Interview: Scott Parker Has Put The “Life” Back Into Arlington Nightlife

GofG: What is your background? How did you get started in the hospitality sector? SP: I started as a dishwasher when I was 14. I started from there to short order cook; I’ve done busboy, food runner, bar-back, bartender, server, manager, valet parking, host, really every job in the restaurant industry since I was a kid. GofG: Did you always know that you wanted to enter the nightlife industry? SP: It always fascinated me, even as a young kid. It is something I always knew I wanted to do. I think wasn’t until I was a little older that I knew I really wanted to be a bar and restaurant owner, but it did always fascinate me definitely. GofG: What brings you to the DC area? Why Arlington, specifically? SP: I went to JMU and then after college I moved back to my hometown for about a year and five months. My hometown is a shore town (Somers Point, New Jersey), based on tourism, and there are not a lot of jobs. A lot of my friends were living in Arlington and I was attracted to two main things: they were having a lot of fun here and they had all gotten good jobs and done really well professionally here. [Photos via]