Nando's PERi-PERi — Restaurant in Arlington

Not my favorite.

My boyfriend and I came here because we were both in the mood for chicken. Neither of us have been to a Nando's so there were no expectations.

I thought the set up was a little weird with the hostess greeting us and giving us a table, then we go up and order, then food is delivered. I guess in a busy area the self service is nice for a lot of people. It wasn't busy when we came in on a Friday night for dinner. We were sat in one of the small tables near the front which is a pet peeve of mine. The restaurant is pretty big with tons of available seats but we got a small table where people are constantly walking back and forth. Totally understandable when it's busy, but there was so much room that night!

When we decided what we wanted we got up and ordered. I got the chicken breast with a side of garlic bread and a sangria and my boyfriend got wings with the cucumber salad. Our meals were served to us fairly quickly but I had to wait a long time for my drink. Eventually my boyfriend was able to make eye contact with the woman who took our order and she instantly realized what was wrong. My drink came a few minutes later but by then I was nearly done with my food. The food itself wasn't bad but definitely nothing I'd go out of my way to get or recommend.

The two things in my mind that knocked it from three stars to two was that while we were eating an employee out her foot up on the seat of the booth across from us and started cleaning off her shoe! So weird. The second thing was that we watched the trash being taken out in a huge rolling bin in the front and it went right by all the food waiting to be taken. Very strange.

Overall, I can't imagine coming back here. As we were walking away from the restaurant we realized there was a Bdubs down the street and commented on how we wished we had...

Grab a number that corresponds to the table you'll be sitting at and then order at the counter. When the food is ready, the staff will bring it out to you. The food was pretty good. I enjoyed the chicken thigh skewers more than the chicken bowl. The Macho Peas side had too much mint in it for my liking. The Garlic Bread side was very good. If you don't like the sauce you chose with your meal, there's a variety by the beverage machine to choose from. Average entree meal was between $9 - $14. The food came out within fifteen minutes. I went during lunch time and the place was half full. There was a minute or two wait to order from the counter. There's also a small outdoor seating area that has a view of the busy intersection and construction right across the road. The place is pretty clean, although my flip flops did stick to the floor a little bit but it wasn't very noticeable. There was also a small sink wash station by the beverage machine. The staff were all friendly and polite. The ambience of the place was...

Before anything else, my wife and I love the food at Nando’s. Everything tastes good, it’s prepared consistently. Menu has plenty of options. It’s a solid value. It’s not a gourmet dining experience, but it’s not meant to be that. For what it is - fast casual - it’s terrific.

Until recently, it had been our number one go-to on DoorDash. But ... (you knew it was coming) ... the last two times we’ve ordered from the Ballston location, something has been missing from the order. It’s clearly listed right there on the receipt attached to the bag, but, well, not in the bag.

Is it possible it’s a DoorDash issue? Maybe. So take my words with a grain of salt. This issue doesn’t happen with any other restaurant on DoorDash for us though. So I’m thinking it’s a quality control issue at Nando’s. Which is too bad. We’ll be ordering...