Arlington Gets a New Balkan Option in Ambar

Fans of Capitol Hill Balkan restaurant Ambar now will have a second location to enjoy the restaurant’s variety of mezze, Serbian dishes, and salads. The Clarendon location of the restaurant opens in the former Boulevard Woodgrill space today at 2901 Wilson Blvd.

The restaurant from Ivan Iricanin, Mihailo Subotic, and chef Chris Hawkins, is 3,600 square feet in size, has about 50 percent new menu items (some influenced by Hawkins’ recent travels to the Balkans). Some of the new dishes, made with a new wood-fired grill, include a lamb pate, suckling pig, lamb skewers, a wild boar burger, and more. They’ll have dinner at first, with breakfast, lunch, and brunch to follow. The location will have a $35 unlimited food option (ten dollars off through Oct. 13), and Balkan wines and rakia, the fermented spirit, remain a focus.

Though the second in the area, this is the third Ambar internationally — a second opened in Belgrade. Status: Opening tonight. 2901 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va.; website.

Inside the new Ambar [Photo: Official]