Clarendon Culture

A blog about the DC 'burb where I live, work, eat, and play. Tune in for Clarendon shopping, dining, people-watching, real estate, construction and development, and anything else that catches my eye.

Taste of Arlington

We had a great time at Taste of Arlington yesterday.  We got there about 30 minutes after the start time, and it was already packed.  The weather held up nicely for the most part, aside from a couple small showers.  

I do think in the future, the Taste of Arlington committee really needs to expand to include more streets.  It was way too many people in such a tight space.  Lines were stacked on top of other lines, or blocking restaurant booths all-together.  Had we not been so tightly packed into such a small area, we probably would have had the patience to spend all of our tickets.  We walked back home with a couple unspent tickets.  

That aside, it was a great time, and we had very happy bellies.  My favorite tastes of the day were BGR Burger Joint’s beef sliders and Jaleo’s Paella.  My hubby’s favorite bites were both from Pinzimini - braised short rib and pork belly.  Below are some photos of the event.  

The BGR crew grills up beef sliders, which were my #1 favorite taste of the day.

The massive paella pan at Jaleo’s booth.  My #2 favorite taste of the day.

Caribbean Breeze’s chicken kabobs and rice.  My 3rd favorite of the day.

My least favorite taste: the buffalo wings from Velocity5.  Way too over-salted.  These wings were the only bite I didn’t actually finish.

Rustico salad.. this was one of my hubby’s bites, and I didn’t actually taste it, but he enjoyed it.

Spike Mendelsohn signing autographs

Pork belly at Pinzimini, complete with a syringe dropper for the juice!!

Braised shortrib from Pinzimini (my hubby’s #1 favorite taste of the day)

Chocolate cake from RiRa.  I LOVED this cake. (my hubby’s words were along the lines of, “it’s just good chocolate cake that they didn’t screw up.)

Free smoothie samples from the MickyD’s booth.  A refreshing treat to end our day.

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Let me tell you how to spend your weekend

Thursday

At 6 PM this afternoon, several area residents from various Clarendon condo buildings will gather for neighborly happy hour at Sobe’s courtyard, right across from the Clarendon Metro.  I’m not even sure which buildings are included in this, but if you live in a Clarendon building, I’m assuming you’re mostly eligible.  Happy hour specials will include $5 frozen daquiris, coladas, and margaritas, $2.50 domestic beers, $5 personal pizzas, flatbreads, nachos & wings.

Friday

Rain is expected tomorrow, but if it somehow ends up being a clear evening, pack up a little picnic and go watch Chevy Chase’s Vacation at the outdoor Rosslyn film fest.  So many great moments in that movie.

Saturday

Go hiking, have a picnic, throw a frisbee around with some friends, adopt a dog, drive to the eastern shore for crabs & hush puppies, go shopping at an outdoor outlet mall, go to a BBQ, host a BBQ… it will be sunny, 79 degrees, and zilch chance of rain, people.. spend the day outside!

Sunday

Taste of Arlington!!!  I really can’t wait. We bought our tickets back when they were 40% off on Whats the Deal.  I love street-foody events.  I love bite-sized handouts.  I love being able to try 15 restaurants at one time.  I love people watching.  I love seeing happy dogs follow their noses to all the booths.  I love the fact that it’ll be 79 degrees and sunny.  Some of the participating restaurants include:

  • Caribbean Breeze
  • Eat Bar
  • Front Page
  • Jaleo
  • Lebanese Taverna
  • Pinzimini
  • RiRa
  • RockBottom
  • Ted’s
  • Willow
  • Rustico
  • Bayou Bakery
  • Mad Rose Tavern
  • Sweet Green
  • Sushi Rock
  • Velocity Five

Purchase tickets here for a discounted price than the walk-up price.  If you can’t make it out, expect a post from me on Monday with lots and lots of photos.

Also, since I don’t like to do blog posts without photos, and you’ve read this far, here is a picture of Baja Fresh nachos that I recently had for lunch:

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