Why did Don Pablos at Fair Lakes close? I went there on Wednesday afternoon the 26th of December 2007. There was a sign on the door saying they closed, what happened? This is the same thing that happened to that Catbo, and then that Border Grille or whatever it was called.....

Where to eat now? Wrote:
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> Why did Don Pablos at Fair Lakes close? I went
> there on Wednesday afternoon the 26th of December
> 2007. There was a sign on the door saying they
> closed, what happened? This is the same thing
> that happened to that Catbo, and then that Border
> Grille or whatever it was called.....


There are too many REAL hispanics in Centreville to support a fake Mexican restaurant. The new immigrant population demands REAl ethnic food in places that refuse to speak English. Get used to it.

Wow Portly Paul that sounds a little angry I should note that while i am not latin, I am married to a latin american and i happen to like Mexican food as well as Mexican American food. I am sure a lot of others do as well. Something happened to Don Pablos, that place was always busy. BTW. My wife would also like to know what happened to Dinner Done? That place got shut down too and was awesome.

All Don Pablo's restaurants closed. They filed for bankruptcy recently; a buddy of mine used to work at the one in Potomac Yards and he got a letter telling him he could be part of a class-action lawsuit if they owe him any money.

PEBCAK

I think Don P's sucked anyway, so did Tias. The best Mexican is On the Border, or Carlos O'Kellys. And unfortunately they are pretty sparse in this area. I miss Chi Chis :( There used to be one at Fair Oaks wayyyy back in the day!

I tried Don Pablo's a couple years back , twice just to be sure but both times it was the absolute worst excuse for food, Mexican or otherwise. I don't know how that place drew a crowd, I guess people around here just like shitty food. Tia's was only slightly better only because the drinks were better. Thank God for Anita's, the only decent Mexican food I'm aware of, if there's others then enlighten me/us but I believe we are all better off without DP's. Anyone know where there are any authentic Thai restaurants that serve sticky rice?

don pablos was absolute fire. my whole family would go pretty regularly. i was sorry to see it go, too bad.

I'm pretty sure Dinner Done is still in business. Dinner My Way went out of business, but they weren't as good as Dinner Done anyway.

Tara Thai in Vienna has great Thai food as does Thai Pilin in Bailey's Crossroads. Thai Basil off 50 West is awesome too, althought I'm not sure if they have sticky rice.

Thai Basil has gone WAAAAY downhill from where it was a few years ago. Thai Palace in the shopping center with the Costco and Famous Dave's is much better.

The below article is regarding a Don Pablo's that closed in Cincinati, Ohio under the exact same circumstances. The parent company that owns Don Pablos filed bankruptcy, and a different national restaurant chain called Buffalo Wild Wings bought several of the Don Pablos restaurant locations, including some in Virginia. This probably means that the Fair Lakes location will become a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant.
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Don Pablo's closes restaurant
BY STEPFANIE ROMINE | SROMINE@ENQUIRER.COM

The Don Pablo’s Mexican Restaurant in Springdale has closed and will reopen as a Buffalo Wild Wings.

A Don Pablo’s spokesman said this morning that the move comes as part of his company’s bankruptcy filing. Minneapolis-based Buffalo Wild Wings has bought eight restaurants in metropolitan areas of Minnesota, Ohio, New York, Texas and Virginia, including the Tri-County restaurant.

Meanwhile, the other four Don Pablo’s restaurants in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky – on Riverboat Row in Newport, at Rookwood Pavilion in Norwood, in West Chester Township, and on Montgomery Road in Symmes Township – will remain open, said Paul Seidman, the Don Pablo’s spokesman in Georgia.

The Tri-County site, which Seidman said was not profitable, closed Thursday.

“We hope that sales will increase” at the other stores, said Seidman. “(But) Cincinnati’s always been a good market for us.”

Don Pablo’s has closed restaurants in Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana and in Columbus, Ohio.

Parent company Avado Brands Inc. announced in November that it had sold its remaining 83 Don Pablo’s Mexican Restaurants and Hops Grillhouse and Brewery restaurants, mostly to its primary bankruptcy lender, Rita Acquisition Corp., an arm of DDJ Capital Management LLC, which will run the four remaining local locations.

Avado filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware in November; the sales and transfers are subject to bankruptcy court approval, but the transaction is expected to be final during the first quarter of 2008.

OMG I will be so happy if a BWW's goes in at the one in Fair Lakes. That place rocks!!!

i think don pablos is awsum dudes and duddetts
haha lol

I have been going to the Don Pablo's restaurant in Flint, Mi for over 10 years now and we enjoy the bar area because of the atmosphere and the margarita's. We also enjoy the Mexican food. The only issue I have with Don Pablo's is that the smoke from smokers makes it very hard to breath and enjoy a meal. It is extremely offensive, unhealthy and you cannot eat in the bar area and enjoy yourself because of this. I know many people who have also stated that they are offended by this and have curtailed their visits because of it and because they have children and don't like waiting outside the bar because the smoke affects them and their families too. They need to make all Don Pablo's restaurants smoke free areas because you cannot segregate out (smokers from non-smokers) or differentiate in areas of these restaurants because they are open air spaces with very poor ventilation.

If Don Pablo's want more people to come to their facilities then eliminate the smoke, because people waiting in the lobby next to the bar are also affected by it. Not to mention the fact that the majority of people who come into the restaurant are non-smoking individuals with families, small children, etc.

Do the right thing, make all of your eating establishments smoke free, promote a healthy lifestyle & experience and maybe people will go into the bar area, enjoy a margarita while they are waiting as opposed to sucking in the secondhand smoke and killing everyone inside the restaurant including the hired help! You don't currently allow employees to smoke inside, so why do you subject your customers to it. Make people butt out inside and make them smoke outside!

Well Mike in Linden, Mi....

Thanks for checking in! I hope you return to see this response (as well as the many others regarding the smoking issue that will follow).

I can assure you that the points you highlighted in your elegant and well expressed post have been addressed by our local Don Pablos. (BTW, when did Fair Lakes move to Centreville? Did I miss that, or does this have something to do with the SB and Rezoning?)

You will be pleased to know that you will not be exposed to second hand smoke within our Don Pablos, waiting by the bar, at the bar or anywhere within the establishment. (To continue the "smoking" debate, refer to: http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/40/137212.html )

Now that we have cleared the air (in many ways) regarding this issue... Anything exciting going on up there in Mi?

Keep in touch!

old thread, but here's a reply:

there's excellent authentic Thai food (serving mango sticky rice) at Thai Basil in Chantilly (14511- P Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy. Chantilly, Virginia 20151, http://www.thaibasilchantilly.com/)

for good Mexican, I would head to Uncle Julio's Rio Grande in Fairfax

Sorry to burst your bubble but Thai Basil is far from authentic and far from decent as well. It is probably the absolute worst Thai cuisine in the entire Western Fairfax region (been there, yuck). Every Thai restaurant everywhere serves Mango with sticky rice as dessert. I believe the OP was looking for an authentic Thai restaurant that serves keoghneo which is very popular in the Esan region of Thailand. I would suggest "Thai By Thai" in Sterling or Thai Esan in DC for good, real Thai food.

diner Wrote:
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> old thread, but here's a reply:
>
> there's excellent authentic Thai food (serving
> mango sticky rice) at Thai Basil in Chantilly
> (14511- P Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy. Chantilly,
> Virginia 20151,
> http://www.thaibasilchantilly.com/)
>
> for good Mexican, I would head to Uncle Julio's
> Rio Grande in Fairfax


Rio Grande? That place is shit over processed Great American Restaurants-esque mass produced shit. Nothing authentic about it. Fuck, Chipolte is closer to mexican food than Rio Grande.

I haven't had any good mexican in a while. While Catbo certainly was more a tex-mex crossed with cajun, it kicked the crap out of Rio Grande. Hell, I'd even take some Tias over Rio Grande. At least Tias wasn't over priced.

You want authentic south-of-the-border food go to one of the (many) Ma-n-Pa joints that have sprung up that sell, for single example "Pollo". There are a few in Annandale, of course, and here and there around. "Super Chicken" got a whole bunch of rave reviews:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=38.880061,-77.175597&spn=0.000948,0.00131&t=h&z=20

and

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=5734164103150371053&cd=1&cad=src:ppiwlink,view:smartmaps&ei=AzbATKL8NZTaygXt44E1&dtab=2

I especially like the comment:

"I ate here for over two months straight on more than one occasion when I worked on the next block over. Yes, it's THAT good. Other than the owner's overgrown ear hair (gag!), I really can't say anything other than the absolute best ..."‎

Lol!

Don Pablo's was finally replaced with a terrific Mexican restaurant called Guapo's. Guapo's has another, smaller place in Manassas Park, right on Route 28/Centreville Rd. It looks more like a local dive and I've never been to that location, but I have been to the new Guapo's in Fair Lakes and it is great. Lunch prices are more reasonable than dinner prices, but the food in general is soooo much better than Don Pablos. It seems authentic to me, but hey what do I know. I just know it's tasty and way better than most Mexican food I've eaten. I lived in San Jose CA for many years so I do have some knowledge of good Mex. DP used to be okay, but in the last few years they really slipped. I believe the Don Pablo is still open in Manassas on Sudley, it must be one of the last ones around.

i liked don pablos,i knew it wasn't real mexican. they were no mexicans working there. the one by me was bought by buffalo wild wings. if you want some real and tasty mexican food go to abualos or plaza azteca. real mexicans seving real mexican food, real good food.

Yess!!!! Gred! keep the thread aliiivvvvveeee!!!!!

Giapo's is excellent. I think it's about the best Mexican cuisine you're going to find in this area.

DP sucked. Glad they have Guapos, there the best :)

GWAH POES Wrote:
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> Giapo's is excellent. I think it's about the best
> Mexican cuisine you're going to find in this area.


Are you kidding? Place is no different then Don Pablo's. They only stay open because of the volume of people. I can't believe it's still open.

You know all those "pollo" PERUVIAN (not Mexican) places are all owned by Koreans in Annandale. They just have Latino employees.

What about Sisters Thai in Fairfax? They're pretty good.

fashisaz Wrote:
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> You know all those "pollo" PERUVIAN (not Mexican)
> places are all owned by Koreans in Annandale. They
> just have Latino employees.
>
> What about Sisters Thai in Fairfax? They're pretty
> good.


i just went to one in alexandria on van dorn. i was expecting authentic food but my mind was blown when it just looked like a college food court restaurant and a korean guy walked out of the back office. not going back

Don Pablo's made the same mistake of the formerly-powerful 'casual neighborhood restaurants' like Chilis, Fridays, Ruby Tuesdays, Applebee's etc.

The issue was the quality of the food. You cannot charge top dollar for what is very clearly pre-made, frozen, processed foods that you have reheat and thrown in some small quantity of a fresh herb or vegetable to made it seem fresh.

Besides, Guapo's and Uncle Julio's are right there and they're Mexican is halfway good for East Coast Mexican, though still decades behind California in terms of quality, flavor, and authenticity.

Don Pablo was a fat cockroach.

Guapos is Number Juan!

Don Pablo's has, much in the same manner as Ruby Tuesdays, chili's, friady's, applebee's, etc. gone down hill in terms of quality of food, creation of a 'cool' environment when now surounded by countless quirky, more hip progressive eateries locally such as Cava Mezze, SweetGreen, Chipotle, noodles and company, etc.

Really, it's a story of the shrinking middle class to whom this category of restaurant serviced in the past.