Hold the kitchen sink

The other day, about mid-afternoon I went to get a sandwich at The Brown Bag, a great little take-out place that caters to Bethesda working stiffs like me, but when I got there and saw that they were closed (I could’ve sworn they’re open until 4 p.m.), I went instead to Subway across the street. I ordered a cheese steak, and as the young woman behind the counter started assembling it, she asked me what I wanted on it. “Everything,” I said.

Now, by “everything” I naïvely meant everything that usually comes with the cheese steak, not everything available in the store. The inkling that this was her interpretation came to me when she started putting some kind of hot sauce on it. I thought, okay, I wasn’t expecting that, but fine. It was quite clear, though, when she reached for the cucumber slices. “No!” Picture me lunging forward in slow motion, pressed up against the sneeze guard. I think she got the message.

Speaking of food, California Tortilla is one of the places my co-workers and I like to go to periodically for lunch. Great burritos. Yesterday was the grand opening of the new location in Arlington (Courthouse). Everyone who stopped by got a free burrito and soda, so after work Thom and I went to check it out. There was a line that stretched to the end of the block and around the corner, but it went pretty quickly and the some of the employees came outside to hand out their very good chips and queso. Mmm. We got to meet Pam, who writes Taco Talk, their wacky newsletter announcing deals and specials. We finally arrived at the head of the line and ordered, and in the short time that it took for Thom to give his e-mail address to one of the employees to sign up for the newsletter, our burritos were ready. I had the Thai chicken burrito (mmm, spicy peanut sauce) and Thom had the honey lime, which is probably my favorite. Oh, we’ll be back for sure.