Chef Tony's Restaurant

This place is in downtown Bethesda, aka it's by NIH (my part time job). I let my dad pick the place and this turned out to be a decent pick, since even though it's a seafood resto and I'm allergic to all seafood, they had plenty of other non-fishy pasta and chicken dishes. Whew. I will say that the entryway to the place kind of smelled like a bathroom air freshener, which was weird, but the inside was nice and dark, chill, and low-key. There were fishtanks! And the other people eating there seemed like regulars who come all the time, which makes sense but is also a good sign. They didn't have the first beer I ordered, and the service was a little bit slow (which is annoying because the parking is by meter and they don't take cards so you have to use the stupid parking app etc etc) but overall it was a good experience. I ordered the Chicken Marsala which randomly had a tomato-marsala sauce instead of just mushroomy, but it was good and plenty filling. Dad seemed decently happy with whatever fish thing he ordered, too.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Zoë's Kitchen

This place is what I imagine Panera Bread is like. It's a little like Chipotle, but you don't watch them make your food, so it's not as fast (but it's still decently fast). Actually, it reminds me a little of Cosi, just not quite as lovable (no coffee, for one). The food is mostly Greek, with some other "Mediterranean flavors" in there. For me, it's good because they have a nice allergy menu posted online, and while it's true that they do have chickpeas (hummus!) and nuts in some things, they don't seem to have any peanuts and it's also not a ton of nuts in general. They have pitas, sandwiches, bowls, gyros, kabobs, and a few soups and sides and apps. Looks like a fun menu. So far I got:

Greek Chicken Pita, with side of fruit: This was good! It's a pita with chicken, onion, a few greens, and a little bit of tzatziki (spelling??) but not too much at all. The fruit was a nice cup, with oranges, apples, cantelope, and grape. A nice meal that was filling but not too greasy. Oh, and it had feta too, but I didn't even notice/mind it! \o/

Spinach and Mushroom Piadina, with side of fruit: This smells really weird/bad in the bag, so that's a con. It's also kind of boring -- basically a quesadilla with spinach, mushroom, oil and cheese. It's OK, but too oily and not enough prote! 6/10

Steak kabobs, with rice and pasta salad: I like the kabobs a lot, the meat is well seasoned and the pepper/onion/tomato bits are nice too. Savory and tasty. The rice was so-so, moist and not my favorite, but OK. The pasta salad is also not my favorite, less than the rice - feta-y and moist too. I had a weird allergy feeling the last time I ate this, though IDK if it's the food or Quinn's chicken food or just a fluke, but it put me off Zoe's for a while. Too bad. Their allergen menu doesn't contain nearly all their food, so it's tough. 7/10 though.

Chicken roll-ups, with fruit: This was OK; I thought it would make me itchy or something because it looked like egg rolls, but it didn't really. It was kind of boring, mostly just plain chicken flavor, but it was filling though. And the fruit was good. 6/10

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Q says: The chicken was cold but I'd go back. 6.5/10