Everyone's birthday is in April

 

Whitlows Tiki bar opening party in 2011

So many celebrations in Clarendon this month! Here is a quick listing of anniversaries:

 - Fellow local blog Boobs Bacon Bourbon celebrated its first year in town.

 - Mad Rose has been here 2 years now.

 - Whitlows has been in Clarendon forever, but its Tiki rooftop bar turned 2 this month.

 - Clarendon Fitness has been helping us burn off happy hour calories for 3 years.

 - Lyon Hall and Northside Social are also both turning 3 in April.

 - Sister restaurant Liberty Tavern is 6 years old.

 - Rhodeside Grill just finished their renovations in time to turn 17 on tax day.

 - And this month is also my birthday, coming just after Clarendon Nights turned 5 years old!

Lyon Hall and Liberty Tavern restaurant week

Liberty Tavern and Lyon Hall will again be participating in this year's Restaurant Week. From Monday Feb 4 to Sunday Feb 17, you will have the option to choose a three course meal from their entire menu. Courses are a fixed price of $20.13 for lunch and $35.13 for dinner. The special includes any appetizer, any entree and any desert from the regular a la carte menu.

 

Both restaurants are run by the same owners and are known for some of the best food in Clarendon. I suggest reserving a table via Open Table to secure a seat for the popular Restaurant Week deal.

Liberty Tavern anniversary party Thursday

Three of Clarendon's most popular restaurants - Lyon Hall, Liberty Tavern and Northside Social - are celebrating their birthdays this week. On Thursday April 12 Liberty Tavern is hosting the anniversary celebration starting at 5pm. There will be bar and cocktail specials as well as food specialities from all 3 sister restaurants.

Liberty Tavern extends Restaurant Week

Last week on Tuesday I just barely made it to Liberty Tavern before their kitchen closed at 10pm, and luckily was able to try out their excellent Restaurant Week menu. Unlike some other participating venues, Everything on their menu was available for the three course Restaurant Week deal. To sweeten the deal, Liberty Tavern has extended their Restaurant Week until January 22! Make sure you take advantage of this deal for their delicious entrees and deserts!

Beet arugala salad	Steak
Swordfish	Chocolate smore cake

Lyon Hall staff party

Lyon Hall, Northside Social and Liberty Tavern were all closed tonight for a joint party for their staff at Lyon Hall. The restaurants, all sharing the same owners, were celebrating their first anniversay of Lyon Hall opening and the forth anniversary of Liberty Tavern in Clarendon.

The restaurant had drinks, Red Hook lobster truck, Bada Bing cheesestake truck, and games like bean bag toss for their super attractive employess. Sadly, as I found out the hard way, the food trucks were handing out free small plates to staff open and not to the public.

All three restaurants will be open again on Tuesday, April 26.

Restaurant Week in Clarendon

We are now in the middle of DC Restaurant Week which ends this Sunday, August 22. All participating restaurants, and there are many of them in the city, offer a $20 "three course" lunch and a $35 "three course" dinner. I use quotes here because some restaurants count your drink choice as a "course."

I'm proud to add that many Clarendon restaurants are also taking part in this annual tradition, such as:

• Lyon Hall
• La Tasca
• Liberty Tavern
• Restaurant 3
• Sushi Rock
• Willow
• Sette Bello
• Tallula
• Harry's Tap Room
  

St. Patrick's Day Parade tonight

Hopefully the rain will stay away long enough for the annual Clarendon-Court House St. Patrick's Day Parade to lighten up Wilson Blvd tonight at 8pm. The last parade on Fat Tuesday got nixed by the giant snow storm, so we are over due for a night of floats, music and green beer at Mister Days!

Stay for the Celtic punk rock band O'Tasty playing at Iota or many of the other local venues like Whitlows and Liberty Tavern that are hosting St. Paddy's Day eve parties.

New Restaurants Coming Soon to Clarendon

It seems that everyone is talking about the updates of the new restaurants set to open soon in the ever growing Clarendon neighborhood. This Washingtonian article details how the owners of Liberty Tavern are increasing their ownership in local territory, with Lyon Hall and Northside Social coming soon.

Northside Social is the replacement for the closed Murky Coffee on the same spot behind St. Charles Church. It will also serve coffee like Murky, but will also offer wine and I imagine a more sophisticated/less hipster atmosphere.

Lyon Hall will be a "European-style brasserie", and have what appears to be a operational basement. Given they have applied for a live music license from the County until 1am, I'm wondering if they plan on hosting live bands in the basement similar to the DJ's at Eleventh's basement. It will be located at 3100 Washington Blvd, marked on the map above.

Thanks to all those who sent me tips on this article via email and twitter! I have been lagging on updating this blog lately, hope to get back in the swing of things soon.

Restaurant Week in Clarendon

Several local venues are participating in Restaurant Week:

• Restaurant 3
• Liberty Tavern
• Harry's Tap Room
• La Tasca
• Willow Bar
• Tallula

Harry’s Tap Room is also donating $5 to the DC Central Kitchen charity for every Restaurant Week dinner menu selected.

Winter 2010 Restaurant Week - January 11-17, 2010
Lunch: - $20.10 for a three-course fixed-price meal
Dinner: - $35.10 for a three-course fixed-price meal
Beverages, gratuity and tax are not included.

Click here for more participating local Washington DC and NoVA restaurants.

Goodbye Murky Coffee

Murky Coffee on Wilson and Washington Boulevards closed its doors for good today. Its no surprise as owner Nick Cho gave us all a month's warning that the quirky shop would be shutting down soon.

The owners of Liberty Tavern are posed to open a new coffee shop in the space vacated by Murky.

I think Murky will be missed. It was nice that Clarendon had its own unique little anti-Starbucks store.

O'Tasty's @ Iota

Warm-ish weather and clear skies brought droves of party goers out to Clarendon on this Tuesday night.

Both mainstay Irish bars in Clarendon, RiRa and O'Sullivans, had lines of people waiting to get in.

Irish themed Mister Days ran out of green beer (Miller Lite + food coloring) around 8pm.

Liberty didn't have a wait to get in, but the downstairs bar was packed and loud.

Iota featured a lively celtic/folk/rock/punk band called O'Tasty's.

Edit: Photo gallery of the party at RiRa online.

Election Celebrations in Clarendon

I figured the election was practically over at 10pm tonight when it appeared that Ohio was going blue, and I stopped watching the political coverage.

But then I was startled by yelling and cheering from Wilson Blvd at 11pm. As soon as it was announced that Senator Obama would sweep past 270 elector votes, a loud and energy filled hoopla erupted from Liberty Tavern.

I believe Liberty was one of the gathering spots for Democrats to watch the election outcome tonight, with the GOP hanging out at Mister Days.

Celebrations are sure to continue all night long in Clarendon.