Maria’s

Maria’s is my favorite place in Washington for a relaxed lunch with a friend. I usually order the quiche platter (with salad choice and a mini muffin) or the Sonoma chicken wrap (hot, crunchy breaded chicken breast with a spicy mayo and fresh tomato, lettuce, etc. wrapped up in a fancy tortilla, served with homemade potato chips and a really good pickle; I have to take home half of this wrap!). One thing I especially like is that their garden salads are very fresh and have a nice variety of veggies and greens.
But I had no idea that Maria caters special events in her beautiful restaurant when not serving lunch! We recently had our daughter’s wedding rehearsal dinner at Maria’s for about 40 guests. Maria was so helpful in planning our menu and made our evening worry-​free. She provided delicious gluten-​free and vegetarian options to accommodate our guests’ needs. We were delighted that our child guests were each treated to lemonade in a little plastic teapot with a teacup, a divided plate for their meal, and the option of a cake pop with sprinkles for dessert. So charming! Our menu included organic pot roast (tender and perfect!), mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, roasted vegetable ravioli with a tomato-​chardonnay reduction sauce, garden salad with three dressing choices, homemade rolls and butter, fresh fruit salad, and an eye-​popping dessert tray of homemade specialties to finish the feast. Crème brûlée, chocolate cherry cake, loaded apple pie, carrot cake, key lime pie… I lost track of all of the offerings.
We were all very impressed with our special evening event at Maria’s. Highly recommended for lunch and special event dinners.

This was first time at Maria’s. As a long time resident of Washington it’s always been on my to-​try list but just never got to it. With a gift certificate in hand and my mother in tow, off we went!
It was the Friday before Memorial Day and 12:30 and perhaps that is why this place was hopping! Literally no place to sit. And it’s hard to actually get to the hostess station when the cash register is right there too and there’s a lot of people standing around. You’re just not sure who is paying and who is waiting. Knowing the wait would be 20 minutes, we decided to run to Krogers. Like clock work, we were back at 1:00 and here were quite a few open tables. Unfortunately non were bussed or cleaned so we had to wait about five minutes to be seated.
Once seated our waitress gave us water, told us of the specials, and left us so we could look at the menu. The menu has everything from soup to salad to sandwiches. A different waitress came to take our order and she must have been new. She couldn’t tell us the bread options. She couldn’t tell us what was on the sandwiches. It was frustrating because she had to keep running back to the kitchen to get answers. We placed our order and waited and waited, and waited some more. 30 minutes for two sandwiches and the rush was over!!! It took a crazy long time for our food to come out and when it did our fruit sides were left behind. We had to ask for additional water. No one came to check to make sure the food was good and what we had ordered. And we had to flag down someone down to get a to go box. The food was delicious though! I just wish the services was more attentive.