"The flavors of the Uyghur people are coming to Crystal City later this year," ARLnow's Jared Serre wrote on July 3, 2024. A representative of Dolan had confirmed to the Arlington news site that we planned to open our next restaurant in the neighborhood, on the ground floor of the Quimby on 23rd, a 440-unit apartment building at 320 23rd Street S.
The article relayed what we told ARLnow about the concept. Our menu carries both Turkish and Chinese influences, and at Crystal City we intended to introduce a handful of Mediterranean offerings to welcome a wider clientele. "This expansion promises to bring to local customers Uyghur cuisine's rich flavors and unique dining experience, enhanced by various Mediterranean influences," we said in an email.
ARLnow also noted that a liquor license application had been submitted to Virginia ABC the week before, and that two other restaurants were preparing to open in the same building. The Washington Business Journal separately reported the details of our lease: 2,485 square feet in a building formerly known as The Buchanan, as part of the landlord's refresh of 23rd Street's restaurant row.
At the time we hoped to open in November 2024. Falls Church, which opened that month instead, took priority, and Crystal City followed a longer path — a timeline ARLnow tracked in two further articles, in September 2024 and August 2026. Dolan Arlington finally opened on July 17, 2026, with sixty seats, the full repertoire of hand-pulled noodles, kebabs and dumplings, and the Mediterranean additions we had promised two years earlier: doner kebab wraps, dolma and more.
For a neighborhood a short walk from the Crystal City Metro and Reagan National Airport, it was a long wait. We think it was worth it — and our first Arlington guests, judging by the reviews, agree.
This article is our own account of the coverage; short quotations are attributed to ARLnow, which holds the copyright to the original piece.
