A new day-to-night restaurant and rooftop bar with a “supper club vibe” is opening soon at the former Wilson Hardware in Clarendon.
The Boulevard, a restaurant that “blends modern American dining with playful Asian fusion,” is planning to open this spring at 2915 Wilson Blvd — along with Solset, a new bar on the rooftop offering “lighter bites and sunset cocktails.”
It’s the latest project and first Virginia venture for Antonis Karagounis, a McLean resident known for D.C. ventures like Decades, Zebbie’s Graden and Ultrabar. The Boulevard and Solset aim to channel “D.C. energy into a sophisticated, but lively and fun Arlington setting” with DJs on the weekends.
Karagounis, who is targeting a late April or early May opening, told ARLnow that he sees it as a “natural progression” of Wilson Hardware, which “just needed some fine-tuning and a facelift and a brand new concept.”
“It’s not a nightclub, dance floor kind of a situation,” Karagounis said. “[It’s] more of, like, a supper club vibe, where it’s dinner and goes into a DJ later on, and people can hang out and get their cocktails and some food, some appetizers.”
The kitchen will be led by Wilson Hardware’s former chef, Homero González, along with Baryon Navarro and Chef Juan “Nacho” Olivera of Ceibo in D.C. Their menu includes dishes like lamb slider bao buns, steak frites, cavatelli with king mushrooms and a king salmon tiradito with yuzu leche de tigre.
The restaurant also plans to offer a variety of sushi and rolls, including a spicy salmon ceviche with mango and jalapeño. A new brunch menu is expected to drop in May.
The rooftop, meanwhile, will offer a beverage program directed by Glendon Hartley with drinks ranging from a “caviar-paired Gibsons to a nostalgic ‘Breakfast Fizz,'” a rum-based, citrusy cocktail with Froot Loops-infused coconut milk, served with a side of the colorful cereal.
Renderings depict a dining room and rooftop designs with warm colors and lush greenery. Karagounis hopes the venue — which previously underwent a $1 million renovation and rooftop expansion in 2022 — offers an “upscale, casual” atmosphere for socializing.
“The [rooftop] vibe is more of that Tulum meets Ibiza meets Mykonos,” Karagounis said. “Very relaxed, cool music, more of a background music situation, and people can just come and hang out.”
Karagounis, who moved to the area from Greece in 1993, says he is excited to go into business in the neighborhood, which feels like a “totally different experience from D.C.”
“You’re walking around, there’s tons of life, people are all over the place,” he said. “In the past few years, unfortunately, D.C. has gone through a lot of changes with the government and the offices that have closed, and to me, [Clarendon] feels like it feels more downtown than being in the suburbs. It’s very bright.”
