Vienna, VA one of best places to live accdg. to Money magazine (Arlington: home, restaurants)

[Natthapol]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

Didn't mean to jump on you about it. Theres no doubt that DC has some great food too. But it lends an important point to the discussion

DC:Food is not fair to compare to Vienna:Food

If you want to say DuPont:Food is to Vienna:Food then thats valid, they are both similar but in fairness if you want to compare equivalent jurisdictions between the 68 square mile region that is DC, with 600K+ people, and several distinct neighborhoods that if they existed in a jurisdictional system like Fairfax would be similar to individual towns and unincorporated regions, it should be

DC:Food is to Fairfax County:Food

To which I'd say, bring it on with DC

Yes, it's not fair to compare to area with significantly different population and total sq mile. My point is that in my opinion, restaurants in Vienna aren't that great and I keep finding myself driving outside Vienna/Tyson area to find good food in DC, Arlington, Bethesda, Alexandria and etc.. There are restaurants that I really like and I feel like it's worth driving 30 minutes or even more just to dine there. None of the restaurants in Vienna makes me feel that way. I agree with you though that the restaurant scene is better than a town full of Ruby Tuesdays but still I won't call it "great". Then again, it's just my opinion and everyone has different taste.

With that saying, I really do hope that with all these developments happening in Tysons, I hope to see a lot more better restaurants coming to us.

[FCNova]

I notice just as many small businesses in Vienna as anywhere else. When I go to the farmer's market there's a nice coffee shop right there we like, definitely seems like a small business. There are the normal chains too. Barq, I know you have an issue with Town of Vienna's ruling on home daycares and the max kids they can have. Is that the only issue you have with their business policies or are there others?

[PK12]

Originally Posted by Natthapol

Will have to check out Mykonos Grill, haven't been there yet.

Szechuan Pavillion got huge Asian followings though, it is always packed with Asian and we know our food! I tried Hong Kong Palace but didn't like it as much (again it's talking about food is subjective). Bobs Noodle House is great but it's Taiwanese food actually.

Yes Thai X-ing has gone pricey, it used to be cheaper. The list of Thai restaurants you provided are great and I like all of them but not so much for Sawatdee. I would add "Thai Square" in Arlington to that list too.

Doesn't want to hijack this thread from the OP though, so admin please come along and steer us in the right direction! lol

Okay, I will concede to you there since I am not Asian - rather, South Asian - Pakistani, so my bad For some reason Szechuan Pavillion didnt cut it for me like HK Palace, the latter does very well with their spices and reminds me of the Chinese food I ate while growing up in Pakistan, so I guess I am a little biased there.

On a related note, Peking Gourmet Inn is awesome!! But, only for the duck and lamb chops. Everything else is pretty much avg Americanized-Chinese fare

[RusUs]

I am glad to hear that Vienna again is on the list of the best towns to live. I like Vienna! :-)

[BarqCider]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

@barqcider

Can you explain what you mean by disdain for small business? You think there are people who actively go after shoeing away small businesses?

BTW, considering Vienna is a last bastion of main street, avoiding the big boxxy goodness that is indicative of the rest of Northern Virginia (ie the parts that I assume you find to be "good for small business") I find it hard to relate to your statements.

Yes there are CVS/Walgreens, thats because there are very very few local pharmacists in the modern world. Not sure why, its simply something that has happened. The coffee shop you speak of, there is a prominent small business coffee shop (Caffe Amouri) as well as local gem Jammin Java... I would think that would counter your argument on that front considering there is only an equivalent number of franchise coffee shops (carribou and starbucks) within the town limits.

I dont disagree that the town could use some modern thought on what place it should have in the region overall... I guess thats the one thing I agree about.

the folks have an old archaic mind. being that i lived in the town proper for 11 years before i recently moved away to pittsburgh, have you noticed lack of real social enviroments for both youth and adults?

the only reason vienna inn and neighbors exist is because they are essentially grandfathered in. I'll be long gone before the town allowed a restaurant/bar to open up. if you noticed most new things for the most part, are chains that moved into the town proper.

lets not forget how stubborn the town is. They could have fixed the gridlock og 123 by adding alt routes to get through the town. church st is also backed up since locals and others use it to avoid 123. the signals also dont help the traffic between 50 and tysons.

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by BarqCider

the folks have an old archaic mind. being that i lived in the town proper for 11 years before i recently moved away to pittsburgh, have you noticed lack of real social enviroments for both youth and adults?

the only reason vienna inn and neighbors exist is because they are essentially grandfathered in. I'll be long gone before the town allowed a restaurant/bar to open up. if you noticed most new things for the most part, are chains that moved into the town proper.

lets not forget how stubborn the town is. They could have fixed the gridlock og 123 by adding alt routes to get through the town. church st is also backed up since locals and others use it to avoid 123. the signals also dont help the traffic between 50 and tysons.

Gridlock in a town, is often the best thing for a town. If you make it easier to drive through, Chantilly and Centreville will just send more people off of Route 7 and DTR and 66, and push em through 123. You'll always have the same amount of congestion in an area with enough people to find a congestion equilibrium. Theres no such thing as a road widening that will stop that. They could make 123 a parallel system equal in size to 66, all that would happen is people would siphon off of DTR and Route 7 to make it just the same as I-66 is.

To the rest of the comment, dont disagree, then again I have no proof one way or the other. I do wish there were more new bars, but that might be more of an issue with zoning and antiquated Virginia (supposedly friendly to small businesses unless those businesses sell booze) ABC laws

[FCNova]

Is it really Vienna that keeps bars out, or bars just not seeing it as an attractive venue being how family oriented it is? What laws or ordinance did Town of Vienna actually pass to keep bars out? I'm curious as to how they could actually block this. VA liquor laws are strict and would prevent a pure "bar" from opening(food must be served, essentially making it a restaurant). That's not a Vienna issue though.

[BarqCider]

Originally Posted by FCNova

Is it really Vienna that keeps bars out, or bars just not seeing it as an attractive venue being how family oriented it is? What laws or ordinance did Town of Vienna actually pass to keep bars out? I'm curious as to how they could actually block this. VA liquor laws are strict and would prevent a pure "bar" from opening(food must be served, essentially making it a restaurant). That's not a Vienna issue though.

there isnt laws per se, its just the council of the town is..stuck in the 60s and doesnt want to attract drunks,loud people.

[tysonsengineer]

Originally Posted by BarqCider

there isnt laws per se, its just the council of the town is..stuck in the 60s and doesnt want to attract drunks,loud people.

Well its too bad I'm headin to Vienna anyways!

[mcleanexec]

No good bars/pubs in Vienna. Restaurants are mediocre at best. Doesnt matter, after rush hour you get downtown in 30 mins to great restaurants/bars-clubs. Great Bike Trails/Top rated schools/low crime make Vienna/Oakton a great place to live.