Mussel Bar & Grille - Arlington

Just stopped by Mussel Bar for some dessert with my wife. We had the chocolate pot de crème and the dragon fruit sorbet, and both were absolutely delicious. It made me wish we had done their for dinner, too. Great service at the bar, as well. It was a little slow for a Saturday night, so I hope more people get going there soon!

I think this is going to be my new favorite spot! They have happy hour from 2 to 7 daily! Woot! After a long week, I was ready for a happy hour. Can't beat the specials here. We sat at the bar and had excellent service from Ian and Evan! The bar area got packed very quickly! I enjoyed the seasonal sangria and truffle fries. I would come back for the fries alone! They were that good. My friend had mussels which he said were great! He also had a smoked old fashioned. Apparently they validate parking for up to 2 hours in the garage. I didn't know this and had parked on the street and paid via parking mobile. I'll definitely be back sooner than later!

The Thai curry mussels here are one of my all-time favorites! The crab dip is just okay.

I was a frequent visitor of the Maryland location, before I started working from home. Today was my first time trying to Arlington location. It's a large restaurant with spacious bathrooms. Each stall is complete with its own sink and hand dryer, nice touch. It is the day after Christmas at 3 PM, so it was relatively quiet. The highlight of the meal were definitely the bacon and mushroom mussels followed by the crab dip and sweet potato fries. I also had a dragon fruit margarita that did not disappoint. The only critique is that the free parking for two hours in the underground garage needs to be more visible. I only saw it printed in the happy hour menu after paying to park on the street. Definitely recommend.

I hadn't visited Mussel Bar in 8 years, so I decided to check it out again during Restaurant Week. What a fantastic dinner we had! We started with crawfish soup, followed by Belgian beef stew, and finished with chocolate pot de creme. Although these dishes aren't on the regular menu, we're planning to return and explore the regular options. Our waiter was very good, although I can't recall his name. The bar was a bit slow with the drinks, and then served me a flat no-bubbles glass of bubbly, but hopefully, that was just a temporary hiccup. I would definitely recommend that the restaurant add the soup and stew to the regular menu--they were that good! I'd also recommend they turn down the music volume. Also good news about the parking. When I used to come in the past, the parking validation never worked and I ended up paying. Last night, bingo, validation worked so parking was free.

Checked this place out for national oyster day!! They had some great deals, like $1 oysters and $8 oyster shooters. We ordered 1.5 dozen oysters. They were super refreshing and had zero complaints for the price. Also tried out the blue crab dip (SO yummy--ended up asking for more bread), the classic white wine mussels (good sauce but some mussels had sand in them), and the seared scallops (SO tender, and cauliflower mash was delicious). I need to give a shoutout to the sweet potato fries--I could not stop eating them! They are European style and come with mayo-based dips. Perfect for sweet & savory lovers. Cute bar concept with bottles as decor. The only thing I would knock half a star off for was service and bathroom cleanliness. Our hostess and food runner were both great, but our server was not the easiest to find. It wasn't the busiest, either...our server could have been a bit more attentive.A bit on the pricier side but understandable for a seafood bar. Overall a satiating dining experience, especially for the soul! Would love to come back for happy hour sometime. Great food, great vibes. Highly recommend.

3.5 stars. The mussels weren't fresh, and the white wine sauce wasn't good either, and that's the biggest knock here. I've eaten mussels across the DC area - Beck, Et Voila, La Chaumiere, Granville Moores, and other places - and these were among the least tasty/fresh of any of them. And for the price, you deserve to have good ones. The white wine sauce tasted watery, especially in comparison to other restaurants. It's unfortunate because I really wanted to like this place. On the positive side, they have an amazing Belgian beer selection, and the service was good.FYI you can bring your own wine for a $25 corkage fee. The dessert was very good - pistachio crème brûlée.

In a sea (no pun intended) of seafood of restaurants. Mussels grill does its best to stand out and does do a great job of it.Their service is great though oddly enough, they do not provide coasters with your drinks.The interiors is good but does little to stand out from every other modern restaurant in the area.The food was great especially the tuna tartare, the mussels were good too. The oysters were very acidic, might be their east coast selection but I found it lacking compared to other contemporary restaurants.

Delicious! If your in the Arlington area try this place, we were going to go across street to Silver Diner and glad we did not! I ordered the lamb dinner, cauliflower, beet salad and old fashion. Everything was delicious and perfect temperature. Staff was amazing ! Friendly and professional. Bathrooms were interesting, huge doors, that have buttons on the outside that say vacant or occupied for the restroom.

The oysters I had here tasted fresh and delicious. The delirium tremens beer was good too. I would definitely come back for the oysters and would also want to try the mussels next time.