Clarendon Comings and Goings

A walk around Clarendon on a recent evening revealed good news and bad news for Clarendon. Which would you like first?

I'll save time and decide for you. First, the bad news. Clarendon's last remaining ice cream shop has closed. The Green Girlfriend and I tried to go to Ben & Jerry's for an ice cream cone only to find the storefront dark and the sign gone. With Lazy Sundae having moved to Falls Church, there are now only a handful of ice cream shops left in the entire county, like Scoop Beauregard's in Westover.

Now for the good news -- Restaurant 3 has opened at the corner of Clarendon Boulevard and Garfield Street. It's the third restaurant on the site in just the last year or so, longtime home of Aegean Taverna and more recently the short-lived Mama Quan's Tiki Hut. You can get more details on the restaurant and its owners at the Arlington Economic Development Office's website.

The glowing orange sign is certainly eye-catching, and I liked the southern/soul food menu. However, The Green Girlfriend thought it looked a little pretentious, something that's getting more and more common in Clarendon (and Arlington in general) as places like Liberty Taven and Ri Ra crowd out the Lazy Sundaes and Aegean Tavernas.

Have you been to Restaurant 3 yet? Please post your reviews in the comments!