A fixer-upper nightlife spot in Falls Church has transformed into a new Caribbean restaurant and bar under new ownership.
Ricky Bartlette took Lesly’s Restaurant Bar and Grill under his wing in January, hoping to improve its reputation. Since then, the entrepreneur, who also owns a Baltimore-based security firm, has renovated and added a Caribbean menu.
The restaurant at 306 Hillwood Avenue was previously the subject of poor reviews and frequent police visits, Bartlette told ARLnow. Now, reviews across Google and Yelp are consistently improving.
“What I wanted to do was to come in and make it a good local hangout spot,” he said. “[The former owner] had called me and he said, ‘Hey, I know you’ve always wanted this spot, are you interested in taking it over and turning it around?'”
Over the past few months, Bartlette painted and removed rotten ceiling tiles and old lottery machines. Outside, he installed new a patio shade and seating.
The kitchen, which previously served Latin food, now offers Caribbean eats from Bartlette’s formative years in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, where his family once owned a restaurant and his mother taught him to cook.
Highlights include smoked meats, jerk wings, snapper and oxtail stew, cooked for two to three hours until fall-apart tender. The restaurant makes everything from scratch, down to its batches of homemade hot sauce.
“I want to serve food like, when you bite into it, it’s like a tongue of a lover,” he joked.
A new happy hour from 3-7 p.m. every day offers $4 appetizers and $5 drinks. The bar plans to serve eight to 10 signature tropical cocktails with Caribbean spirits.
These include the classic painkiller and the “bushwacker,” a blended drink with Cruzan Rum, Baileys Irish Cream, Kahlua and coconut cream.
This is not Bartlette’s first foray into the restaurant industry. Upon arriving in the D.C. area in 1997, he landed a job at Martin’s Tavern in Georgetown and eventually managed a Domino’s Pizza franchise. He also owned Papa Joe’s Pizza, a now-closed Falls Church pizzeria.
Sharing his heritage through a Caribbean restaurant has been Bartlette’s longtime dream. He hopes Lesly’s becomes a popular neighborhood spot for people to destress.
“I want people to come in and go, ‘whoosah,’ you know,” Bartlette said. “I want you to come have a whoosah moment.”
He also hopes his eatery can be a comfortable establishment for customers with disabilities, as the father of a son with autism.
“I want to be a part of special needs programs,” he said. “It means a lot to me.”
Looking ahead, Bartlette hopes to host live music, including steel drums, blues and jazz, as well as karaoke, sports games and private events. The restaurant is open daily from 11 a.m.-2 a.m.
