Looking for some great food in Arlington? Here are my three favorite dishes:

Sage Spätzle, Thirsty Bernie. Living in Germany as a boy, I fell in love with a lot of the local dishes. The US doesn’t yet have the technology to make a passable brötchen, and I’ve never had a jäger schnitzel here that lives up to my memory. But Thirsty Bernie has a bunch of Bavarian dishes in a laid-back bar atmosphere. I wouldn’t call any of them perfectly authentic or traditional, but most of them are better than any German-style fare I’ve had elsewhere. But the spätzle. Ahh the spätzle. It rivals what I remember. Get it as a side with their Austrian Chicken Sandwich.

Pork Sausage NZ Style, Cassatt’s Cafe. Cassatt’s specializes in food from New Zealand. Everything I know about New Zealand  I learned in the LOTR commentary, so I wouldn’t know if they’re making it all up, but they serve a lot of small animals like pigs and lambs and chickens, which seems plausible to me. Anyway, the tomato chutney makes this dish. I’ve never had it during dinner or lunch, but the pork sausage is my go to brunch choice.

Carolina Fried Chicken, Iota. This is the best fried chicken I’ve eaten. I’m craving it right now, actually. May be too salty for some tastes, but it’s not greasy at all and breaded perfectly. The greens that come with it are also good, but I try to switch out the macaroni and cheese for a big piece of cornbread if they have it. Not that it’s bad mac & cheese, but southern-style mac & cheese was never something I really was into (heresy, I know). I think they recently updated their menu, so it may not be right on their website.