Barley Mac is earning high marks from diners these days for perhaps the best possible reason — one patron says a waiter at the Rosslyn restaurant saved her life a few months back.
A woman with the Yelp username “Taylor E.” posted a review of the eatery last Thursday (Nov. 1), awarding Barley Mac a full five stars not only for a quality meal, but in commemoration of the time a server at the restaurant saved her from choking on a particularly large piece of cauliflower.
“I immediately stood up and began to choke, needing immediate [Heimlich] assistance,” she wrote. “The waiter immediately ran to me and gave me the proper assistance and saved me from passing out. He was so helpful and really was prepared for the situation at hand.”
Milos Mihajlovic, now a manager at Barley Mac, says he remembers the incident quite well — after all, it isn’t often he gets a chance to save a life. He estimates it happened around lunchtime five or six months ago, when he was still waiting tables at the restaurant.
“I was taking care of another table right next to it, and everyone stepped away from the table and started screaming,” Mihajlovic told ARLnow. “The girl was in tears and her friends were yelling that she couldn’t breathe.”
Luckily, Mihajlovic once worked as a lifeguard, so he says he was no stranger to the Heimlich maneuver. Between that and the training he received upon starting at Barley Mac, he says he was able to get Taylor breathing again after just a few seconds.
“It was this huge piece of cauliflower that got stuck in her throat,” Mihajlovic said. “She started crying after that and was so thankful… and all her friends left a very generous tip.”
Mihajlovic says he’s even seen Taylor return to the restaurant since that fateful day, so it would seem the incident hasn’t dissuaded her from returning to Barley Mac. He adds that it’s not exactly commonplace to need to leap into action as he did with her, but he’s been sure to be vigilant ever since.
“We always tell our servers to always it have on their mind that if something like that happens, you need to be there to help,” Mihajlovic said.
File photo
Recent Stories

St. Charles offers a play-based curriculum in a welcoming, Christ-centered environment.Our program focuses on socio-emotional development and kindergarten readiness through hands-on and engaging activities. Our programs offer different schedules ranging from 7:30 am-5:30 pm for students, ages 2-5. We feature a full-day Jr. kindergarten class for older 4’s/5’s. Our facility includes a full-sized gymnasium, school chapel, and library. All of our students enjoy music and physical education weekly. Children have an opportunity to participate in enrichment classes such as soccer, basketball, ballet, and science. We offer Summer Camp with weekly themes and twice a week water play, including Fun Friday moon bounce. Please join us for our Open House Feb. 3 at 9:30 am and 11:00 am. Click here to sign-up. For more information or to schedule a tour, visit us at www.stcharlesarlington.org or call (703) 527-0608.

If you are a lifelong learner over 50+ who wants to make new friends, power up your brain, and enjoy a wide-variety college-level courses, Encore Learning is for you. An Arlington based nonprofit, Encore Learning offers courses in the arts, theater, literature, history, technology and more. This semester we offer our most popular course, Global Hot Spots as well as 25 new courses. Courses are presented either online or in-person at George Mason University at Virginia Square and other Arlington locations.
Join the free presentation to learn about courses and meet the instructors. This is Encore Learning’s signature event to highlight the upcoming semester with brief presentations by each instructor.
The Spring Course Preview event is Thursday, February 2nd at 9:30 AM via Zoom:
Live Standup Comedy Starring Casey James Salengo (Jimmy Kimmel Live,…
Casey James Salengo is a NYC based comedian who’s been featured on Comedy Central Presents, Jimmy Kimmel Live, This Week at the Cellar, and HBO’s Pause with Sam Jay. He performs at clubs, bars, road houses, carnival tents, erotic book
Mini Photo Sessions for Family & Pets
Sign up for your mini session now. We are offering several sessions this winter/spring. Choose what works best for you.
Valentines Mini Sessions (lots of red and pink props)
Saturday, February 11
St Patrick’s Day Mini Sessions (lots of green