Shirlington Village offers great food, fun festivals and a variety of “reader’s pick” shops.
Sip and stroll down Campbell Street in the Village of Shirlington with your favorite spirit in a paper cup. Nine restaurants are participating in the initiative which allows a customer to stop in and purchase an alcoholic beverage and take a leisurely walk past the shops.
Dog friendly water bowls are placed strategically outside restaurants to make your favorite pet happy, too. The. the village of Shirlington is located just off Interstate 95 close to Four Mile Run. Shirlington Village offers great food, fun festivals and shops, having been voted the tops in a local competition for shopping district.
The location began in 1944 as Shirlington Shopping Center and was the first suburban shopping district in the D.C. metro area. The name is a combination of Shirley Highway and Arlington.
Campbell Street, the main drag, is bookended by Carlyle at 4000 Campbell Avenue, an American mid-price range restaurant that has been a favorite for many years as other spots down the street have often turned over to recognize a new popular cuisine.
Right next door to Carlyle and sharing outdoor space until lunch is Best Buns, a neighborhood favorite for sticky buns, bacon-cheddar scones, homemade breads, breakfast and lunch sandwiches and specialty cupcakes after 11 am.
Down the block you walk past One Two Kangaroo, every inch filled with standard favorites as well as unusual children’s toys and costumes. Then take your choice between Chiko’s Korean-Chinese, Guapa’s Mexican, the new Greek Eugenia or Cheesetique featuring a variety of interesting cheeses.
If you happen to be on the other side of the street you can walk by the Astro Beer and Chicken Donut space in anticipation as it is set to open soon. Down the street there is more with Mason’s Lobster Roll, Copperwood, Thai Chicken, Moby Dick and the brand new Taco Bamba just opened three weeks ago and replacing a different taco restaurant.
Shirlington is also the home of a vibrant Arts and Industry District that has been part of the Four Mile Run Redevelopment Plan.
Bordering the Arts and Industry District is Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) which is an independent community-based non-profit food pantry that provides weekly access to nutritious supplemental groceries to over 2,700 families. As costs go up and the impact of Covid lingers, the challenges for these families grows and the number served keeps inching up.
Just across the street is Jennie Dean Park in the Green Valley neighborhood, named in 1944 after a formerly enslaved woman. Through a comprehensive planning process it was reimagined, expanded and reopened. The new park was dedicated in May 2022. Today it includes a large modern expanded playground, picnic shelters, diamond fields and athletic courts and a history walk with a timeline of significant dates and events that happened at Jennie Dean Park.
At the end of the block Shirlington Dog Park stretches along the river. It is an off leash dog park with multiple water stations and a paved walkway. A block away Oxford Street is the Muddy Mutt self-serve dog washing service and Dogtopia offering doggie day care, boarding and spa.
Upcoming events include an annual Celtic Festival with live bands, pipers and dancers on Sept. 30; a four-legged friend party at Dogma on Oct. 29, open mic nights on Mondays at Busboys and Poets which also offers 9th Hour poetry slam once a month for performing poets to showcase their work and Trivia Night on Tuesdays at Samuel Beckett.
And if none of these are appealing, there is always the AMC movie theatre a couple of blocks away.
Best Buns Bakery Manager Steven Kryvoruka shows off the sticky bun and cinnamon roll, two customer favorites at this popular neighborhood bakery and restaurant.
Chiko, the casual Chinese-Korean restaurant, expanded into Shirlington with its offerings of pork and kimchi potstickers, wok-blistered green beans and cumin lamb stir fry.
Michele and Danny and their rescue dog Charlie try out the recently opened “Eugenia” Greek restaurant opting to try Gigantes white beans, Dolmades and calamari small plates to share.
Taco Bamba is the newest restaurant on the block, opened just three weeks ago. So far the most popular has been the pork al pao pao taco and the torta cubana with carnitas, ham, cheddar and chihuahua cheese.
Jennie Dean Park was expanded and reimagined to include
a larger playground, athletic fields and a history walk recalling the events that have taken place on that spot.
Shirlington Dog Park is a large off leash park that runs along a river with plenty of water stops and a paved walkway.
Shirlington is home to a vibrant arts and industrial district.
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