Great American Restaurants (DC area)

Fellow DC/VA/MD posters--or anyone who knows about these restaurants--how do you feel about them?

Sweetwater Tavern
Silverado
Carlyle
Artie's
Coastal Flats
Mike's American Grill

They always have long waits at night and their bars are usually crammed. The food is OK but really nothing spectactular. Most likely you will have four different waiters and there is a "rushed" feeling (especially at Sweetwater Tavern).
I talked to a bar tender at Gordon Biersch who used to be head bar tender at Silverado, and he told me that the corporate policy is "rush rush rush....get the food served, keep the customers rotating." And the kitchen area has a "traffic director," to keep the wait staff moving at all times. This does not seem like a good place to work.

Artie's food is good, but I thought it was a bit pricey. Then again, I was in grad school when I went there, so just about any restaurant was pricey. I had dinner there in a group of four. Service was excellent. The wait wasn't too bad because we called ahead. We all enjoyed our food.

The beers at Sweetwater are good as well. My buddy lives in Manassas, so the one in Falls Church is a nice place about 1/2 way to Manassas, for us to meet up and sit and relax with a beer or two and get some grub. Food was good, though I think (if memory serves me correct) the appetiser menu is short and not really pub grub, so that's why we ended up ordering burgers - which were very good, although I still like Clyde's burger better. The growler is a very good deal if you're a regular, since the fills are only about $7 or $8 - which is less than the cost of two beers at the bar.

I didn't realize that Best Buns was a part of the chain, which does explain why the bread at Artie's was so good. I like their bread. It's not the italian bakery bread I grew up on, but it's good stuff.