Restaurants in Arlington

The culinary wizards at Lil Vinny’s Ristorante silence growling stomachs with a multifaceted menu of toothsome Italian fare. Now kicking off the kitchen's steady parade of aromas starting at 11 a.m., a new lunch menu debuts deliquescent paninis ranging from eggplant parmigiana ($9.95) to the Sloppy Joey ($9.95), which lets midday munchers live dangerously as they try to keep its mix of bolognese, pancetta, and fontina away from work shirts or lab coats.

Family owned and operated since 1969, Johnny D's has hosted some of the music industry's biggest names in its intimate, 300-person venue, with past performers such as the Dixie Chicks, Levon Helm, Widespread Panic, and Wilco gracing the stage. Upcoming performers include Fab Four tribute band Beatlejuice on July 17, and a Real School of Music student showcase on July 1, featuring keyboardist Greg Hawkes of The Cars performing a set of the band's classic tunes. Each concert has a cash cover charge at the door, and advanced tickets are available for some shows. With this deal's door-fee card, you'll get access to $50 worth of Johnny D's shows, allowing you to draw inspiration from seasoned musicians for your long-in-the-works Wade Boggs rock opera.

Each item on El Pelón's menu is rammed completely full of fresh ingredients, tongue-punching spices, and authentic garnishes. Drop in for a rotundly satisfying carnitas quesadilla (slow-braised pork sandwiched between jack cheese and tortillas; $3.50) and a side of fried plantains ($3.95) before returning to your dust cloud of fighting cartoon characters, or double up on your face with tacos de la casa such as El Pelón's twin cornmeal-breaded pescado tacos ($6.50), stuffed with spice-infused cod, arbol-chile mayo, limed onions, pickled cabbage, and cucumbers. To fight the good appetite fight and look dashing whilst doing so, grab onto a mighty El Guapo ($6.50)—the house's famous signature burrito—bursting at the seams with grilled steak, Mexican rice, black beans, fried plantains, jack cheese, fire-roasted salsa, lettuce, and authentic crema. All of El Pelón's showstoppingly spiced toppers are available as sides, enabling mad-scientist diners to experiment as liberally or as conservatively as they like with the bounteous beauty of El Pelón's celebrated flavors. To make your mouth feel even more Mexican without the hassle of chewing a sombrero, wash it all down with Mexican Coca Cola, made with cane sugar instead of fructose, or some Jarritos soda (both $1.75).

The skilled chefs at Brunello Bistro tantalize the culinary lobes of the brain with a fusion menu of Italian and Mediterranean fare served with aesthetic flair. Enchanted epicureans, like disoriented Christopher Columbuses, will immediately set a course for Brunello's antipasti plates, such as mussels served either bianco in a garlic-and-wine sauce or spicy pomodoro in a hot fra diavolo sauce. After a second course of soup or salad, all roads lead to Brunello’s entrees, which include the signature lobster-potato gnocchi and the lamb osso buco in a port-wine sauce with mascarpone-cheese polenta. Diners worried about upsetting humanity’s uneasy truce with sheep can instead venture out into one of Brunello's idiosyncratic plates, such as braised duck with wild-mushroom risotto and asparagus. Each duo's chew-a-thon concludes with sweet bites from the frequently rotating dessert menu.

As what he calls a third generation “falafel-teer”, Rami Cohen opened his eatery in 1991, shortly after he and his wife Mirav relocated from Jerusalem to Boston. Over two decades later, the Cohens are still crafting kosher Middle Eastern specialties, earning praise from publications such as Boston.com, which writes that “what the restaurant does it does very well.” Cooks stuff golden-fried falafel, marinated turkey shawarma, ground beef kabobs, and grilled chicken inside fluffy pitas with homemade babaganoush and hummus or splayed across a platter with a fresh salad. Guest can order their feast at the counter and take a seat inside the small restaurant, or arrange for pick-up or delivery and enjoy their meal in the privacy of their neighbor's treehouse. Rami’s also offers catering, and sells hummus, babaganoush, and tahini by the pound.

No matter what country her family was living in at the time, Longteine “Nyep” De Monteiro—the wife of a Cambodian diplomat—always heard the same thing when she served dinner at one of her lavish parties: “This is so good! You should open a restaurant!” It wasn't until the rise of the Khmer Rouge forced Longteine and her family to relocate to America that she began to seriously entertain the idea. Longteine finally opened The Elephant Walk in 1991, where she filled the menu with a mélange of her favorite Cambodian and French recipes.

Since then, Longteine’s daughter Nasda and her son-in-law Gerard Lopez helped her expand The Elephant Walk to three locations. All three Elephant Walks separate their kitchens into French and Cambodian preparation lines, each staffed with chefs adept at both traditional and contemporary dishes. Each dish makes meticulous use of flavorful, wholesome ingredients such as ripe plum tomatoes, fresh tuna, Vermont goat cheese, and organic tofu. The Elephant Walk also serves up a host of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free variants.

The Elephant Walk loves to feed the mind as much as the mouth. During its regularly scheduled Cafe Science series, Brandeis professors deliver compelling lectures on a variety of topics from the Large Hadron Collider to explaining why science alone cannot turn water into chocolate milk. As part of the restaurant's mission to make a positive impact in the community, owner Bob Perry designated the Waltham location as The Elephant Walk’s Benefit Restaurant in September 2009. The restaurant has since given upwards of $180,000 to local, national, and international nonprofit organizations fighting poverty.