Vidalia's, 19th Street, Washington, DC

Vidalia’s has been a family favorite of ours for a number of years. It’s been two long years since my last visit and many things have changed, but none of them for the worse. The restaurant has been remodeled and now has a large comfortable, beautifully decorated waiting area. After we were seated, we realized we left our 2 year old’s sippy cup in the car. A chef, I think (I should have asked his name), sent someone to CVS to buy us a new sippy cup. How’s that for service?! The shrimp and grits is the signature dish at Vidalia’s and while many menu’s now have this dish listed, no restaurant comes close to competing with Vidalia’s. The shrimp was tender and succulent, the spinach thoroughly cooked but not mushy and the grits was creamy and well seasoned. The portions were properly sized and to me that means small because in my opinion, dinner should not require a trough, but that’s just me. The portion size left room for some perfectly perfect lemon chess pie. Oh yes, there were bathrooms, that IS my thing right? The bathrooms fell right in line with everything else. The same nice understated, yet elegant décor was apparent in the bathrooms. There were 3 nice rooms with floor to ceiling doors and sturdy locks. The lighting was good, but not too bright and of course it was impeccably clean. I have to say it did not wow me, but I was not disappointed. There was a lovely container of mouthwash and plastic cups on a table which is a great idea for a restaurant name after an onion. The water was warm and the soap was upgraded. Nordstrom’s, please take note. The trashcan was open and clean and the hand towels were easily accessible. Overall, this restaurant has a theme that permeates throughout the entire experience and I would suggest it to anyone who enjoys fine dining!

UPDATE: OK, the person who got us the sippy cup and checked up on us throughout the meal was not just a chef he was chef RJ Cooper Chef de Cuisine and 2007 James Beard best chef mid atlantic . Now I'm extra impressed; he's a nice guy and world class chef. You don't get much better than that.