National Landing’s new Water Park, a 1.6-acre outdoor dining and gathering space, opens later this week with nine restaurant kiosks, a full-size restaurant and bar, a pizzeria, and plenty of public outdoor space where visitors are encouraged to gather.
The grand opening is set for Friday, October 6.
“In addition to creating an urban oasis where people can relax, linger, and enjoy time spent together, we have intentionally curated Water Park to serve as a celebration of the region’s rich and diverse culinary traditions,” said Kai Reynolds, chief development officer at JBG SMITH, the company that developed Water Park.
The nine restaurant kiosks operated by “emerging local-, minority-, and women-led businesses,” according to a news release. The restaurants include the following:
- Brij, a DC-based café and wine bar that benefits single mothers, the LGBTQ+ community, and unhoused people;
- Bubbie’s Plant Burger, a plant-based and kosher restaurant serving burgers and fries;
- Cracked Eggery, a food truck serving egg sandwiches, bowls, and inventive tater tots;
- DC Dosa, a South Indian street-food concept offering dosas with an assortment of fillings;
- Dolci Gelati, a DC-born gelato shop with over 450 flavors of gelato, as well as coffee and espresso;
- Falafel Inc., a kiosk with affordable hummus, falafel bowls, sandwiches, and sides;
- PhoWheels, the first brick-and-mortar concept of a food truck that offers Vietnamese-style tacos, banh mi, and pho to go;
- Tiki Thai, a new outpost of the Reston tiki bar with Thai and Polynesian cuisine;
- Queen Mother’s, Virginia-born James Beard Award semi-finalist Rahman “Rock” Harper’s popular fried chicken concept.
In addition to those nine concepts, STHRN Hospitality will operate a full-sized restaurant on an open-air terrace called Water Bar, which will feature a raw bar and cocktails, as well as a pizza restaurant called Crush Pizza.
Visitors can sip and stroll with alcoholic beverages within the boundaries of the park, as long as the beverage was purchased on-site.
In addition to the dining concepts, the park serves as a urban town square where people can gather as a community. There are water features and landscaping, public art, and public seating. It contains a trailhead building for the nearby Mount Vernon Trial with public restrooms and bike facilities.
Water Park is just one element in a broader, ongoing effort to redevelop and revitalize National Landing, inspired in large part by the presence of Amazon’s new HQ2 and Virginia Tech’s incoming Innovation Campus.
Beyond this development, JBG SMITH is in the process of introducing 55 new retailers across National Landing by 2024, as well as over 5,000 multifamily housing units. Of those housing units, 1,583 are currently under construction.
This fall, JBG SMITH plans to open Dining in the Park, a dining experience set in an acre of greenery that will feature Surreal, a new restaurant from Seven Reasons chef Enrique Limardo.
Water Park, at 1601 Crystal Dr., Arlington, will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Feature image by Scott Suchman
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