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Oz, a new Australian restaurant in Clarendon, has started serving traditional dishes like Rissole eggs, meat pies and fish and chips as part of its soft opening.

The restaurant was open for dinner yesterday. The soft opening continues today with dinner from 5-9 p.m. Full service, including lunch and happy hour, will potentially start on Friday, said co-owner Ashley Darby.

Once fully opened, the restaurant will serve dinner seven days a week, with brunch on Saturday and Sundays and lunch on Wednesdays through Fridays.

The restaurant serves authentic Australian cuisine, Darby said, adding that the food is new to many of the restaurant staff, including herself.

“We’re all learning as we go,” said Darby, who was crowned Miss D.C. in 2011.

Darby co-owns the restaurant with her husband, Michael, who is an Australian native and the co-founder of local real estate development firm Monument Realty.

A few waiters and one of the hostesses are also from Australia, Darby said.

The Australian theme extends past the food. The interior of the restaurant is designed to have elements reminiscent of a house on the outback, Darby said.

The main dining room represents the inside of the house that has just seen a brush fire, she said. The back wall is made up of alternating light and dark wood panels to give the impression of “trees scorched by fire,” Darby said. Aboriginal artwork, including painted boomerangs, are hung around the room.

Guest have the option to sit in the covered “porch,” with vines hanging across the walls to make it feel as if the guests are on the front porch of a house.

Customers can grab a traditional Australian drink at the bar and enjoy it under an “open” sky. The bar was designed to look like the back deck of the house, with the ceiling painted like an outback sky. The bar has a small lounge area, with copper tones and a backsplash made to look like sand dunes, Darby said.

In addition to the seating inside, the restaurant offers outdoor seating along its front and side. The Australian theme does not get carried outside, Darby said.

So far, Darby says she has heard good things from customers, adding that there are a few taste adjustments the restaurant will make.

“I think people are curious and willing to try, and [they] come in open-minded,” Darby said.

Oz, a new Clarendon bar and restaurant with modern Australian cuisine, is planning to open its doors next month.

The restaurant, located at 2950 Clarendon Blvd., is currently under construction, but Oz’s grand opening is planned for Sept. 10 for media and invited guests.

After its grand opening, the restaurant will open to the public, said co-owner Ashley Darby, a former Miss D.C.

The restaurant’s interior is meant to feel like a house on the Australian outback and can seat 150 guests, Darby said.

The back dining area will be decorated like the inside of a house, the bar is meant to feel like a back porch of a house and the front dining area will look a front patio, she said. The restaurant will also have outdoor seating for 50 guests.

Darby said she wants the Oz to be a place that guests can come to relax with friends, enjoy a beer and taste authentic Australian food. The menu will feature dishes served in Australia, such as rissoles and eggs, a typical Australian brunch dish, and an Australian version of a s’more.

Darby’s husband and Oz co-owner, Michael, is an Australian native.

“It’ll offer a different perspective on some cuts of meat and plates we have in America,” Darby said.

The Darbys have lived in Arlington for four years, and the area’s young and diverse population made it the ideal location for the restaurant, she said.

“We just loved it so much that it seemed to be the natural thing,” Darby said.

Bar photo courtesy of Ashley Darby