A beach escape usually involves packing a bag. McLean’s newest taco spot is offering a considerably simpler arrangement: show up on Old Dominion Drive and choose between grilled fish, fried shrimp, or wild mushroom tacos. Surfside Taco Stand opened October 22 at Chesterbrook Shopping Center, bringing the Washington, D.C.–born brand’s beach-inspired Tex-Mex to Virginia for the first time. And on Fridays and Saturdays, the kitchen’s published hours stretch well past the usual dinner window.
The approximately 1,700-square-foot location sits at 6218 Old Dominion Drive, beside Sweetgreen. It operates as a taco stand rather than a full-service restaurant like Surfside’s Tenleytown flagship, but the menu reaches beyond tacos to include burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, quesadillas, bowls, and salads. There are also meals for children, shareable boxes for groups, and desserts for anyone unwilling to let the evening end with the last tortilla.
“We are thrilled to open our first Surfside Taco Stand location in Virginia at Chesterbrook Shopping Center,” Bo Blair, founder and CEO of parent company Georgetown Events Hospitality Group, said in a statement reported by FFXnow. Blair said McLean and Arlington residents had already become loyal customers of the group’s D.C. businesses. This opening gives those customers a Virginia address, and introduces the concept to neighbors who have never made the cross-river trip.
The Beach Theme Extends Beyond the Name
Surfside opened in Washington in 2008 and now operates D.C. locations in Tenleytown, Dupont Circle, and the Wharf, plus an outpost in Nantucket, Massachusetts. The original D.C. storefront closed in 2019, but the brand continued through different formats, including its full-service restaurant and taco stands. McLean joins that existing business rather than serving as the debut of an entirely new restaurant concept.
Its coastal identity shows up in the menu’s geography. Dishes take their names from islands and beach destinations, giving the ordering process a vacation-minded vocabulary without requiring customers to know anything about surf conditions. Federal Realty, Chesterbrook’s owner, described the planned setting as featuring vintage surfboards overhead and a laid-back atmosphere. The idea is beach-inspired dining in a suburban shopping center, not a claim that McLean has suddenly acquired an ocean view.
For Blair, the neighborhood connection is part of the pitch. “We are looking forward to bringing a new community together over our delicious food in a welcoming and casual atmosphere,” he said. Ahead of opening, he added that neighbors had already been stopping by to introduce themselves. Those comments describe the team’s hopes for the location; the opening itself now gives residents a chance to see how the concept fits into their own dining routines.
The Taco Menu Has Fish, Shrimp, Eggs, and Mushrooms
The McLean taco lineup includes the Maui, made with grilled barramundi, and the St. Lucia, featuring fried shrimp. The Tonga brings scrambled eggs into the mix, while the Malibu uses wild mushrooms. That spread offers several starting points beyond a single meat-and-tortilla formula. The names may require a quick look at the descriptions, but the ingredients make the choices clear: grilled fish, fried seafood, eggs, or mushrooms, depending on what sounds good.
Larger orders have their own options. Nacho and fajita boxes can be customized with proteins including grilled chicken, pork, steak, and shrimp, according to Northern Virginia Magazine. FFXnow reports that the shareable boxes are designed for groups of up to 10 people. Children’s meals are also available. Together, those choices make the menu relevant to more than an individual taco run, whether customers are ordering for a household or a larger gathering.
The drinks follow the same casual approach. Alcoholic selections include margaritas, Mexican beer, and hard seltzer, while nonalcoholic choices include soda and lemonade. FFXnow also identifies regular and spicy margaritas, Mexican sodas, and a Montego Bay punch made with coconut milk, pineapple juice, and orange juice. Anyone skipping alcohol therefore has options beyond water, and anyone interested in a little heat can find it in the margarita selection as well as the food.
Dessert is not an afterthought:the opening menu includes tres leches cake, flan, and soft-serve ice cream. Those choices give customers a straightforward way to extend a meal without moving to another business. The available opening reports do not provide a complete price list, so there is no verified basis for calling this a bargain stop or attaching an estimated cost to dinner. What is established is the range of food and drinks available.
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What to Know Before Making a Taco Run
Surfside opens at 10:30 a.m. daily. Published closing times are 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights, and 8:30 p.m. Sunday. That weekend schedule is a notable part of the McLean opening, but it should not be confused with the brand’s Dupont Circle location, which operates around the clock. McLean has late-night weekend service, not a 24-hour schedule.
The October opening also comes before a separate celebration. Federal Realty told FFXnow that a grand opening event was planned for November, but its date and other details had not been finalized in the October 21 report. Customers do not need to wait for that event to visit: Northern Virginia Magazine confirmed on October 22 that the restaurant was open. The distinction is useful for anyone seeing both an opening announcement and references to a future celebration.
Surfside’s arrival follows an $8.5 million renovation at Chesterbrook and other restaurant additions, including Sweetgreen and Sorn Thai. Mike Ennes, Federal Realty’s senior vice president of asset management, called it “another significant step in the evolution” of the center. He added that Surfside’s approach “adds a new dimension to Chesterbrook’s dining options.” For diners, that dimension is now concrete: coastal-themed Tex-Mex at a confirmed McLean address, with fish tacos, shareable fajitas, and a Friday-night closing time that leaves room for a late order.
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