Dining in Tysons Corner

[flygirl]

The only outdoor spot I can think of in Tyson's is the Cafe Deluxe next to Crate and Barrel (I hope I got the name right). are there any others?

thanks...

[gnatharobed]

you can sit outside at lebanese taverna in tyson's II but you face the parking garage. konami a mediocre sushi place on rte. 7 has a few outdoor tables.

[porcupine]

I believe Taste of Saigon has a small outdoor seating area.

[DonRocks]

People were sitting outside at Essential Grille last week.

[flygirl]

thanks - good suggestions for next time - my friend just wanted to go to Cafe Deluxe. it's ok. not special by a long shot.

[squidsdc]

(Just got home from Tysons Corner--there were diners sitting outside at Chipotle )

[JLK]

Yeah, and there's always Panera's, uh, sidewalk cafe with a view of the parking lot. Free wireless. Leesburg Pike.

[wahoooob]

Hello all.. will be making the trip across the Potomac this weekend for a mini-getaway, staying in Tysons Corner. Can anyone reccomend a dinner spot? Looking for something either ethnic, avant garde or just that d*mn good. No huge meals please, as we will be doing Sunday brunch (and along those lines, ideally under $100 tax + tip but no alcohol).

Willing to venture (via car) outside of Tysons for food of course. Any additional info needed?? Thanks!

[Anonymouze]

Haandi is down South on route 7 a tiny bit (about 5 or 10 minutes drive) and has really tasty indian food. Just don't say at the Tyson's Marriott unless you get a really quiet room/night. Otherwise I'd like to suggest driving up Route 7 north into Reston or better yet to Great Falls to Fiore Di Luna and in Reston on Lake Anne, you'll find Cafe MontMartre which I mentioned this past week on a post also other places and it's less than 30 minutes from Tyson's corner. (I'm new to the area so goodluck!) I hope I've been of some help... like the blind leading the blind?!

[porcupine]

Looking for something either ethnic, <snip>

Willing to venture (via car) outside of Tysons for food of course. Any additional info needed?? Thanks!

Panjshir II in nearby Vienna?

[Hannah]

Busara is right in Tysons, and generally a good bet for dinner. Haandi's pretty good as well. There's also Bistro 123; I haven't tried them for dinner but the lunch entrees were entirely acceptable.

You could also hit Ray's the Steaks from Tysons without too much trouble - it's certainly closer than Alexandria.

[Joshua Grinnell]

Shamshirry is a pretty good bet, though it can get a little crowded and full of small children running around. Get the chelo kabob barg (filet mignon with rice) and ignore the bread you get when you sit down.

8607 Westwood Center Drive

You'll notice most of these posts are kind of steering you away from Tysons Corner proper... there are good reasons for that.

[Joe H]

The Monterey Bay Fish Grotto which claims to be the best "fresh fish restaurant in Pittsburgh" is opening their third outpost in the new office building adjacent to the Ritz Carlton at Tysons Corner. This is their website: http://montereybay.citysearch.com/ My guess is that they fall in the Legal/McCormick and Schmicks/Phillips model.

In Reston the new 22 story Midtown West will see California's Il Fornaio opening on its ground floor next year. This will be their 24th restaurant with most in California and others in Nevada, Colorado and Washington. Zagat gives them 22 points for food in CA which is not an encouraging rating. My expectation is for a somewhat more upscale Carabba's which is not all that bad, just not the great chef owned restaurant that Reston needs. Their website: http://www.ilfornaio.com/

The Original Soupman of New York fame has opened a local franchise in Tysons Corner. After several stops there I only appreciated the Bread Line or New York's Hale and Hearty that much more.

[JLK]

The south tower of the Wachovia building on Pinnacle Drive is getting a restaurant. The early report is upscale Mediterranean.

[baczkowski]

The Monterey Bay Fish Grotto which claims to be the best "fresh fish restaurant in Pittsburgh" is opening their third outpost in the new office building adjacent to the Ritz Carlton at Tysons Corner. This is their website: http://montereybay.citysearch.com/ My guess is that they fall in the Legal/McCormick and Schmicks/Phillips model.

In Reston the new 22 story Midtown West will see California's Il Fornaio opening on its ground floor next year. This will be their 24th restaurant with most in California and others in Nevada, Colorado and Washington. Zagat gives them 22 points for food in CA which is not an encouraging rating. My expectation is for a somewhat more upscale Carabba's which is not all that bad, just not the great chef owned restaurant that Reston needs. Their website: http://www.ilfornaio.com/

The Original Soupman of New York fame has opened a local franchise in Tysons Corner. After several stops there I only appreciated the Bread Line or New York's Hale and Hearty that much more.

Just saw this post now. For what it's worth, my experience was that Monterary Bay DID have the best seafood in Pittsburgh. It was my favorite Pittsburgh restaurant. Now, take that with a shaker of salt b/c I haven't been to the Monroeville location in probably 5 years, (though my parents, who are much less picky, have been and always attest to the quality), they moved locations, and I would admit to being far less experienced and picky (about quality) back then. And Pittsburgh.....well, let's just say that my best friend excitedly told me last month, "Remember that great tapas place [bethesda Jaleo] that you took me to for lunch? Well, we're finally getting a couple tapas places here in a couple months!" Pittsburgh, always on the cutting edge. The Internets might make it there someday.

When we were last in Tysons I THOUGHT I saw a sign for a Monteray Bay and thought to myself....."nahhhh!" Is it even open yet? I'd love to hear folks' reports.

Pax,

Brian

[JLK]

Where can I get a good falafel in the Tysons vicinity?

[Pete]

Where can I get a good falafel in the Tysons vicinity?

Moby Dick in McLean might be your best option. Friends Kabob in Tyson's used to have falafel, but I don't recall seeing it on the menu last time I was in.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Where can I get a good falafel in the Tysons vicinity?

Lebnan Zaman on Old Courthouse Rd.

[Scott Johnston]

Tyson's Pho?

That is right...where is a respectable Pho place in or near Tyson's. I have been driving to Sterling for Pho, but there must be somewhere closer. Any suggestions?

[DanielK]

Tyson's Pho?

That is right...where is a respectable Pho place in or near Tyson's. I have been driving to Sterling for Pho, but there must be somewhere closer. Any suggestions?

Is Pho 75 in Falls Church too far? Once you're on 495, assuming traffic is moving, it's less than 10 minutes away...

[Scott Johnston]

Getting Closer.... Closer... This is a better option than Sterling (20 Min away)

Thanks.

Is Pho 75 in Falls Church too far? Once you're on 495, assuming traffic is moving, it's less than 10 minutes away...

[DanielK]

Getting Closer.... Closer... This is a better option than Sterling (20 Min away)

Thanks.

I suppose it depends on where in Tysons you are, since just getting out of that area can take 30 minutes.

[Pete]

Tyson's Pho?

That is right...where is a respectable Pho place in or near Tyson's. I have been driving to Sterling for Pho, but there must be somewhere closer. Any suggestions?

I wish!

We usually go to Pho Cyclo over in Merrifield, which is pretty good. It is in the same shopping plaza as Grevey's.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Not to chime in needlessly -- I have no knowledge of either one -- but I note that Maestro as well never really found an identity in the past year or so. A friend who is on the Board at the Tower Club told me in the recent past that Tysons is not prime territory for new restaurants right now. The combination of horrific traffic, exacerbated by the maddening construction associated with the express lanes on the Beltway and the impending expansion of the Metro, make Tysons a wasteland for new restaurant ventures. Another part of the problem is the domination of the lunch market by the expense accounts of the IT industry, who tend more towards the chains like The Palm and McCormick and Schmick's. Too bad for Tysons....maybe it's time for a Ray's the (Bar? Rent? Roof? Volume?) in Tysons. Are you there, Michael?

Maestro's been closed for over a year.

I guess I really didn't say it right, but I meant that the Maestro space just a block away from Inox and MBFG never found an identity....even the Gordon Ramsay rumors never materialized.

[mdt]

Not to chime in needlessly -- I have no knowledge of either one -- but I note that Maestro as well never really found an identity in the past year or so. A friend who is on the Board at the Tower Club told me in the recent past that Tysons is not prime territory for new restaurants right now. The combination of horrific traffic, exacerbated by the maddening construction associated with the express lanes on the Beltway and the impending expansion of the Metro, make Tysons a wasteland for new restaurant ventures. Another part of the problem is the domination of the lunch market by the expense accounts of the IT industry, who tend more towards the chains like The Palm and McCormick and Schmick's. Too bad for Tysons....maybe it's time for a Ray's the (Bar? Rent? Roof? Volume?) in Tysons. Are you there, Michael?

I guess I really didn't say it right, but I meant that the Maestro space just a block away from Inox and MBFG never found an identity....even the Gordon Ramsay rumors never materialized.

I am sure that things would have been different if Fabio did not leave.

[zoramargolis]

I am sure that things would have been different if Fabio did not leave.

What about the buzz that went around earlier this past week that Michel Richard had finalized plans to take over the Maestro space? Any truth to that?

[DonRocks]

What about the buzz that went around earlier this past week that Michel Richard had finalized plans to take over the Maestro space? Any truth to that?

Shhhh ... nothing is signed ... as of this moment ...

[Sthitch]

You have convinced me to stay away from the GAR group. Are there any good to excellent restaurants from Vienna to McLean? I seriously doubt it. As a pevious poster put it--I'm paraphrasing--lots of money, not much taste.

Excellent? No, but Bazin’s on Church, Shamshiry, and Tachibana are all respectable restaurants.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Excellent? No, but Bazin’s on Church, Shamshiry, and Tachibana are all respectable restaurants.

OK, now we're getting somewhere. I might add the Lebanese Taverna in Tysons 2, Cafe Renaissance in Vienna, and .... has anyone tried the new Equinox in the space that Colvin Run was once located across from Tyson 1 ... ?

[Ericandblueboy]

You have convinced me to stay away from the GAR group. Are there any good to excellent restaurants from Vienna to McLean? I seriously doubt it. As a pevious poster put it--I'm paraphrasing--lots of money, not much taste.

This is a really tired assertion. Where the heck are these great Springfield restaurants ? I'd love to find them. I've eaten at all the one's mentioned and can't put them above the GAR restaurants.

I admit there aren't many great restaurants in McLean/Vienna but I still don't go to a GAR restaurant voluntarily. If I had to eat in the area, I would go to Woo Lae Oak, Evo Bistro, Capri, Kazan, Tachibana, Rose Cafe, Yoshi, and Plaka Grill. More importantly, it's not a long drive to DC. And there are solid restaurants in Annandale and Falls Church that are a short drive away.

[wristband]

I'll prob get bashed for this but Clyde's does a superior job featuring local produce and offering thoughtful but straightforward choices. Clyde's, at least for lunch, consistently pleases me. Coastal Flats and Leb. Taverna (in the Malls) - you have to be very selective when ordering b/c there are duds - can be quite good. I don't care for the bizzbuzzing enormity of both rooms. For ease of getting in/out and pleasant service, I also like Nortons next to Banana Republic. Its like a local version of Houlihans or Chadwicks but the food and pricing are easy on the palate and wallet should you be in the Mall. The Palm offers surprisingly good deals and far more modest pricing at lunch with a variety of choices apart from the retinue of steak.

[Kibbee Nayee]

I'll prob get bashed for this but Clyde's does a superior job featuring local produce and offering thoughtful but straightforward choices. Clyde's, at least for lunch, consistently pleases me. Coastal Flats and Leb. Taverna (in the Malls) - you have to be very selective when ordering b/c there are duds - can be quite good. I don't care for the bizzbuzzing enormity of both rooms. For ease of getting in/out and pleasant service, I also like Nortons next to Banana Republic. Its like a local version of Houlihans or Chadwicks but the food and pricing are easy on the palate and wallet should you be in the Mall. The Palm offers surprisingly good deals and far more modest pricing at lunch with a variety of choices apart from the retinue of steak.

No bashing here. Clyde's actually has featured local produce every year I can remember. And you can order off the menu at any Clyde's. If the ingredients are in the kitchen, the kitchen staff has talent and the desire to make it for you. You'll never get that at GAR, unless you specify a dish that can be tossed together from handfuls of crap out of Sysco bags....

[Pete]

Opening in the spot once occupied by Maestro and Michel.

Jose Andres to revive America Eats in Tysons

[DonRocks]

Opening in the spot once occupied by Maestro and Michel.

Jose Andres to revive America Eats in Tysons

[Oh, Tim, you should have waited until *July* 4th to publish this.

I guess I'll shave off the old America Eats Tavern posts from the Cafe Atlantico thread, and merge the two - it just wouldn't make any sense to co-mingle Cafe Atlantico posts with Tysons Corner America Eats posts.

The one thing this restaurant has going for it that neither Inox nor Michel had: sufficient time to weather the recession and construction ... maybe.]

[Kibbee Nayee]

Way to go, Jose Andres. I'll peg the over-under at 18 months, and I might be inclined to take the over....

[RWBooneJr]

And, to The Hersch or anyone else with an interest in local cartography, does anyone know why Tysons Corner isn't called Tyson's Corner? I don't think I've ever seen it written with an apostrophe.

It's the same reason that Prince George's County used to be Prince Georges County: USPS. The local post office is "Tysons Corner" because USPS formerly had a habit of eliminating the apostrophe from place names. I have always assumed that it had to do with their systems, which historically have had trouble with apostrophes. I also eliminated them from the place names in DCDiningGuide because they were a PITA (SQL hates them).

[kwhitney]

Anyone have an update on this project?

[Joe H]

I read somewhere that it is now projected for a May opening.

Also, the two restaurants in the adjacent office building, Inox and Monterey Bay, have now been replaced with something called Convene which is a conference facility.  I find it extremely interesting that two such high profile restaurants could not be replaced especially with this being the closest building to the Metro on the Galleria side.

[DaveO]

My 'concern' is that the line between the Tyson's Corner/Galleria station passes directly (or almost directly) underneath the restaurant.  I doubt it'll be going very fast in that underground stretch, but any time you hollow out a space under or near an existing structure then run a 6-8 car train through it, with each car weighing roughly 80-90,000lbs...you're going to get some vibration.  I'm not an engineer, though.

But yes, in five years' time, Tyson's will be a city unto itself.  And I think they're trying to do too much with the Silver Line.  It's a *branch* line that terminates at West Falls Church, and potentially will 'serve' up to a half a million people.

Looking at this, it seems they purposefully 'bowed out' around the cluster of hotels, but I doubt that was out of concern for the businesses and *more* out of concern for the sort-of-but-not-really abandoned Site R relay station/tower.

Destruya:   Those 4 stops in Tysons are exactly where they were planned to be 12 or so years ago when I worked on that project.  The locations were there before I got on board.  I have no idea exactly why or how those locations got chosen.  I do know the locations were a function of engineering, land availability, functionalness with the areas, and other concerns.  I suspect a lot of issues were weighed in choosing exactly where the stations are.

I'm not an engineer either but a lot of them worked on this project including people with vast experience on the construction of subways across the country over the decades.

If you think about it though, metro rolls beneath much of dc, including under a lot of buildings.  In fact at least one in DC (at Conn and L) doesn't have underground parking b/c metro is directly below it.  I never felt a rumble on the lowest level.

[DonRocks]

If you think about it though, metro rolls beneath much of dc, including under a lot of buildings.  In fact at least one in DC (at Conn and L) doesn't have underground parking b/c metro is directly below it.  I never felt a rumble on the lowest level.

There's much less "rattle and squeak" with Metro than there is with the NYC Subway.

That's probably because the cars are never running, but that's a separate issue.

[Joe H]

That statement startled me.  I don't believe that sites along Metro suffer from this at all.   Then I went to volumes of reviews for Da Dominico or the Clydes of Reston and scanned them.  There were no references to the sense of a mini earthquake from any review.  There are metro's running under buildings all over the region and especially downtown.  I don't believe there is an issue.

But in that search I saw the following reference for new high rise development on the Clyde's Tysons site and some nearby smaller properties.  Up to 2 million square feet of development and up to 36 stories high!!!!!    Zounds!!   This was just approved this past Autumn by Fairfax County.

Here is my little "connection" to that story.  Back around 2000 I left the commercial real estate business and didn't know how I was going to spend time.  I was recruited by a civil engineering group that was working on the Environmental Impact Analysis for the proposed metro extension to Tysons, Reston, National Airport, and beyond....and also worked on similar analyses for other proposed transit projects.

Part of the approval process hinged on the proposed volumes of ridership for these projects.  That in turn relied on traffic estimates based on density of development around the sites.  That is where I came in.   I was part of a group with planners from Fairfax County.  We looked at every parcel of ground in the proposed stops and estimated future development.   Then that information went to the transportation planners that used a formula to estimate ridership.  A lot of number crunching and usage of advanced tested formulas for estimating transit ridership.

Its all estimates.  Who knows how it will play out.    From my recollection though, when we looked at the Clydes' site and others near it we never assumed that much development density and heights of buildings.

Of course if and when this gets built is anyone's guess.  It depends on market conditions, financing, etc etc etc.  It could take decades.  The Clydes site is very close to one of the metro stops though, so it might get into the ground sooner than others that will change the skyline of Tysons, and probably take an already miserable traffic experience and make it far worse.

I don't know if Da Dominico is part of this proposed development or not...or will be part of some other planned super structure....but I doubt it will feel the effects of metro's rumbling underneath and nearby.

An outtanding website that someone has done a great deal of research and work to support: http://thetysonscorner.com/

FWIW:  Capitol One, as I type this, is going for Fairfax County approval for a 450' tall building (40 or so stories).  Another building in Tyson has been proposed for 45 floors.  A thirty story apartment building (next to the 22 story Tysons Tower) is under construction.  Across the street cranes are now up for a 27 story apartment building immediately adjacent to Lerner's 18 story office building which  now has a crane being erected for it.  A webcam for it:  http://oxblue.com/open/1775TysonsBoulevard and a webcam for Tysons Tower and the adjacent 30 story apartment building:  http://www.tysonstower.com/construction-camera/

Tysons already has more office space than downtown Baltimore or Richmond.  In a few years it will have more than both combined.

And, by the way, a 425' tall building may be built where Clyde's is today.

[Joe H]

Joe:  that top website is very interesting.  The proposed height of buildings at what is called the greensboro station are truly stunning.  From my time working at this project and in conjunction with Fairfax County Planners, I don't recall that level of density, heights, etc.  That is extraordinarily urban!!!!

As much as all this is planned or approved who knows how long it could take for development.  Development over the very long term is very jagged.  It occurs in fits and stops.

Tysons has a lot of office space.  It has more office space than most known cities.  Its spread over a lot of acres though and a sizable amount is low rise.

But to bring it all back to Da Dominico and Clydes....I don't know if Da Dominico is part of the proposed Clydes site or not...but if not...its owners probably have a high rise in mind also.

One last old real estate reference.   In the early 80's I sold land across from Mazza Gallerie for development.  The Clydes team owned one of the parcels.  In retrospect it was fascinating to speak with them.  They had these parcels of land in various areas around the region.  It was way before they had restaurants in those areas.  Their partnership had the foresight and money to get involved in areas where they ultimately placed some restaurants.   Our clients built one of those projects but they didn't buy the small Clydes parcel.  It was too pricey.   

 

This is an interesting topic for me since I sat in the Wendy's on route 7 a couple of months ago and looked out the window from time to time for 20 or 30 minutes.  I didn't see a single person walking down Leesburg Pike.  Today, I sat at the traffic light by Leesburg Pike and the new Wal Mart and wondered how anyone could/would walk across this if they weren't using the Metro.  My point is that Leesburg Pike is so wide and so pedestrain unfriendly that even with dense development over the next 10 or 15 years I still don't see this having a city like ambience.  Rather, I see "islands" of development which the author of the Tysons website mentions with connectivity between them.  I do see Tyson Corner Center and the four phases surrounding that having a kind of downtown ambience.  And, on Lerner's property across the street.

But somehow walking across 7 or 123 is not like walking across Wilson boulevard and Wisconsin Avenue.

I can also imagine trying to lease a 500,000 square foot office building such as the Tysons Tower or the new Lerner building where the crane is being erected.  But, let's go 35 floors.  Or 40 floors (450+').  Leasing this is another matter.  Am I correct that the new "tallest building" in Rosslyn is 100% empty?  And, it's finished.

The amount of development is stunning which is proposed for Tysons.  Similarly the amount proposed for Reston Town Center which already has 4 million square feet in the immediate Town Center and well over ten million at buildout.

On the other hand an elementary school behind our house has trailers with 24 classrooms because they have to increase it's size by a third.  Similar to the adjacent middle school and South Lakes high school which completed a $42 million dollar renovation now has a $15 million dollar expansion planned for 2016.  Absolutely no idea where they would build a new school in Tysons.  Or in Reston.

Anyway, the growth is exciting.  But there is a price.  I can't help but wonder if Fairfax county isn't overdoing some of this without realizing the consequences of some of their decisions.  The infrastructure just isn't there to support a lot of this.

It would seem that the developers, understandably, are going for project approvals now when there is a "window."  Realization of this, if at all, could be decades down the road.  I would prefer Fairfax to wait and do this incrimentally to fully understand what they have approved.  Really interesting that they have approved so much more from when you were involved.

Last, I drove a cab through college in Bethesda in the '60's and early '70's and remember when a colonial house with a two car garage was $100,000 on/off Seven Locks road.  That was pricey then, too.  I wonder what multiple the land underneath Clyde's is worth today vs. the early '80's?

[Destruya]

This is an interesting topic for me since I sat in the Wendy's on route 7 a couple of months ago and looked out the window from time to time for 20 or 30 minutes.  I didn't see a single person walking down Leesburg Pike.  Today, I sat at the traffic light by Leesburg Pike and the new Wal Mart and wondered how anyone could/would walk across this if they weren't using the Metro.  My point is that Leesburg Pike is so wide and so pedestrain unfriendly that even with dense development over the next 10 or 15 years I still don't see this having a city like ambience.  Rather, I see "islands" of development which the author of the Tysons website mentions with connectivity between them.  I do see Tyson Corner Center and the four phases surrounding that having a kind of downtown ambience.  And, on Lerner's property across the street.

I think that's the ~master plan~ of the Tyson's Metro to make money during the non-rush times.  Getting people within walking distance of the stations to hop onto the trains and go 1-2 stops locally to get to the mall or someplace else for lunch.

I also noticed that the building they've been working on directly behind Tysons I on Chain Bridge looks like it's taller than the Ritz now.

That being said, I just found this image of where that 425ft building is supposedly going: http://greatergreater.com/images/201305/071125.jpg

The only building that seems to be immediately on the chopping block is the Westpark Hotel, and good riddance, honestly.

[Joe H]

I think the Ritz is +/- 252'.  I looked for the height of the 22 floor Tysons Tower and the adjacent 30 floor apartment project (which as I type this still has another 13 floors to climb) but cannot find the height anywhere.  I believe the Rosslyn building will still be the tallest in the D. C. area and the 30 story Tysons apartment building will be second.  A bs guess on my part would be 325 to 350' for the apartment building.  I believe it will top out about 30' taller than the Tysons Tower.

There is going to be a real "downtown" feeling to this area at buildout.  On the Tysons Corner Center side there will be  22, 30 and 26 (phase two) floor buildings.  Directly across 123 will be another 30 story building along with one in the mid 20's.

Now leasing all of this is another matter.  I believe the Tysons Tower is 2/3 leased but Lerner still doesn't have a tenant for its 18 story building which is spec.

At some point we should discuss restaurants in this immediate area since Monterey Bay is gone, Inox is gone, Michel's is gone and both Tysons Tower and the new 18 floor Lerner building are advertising fine dining restaurants.  Can Tyson's handle another steak house?  Another Joe's Stone Crab?

Totally agree about the Westpark hotel.

[DaveO]

This is an interesting topic for me since I sat in the Wendy's on route 7 a couple of months ago and looked out the window from time to time for 20 or 30 minutes.  I didn't see a single person walking down Leesburg Pike.  Today, I sat at the traffic light by Leesburg Pike and the new Wal Mart and wondered how anyone could/would walk across this if they weren't using the Metro.  My point is that Leesburg Pike is so wide and so pedestrain unfriendly that even with dense development over the next 10 or 15 years I still don't see this having a city like ambience.  Rather, I see "islands" of development which the author of the Tysons website mentions with connectivity between them.  I do see Tyson Corner Center and the four phases surrounding that having a kind of downtown ambience.  And, on Lerner's property across the street.

But somehow walking across 7 or 123 is not like walking across Wilson boulevard and Wisconsin Avenue.

I can also imagine trying to lease a 500,000 square foot office building such as the Tysons Tower or the new Lerner building where the crane is being erected.  But, let's go 35 floors.  Or 40 floors (450+').  Leasing this is another matter.  Am I correct that the new "tallest building" in Rosslyn is 100% empty?  And, it's finished.

The amount of development is stunning which is proposed for Tysons.  Similarly the amount proposed for Reston Town Center which already has 4 million square feet in the immediate Town Center and well over ten million at buildout.

On the other hand an elementary school behind our house has trailers with 24 classrooms because they have to increase it's size by a third.  Similar to the adjacent middle school and South Lakes high school which completed a $42 million dollar renovation now has a $15 million dollar expansion planned for 2016.  Absolutely no idea where they would build a new school in Tysons.  Or in Reston.

Anyway, the growth is exciting.  But there is a price.  I can't help but wonder if Fairfax county isn't overdoing some of this without realizing the consequences of some of their decisions.  The infrastructure just isn't there to support a lot of this.

It would seem that the developers, understandably, are going for project approvals now when there is a "window."  Realization of this, if at all, could be decades down the road.  I would prefer Fairfax to wait and do this incrimentally to fully understand what they have approved.  Really interesting that they have approved so much more from when you were involved.

Last, I drove a cab through college in Bethesda in the '60's and early '70's and remember when a colonial house with a two car garage was $100,000 on/off Seven Locks road.  That was pricey then, too.  I wonder what multiple the land underneath Clyde's is worth today vs. the early '80's?

I don't have facts on that but can only venture a guess.  I'd bet there is old data that gives comps for sales of land somewhat similar, with similar zoning and prices....although that particular property, while having somewhat weird access is sort of at the epicenter of Tysons.   I'd guess its value back then was about $15-30 a buildable foot of commercial construction but at that time they could build less than 1 foot of building to land.   Now the base price would be some multiple of that guesstimate of the original price.  More impactful though would be the fact that it was upzoned to accommodate an enormous high rise.

The increase in value, in my estimate, would be truly enormous, significantly impacted by the change in zoning.

I think the Ritz is +/- 252'.  I looked for the height of the 22 floor Tysons Tower and the adjacent 30 floor apartment project (which as I type this still has another 13 floors to climb) but cannot find the height anywhere.  I believe the Rosslyn building will still be the tallest in the D. C. area and the 30 story Tysons apartment building will be second.  A bs guess on my part would be 325 to 350' for the apartment building.  I believe it will top out about 30' taller than the Tysons Tower.

There is going to be a real "downtown" feeling to this area at buildout.  On the Tysons Corner Center side there will be  22, 30 and 26 (phase two) floor buildings.  Directly across 123 will be another 30 story building along with one in the mid 20's.

Now leasing all of this is another matter.  I believe the Tysons Tower is 2/3 leased but Lerner still doesn't have a tenant for its 18 story building which is spec.

At some point we should discuss restaurants in this immediate area since Monterey Bay is gone, Inox is gone, Michel's is gone and both Tysons Tower and the new 18 floor Lerner building are advertising fine dining restaurants.  Can Tyson's handle another steak house?  Another Joe's Stone Crab?

Totally agree about the Westpark hotel.

I'm not the restaurant fan or historian  or as knowledgeable as are you guys.  I mostly related high end dining in Tysons to steak places, of which there have been many, and still are.  If they do manage to build a lot of high rise residential, both owned and rental, and at high prices I'm sure the area will attract a wider variety of better places to dine.   Meanwhile hasn't Silver Diner been a go-to place for early morning eat and business meetings?    If and when they do get more restaurants and of higher quality I do hope it dramatically expands outside of the steak house theme.

[MsDiPesto]

That Clyde's in Tyson's is close to the highest point in FFX county, where the Communications Tower sits. I was searching around the net one day and found an amusing story about the subway construction. I can't vouch for it's veracity. It seems that the subway constructors were digging and broke a cable. The cable wasn't on any of their utility maps. A few minutes later, a bunch of black SUVs pulled up and guys in suits got out. "Hey, you broke our cable!" Later, an AT&T crew showed up and fixed the cable. The contractor got a bill from AT&T, which they returned without paying since they had no way of knowing the cable was there. That was it, they never got a follow up bill.

Must have been the Army Signal Corps. Yeah, that's it....

[DonRocks]

Save Evans Farm Inn.

[Destruya]

That Clyde's in Tyson's is close to the highest point in FFX county, where the Communications Tower sits. I was searching around the net one day and found an amusing story about the subway construction. I can't vouch for it's veracity. It seems that the subway constructors were digging and broke a cable. The cable wasn't on any of their utility maps. A few minutes later, a bunch of black SUVs pulled up and guys in suits got out. "Hey, you broke our cable!" Later, an AT&T crew showed up and fixed the cable. The contractor got a bill from AT&T, which they returned without paying since they had no way of knowing the cable was there. That was it, they never got a follow up bill.

Must have been the Army Signal Corps. Yeah, that's it....

The entire reason that the Silver Line is above ground is that Tyson's Corner is a hotbed of think tank offices that have secured fiber connections to Langley.  They would've had to have dug the Silver Line so deep that escalators wouldn't be feasible, like the Forest Glen station, where you can only use elevators because it's 196 feet below ground.  The building directly next to where Nostos is used to house MAE-East, which in the early-to-mid 90s more or less handled 80% of the internet's traffic (that passed through the US) at any given time.

It's also not the first time some unlucky construction crew in or around Tyson's has gotten a visit from those black SUVs.  There's also a reason that SAIC is CIAS spelled backwards.  Operation ORTSAC, anyone?

I mean seriously, a 4-8+ billion dollar company, and *this* is their Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Applications_International_Corporation

Have you ever seen a sparser corporate Wiki page?

[lion]

Driving back from DC at night, I'm simply amazed by the Tysons Corner Skyline from the Rte66 and 267 Toll Road inter-connector. The lights convey a size of a pretty large city in the midwest in scope and not something just 15 miles away from DC.

As for dining options, I'm slightly pessimistic about an increase of quality occurring with the development. People don't seem to want high quality food other than Steakhouses or Italian in the area.

[DaveO]

The entire reason that the Silver Line is above ground is that Tyson's Corner is a hotbed of think tank offices that have secured fiber connections to Langley.  They would've had to have dug the Silver Line so deep that escalators wouldn't be feasible, like the Forest Glen station, where you can only use elevators because it's 196 feet below ground.  The building directly next to where Nostos is used to house MAE-East, which in the early-to-mid 90s more or less handled 80% of the internet's traffic at any given time.

It's also not the first time some unlucky construction crew in or around Tyson's has gotten a visit from those black SUVs.  There's also a reason that SAIC is CIAS spelled backwards.  Operation ORTSAC, anyone?

I mean, seriously, a 4-8+ billion dollar company, and *this* is their Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Applications_International_Corporation

Have you ever seen a sparser corporate Wiki page?

I don't thing that is accurate.  When I was involved in this project it was before 9/11.  It was already planned to be mostly above ground (except for some stops like in Tysons).  It is immeasurably less expensive to build above ground than below ground.  I think that could be deciphered at some point in the last decade when there were battles about finally going ahead and who and how this entire project was going to get paid for, with federal, state, and local monies.   One of the issues that arose was how expensive it was to build underground into Dulles Airport, for a stop that would be significantly closer to the entries to the airport versus a stop that was somewhat removed from the gates, and would require a walk or an intermediate trolley or some other kind of transport.  That last mile or two, (or less) and primarily going underground is a huge huge expense.