Immigrant Food Ballston

Overview:Dined with my wife and infant son in February 2025. Gets the 5 stars because of good-quality, variety food at reasonable prices with excellent service. They have fantastic happy hour deals.Food:For such a variety of ethnic dishes, they hit on a surprising amount of them. Highly recommend the truffle fries with aoli sauce, Greek wings, and samosas. Everything that we ordered was good/great to decent.Service:Phenomenal for a more casual restaurant. Everyone checked in multiple times, asked to give extra dipping sauces, and were very accommodating with our infant child. Ambiance:New, modern, classy feel.

My mother was having lunch at the ICU at VHC so I took my sister to this place that I like a great deal. We came at about 12:30 PM as the lunch crowd was starting to thin out. There are tables along the windows and booths in back and high tops and seating at the bar. We were seated by a stately gentleman who shared his story of growing up in New Jersey, and then being an immigrant himself in Singapore, Hong Kong and Texas ( ) before settling here in ArlingtonThe menu is a fusion of dishes from around the world melded with influences from other parts of the world to represent the melting pot that is America. For example, I had the banh mi sandwich, which is from Vietnam, but the wrinkle is that the grilled chicken is done in a Filipino style. I personally would've liked some fresh jalapeños on the side that I could add to the sandwich and I'm sure I could've asked for them, but I didn't. Besides the chicken, the sandwich is filled with Julian and carrots and daikon and spread with a mayonnaise base sauce. I don't generally salt my food at home so it struck me as very salty, but I'm sure others will be satisfied. I ordered the sandwich as part of their set lunch, which includes a choice of fries or salad, and a soup of the day which in this case was the mushroom soup The mushroom soup was surprisingly bland, except for the Japanese mushrooms and oyster mushrooms, which I think had been soaked in a vinegar. It was a pleasant contrast. The day of our visit, the kitchen had something extra on hand, so we were presented with an amuse bouche at the table, which was a form of cheese, puff in a delicious sauce. For a small extra charge, you can have truffle oil added to your french fries and I highly recommend doing so. This is the second time I've had the fries and they are so good with that oil. My sister thought so as well.Speaking of my sister, she has the spinach salad, which is called the heritage bowl We both found the portions large enough that though we almost thought we couldn't finish what was in front of us, we finally did.

We decided on Girls' Night here due to another review. I agree with the reviewer about the Filipino Chicken (yummy), but there wasn't much else to rave about and nothing that would prompt us to return for a second visit.We went on a Saturday evening just before 6pm and took advantage of the happy hour prices for several menu items (only a few have happy hour pricing). The Belgian fries, glazed carrots and broccolini (w/ caramelized onions and bacon bits) were good. I get that the Greek wings come with a feta dip, but I wish that the flavor was enhanced to make them good on their own. My friends had a couple of martinis (fine), a sangria (fine), and a... different take... on a piña colada (too different-- had to be sent back).Service was great and they brought out an amuse-bouche sized shrimp ceviche, which was okay. Definitely a fan of the delivery of each of our checks in "passport" books where you could "stamp" it with your own signature.Parking *that* night was pretty good for Arlington as we had plenty of on-street options near the restaurant.

Wonderful service and ambiance-- and fresh food that is never overcooked. Our favorite restaurant in Ballston. It's also so easy to get to-- just across the street from the Metro on the first floor of the Nature Conservancy building.

What a fun restaurant!! This place serves a variety of dishes and I am sure you will find something to order. My cousins and I ordered different dishes to try a bunch of items. After ordering, we were given a sample of gazpacho. I have not tried gazpacho before but I wasn't a fan of it because its cold soup. Matcha pineapple drink: (3/5) Good but I think it was stronger on the pineapple sideTequenos: (3/5) This dish was good. Its kinda like a mozzarella stick but less friedGuacomole Con Tostones: (4/5) This appetizer was one of my favorites. The platain fritter was thick but still crispy. Guacamole added a nice creaminess to it. Well seasoned and flavoredHong Kong french toast: (3/5) This is not the most traditional french toast, but still good. I recommend thus if you really like peanut butterWe also shared the shakshuka and arepas and fried chicken sandwich. These dishes weren't memorable to me but my cousins enjoyed it!

The dining experience is in part about story, and Immigrant Food has a good one. Two immigrants opened the original near the White House to celebrate food from around the world. There are two menus- a food one and an engagement one giving customers ideas to connect with immigrant communities.This location is the first in Virginia and may be the largest. Near the Ballston Metro, there are several dining rooms and a bar. To drink, I enjoyed both the white and red sangrias. Both are refreshing and come with an orange slice.To eat, the bao and dumplings are flavorful and filling if you aren't super hungry. For dessert, the beignets with ice cream, dulce de leche, and passion fruit cream hit the spot.Service is spot on!

I've been meaning to get at this spot for a while now. They have food from around the world!! I thought that was a dope concept!! So I finally pulled up, to their newest location at that!!.Where I am: @immigrantfood.Location Reviewed: 4245 Fairfax Drive., Arlington V.A..Menu Includes:*See Website*https://immigrantfood.com/.Items Reviewed:Their Mint Limonada (with mint,& lime juice $7). STAMP!! Get it. That's it!!Their Belgian Fries (with Housemade garlic aioli $10). STAMP!! Especially with that aioli!!Their Filipino Fried Chicken (with sweet chili, Thai herbs, & roasted banana ketchup $19). STAMP!! Crispy, & sweet with heat!!Their Immigrant Burger (with secret harissa sauce, za'atar, lettuce, cheese, onions, & fries $22). LIKE THAT!! A really good flavorful burger!! It's that simple!!Their Around The World Dim Sum *small bites 3 for $38*Their Indian Samosas (with vegetable filling, chickpeas, & a tamarind chutney). STAMP!! Flavorful, & fulfilling!!Their Conchinta Pibil Bao Bun (with pork, pickled onion, chili mayo, & cilantro). STAMP!! A milky soft bun, & well seasoned pork!!Their Chicken & Lemongrass Dumplings (with ponzu). DELICIOUS!! Good, the dip made it tasty!!Their Tropical Beignets (French-Caribbean ricotta beignets, passion fruit cremeux, peach toffee, vanilla ice cream, & lime zest $16). STAMP!! Sweet, tart, creamy...a MUST HAVE!!.Customer Service: On Point!!.Online Navigation: Easy.Parking: ROUGH!.Music: YouTube-Backyard Band .Recommendations: Go!! Get everything I got!!.Accessibility: It's wheelchair friendly, & it's differently abled persons friendly.5 Stars=STAMP4 1/2 Stars=LIKE THAT4 Stars=DELICIOUS3 Stars=DECENT 2 Stars=PASS1 Star=NAH#Bigschlimsreviews

My review is only for the drinks and the fries.We came here for happy hour on Friday. Not going to lie - I side-eyed the happy hour prices a bit because why are they still over $10? Oh, well. We ordered the Belgian fries with the Parmesan and truffle oil. They were bomb! Really enjoyed them.Had two glasses of white sangria and a piña colada. The drinks are unique. Neither of the drinks I ordered was made traditionally or like anything I'd tasted but I will say that I felt a nice little buzz after my first glass of sangria.The food here looks interesting but the prices are a bit higher than I'd expect, especially outside of Happy Hour.The service was good. The bartender was nice enough and he made good drinks.

Immigrant Food opened up in Ballston not too long ago and a few of us stopped by a couple Tuesdays ago for dinner. We caught the happy hour pricing (before 7 PM!) right before it ended.SHRIMP CEVICHE VERDE (HH) - 10I think there might have been 5 half pieces of shrimp and lots of tomatillo lime broth and vegetables. You could barely see the shrimp because it's covered by everything else. Shrimp was just OK and same with the flavor for the ceviche. I'd skip on this.CRISPY POLENTA FRIES (HH) - 11Each order comes with four, which is perfect for the four of us to enjoy one each. We loved the crispy polenta fries and the tomato mostarda, goat cheese, and other flavors were good. I'd definitely recommend this one if you're here.GREEK WINGS (HH) - 11Each order came with four wings, which is kind of pricy. I can't really tell what makes these wings different than the ones from Buffalo Wild Wings. Nothing to write home about.FILIPINO FRIED CHICKEN (HH) - 12We got mixed reviews on this. Some people really liked the skin of the Filipino fried chicken, but I found it really tough and hard to chew, as if they fried this chicken hours ago and it's been sitting in the kitchen waiting to be served. The sweet chili sauce helped the chicken taste less dry.SARY'S PUPUSAS (HH) - 11This order comes with one big pupusa and a side of pickled cabbage and tomato salsa. We enjoyed the pupusa here and thought it was tasty. Good balance of beans and cheese.ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS - 13This tasted almost... healthy? I don't know, if I am getting brussels sprouts at a restaurant, I expect them to be a bit more crispy and flavorful. They felt undercooked/under-roasted and overall, pretty mid.MISO CAESAR SALAD - 14This was fine. Instead of croutons, we had fried wonton crisps and there's shiitake bacon (? not sure what that means) and I guess this makes it Asian inspired. This salad was on the lighter side and the dressing wasn't too strong or crazy, which I prefer. Overall, not sure if it's worth the price point.WHOLE ROASTED BRANZINO - 28This was most definitely not worth the price point. $28 for a teeny tiny branzino? No thank you. You can go to Annandale and get a roasted mackerel for half the price at one of the Korean restaurants and you get a side of rice with that too. The branzino was fine, seasoned lightly with salt and we drizzled some lemon juice on top. But paying $28 for something this small is outrageous.Overall, food was OK but very expensive. My friend used InKind to pay, and even then, we paid about 30pp after tax and tip (not to mention we were still hungry and ended up going to McDonald's afterwards). I personally didn't think Immigrant Food was worth it and neither did my friends.

Superb menu selection and everything we had (and as a hungry table of four we had A LOT!) was prepared so thoughtfully and deliciously. All staff were warm and friendly -- Precious was our lovely server -- she did a great job! Favorites at our table included the lamb skewers, the shishitos, the shrimp ceviche and the polenta fries. Everything was spiced and/or sauced so uniquely -- wonderful experience overall. Cozy vibe on a cold winter's night too! Music was upbeat without being acoustically overpowering. Desserts (forgot names but one was a shortbread sandwich cookie with coconut and caramel and the other was a tropical beignet) were an outstanding cap to an outstanding meal. We live a mile away -- this was our first visit and it will not be our last!