Caviar-Stocked Octagon Bar Leads Second Wave of Isabella Eatery Openings

Octagon, the standalone, Prohibition-style bar restaurateur Mike Isabella erected inside his progressively expanding dining hall, is now serving vintage drinks and gourmet offerings — including caviar priced at $440 per ounce — to holiday shoppers.

The latest addition to multi-faceted isabella Eatery, which is projected to operate from noon to 11 p.m. daily, boasts the priciest dining options to date. Two steaks (a 14-ounce New York strip, and bone-in rib-eye that weighs twice as much) average out to about $50 a pop. A giant seafood tower from the forthcoming Requin raw bar (more on that in a moment) runs $150. And the aforementioned Petrossian caviar service tops them all at $220 per half-ounce.

Those on a tighter budget way want to stick with Asian-style chicken wings ($8), two types of fried chicken sandwiches ($12 each), a gourmet cheeseburger ($14), or the oyster po’boy ($16). Fine with a medium-sized splurge? A Duke’s mayo-swabbed lobster roll and jalapeno-spiked jumbo lump crab cake are $22 each. The unifying factor: the protein-packed selections are all what Isabella referred to as “manly food.”

Customers more interested in liquid refreshment should expect to wrap their lips around classic cocktails and greatest hits from the existing restaurants within Isabella’s burgeoning hospitality empire. Taha Ismail, beverage director for Mike Isabella Concepts, told Eater earlier this month that he plans to feature 50 cocktails at Octagon ranging from traditional Manhattans and martinis to refreshed versions of favorites previously served at the flagship Graffiato, Kapnos, Arroz, and other Isabella-branded properties.

Meanwhile, an Isabella spokeswoman says the modified versions of Mexican-themed Pepita, sushi-focused Yona, and seafood-centric Requin are currently scheduled to begin serving “limited menus” on Friday, December 22. All three newcomers are projected to operate from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

Photo by Francesco Isgro

The two final dining operations, a scaled-down version of Arroz, and the central Dining Hall, are now described as opening “soon.”

Status: Certified open. 2001 International Drive, McLean, Va.; website.

• The Most Anticipated Restaurants in D.C., Winter 2018 [EDC]
• Initial Phase of Isabella Eatery Is Now Open in Tysons [EDC]
• The Most Anticipated Restaurants in D.C., Fall 2017 [EDC]
• Isabella Eatery Will Finally Let Shoppers Carry Beer Around Tysons Galleria [EDC]