Let’s Dish

I love this place!!! I walked in yesterday to pick up a few ready-​made meals. The staff was extremely helpful and knowledgeable about the entrees. Nikki even recommended a few dinners for my family. It’s hard to feed my family of picky eaters and I am also dealing with a gluten allergy. We enjoyed a delicious meal last night AND another delicious meal tonight! Thank you so much for the wonderful staff! Thank you, Nikki for your wonderful personality and all your help yesterday! I will definitely be returning! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

We have been going to Let’s Dish nearly every month for at least 8 years now; the only months we skip are when there is nothing on the menu that appeals to us (which happens surprisingly seldom given that my husband and I are both really picky eaters). We started at the Ashburn store, then moved to the Fairfax store; both of those are now closed, so now we go to the Alexandria location (and REALLY hope that one stays open!).
The way it works is basically: you choose the dishes you want off a menu that changes monthly, and a time to go in. When you get there, there is a station for each of the meals offered that month with all the ingredients assembled; anything that needs to be chopped or cut up is already that way, and the appropriate measuring spoons or cups are laid out as well. Above the ingredients is the recipe and assembly instructions; you simply follow them (modifying to your own taste) and put the assembled ingredients into ziploc bags or plastic or foil containers, then label them with cooking instructions, take them home, and freeze until you’re ready to cook them. Most of the meals, once assembled, can be cooked in a half-​hour to an hour (this is clearly listed on the instruction label).
Each meal serves 4 – 6; since it’s just my husband and me, we usually split them into two to three. The recipes typically provide instructions to split them into two (occasionally a recipe can’t be split, usually because it’s for a crock pot, but that’s rare), but splitting into three isn’t usually very difficult.
There is also always a freezer full of pre-​prepared meals, sides, and desserts that you can buy in addition to the meals you assemble, and they offer a service where they will prepare your dishes for you instead of you having to do it yourself. We do buy things from the ready-​mades pretty often, but we have never used the Dish-​n-​Dash service since, as I mentioned, we are picky eaters and we prefer to do it ourselves so we can leave out things we don’t like.
The staff is always helpful, and they know us pretty well by now and are always pleasant.
Let’s Dish! has really changed the way we eat. We can go in once a month and get a month’s worth of dinners prepared just the way we like them. It’s a great place for picky eaters, as I said above. And because we’ve been going for so long, my husband and I are really quick and efficient at assembling our meals — we can get in and out of there inside a half-​hour if it’s not too crowded; the only delays we usually experience are due to other customers who aren’t as fast as we are. (A lot of people go for the social experience. For us, it’s all about the food.)

First of all, I am pretty snobby about food and love to cook as much as I can, myself, from scratch. But I just had a baby and right now we’re not really up to cooking, caring for the baby, and trying to feed our toddler at the same time. In anticipation of this, I looked around for prepared meal services and thought I would try out Let’s Dish. Some of the stuff I picked up was just okay, but some was really, really great and I’ve since gone back to stock up (from the freezer items, have yet to «dish» myself), even now that I’m starting to get back into the kitchen a bit. Among our favorites are the cod with tomato and orange sauce and the quinoa buffalo chicken. Also the chocolate molten cakes are ridiculously good. I mean, seriously, seriously good. We also liked the peaches to sauté and throw onto greek yogurt, and there was a farro, mushroom, green bean dish once that was really good. I also love that there are lots of ready to go vegetable sides — some nights we’ve provided our own protein and those sides make it easy to get a vegetable on the table as well. It would be nice to see more lower-​carb options and would be great if the pasta dishes had options with whole wheat pasta (a lot of their pasta dishes look good, but we don’t eat white flour pasta so haven’t tried any of them), but all in all I highly recommend the place, especially for busy families.

I have been going to Let’s Dish since 2008 and referred multiple friends. I can’t say enough good things about not only the quality of the ingredients and the friendliness of the staff. Not only does it save you time but the portion sizes are spot on and you can make dishes you wouldn’t ordinarily cook at home without having to go buy a whole bottle of a spice or ingredient you only need 1 tablespoon of.

I enjoyed a nice afternoon with my stepdaughter at Let’s Dish. I was looking for something fun and different for us to do, and we had a great time! It is definitely something that is worth trying, for the fun and variety of menus, but I wouldn’t go all the time.
They had bandanas and aprons which made my stepdaughter feel like a real chef. The directions to prepare the meals are easy to follow and easy to prepare. It is a great activity for kids to get involved and at the same time have fun.
There are two aspects of Let’s Dish that need improvement. The first is that the food doesn’t have any real seasoning. I tried making the food as directed the first time and it came out tasteless. Second time I added my own spices and it was much better. The other thing worth improving is the price. With that amount of money I could have gone to the grocery store and bought many more items. I understand that we pay for the convenience of having someone preparing the menu and chopping the ingredients, and would be ok paying for it if the food tasted a little better.
Bottom line is: great and fun experience if you are looking for something different to do with kids and friends, but if you enjoy savory meals this might not be the place for you.

Yes! This place is great. Everything is clean and tidy and the food is so fresh. The staff is amazing, especially Shelly. She’s like a benevolent drill sergeant !
I’ve grown tired of planning, shopping, chopping meals every night. We just can’t eat out all the time! This is the best solution. The menus are great, and I spent way less money here than at the grocery store. A plus — Hubby and I have fun prepping the dishes, it’s kinda like a date! It takes us about an hour and we come home with 26– 30 servings of delicious, easy to fix dinners.

Love love love Let’s Dish! I don’t mind cooking, but why do all the prep work yourself? The meals are tasty and fresh! Such a time saver for me too!
The molten chocolate cakes are ah-​mazing too! I hope they are available every month.

Super nice staff that does a great job helping out a working mom with no idea what to make for dinner. Came in here and left with a piece of mind that dinner was going to be a great deal less stressful. Less than $ 5 a person for dinner is nice!

Love, love, love this place! The people that work there are so nice and the food is fresh, with great recipes. You can’t go wrong assembling some healthy meals here for the family and my kids love dishing with me.

I’ve been dishing for several years now and LOVE the food. My friend and I start our evening with dinner at Firefox, a few doors down, then spend a leisurely evening dishing. Not only do we have a terrific evening of fun… but our freezers are then stocked with amazing food that can be made quickly!

Lets Dish is really great for folks who are looking to save time on preparing meals. We got a groupon deal and decided to try «dish» or own meals and everything had turned out fantastic. Let’s Dish helps you save so much time and money. First, you dont have to go to the grocery store to buy every little ingredient and there, we only spent just 2 hours preparing for a months worth of food. It was easy because everything was organized and placed at a station for the individual dish. My fiancé has never cooked/​prepared anything more complicated than a salad and he thoroughly enjoyed the experience. All the food that we prepped turned out be delish. I will definitely be back. I’m not completely dependent on this place for meals but it’s really nice to know that I have this option when I get too busy.
They get five stars because everyone who works there are very friendly and helpful. And while you are prepping food, they always have refreshments along with fresh cookies and scones coming out of the oven! What a treat!

This is place is great. When I purchased a Groupon for the place, I assumed I would be getting mediocre food at best. I’m more than equipped to make amazing meals on my own, without the help of some shop. The convenience tempted me though because I often don’t have time to make a decent meal every night after the gym. All that changed though after my first taste of one of the meals. The raspberry chipotle pork was pretty awesome and only required a few touch ups on my part (more salt and pepper). So far I’ve also had the sticky orange chicken and shrimp curry… both were pretty solid.
The appeal of this place is that I know exactly what’s going into the prepared meal and I can change it up on the spot beforehand. More siracha, that’s cool, less salt, whatever you want. You can even add an extra bit of veggies if you need it. You can’t do that with Lean Cuisine. They also helpfully list WW points and nutritional information to help out.
A few cons — you have to sign up for a session and can’t just pop in. It also takes a while to prep your meal packages with an insane amount of plastic bags that would bring a smug environmentalist to his knees. Also, I can see where you could run into some pretty ho hum meals here. The trick is to find out which ones use the most seasonings and pre-​prepped ingredients so you get max flavor and bang for your buck. For instance, I quickly switched from a shady onion pot roast that contained nothing more than meat, french onion dip mix and a bag of pre-​made mashed potatoes to the more appealing Santorini chicken that was covered in a ton of fresh herbs and spices, plus fancy side dish. Win. Also worth noting, you have to wear an incredibly uncool get up, but it keeps everything healthy and clean.
More awesomeness… the scones. They give samples out free while you dish, and if you take them home, they’re an awesome breakfast.
We’re definitely going to be back for days when we’re too lazy to make something a little more gourmet during the week.

I’m updating my review after more visits here. I’ve been back several times to buy things out of the frozen case and finally this weekend I went and actually «dished.»
The owner (I think she is the owner, anyway) gave me a little introduction and tour of the place and even hooked me up with a first-​timer discount. Then I was off to the races. The recipes are easy to follow and all the fresh ingredients are right there ready for you to adjust to your taste, a little more of this, a little less of that. There are plenty of employees there ready to answer your questions and constantly cleaning up after customers. (Can I take one of them home with me?!)
Take a break in between dishes to get a cup of tea and a scone sample from the coffee bar.
Nice and friendly place and the food was delicious!
I cooked the pork with coconut yesterday and I’ve been devouring it. It’s soooo good! If you see my original review below you’ll see I’ve tried other port roast dishes before and I maintain that you do have to cook it a loooonnng time in the crock pot for it to be really juicy, delicious and shred-​able. The directions say four hours on high or eight on low. I tried it after four hours and it was edible but not great. I let it cook for four more hours on high and it came out so great!
I also made calypso chicken, citrus tilapia and stuffed french toast and now I can’t wait to try them.
My total cost with the discount was $ 93 and I figure I’ll get 24 servings out of it. Can’t beat that!
Thanks Shelley and staff. See you again soon!
My original review is below.
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I haven’t dished my own meals yet, but I did buy some stuff out of the freezer. I’m tempted to give four stars but I’m gonna give the benefit of the doubt because I think it would be a cooler experience to make my own, and I will give that a try soon.
I bought the apple cider pulled pork and cooked it by the «alternate» method — that is, two hours in the oven instead of four in the crock pot. I’m always worried about undercooked pork, so I let it go 20 minutes longer. It still wasn’t cooked all the way through. It ended up taking well over three hours. That’s OK. What I didn’t like was that it ended up coming out more like a pot roast, not tender enough for pulled pork at all. It was still tasty. Anyway, today I decided to toss the leftovers into the crockpot with some beef stock. The result … delicious! Love it! I will buy this meal again. (I’m a single girl who doesn’t mind eating the same thing several days in a row, so I’ll easily get 6 – 8 lunches and dinners out of this. That’s about 4 bucks a meal. I’ll take that!
I also bought the Chesapeake Bay potato chips. Six bucks seems like a lot. If I had a slicer at home I could make the same amount for about $ 2, but this was convenient. Again, though, the cooking time in the recipe was way off. It says to bake 15 minutes, turn, and back another 15 minutes. I checked on my chips after just 12 minutes and they were just about completely done already. (I’m not complaining. Shorter cooking time is OK by me! Just beware of burning them if you try it yourself.)
I also bought chili and a salad topper that I’ll probably try this weekend.
I feel like Let’s Dish saves me a lot of time, especially clean-​up time at home. The prices are reasonable — especially when you consider recipes that call for a tiny bit of some perishable ingredient that’s only sold in big containers. Most of the food seems pretty nutritious, too. (You can find nutritional info, including Weight Watchers points online. Bonus!)
I wish I could give 4.5 stars because there’s a little room for improvement in the at-​home cooking instructions. Generally, though, I’m a fan.

We discovered Let’s Dish when our first child was born early in 2010. Life saver!
Removes the need to plan meals and grocery shopping every week. Saves you time on meals because the prep is all done. Just follow directions and you have yummy food that is healthier for you and your family than living on «fast food»
Since we have moved out of their area we have tried some other meal prep places and miss the extra touch that Lets Dish had.
The summary menu helps you plan what meals you need. The sides and extras being included with most dishes was also very nice. We are learning other meal preps just give you the main course and you need to add a vegetable or carb dish.

I like this place a lot. Although it’s targeted at families (Moms specifically), as a guy I really appreciate have a stash of pre-​made food in the freezer that doesn’t have too many artificial ingredients. I recommend this for those who often struggle with putting a menu together week after week. You can always supplement their entrees with a salad or some side dish and you have a great meal in very little time. My only suggestion is that they should have more organic ingredients, which I would appreciate.

So I found this place by accident. While sitting in the nail salon I kept noticing people carrying coolers, so… when I went outside I checked out the name of the place. After Googling to learn more, I set up an appointment. I made 8 dishes my first time. It was quick and easy… and fun! The dishes are easy to prepare, the staff is friendly and helpful, the environment clean and inviting… an over all great place.
Another plus, the dishes are so easy to finish up at home my teenagers can do it. Less cooking for mom to do. Woo Hoo!

I’ve been going to Let’s Dish for over a year now and I still love it just as much now as I did when we first started! The staff is super friendly and helpful during each and every visit. My husband and I go once a month and split the 12 meal package with another couple. We eat the Let’s Dish meals during the work week about 3 – 4 meals/​week so they easily last us a month. It is so nice coming home and knowing dinner is planned, and just a quick 20 – 30 minutes to prepare. The meals are delicious, healthy, and most of all convenient! We plan on continuing Let’s Dish for quite awhile!

I love Let’s Dish! Not only is it my regular routine for getting dinner, but I truly enjoy the «me time» and speding it there. Strange, I know. But it’s a nice escape from my day-​to-​day routine. I get lost in my thoughts, have a brownie, and enjoy myself knowing how easy I am making my evenings for the next several weeks.
The dinner-​time craze has never been easier. I always have a go-​to dish around — we haven’t ordered pizza in years! Let’s us focus on hanging out as a family rather than racing in the car out to grab a bite.
And the food — love it. Some dishes more than others — but that’s part of the excitement of looking at next month’s menus! And the staff, could not be any nicer, friendlier or helpful.

I used a coupon through GroupOn for a session. It was so much and the food was so good. I really liked knowing what I was making. It was so easy! The staff was extremely friendly and helpful. I am a bit of food klutz, but the instructions were easy to follow and everything you needed was right now. The concept can work for anyone: singles, families, parties, etc. Can’t wait to go back!

Do you have the pizza place on your speed dial because you never have time to cook? Or do you love to try new recipes, but find that you don’t need all those spices or that huge bottle of apple cider vinegar?
Let’s Dish is your food fairy godmother. It’s a meal assembly shop that helps you to stock up on healthy meals and save time and money. The online sign up is easy and you can choose from meals that range from Fiesta Chicken with Warm Corn Salad to Orange Teriyaki Mahi Mahi with Jasmine Rice.
Here’s how you dish:
1. Sign up online and choose your meals.
2. Bring a cooler with you to the appointment! (You’ll need it for the food you take home.)
3. When you arrive, the friendly staff will give you a snazzy apron and explain the rules.
4. Move from station to station and prep one meal at a time.
5. Don’t forget to stop for snacks! The Let’s Dish staff cooks up tasty scones and sweets during each session.
If you don’t have time to prep your meals, take advantage of the Dish-​and-​Dash option, which allows you to purchase ready-​made meals.
Cooking for one or two? Let’s Dish allows you to split meals in half so that each meal serves 2 – 3 people.
Save time! That healthy meals is steps closer to your belly because you’ve already done all of the prep. When you get home from work, most of the time you can take the meal out of the freezer and throw it in the oven.
Save money! Delicious meals are as low as $ 3.50 per serving.
The only thing that kept Let’s Dish from a 5-​star review is its location. I wish they had a location in DC by a metro so that more people could take advantage of this great service!