Mussel Bar & Grille Arlington — Restaurant in Arlington

Mussel Bar & Grille is the second Robert Wiedmaier restaurant I recently tried. Much different in style than suburban, Potomac, MD, white tablecloth Lock 72 MB&G has an urban contemporary industrial interior architectural look and vibe with theatrical lighting and interesting sight lines. MB&G’s dark grey concrete bar top is perfect for serving piping hot mussels in a 15 inch cast iron skillet placed directly on the bar top that I ordered. I began with a fresh baguette and butter and a Negroni that the bartender, Melvin, made using my recipe - 1 shot gin, 1/2 shot Campari, 1/4 shot sweet vermouth, stirred with ice and strained into a rocks glass. I enjoyed a glass sauvignon blanc with the mussels. I ended having menu titled dessert Death by Chocolate guessing that is Mr. Wiedmaier’s way of saying the colloquial, to die for chocolate. It was delicious chocolate cake having a scoop of chocolate ice cream on top. The cake and ice cream was surrounded by a dusting of chocolate crumbs on the white porcelain dessert plate. I paired black french press coffee and a shot of Kahlua on the side with the cake and ice cream. I believe the french press coffee was brewed using coffee beans from St. Lucia. That is what is used at the L72 restaurant according to Randy, bartender, at L72. I like everything about this spot from the fresh ingredients used in thoughtfully prepared dishes that are artfully plated and presented to the architectural aesthetic and knowledgeable, friendly staff.

Denouement to my dinner. One last look at the menus before leaving I noticed Pisco Sour on the drinks menu (I ordered Negroni without reading the drinks menu) that I am accustomed to seeing only in Peruvian restaurants with the exception of the great Cuban restaurant Omega that was on Columbia Road in Adams Morgan that closed in 1990 after approximately 3 decades of doing business. Prepared to request my check I mentioned to Melvin that I learned of the unique drink from the wonderful Peruvian restauranteur Angel Asturrizaga and his recipe in the 1970’s at his restaurant Llama in Chicago. I use his recipe when making them at home for myself and guests. I also mentioned to Melvin that in other restaurants serving PS I have ordered the drink it has always been served with a dash of bitters on top of the meringue. In my experience only Angel micro planed dash of fresh nutmeg on top. I couldn’t leave without test drinking MB&G’s PS. So, I drank some water and was delightfully astonished when Melvin returned with the PS he made that included dash of micro planed...

One Star –wish I could give -1

If I could give zero stars, I would. What was supposed to be a special family dinner turned into a complete disaster, courtesy of this restaurant’s spectacular failure on every front.

We were handed an outdated menu at the start, which seemed promising—until I ordered five different items from it and was then told after the fact that the menu was outdated. That’s right—no apology, just a shrug and an “oh, we don’t actually have those.” Why hand it out in the first place?

For a table of eight, we were given one bread basket containing a single sad piece of bread. One. Piece. It felt like a joke—but no one was laughing.

Then, to add confusion to incompetence, dishes started arriving that we never even ordered. Meanwhile, 30 minutes had passed and still no sign of the oysters I specifically ordered. I noticed servers aimlessly wandering the dining room with trays of oysters, so I flagged them down, suspecting they were ours. No explanation was offered—they simply dropped the oysters on our table with zero indication of which type was which, even though I’d ordered three different varieties. Absolutely unacceptable.

Then came the tuna tartare. After one full hour. One hour to bring out a raw appetizer. How does that even happen?

By the time the main course was still nowhere to be seen, I gave up and canceled it entirely. Not a single person apologized or acknowledged how badly they had messed up. When I paid the check, I wasn’t even offered the most basic courtesy of a “sorry” or “thank you.” It was as if our experience didn’t matter at all.

Honestly, I’ve received more attentive, competent service at a McDonald’s drive-thru—and that’s not an exaggeration. At least there, you get what you order, on time, and without attitude.

This place utterly ruined what was supposed to be a meaningful family gathering. I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant to anyone—not even for a casual lunch. Avoid it at all costs unless you enjoy being ignored, misserved, and insulted by indifference....

Located in the Ballston area in Arlington - there's some street parking and some garages around. There's a parking garage at the Ballston mall that is $1 if you're parked there under 3 hours.

We made a reservation but it wasn't very busy here on a Monday night. The food was amazing but the service was just a bit lacking. Took some time for our server to come to our table. Not much of a greeting, just asked us if we had a water preference. I ordered the Jackie & Tito's Passion Mule. When I ordered, I asked for the Passion Mule and he asked twice which one I was referring to and I pointed to the menu. I had a couple questions regarding a certificate I had but I ended up speaking to the manager who our server asked to come by to answer. The manager informed us of the specialty cocktail and the dinner special as well. Took some time for our server to come by with our water and take my boyfriend's drink order [he wasn't ready when I ordered my drink]. My drink was good, got a little tart at the end but you got that kick from the jalapeño.

Server stopped by our table with drinks but got the table and just stood there and we indicated we were ready to order. We had to repeat our order a couple times and I didn't notice until we had left the establishment that our side of Fried Brussel sprouts were forgotten. We weren't charged for it so it was fine.

For our appetizer, we ordered the slow cooked and charred octopus. It was good but a smaller portion that I anticipated for the price. It was a tad bit too chewy but the flavors were great. I ordered the Thai Curry Mussels with Truffle Fries and my boyfriend ordered the White Wine Mussles with Sweet Potato Fries. Mussels come out in a cast iron and the fries were crispy and delicious accompanied with 3 sauces.

Overall, I did love the food but I was just a little disappointed in our service. Manager was great and friendly. Good portions on the...