Stopped in after wanting to try when they opened. Staff was hospitable, friendly, and answered all my questions. I brought my baby, high chairs available, seemed very kid friendly. Great hours, easy enough to find street parking.
Food was excellent, I tried x3 sauces:
Buffalo
Thai peanut
Garlic parm
The wings were all perfectly fried and breaded, but the sauces tasted a bit one dimensional, but still tasty.
The rotisserie chicken seemed baked, not rotisserie, but it was my favorite part of the 4x4 platter. Dark meat, juicy, flavorful, crispy skin. Potato wedges are delicious, and Bucky seasoned. Honestly, when it comes to proper seasoning, everything was on point.
Value wise, this felt like a steal for the price, I’ll be back to try the hush puppies!
To be a restaurant open for lunch in Eastern Market, you have to somehow cater to adults and children alike. It's hard to do, but Little Engine does it well. Popping in for a late lunch on a Sunday in March, here's my nine-year-old daughter and my experience.
1) Food: To feed us both, we ordered the kids quesadilla and the adult one. The kids meal comes with chicken inside, which my daughter usually doesn't love, but she did this time. The fries that it comes with are wedges and tasty. Ask for their ranch sauce to dip them in. The adult pulled chicken quesadilla comes with a great lime crema on top.
2) Drinks: They have bottled water, Coca-Cola products in cans, lemonades, and more. They even have Fanta!
3) Service: It's excellent! The person behind the register was patient and helpful.
4) Space: It's small, but there are several booths and window seating. With big windows, lots of natural light pours in. The walls are decorated with baseball cards and old CDs giving it a retro vibe. There are two unisex restrooms in the back that don't require a code.
5) Area: Even when it's busy, you will eventually find street parking nearby. On weekdays, I usually find a spot along 8th Street SE a block away. Another option is to park in the Trader Joe's garage free for 60 minutes with a purchase.
1
Worst place. Never ever coming back. I was here many times and it happened second time, that the chicken was not fully done. Which i couldn’t eat and i had to throw away the food.
5
Bravo 👏🏾 Food is 5 star flavor!!! Can’t wait to be a regular.
We ordered two 4x4’s ( 1/4 chicken, 4 wings, fries, and a tortilla) and a couple additional sides (scallion and corn hush puppies, and the cucumber and tomato salad). We definitely could have shared one and been satisfied.
The hush puppies surprised us both and were a quick favorite. Light, fluffy, and well seasoned on the outside.
The quarter chicken was juicy and with the sweet and spicy option it was a flavor bomb. ( Yes you have flavor options for each type of chicken😍)
The wings were fried to perfection. The seasonal option pineapple habenero was a standout over the garlic parm (needs more parm!)
Fries were the perfect combo of mash potato inside, crispy outside. Especially good when dipped into the House Ranch( get extra extra ranch for everything).
The vibe was so cool and welcoming, especially for littles. There’s a car theme but hints of nostalgia for adults with baseball card collections on the walls, old school VHS tapes in the windows, and a Rugrats Movie poster by the bathroom.
Speaking of which it was very clean and had two single bathrooms.
Plus the team was quick, smiling and gave a sense they chose to be there. We all know great teams make great experiences!
5
Incredible chicken and flavor combinations! Crispiness of the wings rivals my favorite Korean wings; the rotisserie chicken is well seasoned and perfectly moist as well. Clean retro vibe inside, manifesting success for this spot so I can eat more chicken!
