Hurricane Fundraiser on Oct 8

This Sunday October 8 three Clarendon locations are contributing to hurricane disaster relief fundraisers. Lyon Hall, Citizen Burger and Whitlows will be donating money for every beer sold, with local brewery matching donations.

1-4pm Lyon Hall donates $1 per beer
3-7pm Citizen Burgers donates $1 per beer
6-9pm Whitlows donates .50 per beer

Marymount Social at Lyon Hall

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From 5:30 to 8:30 this Thursday, May 11 Marymount University is hosting an alumni happy hour at Lyon Hall. Join other MU grads after work to network and socialize with Marymount alumni and friends. $15 registration includes a drink ticket, heavy hors d'oeuvres, and happy hour specials.

Thanksgiving at Lyon Hall

Lyon Hall is open for their annual Thanksgiving Day feast again this year. Next Thursday, November 28 the Clarendon restaurant will be hosting a special holiday menu from 11:30am to 6:30pm serving a three course meal for about $40 per adult and $10 for kids. Included is an appetizer, entrée and dessert. You can preview their Thanksgiving special menu here and make reservations at OpenTable here.

Columbus Day brunch at Lyon Hall

Lyon Hall is open this Monday, Oct 14 to cure your Sunday Funday hangover with their brunch menu. This Columbus Day their brunch is available from 10:30 until 3pm, and includes their homemade and over the top donuts. If you miss that, their usual happy hour then picks up from 3pm to 7pm which includes their popular
$5 SJF made with ginger beer. Other specials include:

$4 Beer
- Weihenstephaner
- Stella
- Palm Amber
- Lagunitas IPA
- Crispin Cider
- Schwarzbeir

$5 Wine
- Sparkling Domaine  du Margalleau
- White Domaine Uby
- Red Paul Ponnelle

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.

Thanksgiving at Lyon Hall

One of the best Clarendon restaurants Lyon Hall is offering a three course feast on Thanksgiving day for those who don't want to stay at home. The $35 menu includes favorites like their steak frites and French beignets. Call them for a reservation or check out their Facebook page.

Lyon Hall has new brunch hours

Lyon Hall is now extending their delicious brunch hours from 9:30am to 3pm every Saturday and Sunday starting this weekend. Also, they will have these same brunch hours available this Monday to celebrate Columbus Day.

Their weekend happy hours remain the same, as they serve drink specials from 3 to 7pm in the lounge, bar, and patio.

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.

Drama outside Lyon Hall

Photo via Dave Krasinski

Wednesday night was full of rain and action outside of Lyon Hall, as police and fire department vehicles shut down the corner of Highland Street and Washington Blvd. I don't have details on what happened, but someone saw a man carried away on a stretcher from the 7-11 across the street.

Thanks to @amandajewett, @liamkraz and @ReidJoshua for the live updates!

Great Date Scenes: Lyon Hall Lobster & Crab Burger

Lobster & Crab Burger and Fries

 A recent new addtion to Lyon Hall's menu warrants another review of Liberty Tavern's sister restaruant. A few weeks ago Lyon Hall added a "Lobster & Crab Burger" to their lunch menu, and it was so popular they made it available as a dinner entre. 

Diver's Scallops and Bacon

 

The "burger" is more like a crab cake sandwitch with lobster meat and the filler being crab meat. It is absolutely delicious and comes with plenty of fries, making it a good dinner choice at $20 for a higher-end restaurant like Lyon Hall. I paired this dish with the "Dark Side" beer flight which was just as enjoyable.

Also pictured here is the "Diver's Scallops" entre which comes with a slice of cripsy bacon. The scallops were tasty, but over all the dish felt lacking.

Lyon Hall is a great dinner venue, given their great beer selection, shaded outdoor seating and conversation-starting bathroom setup.

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.

Clarendon makes the Post happy

The Washington Post's Going Out Guide recently did a feature of places in Clarendon that makes them happy. Not surprisingly, Lyon Hall was ranked #1 as it seems to be the hip place to be seen now.

But I agree with Clarendon Culture that Eleventh should be somewhere on this list. The tiny little lounge serves a nice alternative to the huge and loud scene at the Ballroom. But maybe the less people know about our local hidden gems, the better for us. One local gem that did make the list was Iota, my favorite venue for live indie music and open mic nights on Wednesdays.

I'm sure we will have lots more places to make us happy in the neighborhood once the Clarendon Center construction finishes late this year.

Thanks to Cecelia for the link! Check out her book blog... if you're into that kind of thing.

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
  

Great Date Scenes - Lyon Hall

Next in this series of recommended dating venues is Clarendon's newest restaurant, Lyon Hall. This is a fashionable and upscale French brasserie that is sure to impress with its dark decor, airy outdoor seating and friendly staff.

Lyon Hall offers a great experience from drinks and appetizers to full course dining. I highly recommend trying the place out for a casual date with their wine and cheese selection. A carafe of wine ($18) and three fine cheeses ($9) is fun to share with someone.

If beer is more your date's thing, make sure to try one of three beer flight samplers, pictured here. Each comes with four flavorful brews and makes for an easy conversation starter.

The restaurant offers an interesting diverse dining menu, with lots of flavorful choices. Plenty of carnivore choices with steak, burger, mussels etc. The staff are especially helpful is explaining the menu and offering suggestions, and I just ordered the specials and was very pleased. For around a $60 to $80 dinner for two, Lyon Hall is impressive and fun.

Lyon Hall officially opens tonight

After much anticipation, Lyon Hall should be officially open to the public tonight. The high end and stylish restaurant has generated a good deal of buzz and I'm sure it will be packed this upcoming weekend.

It's in a good location, just two blocks directly south from Clarendon Metro station on North Highland Street. Being flanked by the Phoenix Condo tower, the Reserve Apartment tower, 7-11, and Moby Dicks, Lyon Hall brings some commercial diversity to this corner in Clarendon.

For a sneak peak into Lyon Hall before it opens, check out Arlnow.com's picture gallery here.

Lyon Hall to open Tues April 20

Everyone is a buzz about Clarendon's newest restaurant Lyon Hall on Washington Blvd. Adjacent to the remodeled Post Office complex in the Phoenix building, it is strategically located just south of the heart of Clarendon's strip.

They will officially open to the public this Tuesday, as for the past few days its been packed with private parties. I'm really looking forward to trying out its excellent beer collection, and its already being compared to Brasserie Beck!

Other local bloggers have great reviews and lots of sneak peak photos, like Arlnow.com and NorthernVAMag.

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.