Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Virginia > Northern Virginia
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-13-2012, 01:00 PM
 
Location: The Port City is rising.
8,868 posts, read 12,508,442 times
Reputation: 2604

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by TNic79 View Post
Wow, Thank you for the break down!
I'm not a fan of chain restaurants, but I don't mind venturing out for great food.
However, I do love to shop.
It looks like I'll be the minority living in Tyson's Corner, but that's fine.

I was considering moving to Alexandria, but I was advised that the commute would be horrible.
Oh Well, I'll guess I'll suck it up for the first year.

There at least used to be several indie ethnic restaurants in the shopping centers on Rte 7.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-13-2012, 01:55 PM
 
Location: Tysons Corner
2,772 posts, read 4,299,701 times
Reputation: 1504
Quote:
Originally Posted by TNic79 View Post
OK, So I'll be moving from Atlanta GA. to Tyson's Corner this weekend! Yay!
My job is a mile away from my apartment (check)

But, What time does traffic die down in Tyson's Corner area during the week?
Will driving around the Tyson's area on the weekends be a pain?
Also, is there any kind of night life in the area for a single, attractive (so I've been told ), female in her early 30's?


I guess I can't really complain being that I live so close to work.
Traffic in Tysons during the week is not an issue, you learn to not jump on Route 7. Go across it using roads like gosnell/westpark or Greensboro. Use roads like the cut through on international near the crate and barrel etc.

I routinely head out of my place at 5:30 and have no issues as long as I dont get on Route 7 or 123 or 495. Westpark bridge is a nice trick right now too, but soon the HOT people will ruin it for us residents.

Driving around Tysons on the weekend isn't an issue except for the entrances to Tysons I itself. On the weekends 60% of the streets have very little cars (I see more bikers and pedestrians than cars on Westpark on saturdays).

There are lots of good spots for the non-college type bar scene. I really like Chef Geoffs (sponsor of mine so take with a grain of salt but that place is packed on weekend nights). I also really like La Sandia for happy hours with a good mix of people, coastals in the mall is good for happy hour. Iris evidently is a legitimate bar, but everytime I have been in their I was sketched out so I didnt stay after 10 (no idea if its good after 10). Harth in the Hilton has a nice patio though its underused right now (not a great scene yet).

I like Tysons also because of its proximity to Vienna which has Alegria/Bazins. In a year Arlington will obviously be in play with a quick metro ride (10 minutes) to Ballston, (15 minutes) to Clarendon/Courthouse. I also routinely use the 5A bus to head to the green line in DC and go to places up on U Street (again could be replaced with metro in a year).

Chili's has a good happy hour but I like to avoid chains (yes I know I suggested a Great American restaurant above). There are a lot of places for happy hours, not as many for weekend nights right now but it seems like that dynamic will be changing as new projects are finished being built.

Hope you find the right hang out spot for yourself, Tysons is definitely no Alexandria or Arlington yet but its getting there. The Tysons Corner | News | Development | Lifestyle I've got a few reviews of different places.

Also there are tons of ethnic cuisine in Tysons as well, from Korean with Woo Lae Oak, to Persian, to Gyros, to Vietnamese, to thai, etc etc Also I dont think you'll be a minority, I think a majority of Tysons residents are multi-cultural. I have a lot of persians, koreans, middle eastern, and greeks in my building and I know that the Rotonda has a lot of foreign diplomats as residents. As a reference not all of us are "zooming around in our M3s" I drive a honda civic with a dent on the hood and 120,000 miles. Also for reference if you see someone driving around Tysons there is a 50% chance its not a resident. We mostly walk or bike on weekends when things are only a mile away and the commuters have left town... you likely just saw some fairfax resident who shops alot at tysons, has a lot of disposable income, and chooses to drive a flashy car.

Last edited by tysonsengineer; 08-13-2012 at 02:21 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2012, 01:55 PM
 
5,125 posts, read 10,046,573 times
Reputation: 2871
Quote:
Originally Posted by GustavoFring View Post
Dining options are limited - Don't like chains? too bad unless you want to be spending a whole lot of dough for Ruth Chris, Chima, Mortons, etc. If you want to avoid the food courts, even the chains are limited. You're welcome to try to get to downtown Falls Church, Vienna or McLean for more unique food options, but have fun with that at 6PM.
I lived close to Tysons in Vienna for over a decade, but was almost never in Tysons at 6 PM on a weekday. I guess it's a different beast in terms of commuting later in the evening.

If you have more flexibility in terms of time, there are a lot of affordable non-chain restaurants in Vienna, Falls Church and McLean (more so Vienna and Falls Church than McLean, the reason being that Route 123/Maple Avenue in Vienna and Route 7/Broad Street in Falls Church get far more vehicular traffic than the main intersection in McLean. These areas are not far from Tysons, although I guess it can take a while to get out of Tysons during the height of the evening rush. The immediate Tysons area always struck me as primarily either expensive account restaurants or little sandwich shops that close at 3 PM every day.

There are some places closer to the heart of Tysons that come to mind - a Lost Dog Cafe on Anderson Road; Shimshiry (good Persian kabob place on Westwood Center Drive); Lebanese Taverna at Tysons II. I now see TysonsEngineer has mentioned some other places. With all the places to eat in the two malls, it seems unlikely there'd be a lot more restaurants in the heart of Tysons unless/until the redevelopment reaches more of a critical mass.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2012, 02:01 PM
 
Location: Tysons Corner
2,772 posts, read 4,299,701 times
Reputation: 1504
Theres tons of places that arent chains in the heart of Tysons also I could keep going with the list (Panache is another good restaurant), Saigon, yada yada. Food is what you look for, if you only look around Tysons at the mall you are destined to find only chains. If you take the road less traveled you will find the mom and pop shops. If you are at the mall though I would suggest Neisha Thai, get the rolling duck appetizer, it will change your life.

Jeb I agree to an extent except there are two dynamics. Most of the chain restaurants are for out of towners going to the mall. Any new restaurants and bars would be addressing resident areas along Westpark with projects like Spring Hill Station and Arbor Row which want to have the arts district/towncenter feel.

The same 150,000 diners per week will keep going to the Tysons existing restaurants and the residents which will grow ten fold will likely to start going to more of the neighborhood areas. 15,000 people live in Tysons and that number will jump to 25,000 in the next 5 years based on the plans currently under construction. 10,000 extra people = a lot more customers for those local restaurants long before the final build out for 100,000 residents.

For example btw, downtown chicago (2mile radius around the loop) has around 200,000 residents and close to 1300 food locations (between markets and restaurants). Inherent customer bases = good business.

Last edited by tysonsengineer; 08-13-2012 at 02:13 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2012, 02:17 PM
 
Location: Fairfax
200 posts, read 559,210 times
Reputation: 80
Quote:
Originally Posted by GustavoFring View Post


Inhabitants - Many of the people that inhabit the tysons area seem to be wealthy middle eastern or asian types who zoom around in M3's all day while taking smoke/coffee breaks at the various Starbucks or malls. I don't really care, but it sometimes got old being one of a few Americans in any of the malls, restaurants, etc to speak English. I know this is the same everywhere in Northern Virginia/ DC, but it seemed especially concentrated in the Tyson area. I attribute this to the proximity or McLean and Great Falls, and the perceived benefits for image conscious people to be seen at the Malls.
I think your comments are largely exaggerated. While there are noticeable number of Asians or middle easterns. The majority of races in Mclean and Vienna are still white (70%); Asians are in the second (by a distance) at 12-15%. See links below:

http://www.city-data.com/city/McLean-Virginia.html

http://www.city-data.com/city/Vienna-Virginia.html
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2012, 04:31 PM
 
28 posts, read 32,630 times
Reputation: 15
Thank you! I knew I could count on a response from you!
I'm all about great food, so I will definitely try some of your recommendations.
Also...I'm Black, so according to the statistics it looks like I'll still be a minority in Tyson's Corner.






Quote:
Originally Posted by tysonsengineer View Post
Theres tons of places that arent chains in the heart of Tysons also I could keep going with the list (Panache is another good restaurant), Saigon, yada yada. Food is what you look for, if you only look around Tysons at the mall you are destined to find only chains. If you take the road less traveled you will find the mom and pop shops. If you are at the mall though I would suggest Neisha Thai, get the rolling duck appetizer, it will change your life.

Jeb I agree to an extent except there are two dynamics. Most of the chain restaurants are for out of towners going to the mall. Any new restaurants and bars would be addressing resident areas along Westpark with projects like Spring Hill Station and Arbor Row which want to have the arts district/towncenter feel.

The same 150,000 diners per week will keep going to the Tysons existing restaurants and the residents which will grow ten fold will likely to start going to more of the neighborhood areas. 15,000 people live in Tysons and that number will jump to 25,000 in the next 5 years based on the plans currently under construction. 10,000 extra people = a lot more customers for those local restaurants long before the final build out for 100,000 residents.

For example btw, downtown chicago (2mile radius around the loop) has around 200,000 residents and close to 1300 food locations (between markets and restaurants). Inherent customer bases = good business.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2012, 07:26 PM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,763 posts, read 15,703,569 times
Reputation: 10850
Quote:
Originally Posted by TNic79 View Post
Thank you! I knew I could count on a response from you!
I'm all about great food, so I will definitely try some of your recommendations.
Also...I'm Black, so according to the statistics it looks like I'll still be a minority in Tyson's Corner.
The nice thing about Northern Virginia is that you will see every race and ethnicity around. Even if your minority race/ethnicity/religion isn't prevalent, you will not stand out.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2012, 08:08 PM
 
28 posts, read 32,630 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by michgc View Post
The nice thing about Northern Virginia is that you will see every race and ethnicity around. Even if your minority race/ethnicity/religion isn't prevalent, you will not stand out.
That's great to know! Thank you!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2012, 08:11 PM
 
28 posts, read 32,630 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by brooklynborndad View Post
There at least used to be several indie ethnic restaurants in the shopping centers on Rte 7.
Thank you! I'll check out that area!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2012, 09:56 PM
 
Location: Tysons Corner
2,772 posts, read 4,299,701 times
Reputation: 1504
Quote:
Originally Posted by TNic79 View Post
Thank you! I knew I could count on a response from you!
I'm all about great food, so I will definitely try some of your recommendations.
Also...I'm Black, so according to the statistics it looks like I'll still be a minority in Tyson's Corner.
Honestly if it werent for the difference in cuisine I dont think many people in Fairfax would notice ethnicity. Its sort of a beacon of hey follow this person for good food of this ethnicity haha. There are plenty of black people in my building as well. I think the idea that Tysons is all persian and koreans is due mostly to the kabob and bulgogi places and plethora of armani exchange stores and not the actual ethnic breakdown of residents. For the record there are plenty of hispanic residents and I even have a neighbor who talks like a cockney chimney sweep. I forget where he said he was from but its some place in Britain.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Virginia > Northern Virginia
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top