Pre National-Airport Dinner on Friday - Need to Arrive at Airport by 9 PM

[Rieux]

Amigos,

I am flying out of National tomorrow night at 10:10 - aiming to get to National around 9.  Since it is such a late flight, my husband and I are thinking of grabbing dinner beforehand somewhere in VA in Arlington or Crystal City.  We NEVER go out in VA so I am looking for suggestions of low-key, good places that we should consider trying.  Caveats:  will only have an hour and 15 minutes or so; we will arrive around 7:30 and need to be able to sit without a wait; I'll be in shorts; should have relatively easy parking; should not be too far from the main roads leading from Mt. Pleasant to DCA; not looking for seafood/burgers because I am about to go to  Maine and Cape Cod for 3 weeks of vacation and will be eating plenty of those things.  Was thinking maybe good Asian or Middle Eastern; or Turkish, Ethiopian, etc.  Something I won't be eating in the next 3 weeks in New England.... 

Ideas?

[ktmoomau]

There is a Lebanese Taverna in Pentagon City (there is even one in DCA now) that might not be what you were thinking, but plenty of parking underneath Pentagon Row, I think they also have a Thai restaurant that I am not sure what it is or if it's good.  We actually really love the Lebanese Taverna Market on Lee Hwy in Arlington, it would be quick, no wait and they have parking.  There is Caffe Bahn Mi in Old Town Alexandria that isn't too far out of your way, there is normally street parking there, and they are very quick they have bahn mi, pho, rice dishes, etc.  There is the Pho place in Rosslyn.  There are a couple sushi places in Del Ray, on weeknights there parking isn't too intense. Thinking....

There is also Four Sisters Grill in Clarendon and if there isn't street parking, there are garages, but they are kind of expensive.  There is Cava and MeJanna in Clarendon and Courthouse.  Again, garages very close by if no street parking.  I haven't been to MeJanna in ages.  

[silentbob]

Crystal City is largely chain hell but Kabob Palace off Route 1 is great and quite different from what you'll be having in New England.  Jaleo fits the bill too.  Parking in the garages is free after 4 pm on weekdays.

[Bart]

Second the response for Jaleo.  Next door is Kora which is pretty good too.  There's also We The Pizza and Good Stuff Eatery which are more casual.

You could take one for the team and go to Queen Amannisa for Uyghur cuisine on 23rd St.  There's a thread on the DR site somewhere, but I don't think anyone was exactly raving about the place.

On 23rd St on the other side of Rt 1 there's a mini restaurant row with a couple Italian places, sushi, thai, enjera, and Filipino place, Bistro 7107, which Todd Kliman used to rave about.  Unfortunately, the (good) cook left and it was no longer on his radar before he left the Washingtonian.  My one visit there (after the good cook left) was pretty meh, and I've had no desire to return.

Here's a google map of that restaurant row (hope it comes through zoomed in properly), but for all the places I listed, my #1 would be Jaleo and #2 would be Kora

 

 

[The Hersch]

As I mentioned a few years ago on some forgotten thread here, Portofino on 23rd St. was pretty good when I had dinner there in 1970, a high-school-graduation treat from one of my best chums' parents. I haven't been back in the intervening 46 years, but the fact that it has survived all these years must mean something good.

[DonRocks]

Have you thought about Ravi Kabob? It's only about a two-mile detour, and traffic should be mostly dissipated - you should have alternate choices in mind in case of traffic snarls.