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Restaurants for Kings · Arlington, VA

Best Restaurants in Arlington, VA

The Rosslyn–Ballston corridor eats on the Orange Line: wood-fired Mid-Atlantic cooking in Clarendon, Lebanese mezze by the Courthouse Metro.

Arlington dining lives on the Orange Line. The Fedorchak and Normile families opened Liberty Tavern in a converted 1907 Masonic hall on Wilson Boulevard in 2007, and Clarendon has eaten seasonally ever since. Two Metro stops east, Me Jana has run Lebanese mezze across from the Courthouse station since 2008, shish taouk and kibbeh for a county that works at the Pentagon and bills by the hour. The roster is smaller than it was: two of the corridor's defining rooms closed in the last few years, and what remains is the honest core.

How Arlington Eats

Arlington keeps government hours. The dining rooms fill between six and seven as the Pentagon, the federal agencies, and the Amazon HQ2 towers in National Landing let out, and most kitchens take their last table by nine on a weeknight. Friday is the loud night in Clarendon; Sunday belongs to brunch, which this county treats as a competitive sport.

Reservations are straightforward. Liberty Tavern books on OpenTable and holds back walk-in seats at the downstairs bar; Me Jana takes OpenTable bookings and walk-ins outside the Friday and Saturday peak. A week of lead time covers any table in the county, and midweek you can usually walk in anywhere.

Budget for the tax line. Arlington County adds a 4 percent meals tax on top of Virginia's 6 percent Northern Virginia sales tax, so a restaurant check carries 10 percent before the tip. Tip 18 to 22 percent on the pre-tax subtotal, with 20 the local default.

Dress is office-casual everywhere. No room in Arlington requires a jacket; a collared shirt clears every door in Clarendon, and half the dining room will still be wearing its security badge lanyard.

Best Neighborhoods for Dinner

Clarendon. The county's dining anchor. Liberty Tavern runs wood-fired Mid-Atlantic cooking upstairs and a bar program downstairs in the old Masonic hall at 3195 Wilson Boulevard; the blocks around it hold the densest run of bars and patios in Northern Virginia.

Courthouse. One stop east on the Orange Line. Me Jana sits at 2300 Wilson Boulevard opposite the Courthouse Metro, with three hours of validated parking off North Adams Street and the county's best kanafeh.

National Landing and Pentagon City. The HQ2 build-out keeps adding fast-casual and hotel dining, but the serious tables still ride the Orange Line north. Watch this district: the next Arlington opening of consequence will land here.

The Rooms Arlington Lost

Honesty requires the ledger. Ray's the Steaks, Michael Landrum's cult steakhouse at 2300 Wilson Boulevard, is permanently closed; a two-night homage pop-up in June 2025 served his recipes with his blessing, and that was the last word. Harry's Tap Room in Pentagon City is gone too. Both pages stay in our archive because both rooms shaped how this county eats, but neither takes a booking.

The Arlington Short List

  1. Liberty Tavern · New American · Clarendon · $30–60. Seasonal Mid-Atlantic cooking from twin wood-fired ovens in a 1907 Masonic hall; locally owned since 2007 and still the county's definitive table.
  2. Me Jana · Lebanese · Courthouse · $25–50. Mezze, charcoal shish taouk, and kanafeh worth the Metro ride; the Beirut standard for the D.C. region since 2008, across from the Courthouse station.

Best for Each Occasion

Best for a first date. Me Jana's mezze format does the work for you: plates keep arriving, the conversation has props, and the room is warm without being loud. Book Me Jana, or the quieter upstairs dining room at Liberty Tavern.

Best for closing a deal. The white-tablecloth power room left the county with Ray's; what remains is better suited to the second meeting than the signing. Take the back tables at Liberty Tavern, or cross the river for the full theater.

Best for a birthday. A table of eight with mezze for the middle is the easiest birthday in Northern Virginia: Me Jana handles groups without flinching, and the wood-oven flatbreads keep arriving until everyone stops counting.

Best for a team dinner. Liberty Tavern was built for this: a downstairs bar for the first hour, an upstairs room that seats the whole sprint team, and a bill that splits cleanly.

All

Every Restaurant in Arlington

Liberty Tavern
Liberty Tavern, Arlington Virginia
Liberty Tavern
Me Jana
Me Jana, Arlington Virginia
Me Jana

Arlington Dining Questions

What is the best restaurant in Arlington, VA?
Liberty Tavern in Clarendon is Arlington's definitive table: seasonal Mid-Atlantic cooking from twin wood-fired ovens in a converted 1907 Masonic hall at 3195 Wilson Boulevard, locally owned by the Fedorchak and Normile families since 2007. For Lebanese cooking, Me Jana by the Courthouse Metro is its equal in consistency and the better value.
Is Ray's the Steaks in Arlington still open?
No. Michael Landrum's Ray's the Steaks at 2300 Wilson Boulevard is permanently closed. A two-night homage pop-up in June 2025 cooked his recipes with his blessing, but there is no operating restaurant. Our page for the room remains as an archive of what it was, not a booking destination.
Where should I go for a first date in Arlington?
Me Jana, opposite the Courthouse Metro at 2300 Wilson Boulevard. The mezze format keeps plates and conversation moving, the room is warm-lit and conversation-easy, and the kanafeh ends the evening well. Liberty Tavern's upstairs dining room is the alternative if the date calls for American cooking and a quieter table.
How much does dinner cost in Arlington?
Plan on $25 to $50 per person at Me Jana and $30 to $60 at Liberty Tavern before drinks. Remember the tax line: Arlington County adds a 4 percent meals tax to Virginia's 6 percent sales tax, so the check carries 10 percent before you tip 18 to 22 percent on the pre-tax subtotal.
Do I need a reservation in Arlington?
For Friday or Saturday nights, yes; a week ahead on OpenTable covers either room. Midweek, walk-ins are realistic almost everywhere, and Liberty Tavern holds bar seats downstairs for exactly that. Me Jana validates three hours of parking off North Adams Street, which removes the usual Clarendon-area excuse.
What happened to Arlington's other well-known restaurants?
The corridor thinned out. Harry's Tap Room in Pentagon City closed permanently, and Ray's the Steaks followed. The remaining core, Liberty Tavern and Me Jana, has run continuously for nearly two decades each, which in a county this transient is the strongest endorsement available.

Nearby Cities

Eating around the capital region? See the Washington, D.C. dining guide, where to eat in Alexandria, the Bethesda restaurant guide, and best restaurants in Annapolis. By cuisine, browse the world's best steakhouses and fine dining worldwide.