Arlington Restaurants

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Bistro Ondines is the restaurant located in the Hilton here at Crystal City were we were staying at.

Because of our status with Hilton (currently Diamond) we were given 2 breakfast vouchers to enjoy breakfast at this restuarant during our stay (the Executive Lounge was not open during our stay).

We arrived quite early sometime around 7:00 am to enjoy our breakfast. We were greeted by a really nice hostess who sat us at a really nice booth and given menus. The waitress came over with coffee and juice and asked if we wanted to order anything from the menu and that we could also enjoy all items from the buffett.

The buffett had your typical breakfast items like scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, assorted fruits, cereals, yogurt, oatmeal, breads, cheeses and meats.

Ferni and I perused the buffet and decided to pick a few items from there and order as well some French toast from the menu. The food was very fresh and tasty and well as quite filling.

We were glad were were able to have a good start to our day with filling and excellent meal.

SoHo Cafe is a combination sandwich shop, short order grill, buffet, and sushi bar at the northern end of Crystal City's underground in the 1200 block. It has been called the best of the Crystal City salad bars. Salads and sushi are both sold by weight, and they have some cold sandwiches pre-made a lunch time to speed things up. The cafe, like many others in Arlington is run by a friendly bunch of Koreans. Their dining area is also larger and more comfortable than many of the local competitors, and they have a few tables along the windows making this one of the few places in Crystal City where you can see daylight.

I had their spicy Italian panini that was made warm and fresh as I waited. The meal ran about $9 when I added a bag of Kettle Chips and a 20 oz bottle of Pepsi. The sandwich was tasty, but the only vegetable was mushy red peppers and a pickle; next time I'll get a cold sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and onions.

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Ray's Hell Burger is a hidden gem with probably the best burgers in the DC area if not the entire solar system. First and most difficult, find the nondescript store front hidden in a small plaza on Wilson Blvd... so inconspicuous is the restaurant that it doesn't even have a sign on the facade. Next, find the menus... they are located in a photocopied stack by the door; two menus--one with the basics and all the toppings, the other with their 10 specialty burgers. Then find your way past the flesh-devouring consumers to the counter in the back and place your order. Last, grab a seat, and chuckle at the old movie posters that adorn the relatively plain dining room. Your meal will be delivered quickly!

Let's start with the location. It's address is 1713 Wilson Blvd, a few blocks from Rosslyn Metro Station. Walking or driving up the hill (its a one way street), look for the small plaza on the right, next to the Quinn Street intersection. Ray's Hell Burger is the second storefront on the right when facing the building... between Century 21 Redwood Realty and a place called IMON Shipping and Business Services. A Vietnamese place called Pho 75 is also in the plaza.

The menu is very impressive. The standard burger starts at $7 and consists of a 10 ounce patty (that's almost 2/3 of a pound!!!), with lettuce and tomato on a toasted bun, served with a simple fresh side. Other free (!) toppings include sauteed mushrooms or peppers, grilled onions, roasted garlic, pickles, jalapenos, and a few special sauces. For various fees ranging from $1 to $5 you can chose from other toppings like 17 different cheeses, bacon, guacamole, ham, and roasted bone marrow (?!). If you want a real treat, how about the seared foie gras (duck or goose liver) with truffle oil for an additional $10? The specialty burgers include BIG Poppa, Fat Joe, the Dog Catcher, Croque Burger, Big Punisher, the Burger of Seville, and others that range in price from $8 to $17. The only drinks are a few juices and root beer, and they have medium sized bags of chips you can get on the side. When I visited, the burgers were served with oranges, but their sides seem to be seasonal with picnic style dishes in the summer like watermelon, corn, and potato salad.

The counter in is the back and is well staffed with maybe 10 workers taking orders and making their burger masterpieces. Here you will also find their free hot chocolate and an ice cream freezer. They are happy to help you decide, then you will pay here and take your laminated number to a table.

The dining room is relatively plain but still interesting. There are only three little two-person tables by the window and about 10 other tables in the small dining area, including a few bar-style high tops. On the wall you will see posters from old movies like "The Brain That Wouldn't Die! (Alive ... without a body ... fed by an unspeakable horror from hell!") and another about a movie so scary it has flashing lights and a horn before the scary parts so you know when to close your eyes to avoid witnessing the horror.

I arrived about 2pm, so there was no line and a few empty tables. I missed the menu station by the door, so I had to the ask the girl at the counter for advice. She recommended the relatively pain Soul Burger Number One ("the hardest working burger in show business!") that was $9 and came with apple wood smoked bacon, Swiss, cognac and sherry sauteed mushrooms, grilled red onions, and their unique quarter of an orange. I grabbed a seat and waited no more then 10 minutes before my burger arrived, open faced and looking tasty. I put the burger together, and when I picked it up, the juices began trickling over my fingers, puddling up on the plate.... mmmmm. This was, no doubt, the juiciest burger I have ever had. The bacon crispy and flavorful, the cheese thick and melted, and the onions very tasty. I'd call this a perfect burger.

Other notes. They only take cash, they don't have fries, they don't serve alcohol, and they have lots of signs saying not to claim a table until after you've order in respect to customers who are ahead of you in line.

In the same plaza you will find even more famous Ray's The Catch and down the road is Ray's The Steaks, owned by the same person.

Ledo Pizza has been in operation since 1955, and the company now has 80 restaurants in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, West Virginia, Delaware, and Florida. The original location was in Maryland, and the chain is still focused in Maryland and Virginia.

We had lunch one day at the Ledo Pizza in Arlington along Columbia Pike. I had the Ledo Stromboli with salami, pepperoni and Provolone cheese baked in a crust ($7) while my friend had a small,l personal sized pepperoni pizza ($6). I enjoyed the stromboli, certainly better than average. My friend is a big fan of Ledo and really enjoyed his small square-shaped pie.

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We have wandered by the Liberty Tavern once or twice and were always amazed at the number of people inside and often pouring out into the street. Finally we decided to stop in one night when we were in the area. We were told the wait would be 20 minutes, so we headed to the bar to get a few beers. They called my cell a few minutes later (yup, even better than buzzers!) to let us know our table was ready.

After getting a few Belgian Leffe Brun beers ($6.50 each) at the downstairs bar, we moved upstairs to our table. We started with the Skillet roasted Prince Edward Island mussels served with a delicious smoked tomato broth for two ($14); the broth was so tasty we dipped the bread into it, then we requested spoons to finish it off!

I had their “Old New England” Pineland Farms beef tri tip, served with delicious Yorkshire pudding, greens, and baby artichokes in a mushroom jus ($22). The tri tip was cooked to medium and was a little tough, but full of flavor. The Yorkshire pudding was slightly gooey in the middle, which to my untrained palate is perfect!

Laura had the Duroc pork chop, with ham hock-riesling jus, asparagus, and a dish of potato/quark puree and sauerkraut (also $22). Like everything else we had at Liberty, the pork was wonderful. I also enjoyed the potato puree with sauerkraut, and it was served on a separate dish, perfect for sharing.

The food was some of the richest, most flavorful I've had in Northern Virginia, and the service was also better than I have seen in a long, long time, thanks to our waiter Tony. He knew the finest details about every item on the menu, and was happy to recommend entrees, sides, and cooking temperatures for the meats. We tipped him very well!

One of the best restaurants in the Crystal City underground mall is called Hamlet. Sounds like an odd reference to a Shakespeare play. We swung by here one Friday afternoon for a few celebratory beers after finishing a long bout of school.

We sat at the bar and enjoyed a few Sam Adams Summer seasonal beers. Later we tried their appetizer sampler called "munchies, munchies, munchies." It is a collection of crispy calamari and shrimp, zucchini circles, Asian pot stickers, BBQ chicken quesadilla and three sauces for $12. All of the items were tasty and delicious.

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I drove by the place on about 30 different occasions before finally deciding to stop in one warm spring afternoon. There were a few people at the outside tables, and the inside was quiet, except for a few patrons at the bar. Decor was nice and Irelandish... lots of dark wood. They had a few TVs showing sports highlights and politics, so I sat between them.

The bartender just glanced my way. Apparently that's the local way of saying "hello" and asking "do you want something to drink or maybe a menu." I need to learn the local non-lingo if I want to survive here. I answered his silent question, with a request for a Smithicks beer and a menu. His silence must have also contained mention of the daily special, on this day it was fish and chips for $9 instead of the usual $13 or $14. My beer arrived... hey this is a Guinness! Oh well, that works too I guess. My fish and chips arrived after about 15 minutes and I was disappointed to see the breading they use is the extremely thick and doughy kind, that I usually save for little kids meals. Maybe its authentic, but I still don't especially like it.

Finally, at the end of my meal, the bartender spoke to ask if wanted another beer. I think his only word of the entire meal was "Another?" Oh well, service was worse than average, food was worse than average, the pub is a cool place.

I can only image the live music on a Saturday night in the summer would draw a nice crowd to this spot so near the Courthouse Metro Station.

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Ray's The Steaks used to be a tiny restaurant in a small shopping plaza about halfway between Rosslyn and Courthouse Metro Stations in Arlington. Now, the new and improved Ray's The Steaks is located in a huge, new restaurant at Courthouse Metro Station at 2300 Wilson Blvd (though the entrance is actually hidden around back on Clarendon Blvd).

We arrived around 5:30 pm, hoping they had some seats available and not realizing this new, larger location now accepts call-in reservations. There were a few people ahead of us who were quickly seated, so our hopes were high. Sure enough, we we able to sit within just a few minutes! Looks like the new location has allowed the owners to permit a limited number of reservations per hour, while keeping the remainder of the tables first-come, first-served.

The new location is very large and open, with two distinct rooms. To the left of the hostess's table is a fancier dining room with several large table and even table cloths. To the right of the entrance and the hostess is a more casual dining room with mostly two and four person tables. We were seated at a small two-person table near the windows.

Our waitress came by quickly to take our drink orders, then realized we didn't have the wine list. OK, second try. Now we ordered a red wine and a local Virginia Dominion Ale. With the drinks they brought a small bowl of spicy nuts and a plate of three small but tasty cubes of bread. We ordered two New York strip steaks, 16 ounces each, cooked medium rare. They arrived rather quickly, along with two small cast iron pans filled with tasty creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. Both steaks were thick, juicy, and cooked to perfection.

After dinner we were heading out the door around 6:45pm and now there was a long line awaiting tables.

Overall, nice new location, great steaks, OK service. For my money I'd rather stop by Ray's Hell Burger for a great for at under $10.

The old Ray's The Steaks location next to Ray's Hell Burger is soon to reopen as Ray's The Catch, a seafood restaurant!