(Updated at 5 p.m.) Chicken + Whiskey is crossing the river to get to Clarendon.
The new South American rotisserie chicken restaurant and whiskey bar is hoping to open this spring, co-owner Des Reilly confirmed to ARLnow.
Permitting and construction remain ongoing in the nearly 6,000 square-foot space at 3033 Wilson Blvd, where window stickers are now advertising the restaurant. One sticker reads, “Chicken in the front, Whiskey in the back.”
The new eatery and bar moves into a space that was formerly occupied by Hunan Number One, which closed three years ago. It will be in the same building as Waterhouse Coffee and the newly-opened Bar Ivy while across the street from Mexicali Blues.
The menu consists of Peruvian chicken, homemade sauces, sides like yucca fries and black beans, and a wide selection of whiskeys. There are also cocktails, churro donuts, arepas, and salads.
This will be Chicken + Whiskey’s fourth location, but first outside of the District. The restaurant is led by Chef Enrique Limardo who is “commonly credited as the pioneer of modern Venezuelan cooking in the U.S.,” per Huffington Post. He’s also the head chef at Immigrant Food and D.C.’s Seven Reasons, which was named 2019’s best new restaurant in the country by at least one publication.
Reilly said that the reason Clarendon was chosen as the next location for Chicken + Whiskey is that they believe good Peruvian chicken is “missing” from the neighborhood.
That section of Wilson Blvd, the two blocks between N. Highland Street and N. Fillmore Street, has been undergoing some changes recently. Bar Ivy opened this summer while the former sports bar G.O.A.T. is being converted into a bank. Meanwhile, Maison Cheryl is currently closed for a “fall refresh.” Just beyond N. Fillmore Street, buzzy Middle Eastern restaurant Tawle is looking to open in the spring as well.
Hat tip to David Kinney