A team of DC-area bar and restaurant vets—Johnny Spero, the chef at Georgetown’s modern American restaurant Reverie, Arlington bar owner Scott Parker, and the crew behind Virginia brewery Aslin Beer Company—is coming together to open a beer hall fully dedicated to low-alcohol beers that will also serve crispy, thin-crust pizza and burgers. Nineties-inspired Nighthawk Pizza is slated for a fall 2021 opening at the newly-renamed Wespost (formerly Pentagon Row) in National Landing (formerly Crystal City).
“Growing up and going to Pizza Hut or a local pizza spot with my dad and his buddies — they’re drinking some lager and we’re all pounding pizzas and bread sticks — that was the main point of time to me from a reference standpoint,” says Aslin co-founder Andrew Kelley.
Kelly’s brewery is putting together the beer menu, focusing on low-ABV versions of traditional styles — think Czech pilsners and saisons—so imbibers can spend a night hanging out and toasting sans hangover. Visitors will be able to sip cans in the brightly-colored beer hall or take beers for a stroll around the shopping center. (Westpost has a special license that allows outdoor drinking around the pavilion.)
Brews will be paired with Spero’s nostalgic pizza menu, a nod to his teenage jobs at small Baltimore pizza joints, long before he worked in renowned fine dining spots like Noma in Copenhagen and José Andrés’ modernist Minibar,
Spero will be slinging thin-crust pies reminiscent of Chicago’s tavern-style slices, meant to be eaten with one hand while the other nurses a cold beer. In addition to pizza, Spero will also be riffing on bar food such as smash-patty burgers, fried chicken, and smoked meats.
Nighthawk Pizza. 1201 S. Joyce St., Arlington
Daniella Byck joined Washingtonian in 2022. She was previously with Outside Magazine and lives in Northeast DC.
