RIP Restaurant 3

One of my favorite Arlington restaurants, Restaurant 3, closed its
doors for good last Friday. That's sad news for DC-area food and wine
lovers.

What Restaurant 3 did so well was comfort food with fresh and local
ingredients - shrimp and grits, fried oysters and pork. Lots and lots
of pork. Their happy hour pulled pork sandwiches were among my
favorite cheap eats around, but they didn't stop there. They made
their own bacon, infused that deliciousness into cocktails and hosted
PigFest. Seeing Adidas shorts-wearing men and yoga pants-sporting
women rushing to one of the 8,000 gyms in Arlington only to walk by a
fully roasting pig parked outside the restaurant was always priceless.

Of course, this is a wine blog and while their food - up to and
including their near-obsession with everything pig related will be
greatly missed - they also knew how to accompany their menu with wine.
While never the most extensive or esoteric wine menu, it was very
solid. It worked for and with the food available and ambiance that
Restaurant 3 had.

It is a shame that such a place needed to close its doors after nearly
five years in a prime location with a large and loyal fanbase. Here's
hoping whatever takes its place is also willing to park a smoker in
front and attached a whole pig to it.