A planned beer garden and Korean street food restaurant in Crystal City has received more time to address code and permitting issues as it continues working toward opening.
County Board members have extended the existing use permit for Scapegoat Beer Garden for six months before it returns to staff for further review.
For a year, plans have been in the works to open the restaurant at 556 22nd Street S. with seating for 79 people indoors and 208 outdoors.
The building previously was occupied by the Greek restaurant Athena Pallas, which closed in 2022. That restaurant constructed three outdoor patios without county approval on a parking lot shared by several tenants.
In January 2025, Board members approved a site-plan amendment that brought the outdoor dining structures into compliance with zoning regulations.
The property owner is working with county staff to address other outstanding issues, county planner Peter Schulz told Board members at the Jan. 27 meeting. Once these are resolved, a certificate of occupancy for both indoor and outdoor operations can be issued.
Chef Kendrick Wu, who will operate the restaurant with a Korean-fusion menu, said he believes all issues can be worked through in the next few months.
“We’re really looking forward to being a part of the community — we do want to be a positive influence,” Wu said.
County Board member Susan Cunningham agreed that while some issues remain, they seem “pretty well on their way to being addressed.”
Several speakers, including a representative of the Aurora Highlands Civic Association, raised concerns about trash-collection receptacles serving the site and nearby restaurants.
Those receptacles at times block a sidewalk along 22nd Street S. and leave greasy deposits on the ground, another speaker, Nicholas Giacobbe, told Board members.
One of the conditions of the 2025 site plan amendment was a requirement to build a wooden trash corral to screen and contain the dumpsters, preventing them from spilling onto the sidewalk, county staff said.
At present, “22nd Street is not a very nice place to walk,” Board member Takis Karantonis said.
Karantonis said he supports the restaurant, but there needs to be “Clarendon-style scrutiny” applied to its operations, ensuring that the restaurant complies with the myriad of conditions that the county government imposes.
The restaurant building is located behind Bonsai Grill and Enjera Restaurant, which front 23rd Street S. along Restaurant Row.
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