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On a hilltop overlooking McLean sits a veritable fair of food and drink housed in shipping containers. This multi-concept outdoor food hall, has four bars and restaurants, live music, a play area for kids, a dog park and an abundance of seating, all within its outdoor premises. 

This unusual eatery is run by Creative Bar Concepts LLC, a Northern Virginia company that aims to provide unique dining experiences with creative venue design, extensive offerings, and community integration. 

“If you do the same exact thing over and over again, you get tired of it. So I like to do something that’s exciting and different,” said Matt Rofougaran, managing partner. “Hops n Shine is a custom grilled cheese restaurant with a hundred different types of whiskey. ShipGarten is basically four restaurants in one huge park. Herndon Biergarten is your traditional beer garden. So they’re all different from each other.”

Creative Bar Concepts started off with a traditional German beer hall in Tysons. They then developed a hole-in-the wall restaurant in Alexandria known for its 52 craft beer draft lines and artisan grilled cheeses. Their newest, and most unusual, space yet is ShipGarten, which had its grand opening the weekend of July 16.

The large, outdoor space has four different bars and restaurants housed in beautifully painted shipping containers. Customers have one tab that allows them to buy food and drink at any of the four venues.

There are picnic tables all around the space, as well as tables and couches under a large tent with fans and TVs. Other aspects include a play area for kids with playground equipment and a bouncy house, a dog park, and lawn games.

“It’s spacious, it’s outdoors. I like having a tab and you can kind of roam around everywhere with one tab,” said Carolina Valle, who was at the ShipGarten for the first time last weekend. “It’s very accommodating. My mother uses a walker, so it’s very accommodating for her which is nice.”

There’s also a new restaurant being developed by the company in Herndon. Plans for the space were recently resubmitted, and once they are approved the construction process will begin. The space will have four bars, outdoor seating, a rooftop patio, and more.

These new eateries follow popular trends in the restaurant industry, including having outdoor spaces, live music, and games. They prioritize creating lively atmospheres along with great food and drink.

“ShipGarten has a kid’s playground, it has a dog park, it has a hundred different types of beer, a whiskey bar, a tequila bar. It has live music, at night time it has a DJ,” said Rofougaran. “It has something for everybody.”

The Tysons location, with its many offerings and variety of spaces, is a unique restaurant to the Northern Virginia food scene and an interesting use of urban open space. Though it just had its grand opening a few weeks ago, it is already becoming a popular spot.

“It’s awesome, it’s great,” said Alison Andrews, who has been to ShipGarten with her husband and their young child multiple times since the opening. “There’s the play area for the kids and it’s family friendly and has everything that you need.”

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