Six restaurant openings to be thankful for in Northern Virginia

Published in Northern Virginia Magazine. By Laura Hayes

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Photo courtesy of Laura Hayes

Four buzzed-about restaurants are headed to Northern Virginia in the coming weeks and months, and two others opened yesterday. There’s something for everyone to be thankful for in this class of newcomers, from ramen and barbecue to naan pizza and fresh pasta. Here’s what to expect at Yona, Texas Jack’s, Palette 22, Hank’s Pasta Bar, Spice-6 and Hula Girl Bar & Grill. 

Restaurant: Texas Jack’s
Status: Opening Dec. 7
Location: Arlington (2761 Washington Blvd.) 
Hours: Daily from 4 p.m.-2 a.m.

You can smell heavenly smoke before you even open the doors to Texas Jack’s from partners Steve Roberts and Paul Capetanakis. The Greek Americans don’t bat an eye about opening a barbecue joint. “We started it all 7,000 years ago,” Roberts says. “There is a two-sided terracotta grill (known as the firedogs) in Santorini that forms the oldest grill on earth,” he add as evidence. But Roberts and Capetanakis won’t man the kitchen. That job belongs to chef Matt Lang, who brings experience from Hill Country BBQ locally and Fette Sau in New York.

Lang is particularly proud of his Texas-style brisket and beef short ribs, as well as his pork shoulder that’s inspired by the Yucatan dish cochinita pibil. “It may not be served on a banana leaf, but I am injecting it with bitter orange juice,” he says. Also expect fresh takes on sides that won’t weigh you down, seasonal pies for dessert, a brown liquor-based cocktail program and an arsenal of craft beers.

The expansive space is divided into a bar, main dining room and private dining room all appointed with handmade furniture and rustic stylings by Akseizer Design Group. But what draws you in is a digitally printed black-and-white mural of an 18th-century etching that could keep kids playing I spy for hours. The motif is even printed on to-go bags. Eating here you might feel like a cowboy, as you should: Texas Jack’s is named after Jack Omohundro, a Virginia-born cowboy who Roberts describes as the Brad Pitt of his time.

Read full article here.

Clarendon ups its barbecue game in old Tallula space

Published in the Washington Business Journal. By Rebecca Cooper.

Texas Jack's Barbecue on the outskirts of Clarendon will serve an eclectic barbecue menu with Mexican influences. © Photo by Washington Business Journal

The bar side of Texas Jack's features a reproduction of an old etching.  © Photo by Washington Business Journal

Lighter wood, walls and upholstery is brightening up the former Tallula and EatBar space at 2761 Washington Boulevard. © Photo by Washington Business Journal

The back bar, which can be rented for private parties, features an old, blown-up photo from a cattle ranch. © Photo by Washington Business Journal

Sliding barn doors close off the back bar for private use. © Photo by Washington Business Journal

A hallway between the dining room and back lounge is influenced by the chalkboards outside of Southern barbecue joints advertising the day's offerings. © Photo by Washington Business Journal

The restaurant's dining room looks into the bar through several internal windows. © Photo by Washington Business Journal

The design, by Akseizer Design Group, keeps the kitchen, including two 500-lb smokers, open to diners. © Photo by Washington Business Journal

The "eat" sign on the building where the restaurant is located is historically protected, so the owners restored the sign and it will continue to light the way to the restaurant at 2671 Washington Boulevard. © Photo by Washington Business Journal

The restaurant aims to open in late November or early December. © Photo by Washington Business Journal

Steve Roberts, managing partner of Texas Jack's, wants it to be a go-to neighborhood spot. © Photo by Washington Business Journal

The iconic “Eat” sign that denoted EatBar remains, but that’s pretty much the only similarity between Tallula, the former occupant of 2761 Washington Boulevard that closed last year, and Texas Jack’s, the barbecue joint aiming to open later this month on the outskirts of Clarendon.

Gone are Tallula and EatBar’s dramatic velvet curtains, gone are the plush banquettes, and in their place, a lot of — you guessed it — reclaimed wood, industrial-looking metal accents and an open kitchen. There’s also a lot more light, thanks to the removal of the former wine store section in the front of the restaurant space.

The smell, however, is the first clue that this isn’t like every other similar-looking modern American or small plates restaurant. The aroma of wood smoke, and the meat it’s infusing, wafts throughout, creating the kind of casual, comfortable atmosphere owner Steve Roberts is going for.

Roberts signed on to do Texas Jack’s more than a year ago, after running several Cleveland-area restaurants. The 6,700-square-foot restaurant space, designed by Akseizer Design Group, is divided between the main dining room, with some individual tables and one long, communal-style table, and the bar and lounge, which is in the old EatBar space.

Unlike many barbecue operations, which revolve around counter service, Texas Jack’s is full-service, although it’s meant to be casual.

“The food is too good, we want to provide you that service, so you don’t have to figure out where to go or what to do each time on your own,” said Roberts, the managing partner who owns the restaurant along with Paul Capetanakis.

The food at Texas Jack's comes from Chef Matt Lang, a Baltimore native who was most recently cooking at Brooklyn’s Fette Sau — one of of the early movers in the now widely heralded New York barbecue scene.

Lang is doing tried-and-true Texas brisket and ribs — salt, pepper and smoke only — along with rotating styles of sausage, pulled pork and some other meats. He’s also testing out recipes on some special cuts, such as a lamb belly special, or a jerk goat leg.

Despite being a barbecue chef, he's also mostly a vegetarian, so he's trying to make as many of Texas Jack's sides vegetarian as possible. His food is also infused with a Mexican influence, leading to sides such as cucumber salad with lime juice and piqín peppers and mesquites, which is basically elote — a Mexican street corn — taken off the cob.

The Mexican flavors also work their way into the bar menu, which will include nachos, Lang’s take on chicarrones and sopes — the latter made with potato cakes instead of corn — and sandwiches that use the barbecued meats.

Texas Jack’s bar includes 12 beers on tap, a wine-on-tap program and an extensive bourbon and rye selection. The 190-seat restaurant aims to open Dec. 7.

See original article, more photos, and video here.