Immigrant Food, a D.C.-based restaurant with a focus on “gastroadvocacy,” has opened its first Arlington location in Ballston.
The restaurant with global offerings and a mission to celebrate immigrant communities opened its doors last week at 4245 Fairfax Drive, across from the Ballston Metro station. Bold flavors from cuisines around the world come along with the restaurant’s commitment to supporting local nonprofits.
Multicultural brunch, lunch, dinner and happy hour menus celebrate how “immigrants brought their recipes and traditions to this country and reshaped what and how we eat,” according to the restaurant’s website.
“It’s this special mix of peoples, cultures and foods that has made America great … again and again,” the website says.
At lunch, diners can choose between West African gumbo, Vietnamese rice noodles, falafel or a Cuban sandwich, to name a few options. A notable evening specialty, meanwhile, is “Around the World Dim Sum,” featuring a selection of chicken and lemongrass dumplings, crab beignets, samosas or bao buns that customers can order for the table.
Japanese cocktails, American beers and Italian wines are just a small taste of Immigrant Food’s drink menu.
The restaurant also serves cocktail flights that change every quarter. For $23, diners can try three different drinks with “flavors from all over the world,” General Manager Miguel Carranza told ARLnow.
In the past, these flights included twists on classic cocktails like martinis or old fashions.
A unique element at Immigrant Food is the restaurant’s Weekly Engagement Menu.
“It shows five different ways every single week that our guests can interact or help out the community,” Carranza told ARLnow.
For a limited time, the restaurant is also offering a perk for new customers. From now until the end of August, people who sign up for Immigrant Food’s email newsletter can receive a free Agua de Jamaica.
“It’s one of our signature drinks,” he said. “It’s a house-made sweet hibiscus tea. It’s huge in south Central America. You’ll see it in the Caribbean or Africa as well.”
The restaurant also provides educational and advocacy-related content through its monthly online magazine, The Think Table, in addition to working with several nonprofit partners that provide essential services to the community, Carranza said.
“[Immigrant Food] has two beating hearts,” he said. “There’s the restaurant, which is how we celebrate immigrants, and the advocacy side, where we work with out local nonprofits.”
The new location marks the chain’s first brick-and-mortar location outside of D.C. The other three reside outside the Planet Word Museum, the White House and Union Market.
Reservations can be booked on Resy.
