day.

The breakfast food is great. I always get the beer biscuits and gravy here. I am not sure that I’ve eaten anything else! Also, GET THE TATER TOTS. They are fantastic.

This was my first time here and I absolutely loved it. The environment was great and wait staff were welcoming and attentive. I had the grilled cheese and the nutty professor adult milkshake, both were great! My boyfriend had «ted’s light» on tap (PBR) and I think the short rib sandwich (which was AMAZING!!!).
Highly recommend.

Pop tarts are great. Service is great but the food itself is mediocre. $ 10 for appetizer Caesar salad that is overdressed and comes with no protein (chicken is around $ 5 extra) and barely any croutons is not worth it. My country fried steak and gravy was bland! I expected more from the gravy after reading all the reviews but I was very disappointed. My bf ordered some strawberry drink and it literally tastes so sickly sweet like cough syrup ($ 10). I had the crab cakes before but it was on the salty side and nothing to write home about. The pop tarts are my favorite but I do wish they add would add more filling, I had the blueberry cheesecake and could not taste it at all. My fav is the strawberry!

Been here three times and other locations as well, always had a good experience and great food. Ultimate test is if my kids will eat the food and they both gobbled their plates up.
Tater tots are delicious squares of love, the walk of shame burrito is small (I’m from SoCal), but flavorful and recommended. The adult shakes are perfect for a date night to share, the chicken Parmesan is the a lion, but take some home for the next few meals. All in all I’ve never had anything here I didn’t like, or feel was overpriced.
The homemade PopTarts are the bomb and my out of town visitors love them.

I called Wednesday morning to make a reservation for Saturday May 21^st at 11AM for 4. The person who picked up the phone mentioned they do not do reservations on weekends, however they do call-​ahead. She informed me that she has put me down for Saturday at 11AM, and i shouldn’t worry about calling ahead.
Saturday, i arrived at 11AM to the hostess named Bella (?) who seemed nice at the beginning. I mentioned i had a reservation for 4 at 11AM and she found my name. She immediately checked for tables and said there are several tables being cleaned up at the moment and my guests and i would be seated shortly. I waited 10 minutes and asked for an updated and she stepped aside to ask the other hostess and never returned for another 10 minutes. At 11:20 AM i asked what the wait was and asked her for an update. She looked at her computer and said «oh a table is being cleared right now» i responded and said «you told me this 20 minutes ago» she smiled and said «yeah…sorry» and giggled. Throughout my wait, the hostess was on her cell phone texting.
At this point i was unsatisfied with the customer service i received. Our waiter was nice but not very attentive. I had to ask for a water refill and waited 10 minutes. Overall the food was average, i ordered the Marks big breakfast? and it was good except the special pop tart. I had the blueberry cheesecake, and it tasted like any other pop tart (did not taste any cheesecake).
I have no plans on returning for brunch.

Our meal began with a Delicious pop-​tart (strawberry). I order biscuits and gravy with chicken tenders meal. I know it’s not the most healthiest breakfast but it was worth the calories. Our service was great and he food was delicious.

The third stop on the grilled cheese tour of the DMV took us to Ted’s Bulletin at Mosaic (Merrifield), and the experience was somewhat mixed.
The grilled cheese doesn’t rise to the top (or even near the top) of the list. Why? The bread is best described as toasted, not thoroughly grilled, with no real crunch to the bread like there should be in a good grilled cheese sandwich. The bread just had the texture of toast out of a toaster, with the same rise as you’d have with bread out of a toaster, and no evidence of pressing. (Griddled, perhaps, but barely.)
Why is a good grill important? To give texture, but also to melt the cheese. Was the cheese in this sandwich completely melted? No, it wasn’t, and there wasn’t much cheese in there to begin with. All in all, just about anyone could do better at home, and perhaps this sandwich is just geared towards kids that wouldn’t necessarily know the difference. (I like to believe that the kids DO know the difference.)
The bright spot: I was having trouble deciding between the chocolate and Oreo milkshakes, and the bartender said, «Let’s mix ‘em together!» That we did, and it was one of the most delicious milkshakes I’ve ever had. Milkshakes are a treat I don’t often indulge in (except, apparently, during this grilled cheese tour of the DMV), but if you want a special treat — even if you’re not hungry — stop by Ted’s for one of these delicious shakes.
The tots — just get ‘em. Some of the best in the area.
I’ve come to learn that Ted’s does some things really well and other things just so-​so, so check out the postings from my fellow Unilocalers to see where their strengths are, so you can have a good experience when you dine there.

Went to teds last night 01may2016. I wanted to try their daily special which is the «8 hour slow roasted ribs».
In short… awful. The ribs were glued to the bne and the meat was rubbery. In short… awful.
Next was the seasonal tart which is key lime. That was also awful and thank god its seasonal. We replaced it with chocolate cake which was fine.
This reminds me of another experience where the gf ordered a ginger cocktail. The drink was mostly syrup amd when we went it back we were told they mixed the labels between citrus and syrup. Makes me wonder how long were they serving awful drinks.
Last… service was fine. What i didn’t get was all the cursing by the staff.
Typically I say this place is 3 stars. Now I would say it’s 1 and only worth going for tarts and alcoholic milkshakes.

I’ve been here twice for brunch and both experiences were equally great besides the long wait for one of them. They do take call ahead but does not always guaranteed as one time we had to wait an additional 45 minutes!
Both times I ordered breakfast items, although lunch and dinner dishes are also available. The Big Mark was probably my favorite so far as it included all the classic breakfast items, e.g. bacon, eggs, homemade sausage, hash brown (can be replaced with tots instead), and a pop tart of your choice. My friends ordered different dishes and they enjoyed theirs as well.
I’d definitely be back again, perhaps to try their dinner dishes.

I am so late! Didn’t even know this location was here (not that I get to NoVa very often). Stopped by this past weekend and got a monstrous adult milkshake (Irish Crème and Caramel) that, even when split between two people, made me feel guilty as hell. Just huuuuuuuge. Delicious, though. I guess if you are going to go out, go out with a bang!
I knew it was coming, so I was light on my meal, opting for a kids cheeseburger and fries. They were mediocre at best. In fact, I made a mental note not to get it again for myself and definitely not get it for my kid. Just because they are kids doesn’t mean they don’t have tastebuds or should be given less-​than-​tasty meals when they are dining out.
My friend’s chicken and biscuits were just ok, but her deviled eggs redeemed the meal, so she was happy.
I would definitely come back (love the ambiance and the milkshakes), but I will be better with my food choices next time around. The good news is that the servers and staff are very good and the location can’t be beat. Worth a stop back to try again.

Good place for breakfast! The thing that I don’t like is the menu is pretty small like they don’t have a lot of opportunity. But the old style of interior and everything is totally fine. Sweet, big platters.
Visit if you’re not picky haha

This location marks the third Ted’s Bulletin that we’ve visited. The other 2 were in Reston Town Center and the one in the Eastern Market area. Of all the three we’ve tried, we like this one the best, due to it having the most comfortable dining experience. This Ted’s Bulletin has booths that seat two, as well as some that seat four. Along the back wall is a long banquette where large parties can be accommodated.
As for the food — we’ve found the food to be consistent and uniform when it comes to comparing them to other locations.
We were here on a Saturday around 4:30 p.m. Having finished our errands in the area, we decided to go for a early dinner. At that time, the place wasn’t very busy so we were seated immediately. Our server was prompt in getting to us to take our drink orders. She was friendly and well versed in the menu. I just had water to drink because in the past, when I’ve tried mixed drinks at Ted’s, I’ve found them to be rather mediocre as the promised flavorings don’t seem to be there. My husband ordered Ted’s light beer. He found the taste to be unusual but unforgettable. Since he couldn’t seem to describe exactly what was unusual, he had me taste it. I know nothing about beer so keep that in mind as I give my opinion of it :) I found it to have an aftertaste that was both woody and salty. He’s had Ted’s regular beer and said he thought it tasted better than the light version.
For my meal, I ordered «mark on an off day» which is a breakfast menu item. It consists of: «2 eggs (I had them fried over easy), choice of meat (I chose bacon which is a 3 piece serving), hashbrowns and toast (I substituted a biscuit)» I enjoyed this meal. The eggs were properly cooked and the hashbrowns were the way I like them — crispy on top but not overly so and soft in the middle. The bacon was cooked but not crisp, which is just how I like it. The biscuit was huge, soft and light in the middle. It would have been nice if I came out hot and freshly prepared, but you can’t have everything. I would order this meal again.
My husband had a «create your own burger». He had a beef burger cooked medium and added Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo to it. It comes with fries and a generous amount of pickle slices. Overall, he enjoyed the burger, saying that it was cooked properly and had good flavor.
Before the tip, dinner cost $ 29 + change, which, for us, was the cheapest meal we ever had at Ted’s.

Homemade pop tarts. Don’t question it, just get it. You won’t be sorry. The best part of this place is the atmosphere. It has this old timey/​Art Deco style, and then they have little screens throughout the restaurant showing Leave it to Beaver or Andy Griffith. They have breakfast all day, which is great because we rolled into breakfast today at around 2pm. The lunch options look great too! I had a basic breakfast with eggs, sausage, and hash browns and substituted toast for a Ted’s Tart (pop tart) which was DELISH (cherry like flavor mmmm). Can’t wait to come back for more tarts!

Ted’s is good for a group meal, particularly a brunch, when you want to satisfy a wide variety of tastes. Expect good, heavy food that is priced a little above where it probably should be.
Ted’s is owned by the same people who run the nearby Matchbox restaurant. But Ted’s gives off more of a retro, art-​deco feel, complete with dark wooden booths, old movies (or tv shows) that they project. Matchbox has better quality food and a trendier feel. Ted’s dishes out heavy, but typically good American comfort food. So this is a pretty natural place to go for brunch. On the weekend, or at dinner time, expect a 15 – 30 minute wait for a table. I have had mixed experiences with the hostesses. They are almost invariably friendly, but sometimes do seem to struggle staying organized.
They serve Swing’s coffee here, which is a good quality, locally-​roasted coffee. That said, Swing’s really isn’t my favorite — it always tastes a bit bitter to me and sort of under-​roasted. But other people rave about Swing’s so it’s just a matter of personal preference. They give you these tiny, six ounce coffee mugs, but at least if you are at a table, they do leave a carafe of coffee, presumably to save the waiters’ sanity.
The food is OK, but honestly, I don’t quite understand Ted’s popularity (it has a number of locations). The breakfast items are good, but they are, in my opinion, a step down in quality from the nearby Silver Diner or neighboring Matchbox. The «Mark on a Day Off» breakfast is basically your Denny’s Grand Slam-​type breakfast and it will do the trick, but won’t be what keeps you coming back. Lunch and dinner items are similar — the burger and the Reuben are good choices.
I think that most people come here for the boozy «adult milkshakes» (which are, of course, exactly like what they sound) and the atmosphere. Other people have raved about the Ted’s Tarts. The baked goods haven’t blown me away, but they are worth a try. The service is typically pretty friendly, though when the place is busy, I have had servers get lost for a while when they need to deal with big groups.
Ted’s is good for kids and groups, and there aren’t a lot of bad items on the menu. That said, I feel like the food is sort of pricey, given its quality. You just need to chalk it up to paying for atmosphere and location, I think. There are better options if you are strictly looking for good American food, but Ted’s fits the bill for a group.

Came in the other night for dinner. The décor is nice and I enjoyed the old-​timey shows they were playing on the tv screens.
The host made a seating mistake, was unprofessional, then failed to follow up with menus. had to ask a passing waitress to bring us menus.
I ordered the meatloaf with mashed potatoes + gravy and carrots. I’m not sure if it might have been my taste buds having an issue that night, but my food came out very salty. I usually prefer my food on the saltier side, however here it was unpleasant. I found it quite difficult to eat.
A different server who brought us our check and gave us our pop tarts to go (Sean, I believe), was very polite and courteous. great service by him.
Might go back to try a different dish, if I’m in the area.

My co-​worker and I came here yesterday afternoon for a lunch meeting. This was probably my 3^rd time coming to this location (I would say this is the biggest Ted’s, as far as space, in the DMV). We were happy to be seated immediately because Ted’s is really popular and usually has a wait before getting seated. Our waiter was not that proficient in English from what I gathered when he came back twice to ask about what we ordered after he initially took our orders down.
My co-​worker ordered the fish and chips that came with jalapeño tartar sauce and cole slaw and I order the peanut butter bacon burger and fries. I was hoping and praying when our food arrived that everything was correct but unfortunately it was not. ;(My co-​worker asked for tater tots instead of fries but of course the plate landed with fries LOL. He explained to him it was incorrect and he didn’t seem to understand but luckily another waiter from the next table overheard and came over and corrected it by bringing him a fresh order of tots within 10 mins. It was my 1^st time trying this burger that people rave about and I was not impressed at all. It was an awful combination and did not satisfy that sweet and savory taste bud I had. I probably should have stuck to what I know.
I think I prefer their breakfast and dinner menu more than their lunch. I’ll stick to that next time.