Reviews for Happy Eatery in Arlington, VA
The food was great. Flavors were on point and the staff were friendly. However, most of our food came slightly warm, especially... the pho and soups. This is a big problem as we were provided raw meat that's supposed to end up in cooking in the soup. Itypically don't have a problem with food being room temperature but I have a problem with getting foodborne illness from rawmeat. If we hadn't had paid attention to the lack of heat to cook the raw meat, we'd have ended up eating it. Luckily the staffwere nice enough to reheat the soups and all was well. But if the owner is reading this, one suggestion: send the dishes out assoon as they're ready instead of waiting for everything before sending it out. Read more
I was skeptical about Happy Eatery, an Asian fusion restaurant when my friend and I came here for the first time. I must say the... Pho was delicious. Most people here probably live or work in the area because parking sucks. Limited street parking or park in agarage. I definitely will come back here. Read more
A lovely Asian food hall with delicious food, incredibly friendly staff, and cute decor! After being told a million times that I... HAD to try out Happy Eatery, I finally made my way here for a weekday dinner with a friend, and it absolutely lived up to thehype! When I first entered the shop, I was immediately greeted by an incredibly kind and helpful staff member at the bobacounter downstairs and a really vibrant, upbeat atmosphere from the music and decor. We were dining in, so we were directedupstairs, where they had a few tables for two, a line of high-tops along the windows (which provided a ton of natural lightingand were a great way to look over Rosslyn), and a cute seating area for large parties in the very back. My friend and I settleddown at one of the tables for two, and we each ordered a pho. He opted for the beef pho and I went for the vegetarian pho withshirataki noodles. First of all, huge props to Happy Eatery for offering shirataki noodles at all! It was super exciting to seeon the menu, and although shirataki can be a bit difficult to prepare because of its slightly slimy texture of fishy smell,Happy Eatery did a great job of eliminating those slightly off-putting qualities of the wonderful low-carb noodles. Thevegetarian broth was delightfully refreshing, with a good amount of flavor, although I do admit that I'm a bit of a spice fiendand ended up loading up the sriracha. While they had full-size bottles of hoisin sauce at the tables, they only had tiny,single-serving packets of sriracha, which I can't imagine is the most environmentally friendly. I was also surprised that theyserved the pho with the bean sprouts, jalapenos, and cilantro inside of the soup, since I'm accustomed to it coming on the sideso that I can add it at my own pace, but I didn't mind too much. If you're someone that's extremely adamant about having yourbean sprouts at a particular level of crunch or want more control over the amount of the aromatics that you're Read more
Good food, slow service, and a confusing restaurant layout. When you enter the front of the restaurant you were in a small lobby... with what looks like a service bar and ordering kiosks. It?s not immediately clear that you have to actually go up the stairs tothe second floor to dine in and place your orders up there. Read more
Happy Eatery is a modern Asian food hall incorporating restaurants from the Happy Endings Restaurant Group. I honestly didn't... realize that until I got home from my trip. I had this eatery bookmarked even before I left Tampa. I thought the menu items werejust broken up by categories: Chasin' Tails, Roll Play, Pho Play, Lei'd, and Teas'n You. Nope, guess again. These are the 5restaurants that are all under the Happy Endings Hospitality Group. I would have never known that because it doesn't look likeyour traditional food hall. It just looks like a modern meeting place where you socialize and have drinks. There is a kioskwhen you first enter the building which I believe is for takeout. The note on the terminal says to order at the table if you'redining in. There is one kitchen as you walk up the steps to the 2nd level dining area. There is an elevator as well. You won'tsee separate counters for each restaurant. You just find a table or seat along the window area and then scan the QR code whichbrings up the Toast app. You place your order via the app and give it any specialized instructions. It's just that simple. Thepayment is contactless. You can keep the tab open, or close it out and pay right away. It's up to you. It's a coolconcept. Anyway, it was a very difficult decision for me. I wanted so many different things, but I only had one stomach tofeed. I knew I wanted the oxtail pho from Pho Play, but didn't want it to be the spicy oxtail one so I chose the BYO option. Igot the oxtail beef bone broth with the shirataki (or low carb) noodles and oxtail meat. There are no bones in this pho. It'sjust the meat which is kind of nice because you're getting a very generous portion of meat. I also got just about every toppingexcept white onions and jalapenos. I also got the magnum roll with caramelized pork belly from Roll Play, and the fusion fruittea from Teas'n You. I thought I was being smart and not ordering too much. I was wrong. That bowl of pho was hug Read more
Fast, fresh and flavorful! Servers are really kind too. You can tell this restaurant takes not only taste but texture and... balance into account. And a very chill atmosphere to hang out in. I only wish that there was more clarity as to potentialallergens since their dishes can be creative. Some typically gluten free items might not be gluten free. Read more
Got a magnum roll, a chicken banh mi sandwich and a spicy oxtail chicken meat pho. I do like the concept of creating and... customizing your own soup, toppings and sandwiches. My partner said the sandwich and the roll was great. For me the noodles,toppings were great. The chicken was a little chewy. And as you can see the broth is extremely oily. I know I got some chili oilwith the broth, but it was not a ?clean? broth like other locations I?ve been to. I more than usually finish my bowls, didn?tfinish this one. Read more
Not much food variety here but we ordered spicy oxtail pho and it was bomb. It's so delicious! Highly recommended, don't skip... it!???? Magnum roll with caramelized pork belly is good as well. Read more