A new live music and events venue is opening in Ballston this weekend.
The small, 50-seat Filling Station at 4201 Wilson Blvd is opening its doors on Friday night. It’s owned by brothers Ian and Eric Hilton, who also own the adjacent restaurant El Rey.
The venue will focus on hosting live music, comedy, and private events, per its website.
“Filling Station is an intimate venue with an elevated stage that will be host, with no cover charge, to a rotating schedule of musicians, bands and comedians,” says a press release.
“Set with community-style and small group tables, the rustic interior harkens to mid-century culture with the walls filled with that era’s album and magazine covers and music posters,” the press release continues. “Large screen TVs and mounted televisions will show NFL football games and sports this fall.”
Friday night’s inaugural show will feature Cowpoke, a country rock and folk band from Leesburg. Saturday’s show will feature Arlington-based funk-rock band Skip House.
Food will be available from the next-door El Rey, including quesadillas, nachos, torta sandwiches, fries, wings and 17 beers on tap.
ARLnow first reported last month that Filling Station’s opening was imminent, though signs had been up dating back to August 2022.
The venue is part of the Hilton brothers’ burgeoning local restaurant empire. Cafe Coline on Langston Blvd was named one of Washingtonian’s Top 100 restaurants earlier this year. El Rey in Ballston opened in late 2021 as a second location of the popular D.C.-based taqueria.
Arlington’s live music scene has seen some changes in recent months.
B Live opened in May 2022 as a music venue and restaurant in the former Whitlow’s space in Clarendon. But this summer, the venue announced it was shifting to featuring more live karaoke and becoming a “beach bar,” at least temporarily.
The Renegade in Clarendon, which opened in 2019, also features live music.