Around Town

UPDATED: Seafood restaurant looking to open later this fall in Thirsty Bernie’s former home

Thirsty Bernie is turning into Ocean Shack (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated on 9/5/23) Local watering hole Thirsty Bernie is becoming Ocean Shack.

The former home of the neighborhood bar and restaurant at the corner of N. Glebe Road and Langston Blvd is being turned into a cajun seafood restaurant, a spokesperson said.

Ocean Shack is from the owners of Ocean Crab in Chantilly. That restaurant serves crab, fried oysters, scallops, fried baskets and other seafood. Ocean Shack will be a different concept, we’re told, but have a somewhat similar menu.

Construction is underway in the 1,767-square-foot space at 2163 N. Glebe Road. The plan is to open in late November or early December, depending on how quickly Arlington County processes the required paperwork, according to the spokesperson.

Thirsty Bernie closed back in May after about 15 years of serving pints at Glebe Lee Shopping Center. Co-owner Gobind Ghai told ARLnow then that sales were not high enough to make it financially viable to renew the lease.

The Adagio Ballet School of Dance was also once open in that shopping center before closing in May 2020. It has since rebranded and reopened as the Virginia Dance Conservatory on Little Falls Road near Rock Spring Park.