Planning to wear the green and drink the beer on Sunday? If so, there are plenty of options for doing just that around the Tysons area.
Just about any bar you walk into on St. Patrick’s Day will have some craic and a ready bottle of Jameson. But to have a proper pint of Guinness poured you may have to fight the crowds at one the area’s Irish bars.
Here is what’s happening at Paddy Barry’s Irish Pub (8150 Leesburg Pike, Tysons), the Old Brogue Irish Pub (760-C Walker Rd, Great Falls) and Ireland’s Four Provinces (105 W Broad St, Falls Church).
https://www.facebook.com/paddybarrysva/photos/pcb.2065384833496659/2065383950163414
https://www.facebook.com/oldbrogue/photos/a.564417980244221/2409569632395704
https://www.facebook.com/IrelandsFourProvinces/photos/a.683014831724913/2638902702802773
Want to go further afield? There are a number of other nearby options in Arlington, Reston and Herndon. Also, Dulles Moms has a listing of more family-friendly activities around the area.
Sláinte!
Photo via Facebook
Someone burglarized the Dickey’s Barbecue Pit restaurant in Merrifield earlier this week.
The burglary happened between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Fairfax County Police say money was stolen overnight from the business, at 2750 Gallows Road.
“There is currently no suspect information available,” said FCPD.
Photo via Google Maps
The father and son-operated Rango’s Fine Tex-Mex restaurant at 1934 Old Gallows Road is finally open.
The 200-seat restaurant had originally planned to open in November, but opened in early February.
“So far, so good,” said Robert Rosa, one of the two owners along with his dad, Ishmael Rosa. “People have been really nice and the word of mouth [around town] has helped.”
Robert said his goal for the restaurant is to stand out for quality, portions, and a family-friendly atmosphere.
“It’s a great location,” Robert said. “This [kind of restaurant] was in high demand, but there was a low supply in the area.”
The restaurant offers a variety of the usual taco and burrito platters in lunch and dinner varieties. A margarita menu features regular and frozen margaritas, sangria, Mexican beers and mojitos.
Robert also said one of the best parts of the job has been running it with his father.
“It’s been great working with my dad,” Robert said. “I’ve been working with him my whole life.”
Despite being tucked around the back of an office building at 8500 Leesburg Pike, Italian Gardens is already a popular local lunch spot.
But new plans to bring beer and wine to the store could make it a go-to spot for a midday drink.
The restaurant isn’t visible from the main street, but is frequently crowded around lunch. The relatively inexpensive menu offers a variety of subs, wraps and pizzas.
Italian Gardens filed an ABC permit last November. If the permit is approved, an employee at the restaurant said the current plans are to add wine and beer to the menu and hopefully develop a system to deliver beers like any other food delivery.
The ABC status is listed as pending, with no word yet on when beer delivery could start up.
The bar side of Andy’s Pizza, a by-the-slice eatery on the Tysons Galleria’s third floor, is now open as a bar.
In a space next to the window where Andy Brown sells fresh pizza, his cousin, Emily Brown, is leading the bar.
For Emily, beer is a passion, and for every patron that visited the bar in its opening couple days, Emily helped walked them through the selection to see what beer was best for their palette.
While there is National Bohemian in stock, a regional go-to drink, Emily says the focus of the bar is on its variety of specialty beers. The bar is planned to have a seasonally rotating menu, with new inventory being brought in as they are announced.
So far, Emily said the most popular drink so far has been “old fashioneds,” a whiskey cocktail with a twist of citrus rind.
Andy’s Pizza is one of the new restaurants that’s transformed the upper floor of the Tysons Galleria and it isn’t the only one getting a new alcohol selection.
Pending ABC approvals, Donburi and Stomping Ground are both planning on adding drinks to a new late night menu to help give the Tysons area a new nightlife option.
Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA, D.C. and MD with McEnearney Associates in McLean. Reach the office at 703-790-9090.
One of my favorite local restaurant groups was started in 2007 by Mark and Stephen Fedorchak, along with Brian Normile, in Arlington. They own Liberty Tavern, Lyon Hall, and Northside Social in Arlington.
They’ve also expanded to the city of Falls Church to include Liberty BBQ and the new Northside Social (affectionally referred to as NOSO).
The new NOSO is located on a side street in Falls Church with tons of outdoor seating and 2-levels of seating indoors. It’s great for a cup of coffee and pastry, or their full blown breakfast, lunch and dinner menu.
My favorites include the cookies, pop-tarts, egg sandwiches (salmon and egg!), quiches, grilled cheese (with bacon), charcuterie plates, brussels sprouts and French fries. The food is really, really good, and it helps the staff is friendly and eager to help. In addition, the owners are really nice guys that makes you want to support them.
The have special events like half price wine nights on Monday, date night on Sunday nights (salad & pizza for 2 & a bottle of wine for $45), brunch is every weekend 10 a.m.-3 p.m., but the second Sunday of every month is jazz brunch with live music singer Vanessa Ralls (11a.m.-1 p.m.). They often have dinner with a winemaker night (4 course meals with wine pairings), beer dinners and seasonal events.
I personally hope to see them continue growing both because their food is good, the atmosphere of their restaurants is fun and I love to see a good local business owner succeeding. Well done guys!
Valentine’s Day Options in McLean and Tysons — “With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, you don’t want to be stuck trying to find a last-minute dinner reservation… We’ve got a few suggestions for restaurants around McLean and Tysons, including those offering special dining options on OpenTable.” [Patch]
Inca Social Officially Open in Merrifield — “Inca Social just brought Merrifield a colorful new getaway for Peruvian comfort foods that are designed to be paired with a long lineup of Virginia craft beers.” [Eater]
A Local Teardown Story — A local man who grew tired of his five-level townhouse in McLean decided to pursue a new home but, unsatisfied by the options, decided instead to buy and tear down a “distressed” house in Pimmit Hills and build his dream home in its place. [Washington Post]
Keam in the Times — “Asked about the state of the government, Delegate Mark L. Keam, a Democrat from Fairfax County, replied with one word: ‘Uncertain.'” [New York Times]
McLean Mansion Offered for Sale — “Buyers will be able to bid in person and online when the mansion in McLean, Va., known as Whispering Woods goes on the auction block on Feb. 27. The 15,000-square-foot mansion at 8305 Alford St. rests on three acres behind fences and gates.” [Washington Post]
Like the nearby Agora in Tysons, Archontiko had ambitious plans to bring Mediterranian cuisine to the area around mid-November last year.
And like the nearby Agora in Tysons, trouble with permitting means the restaurant won’t be opening until March.
Archontiko will be a Greek restaurant focusing on modern cuisine from restaurateur Theodoros “Ted” Theodorou, who owns Delia’s Pizzeria and Mediterranean Grille in Alexandria and restaurants in Sterling and Springfield.
The restaurant is under renovation at 1313 Old Chain Bridge Road at what was once the Evo Bistro.
Theodorou said when the restaurant was applying for permits and received inspections from Fairfax County, there were problems with the building design left over from previous tenants that will require additional time to fix.
As a result, Theodorou said he’s had to push back the opening of the restaurant to opening at the end of March, if construction continues as scheduled.
Agora, the Mediterranean restaurant planned for a 26-story apartment complex behind Tysons Galleria, has on a sign on the building proclaiming “opening 2018” — these days, while the restaurant is still opening, there’s a strip of tape covering the 2018 part.
It isn’t the first delay for the restaurant, which last year was forced to push the planned opening back to December. Ismail Uslu, owner of Agora, said the restaurant has struggled with a slow permitting process currently entering its 11th month.
“We’re planning on opening sometime in March,” said Uslu. “We’re building a mezzanine, which is more of a challenge [for permits].”
Inside, the building is designed with split levels, and while it’s still under construction the bare bones visible, Uslu said he hopes to bring in decorations from Turkey.
When the restaurant does eventually open, the menu will feature small plates and cocktails similar to its trendy Dupont Circle location.
In the middle of an interview with Tysons Reporter, a woman walks up to Stomping Ground owner Nicole Jones and introduces herself as “Steve’s mom.”
Jones immediately recognizes Steve by name and “Steve’s mom” said she was just running errands in nearby McLean and wanted to stop by and say hello. It’s a small moment that’s a testament to the kind of community building that the new Stomping Ground in Tysons Galleria will live or die by.
Stomping Ground isn’t just one of the restaurants in the new Taste of Urbanspace that opened in December as part of a quick turnaround to replace Isabella Eatery — as the shop closest to the entrance, it serves as a gateway into the new dining hall.
Stomping Ground is perhaps best known for their buttermilk biscuits and fried chicken, both of which are available at the Tysons Galleria location. The eatery’s wide variety of hot and iced coffees, averaging around $3 per cup, seems like their most popular item on the Tysons Galleria third floor.
Jones knows coffee. On sight, she can tell what type of milk was used in a beverage based on the consistency of the separation. For her, coffee is more than a beverage.
“Coffee culture is a comfort place,” said Jones. “We take that old school southern hospitality and bring it to the mall. We’re genuinely interested in your name, your dietary restrictions and where you work. We want regulars. We want to be the ‘Cheers‘ of breakfast.”
It’s been four years since Jones opened the first Stomping Ground in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood. The destination proved so popular it was name-dropped in a Wall Street Journal article explaining why Amazon came to Northern Virginia.
“In Tysons, there is less of a town square, but we’re learning that [Taste of Urbanspace] can serve as that,” said Jones. “People can come and hang out.”
That’s certainly the case among the restaurant owners on the mall’s third floor. In their downtime, managers from Stomping Ground, Andy’s Pizza and others regularly converse and hang out in the lavish seating area. Jones said all of the restaurant staffers had to work together through a hectic, quick turnaround during the holiday season and emerged as friends.
While several of the customers around Taste of Urbanspace are familiar faces day after day, much of the expansive food hall remains underpopulated.
It’s too early to say if the “town square” idea will catch on. Beyond just owner Mike Isabella’s public fall from grace, the Isabella Eatery (whose shell Taste of Urbanspace inhabits) collapsed in part due to low sales.
Jones and other restaurant owners expressed hopes that expanding the dining hall’s nightlife options will help draw in the after-work crowd, which currently has few options outside of the Tysons Biergarten.
Like their neighboring Andy’s Pizza, Donburi and Sen Khao, Stomping Ground is currently working through the Virginia ABC permit process. While Andy’s Pizza and Donburi plan on bringing in new beer options to the Galleria, Jones said her focus is going to be on wine and a variety of custom cocktails.
The cocktails, currently not available in Del Ray, are one example Jones points to of how the new location allows Stomping Ground to try new things that, if they work, might make their way back into the Alexandria location. Jones said she is also currently working on the restaurant’s new proper dinner menu, saying it will have Stomping Ground’s signature fried chicken with a mix of vegetables in keeping with southern tradition.
“The nighttime is where we will grow and spread our wings,” said Jones.
