Neutral Ground Bar + Kitchen
Restaurant · Mclean ·
Inventive American classics, wood-fired dishes, jazz brunch
Inventive American classics, wood-fired dishes, jazz brunch
"During Sunday jazz brunch, a cocktail cart rolls by loaded with nonalcoholic seasonal spritzers; I like that you can ask for bubbly added on request to turn them boozy." - Adele Chapin
"Celebrity chef and New Orleans native David Guas rings in 2025 with a new Sunday jazz brunch session. Set to live tunes from the famed “Brock, Key, and Walby Trio” band, the menu features Southern brunch dishes and Sinatra-era cocktails like the ”Swoonata,” a Red Rock Bloody Mary, and “brunch-tails” cart roaming around the room. Brunch runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m." - Tierney Plumb, Emily Venezky
"New Orleans native David Guas, the celebrity chef behind Arlington’s longstanding Bayou Bakery, expands his Northern Virginia presence with the opening of Neutral Ground Bar + Kitchen in McLean. His first full-service restaurant showcases small farmers and fisherman in the mid-Atlantic area and along the Gulf Coast. Dishes include wood-fired pork chop with sweet apple slaw; roasted oysters on the half-shell with lemon-garlic butter; a smashed double-patty cheeseburger; and black pepper pavlova. Cocktails grounded in American classics joins a curated list of regional wines and beers." - Tierney Plumb
"Chef David Guas, a 24-year culinary vet by way of New Orleans, has opened a full-service restaurant in downtown McLean that leans on small farmers, heritage growers, and mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast fishermen to turn out modern riffs on regional American favorites. The space—completely gutted and rebuilt in six months—welcomes diners with a palm-shaped iron handle, basket-weave lights over a slick-green host stand, saw palmetto wallpaper, midcentury Palm Springs–inspired decor, a small private Cabana Room framed by breeze blocks, and a color-soaked patio with boxed foliage and burnt-orange umbrellas. Tables come with custom-made wooden caddies inspired by European partitioned picnic baskets to make the experience feel casual and accessible. Almost every seasonal dish is touched by fire: opening standouts include a Caesar built with crispy Parmesan crumble and white anchovy filets, a wood-fired bone-in pork chop, roasted blackberry oysters dunked in garlicky-lemon butter, and a Shenandoah Valley double-patty burger topped with Vidalia onions, American cheese, ketchup, yellow mustard, and pickles on a potato bun; other mains under $30 include a fried quail with sweet, sour, and spicy sauce, short-grain rice, and pickled cucumbers. Guas inherited and plans to maximize a Marra Forni wood-burning oven, and many items are char-grilled from cabbage in a chopped salad to blistered strawberries in basil syrup; desserts skew restrained (see a burnt caramel custard with a nutty crisp). The beverage program emphasizes American classics, zero-proof drinks, regional beers, and wines on tap, plus supersized 16-ounce cocktails like the Pink Palm (a homemade riff on frosé) and a rotating Oceans 11; the 120-seat, “upscale casual” spot has no kids menu or high chairs and will add Sunday brunch soon." - Tierney Plumb
"Expanding his Northern Virginia presence, New Orleans native David Guas opens Neutral Ground Bar + Kitchen in McLean as his first full‑service restaurant in the area, spotlighting small Mid‑Atlantic and Gulf Coast farmers and fishermen with dishes like a wood‑fired double‑cut pork chop with loaded sweet potato, fire‑roasted oysters with garlic butter, a smashed double‑patty cheeseburger, and burnt caramel custard alongside cocktails grounded in American classics at 6641 Old Dominion Drive." - Tierney Plumb