Neighborhood Guide: National Landing
What’s New

Washingtonian

By Marisa M. Kashino and Margaret Kates

March 27, 2021

Here Comes the Neighborhood

The area now being called National Landing is made up of three more familiar-sounding places: Crystal City, Pentagon City, and part of Potomac Yard. While the new name debuted when Amazon made its big HQ2 announcement back in November 2018, the moniker only recently became more official. Last September, the Crystal City Business Improvement District expanded its boundaries to encompass the entire HQ2 area. Then the organization changed its name to the National Landing BID this June after getting the Arlington County Board’s sign-off.

Doors Opening

A second entrance for the Crystal City Metro is in the works. In July, Arlington County approved an agreement with a subsidiary of HQ2 developer JBG Smith for construction of the entrance, to be at the northwest corner of Crystal Drive and 18th Street.

In normal, non-pandemic times, the Crystal City station’s only existing entrance is often overcrowded and has limited emergency egress. The idea for a second entrance has been around much longer than HQ2—it was initially part of a 2010 plan for the neighborhood. But last year, JBG SMITH proposed that it be the company to finally design and build it.

Pop-Up BBQ

Kevin Tien, former chef at the Capitol Hill hot spot Emilie’s, and Scott Chung, owner of the homemade-bao venture Bun’d Up, teamed up to create Wild Tiger BBQ (1201 S. Joyce St.), which opened in Pentagon Row in August. The menu reflects Tien’s roots in Texas and Louisiana and Chung’s upbringing eating his family’s Korean barbecue. You’ll find ramen-rubbed meats and sides such as tater tots with miso ranch and kimchee pimiento dip. Wild Tiger is a pop-up for now—it’s run from Chung’s Bun’d Up location in Pentagon Row, which opened late last year. But the chefs have said they may be on the hunt for a permanent home for the concept in the future.

Read the full feature here.