This relative newcomer to the Arlington/Clarendon scene, has quickly established itself as the standard as restaurants in the area are concerned. It’s a place where you can expect good food, fair prices and a cool vibe. Opened in 2007, its chef, Liam LaCivita and partnership have targeted the middle of the road in terms of price and quality. Its not a 5-star dining experience, but then again you don’t have to pay five star prices. The feeling is more casual and the food, a little more comfort, giving the diner a sense that this is a neighborhood spot, which in Clarendon is tough to find.

Liberty Tavern

Good: The food is really the star here. They have a series of good appetizers but I usually prefer to go for the half-portion of pasta which are all made in house. I’ve really enjoyed all of the entrees I’ve had including a fabulous stuffed Branzino and their huge Duroc Pork Chop. They also have pizzas on their menu that aren’t half bad. The wide selection is good for a group or those with picky eaters. The prices are also very reasonable for the amount of food with most entrees around $18-20. The ambiance is also good here with a rustic casual feel.

Bad: Not too much to complain about here other than a few little things. Some of the entrees try to stuff a little too much into the meal, creating some flavors that maybe don’t work as well if they were a little simpler. Also they don’t have restrooms on the main dining floor, requiring diners to go downstairs through the bar area. Additionally parking can be tough, but I think that’s a standard thing in Arlington.

Wine: Another star attraction here is the wine list. Very good and very reasonably priced with many decent bottles falling $30-40. Also there’s a focus on smaller independent wineries so you’re sure to get to try something different. Also their wines by the glass are as well priced well and more unique than you’d usually find. Coupled with a creative drink menu, they’ve got your libations covered.

This high-end Italian restaurant located near Dupot Circle, tends to be a well-kept secret in the DC dining world. Never on the top of the list of must-do restaurants, but for over 20 years, serving up some of the best Northern Italian cuisine in the area. It’s a tiny restaurant, maybe 25 seats with a prix-fixe menu for $75 each. This buys you five courses including a large anti-pasta course, pasta, entrée, cheese, and dessert, plus cookies with the bill. Chef Peter Pastan, who also owns 2Amys pizzeria, specializes in simple well-prepared Italian foods.

Good: The food! Overall, the quality is high here. Anti-pastas including risotto balls, roasted red peppers, duck meatballs, and sardines wrapped and baked were all very good. The pastas were all light and ethereal. Breads are all house made and perfect compliment to the meal. You won’t leave hungry, that’s for sure. Also for a small place, the table spacing was great, with plenty of room between each to allow for more privacy.

Bad: Ambiance is ok, but the place could go for a little bit of an update. Looks to be the same furniture since they first opened. Entrees were good but not very exciting. Cheese was good but only two types. A third would have been a good contrast.

Wine: The wine list was very good with only Italian selections. Hard to say how well priced the wines were. They did have a few selections in the $30-50 range, but many more from $75+. Wine by the glass also were anywhere from $6 to $16. A selection of 3 daily cocktails were also available along with a full bar for anything else.

Overall: The restaurant, while missing on a few things, overall, was a wonderful experience, with the food meeting all my expectations. Needs a little bit of a makeover, but aside from that makes for a nice romantic dinner.

This pizzeria located near American University and Tenleytown, has been a favorite of our families for years now. Certified Neapolitan pizza is what they do and what they are known for. This very casual restaurant is normally packed weeknights and all weekend, so prepare for a wait.

Good: Pizza, of course. Thin, crusty, and blistered from the brick-oven, these pizza come out hot and fresh with great toppings. Recommend less toppings or risk an overweight pizza. Appetizers are also good. Servers are almost always accommodating.

Bad: Its crowded, and can be very noisy. Since its setup to be good for kids, 5-7pm on the weekends, can be kid-crazy. Average 30 minute wait for a table. Service can be a little spotty at times due to the amount of people.

Wine: Good Italian-only wine list with a ton of really well-priced wines in the $25 range. All wines are available by the glass or bottle. They also have a good selection of draft beers and bottles from unique producers, including usually a couple of Italian brewers.

Overall: If you can stand the crowds, the pizza is the main attraction and worth the effort.

A casual restaurant by famed chef David Chang, serving Asian-inspired dishes to the hungry masses. Their focus tends to be taking foods common to Asian dishes combined with regionally produced products from the US. The results are flavorful and inspired.

Good: Ambience is good, casual and open. Day I was there the weather was nice and the front windows were opened. Steamed pork buns – yum! Fantastic deserts where I had a Thai Iced Tea Parfait. I also had a decent pho-style soup with beef brisket. Lunch deal is only $25 for three courses, which is a lot of food by the end. Also recommend the all-natural ginger ale from Brooklyn.

Bad: Broth on the pho-style soup just ok. Though prices are great for prix-fixe lunch, they are a little crazy for dinner. I’ve heard that the crowds on the weekend can be a little overwhelming.

Wine: For what ever reason, I didn’t even look at the wine list! Crazy! Checking it out on the website, they do a good job of making their selections similar to their menu in that its eclectic. I think that’s a good thing.

Overall: Well worth the trip for lunch – their small plates are actually good size, so you can easily fill up with an order of pork steamed buns and something else.

I’m going to start adding in a new segment to the site, with what I’m dubbing as Restaurant Takeaways “Yelp-ish”-style. I figure the big boys at the newspapers and magazines take the cake on their long reviews of restaurants being able to eat there multiple times and get a real sense of the place. I clearly don’t have that luxury. Also on the flip side of things, the Yelpers, bless their hearts, love to make it more about themselves then the actual restaurant. There are way too many complaints due to some inconvenience that probably isn’t a true example of the restaurant.

Either way, wine and food go hand in hand, and obviously restaurants these days are giving us new ways to celebrate and explore the combination. Particularly in and around the nation’s capital there are more and more restaurants everyday with a renewed focus on wine and its pairing with the foods we love.

Anyway, I plan to give you a quick take on the food, the atmosphere, and focus also a bit more on the wine list. I’ve been to too many restaurants where if they spent just a little more time on thier wine list, as they do with their food, it would really even out the experience. I’ll try to do my best to not get caught up in a restaurants bad service unless it seems like its across the board, and I’ll try to provide a relatively unbiased approach to the review. Look for these to be mixed in with the wine reviews and other. They will be short bullet lists of what was good, what was bad, and everything in between.