When will the restaurants in “downtown” McLean get better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:North Arlington is a restaurant wasteland, be happy with McLean!

Are you crazy? North Arlington is leagues better.

Ok then name some great n Arlington restaurants.

Lebanese Taverna and Lost Dog in Westover are good.

Cafe Colline
Maya Bistro
Sloppy Mamas
Modo Mio
Charga

We tried it and didn’t like it. Little Caesars was better.

Lebanese Taverna, ok. Lost Dog, come on now. Sloppy Mamas, nope. Modo Mio is Joe’s the same except super expensive. Restaurant wasteland. If only they would level that hell hole block on Lee Hwy and George Mason and do something useful.

Clearly you haven't had the pizza at Modo Mio. Yes its the same owner but completely different style.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:North Arlington is a restaurant wasteland, be happy with McLean!

Are you crazy? North Arlington is leagues better.

Ok then name some great n Arlington restaurants.

Lebanese Taverna and Lost Dog in Westover are good.

No they are not.

The best North Arlington restaurant is LaColline. Even with a limited menu, it is the best.

The rest of the food will prevent you from starving but it is not good food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few to try if you haven’t yet: Chiang Mai, Aracosia, Masala, and Dal Grano. I haven’t heard much about Divan but would like to try - and will check out Matchbox eventually. Not sure what forces limit more restaurant options in McLean. Rents may be too high. That building where McL Organic Butcher is has been mostly vacant for over 5+ years, long before Covid.

These are very niche places and Chiang Mai has like 2 tables.

What do you mean "niche places"? They are restaurants.

I guess I’m being picky but I wouldn’t bring my family with kids to most of those because they generally serve one type of food, which my kids wouldn’t like. I would go to them on my own.

So, your kids won't eat meat, vegetables, bread or rice (Aracosia)? What do they eat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:North Arlington is a restaurant wasteland, be happy with McLean!

Are you crazy? North Arlington is leagues better.

Ok then name some great n Arlington restaurants.

Lebanese Taverna and Lost Dog in Westover are good.

Cafe Colline
Maya Bistro
Sloppy Mamas
Modo Mio
Charga

We tried it and didn’t like it. Little Caesars was better.

Lebanese Taverna, ok. Lost Dog, come on now. Sloppy Mamas, nope. Modo Mio is Joe’s the same except super expensive. Restaurant wasteland. If only they would level that hell hole block on Lee Hwy and George Mason and do something useful.

Clearly you haven't had the pizza at Modo Mio. Yes its the same owner but completely different style.

I did and it was not good. Not good at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few to try if you haven’t yet: Chiang Mai, Aracosia, Masala, and Dal Grano. I haven’t heard much about Divan but would like to try - and will check out Matchbox eventually. Not sure what forces limit more restaurant options in McLean. Rents may be too high. That building where McL Organic Butcher is has been mostly vacant for over 5+ years, long before Covid.

Add Amoos. Tachibana. THe new burger place next to Lidl. Esaan. Fahrenheith Asian. El Tio. Capri Italian. There are plenty of food opions in McLean, actually. Also Gilbert's.

Love Chiang Mai.


Are they all great? No. Where are the restaurants all great--nowhere.

I have friends that live in Potomac--there really is NOTHING there. Could be much worse.

Agree. There all of these are good options (and some are GREAT like Arocosia, Fahrenheit, Chiang Mai, Tachibana.)

The Union has nice burgers as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean Family Restaurant FTW!

How is that place still in business?

i love ❤️ McLean Fam Restaurant. Go for breakfast sometime! It’s busy.

I have been there 4 times. It was gross. I am done.

its a nasty place propped up by boomers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few to try if you haven’t yet: Chiang Mai, Aracosia, Masala, and Dal Grano. I haven’t heard much about Divan but would like to try - and will check out Matchbox eventually. Not sure what forces limit more restaurant options in McLean. Rents may be too high. That building where McL Organic Butcher is has been mostly vacant for over 5+ years, long before Covid.

Add Amoos. Tachibana. THe new burger place next to Lidl. Esaan. Fahrenheith Asian. El Tio. Capri Italian. There are plenty of food opions in McLean, actually. Also Gilbert's.

Love Chiang Mai.


Are they all great? No. Where are the restaurants all great--nowhere.

I have friends that live in Potomac--there really is NOTHING there. Could be much worse.

Z burger looks promising but its going to go out of business because of big buns opening nearby. NO idea why there are so many burger places, come up w/ something new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few to try if you haven’t yet: Chiang Mai, Aracosia, Masala, and Dal Grano. I haven’t heard much about Divan but would like to try - and will check out Matchbox eventually. Not sure what forces limit more restaurant options in McLean. Rents may be too high. That building where McL Organic Butcher is has been mostly vacant for over 5+ years, long before Covid.

Add Amoos. Tachibana. THe new burger place next to Lidl. Esaan. Fahrenheith Asian. El Tio. Capri Italian. There are plenty of food opions in McLean, actually. Also Gilbert's.

Love Chiang Mai.


Are they all great? No. Where are the restaurants all great--nowhere.

I have friends that live in Potomac--there really is NOTHING there. Could be much worse.

Z burger looks promising but its going to go out of business because of big buns opening nearby. NO idea why there are so many burger places, come up w/ something new.

With the closing of Joe’s Burgers, we e had a burger drought for years. Now there are so many places to get a burger. Our favorite is The Union on Beverly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The major commuter rds go right near downtown. I think the old people have a cabal on dirty pasta restaurants.

Not really. The main commuter route from Arlington to Fairfax is Route 123/Dolley Madison. It bypasses downtown McLean. There's basically one restaurant - J. Gilbert's (a steakhouse) right off of Dolley Madison. Everything else is a few blocks away.

In comparison, Route 123 runs right through the center of Vienna. It means there are more restaurants along that stretch of Route 123 (Maple Avenue) but the congestion is also far worse. And some of the best things that used to be in Vienna - Cenan's Bakery, Rose Kabob, and the Amphora - are gone now.

The restaurants in McLean are mostly patronized by people who live in the immediate area. Say what you want, but MFR has the diner food; there is good Japanese; there is good Thai; there is is the aforementioned J. Gilbert's; there's a good Indian place; there are multiple burger joints now; there's a good kabob place near the Chesterbrook center; there's a bit of fast casual/fast food (Chipotle/Cava/Chopt/McDonald's); a few delis (Santini's, Madison Deli), and a fussy Italian place. There's a Lost Dog off Anderson Road. Now there's a Matchbox as well. And there are a ton more options in Tysons and Falls Church.

Vienna also has Vienna Foodies and a lot of TOV and Vienna folks who support local businesses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where exactly is downtown McLean? Can you provide a street name?

And this is the problem with McLean. It's a very unattractive town. The whole downtown area needs to be redeveloped. Why not have a town square with restaurants and cafes? Or a few walkable areas/streets?

[Anonymous]

Tysons is quickly becoming the de facto downtown for both Vienna and McLean. If you go into the traditional "town" portions of both of those areas, there is just nothing even reasonably decent there. Loose strip malls that look like crap with a Capital One Bank, CVS, Sherwin Williams, and "ye olde hair cuttery." Boomer heaven. Tysons is nice though - actual good restaurants and shopping these days

[Anonymous]

When I visited my mom at Vinson Hall we ate at Amoo's a couple of times and I thought the chicken kabob was lovely. I also had the shirin polo rice pilaf (which was almost like dessert with the dried fruits and nuts, but super tasty). I also liked the kashk bademjan eggplant dip. The only non-hit was the zeytoon tapenade -- way too sweet and didn't taste like olives at all. I'd go there again.

For breakfast/brunch/lunch, Star Nut Cafe is a good place. Not gourmet dining, but definitely nicer than say Starbucks for decent coffee and early-day options.

I don't mind driving to Tysons but for my elderly mother it's terrifying. I hope McLean doesn't become like Tysons. What a traffic nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:North Arlington is a restaurant wasteland, be happy with McLean!

Are you crazy? North Arlington is leagues better.

Ok then name some great n Arlington restaurants.

Lebanese Taverna and Lost Dog in Westover are good.

Both of which are also in McLean.

where is the Lebanese Taverna in McLean? Unless you are talking about the one in Tysons Galleria which isn’t in McLean, it is in Tysons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where exactly is downtown McLean? Can you provide a street name?

Old Chain Bridge Road and Old Dominion and a few blocks around that intersection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tysons is quickly becoming the de facto downtown for both Vienna and McLean. If you go into the traditional "town" portions of both of those areas, there is just nothing even reasonably decent there. Loose strip malls that look like crap with a Capital One Bank, CVS, Sherwin Williams, and "ye olde hair cuttery." Boomer heaven. Tysons is nice though - actual good restaurants and shopping these days

Vienna and McLean both have lots of kids and lots of people in their late 30s on up, though McLean skews older because it's more expensive. Neither has a lot of people between 18-35, so they aren't trying to compete with Arlington in terms of bars and restaurants (though Tysons is trying to start to do so in spots).

As long as there are a few nice places people can go to, and good grocery stores, people in Vienna and McLean will be happy. Of course, you're full of crap when you say there is "nothing even reasonably decent" in either place, but for the most part people are too satisfied with their lives there to bother arguing with you.