Update on 10/11/19 — Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill will remain closed for another consecutive weekend, the business said on social media.
https://twitter.com/Terpish/status/1182723581194702849
Earlier: Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill was closed this weekend due to an unidentified “zoning” problem.
“Unfortunately, we will be closed this weekend,” the bar wrote in a Facebook post on Friday, October 4. “We hope to reopen at 4 p.m. on Monday.” As of 3 p.m. Monday, the business was still closed.
A red sign dated September 24 on the front door read that the “structure is unsafe or unfit for habitation” and that no one could occupy the building.
“I can confirm they did receive notice of a building code violation,” Jessica Margarit, spokeswoman for the Department of Community Planning, Housing & Development told ARLnow last week.
Margarit declined to share more about the problem facing the Courthouse business, citing a policy not to publicly share details of building code violations.
The restaurant did not respond to requests for more information over social media messages and multiple phone calls. A permit filing from last week may shed some light on the nature of the violation, however.
On Thursday the property owner filed and was approved for a permit to remove an “unpermitted walk-in cooler” on the building’s rooftop, as pointed out by Chris Slatt. No work was immediately visible from outside this afternoon.
"REMOVE UNPERMITTED WALK IN COOLER ON ROOFTOP" is not a permit you see go by very often… @ARLnowDOTcom https://t.co/iUaYpOsBff
— Chris Slatt (@alongthepike) October 7, 2019
Fairfax-based nonprofit Bite Me Cancer Foundation was scheduled to celebrate its 9th anniversary at the bar on Friday, October 4, but the problem caused them to reschedule and offer refunds to guests.
The foundation wrote in a Facebook post that the party “has been postponed due to a zoning problem that has caused the whole building to be closed down.”
Staff at the neighboring Delhi Dhaba, which shares the same building, told ARLnow the Indian restaurant was not affected by the closure.
The Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill originally opened in 2010.