Trio Grill Cooks Up New Happy Hour Menu
Trio Grill, 8100 Lee Highway in the Merrifield section of Falls Church, recently introduced a new happy hour menu, which is available from 4-9 p.m. Sunday and 4-7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Trio Grill from Metropolitan Hospitality Group, the owners of the Circa restaurants in Dupont, Foggy Bottom and Clarendon, is about .75 mile from the Dunn Loring Metro station on the Orange Line for city dwellers and offers free valet parking for drivers. It is located near Merrifield Garden Center, the 495 Express Lane entrance and down the street from Fairfax County’s Mosaic District.
The new happy hour menu includes seven appetizers for $7 and four types of oysters priced at $9 for six or $18 for a dozen. There are also $5 draft beers, $7 well drinks, $7 featured wines by the glass and an $8 Bees Knees made with Aviation ging, lemon, honey syrup and Fee Brothers orange bitters.
In addition to its main dining room that features white tablecloths and napkins, orange leather chairs and striped banquettes, and lounge with long wood bar, high top tables and orange and yellow leather stools, Trio Grill features an outdoor patio complete with a fireplace and television, a party room and the “Justice Room,” the area’s only year-round cigar lounge with another fire place, television, cigar cutters and wooden matches. And if you forgot your cigar or ran out, the bar sells seven different kinds of cigars ranging from $12-$23 each.
In the bar and lounge, the $7 happy hour appetizers include tuna tartar nachos made with wonton chips, wasabi guacamole, pickled ginger cream, dried seaweed, tobiko and diced raw tuna; bison in a blanket, local New Frontier bison, smoked gouda in flakey puff pastry with smoked ketchup and Dijon mustard; tempura shrimp that is flash fried and served with garlic chili glaze and rice wine cucumber salad; crispy fried confit drumsticks with house-made honey buffalo sauce and smoked blue cheese dressing; steak and cheese sandwiches made with thinly shaved CAB beef, provolone cheese, caramelized onions and Cajun fried onions; BBQ oyster lettuce wraps with blue cheese, bacon, cucumber, cherry tomato and BBQ vinaigrette; and Trio hand-cut, herbed steak fries cooked in duck fat and served with hollandaise sauce.
During a visit last week, the media was treated to some samples of the appetizers and new summer cocktails. The tuna tartar nachos were the hands-down favorite by far with the crispy wontons adding crunch, and don’t be afraid of the wasabi guacamole. It was very mild. In fact, I asked for some extra wasabi to give it more of a kick. The steak and cheese was also a favorite of mine along with the arancini, fried hand-rolled risotto balls filled with spicy sausage and aged provolone covered with marinara and basil aioli. The only appetizer that didn’t seem to be a hit was the smoked, house-made burrata served with arugula, basil oil, charbroiled ciabatta and tomato jam. Although he tomato jam was very tasty, the burrata – an Italian cheese made with mozzarella and cream — while smooth and creamy, was too smoky for my palate.
The new Aguamelon Fresca handcrafted cocktail made with Espoion Blanco tequila, watermelon, agave, habanero syrup and lime was a refreshing summer drink. A Drink with Hemingway, made with Mount Gay rum, lime, Prosecco and Boston Bittahs is also one of the new summer cocktails.
Trio Grill opens daily at 4 p.m.
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.