Paula Swenor, a waitress at Peter Chang for five years off and on, says her favorite dish there is the bang bang shrimp, extra crispy. She says a lot of people head to Peter Chang for spicy dishes like the popular fish in chili roll or the twice cooked pork belly with black beans and cabbage. But the menu includes a wide variety of favorites.
Bostan is tucked into a small shopping center in its modest space on Langston Boulevard where it has been open for two years. This Uyghur restaurant has become so popular that the chef doesn’t have the time to make the popular wontons right now. Pictured here is the laghman signature dish made with hand pulled noodles which the waitress says are a favorite with older people because “everyone eats it at home.” The chef makes five different kinds of Uyghur noodles for various dishes, each with its own texture and shape. The eggplant salad is a favorite of customers although it is one of few vegetable offerings on this heavily meat-centric menu.
Six-year-old Billy Hart is trying out his skill with chopsticks on a Friday afternoon while his 4-1/2 year-old brother Charlie pokes a hole in the large scallion pancake and watches it deflate. The Hart brothers say they get the same thing every time which includes the steamed dumplings at Peter Chang’s on N. Harrison Street. “Then we try one new thing,” their mother adds. This time it is golden mountain chicken.
Lebanese Taverna has several restaurants in the local area including the Westover area, Pentagon City and this market on Old Dominion Boulevard. This deli case offers a large assortment of Lebanese choices including stuffed grape leaves, labneh, hommus, tzatziki, fatayer. The server is busy slicing a large hunk of meat on a skewer to make grab and go beef or chicken shawarmas. In addition, the shelves are stocked with pistachio and walnut baklava, stuffed date desserts and imported candies and breads. The refrigerated section offers feta cheeses, olives, drinks and salads. This location offers cooking classes for the 27th year featuring popular Lebanese dishes.
Chill Zone, voted neighborhood favorite, is located on Harrison Street. It has become a popular destination for a chilled Vietnamese coffee, bubble tea or frosty mango smoothie. The traditional banh mi sandwich with cucumbers, jalapeño peppers, pickled papaya and carrots can be supplemented with chicken, pork or beef. Or you could choose a rice vermicelli bowl or Viet tacos. As the onset of cool fall weather approaches, customers will target pho, the large bowl of broth with some combination of brisket, meatballs or eye round steak floating with rice vermicelli and accompanied by bean sprouts, hoisin sauce and fresh herbs. Enjoy your caramel cinnamon latte at a small table or join a communal table sitting on the floor in true Vietnamese style.
Pupatella on Wilson Boulevard offers the real thing— Neapolitan pizza made and certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN). This designation assures the pizza is made according to the 200-year-old Neapolitan technique using 900 degree wood-fired ovens with dough made of only three ingredients and sauce made with only a thin layer of uncooked San Marzano tomatoes grown in Italy. The oven bricks at Pupatella were built using volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius for heat retention and arrived from Naples by ship.
The customer favorite is the simple Margherita pizza but the manager prefers the ham and mushroom and the waiter likes the sausage and onion. Pictured is a prosciutto and arugula pizza with fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese. The menu also includes white pizzas, salads and appetizers such as zucchini fries and arancini with sausage.
If you are looking for good old fashioned American food, you can try Haute Dog which just opened in February at N. Sycamore Street. You can have the traditional Coney Island dog with meat sauce, onion and mustard and an order of fries; the Three Piece Suit with chili, melted cheese and onion or venture out with a NY Reuben dog with grilled sauerkraut. Pamela Swanson, one of the owners of this family owned business says, the customer favorite is the Banh Mi dog with jalapeños, cucumber, pickled carrots and daikon radish.
Her own favorite burger is the French onion burger with caramelized onions, gruyere cheese, garlic sautéed mushrooms and their famous warm house onion relish. Swanson says they have had a Haute Dog in Alexandria on Montgomery Street for 11 years “but I’m a native Arlingtonian and we wanted to open something here that wasn’t in the Clarendon late night district. This has worked well.” She adds they also have locations at Nats park Section 105 and 234 and a food truck.
Server Brita Hodges has just bought out two customer favorites—the Banh Mi dog (also her favorite) and the caramelized onion burger.