NAJA Mediterranean has officially opened its doors in the former Kirby Club space. The restaurant is located in the Mosaic District at 2911 District Ave., Fairfax.
Kirby Club opened in Mosaic in 2022 and was on Northern Virginia Magazine’s Best Restaurants list in 2023 and 2024. Tariq Alaeddin, who has worked on the Kirby Club team for three years, has now taken over as owner and transformed the restaurant into NAJA.
Alaeddin named NAJA after his Lebanese grandmother, and the restaurant honors the dishes he grew up watching her cook.
“My years at Kirby Club were instrumental in bringing me to this next chapter of my journey, and I’m forever grateful,” Alaeddin said in a statement. “NAJA is inspired by the warmth and hospitality I learned from my grandmother and deepened while at Kirby. It’s my way of telling the story of growing up between Lebanon and America, where food was always how we connected.”
NAJA’s Menu
NAJA’s menu features traditional Lebanese dishes like beef kibbeh, grape leaves, and baba ghanouj. It also offers regional Mediterranean favorites such as cheese manaeesh, a chicken shawarma wrap, and falafel. Other main dishes include filleted branzino, Lebanese street chicken, and Frenched lamb chop.
Signature dips include hummus, labne, and tzatziki alongside kebab plates featuring chicken shish taouk, chicken koobideh, kofta, steak, lamb, shrimp, and trumpet mushrooms.
NAJA offer signature cocktails and a wine list with varietals from Portugal, France, Italy, South Africa, and Lebanon. The beer selection emphasizes local brews, with drafts from Virginia’s Solace, Virginia Beer Company, and Port City breweries. The canned beer selection also includes a lager from Lebanon’s Almaza.
NAJA will also offer a special kids’ menu, and it plans to launch weekend brunch in the coming weeks.
Reimagined Space
NAJA’s interior features a flower installation over the 20-seat bar, which was designed by Alaeddin’s mother, a Lebanese immigrant who owned a flower shop in the U.S. The 60-seat dining room is decorated in dark blues, soft creams, and a wood-paneled wall adorned with flowers and greenery. Seating options include dining tables and curved booths.
The 44-seat patio is lined with greenery and lighting along the railings. The restaurant is planning a series called NAJA Nights in the space, which will feature a live DJ.
NAJA is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday.
Feature image courtesy NAJA
