Author: Vernon Miles

‘Medina’ Shwarma Eatery in Ballston Now Closed

By Vernon Miles
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Medina, a small eatery offering “shwarma, falafel and beyond” at 4215 Fairfax Drive in Ballston, is closed and entirely vacated.

The sign still remains above the building, but all remnants of the restaurant, except a now-outdated “Open 7 Days/Week” sign, have been removed and the inside is completely empty.

It was a short life for the eatery that opened in August, replacing Earl’s Sandwiches.

The restaurant was fairly highly rated, receiving four stars on Yelp with users calling it a good spot for chicken shwarma that wouldn’t break the bank.

‘Cowboy Bebop’ Star Headlines ‘Blerdcon’ in Crystal City Next Month

By Vernon Miles

Blerdcon — a comic convention highlighting black nerd culture — is returning to Crystal City and fans of the ’90s anime Cowboy Bebop may recognize a familiar voice.

The convention is scheduled for the Hyatt Regency (2700 Richmond Highway) from Friday, July 12 through Sunday, July 14.

Guests highlighted at the convention include Estelle, a musician and who has a leading role in the Steven Universe cartoon show, and Beau Billingslea, who voiced Jet Black in the English dub for the seminal anime Cowboy Bebop.

The event celebrates both the creative talents of black nerds, a subculture emerging at the intersection of science-fiction/fantasy fandoms and the black experience in America that has historically struggled with a sense of isolation in both communities.

In addition to a focus on the black nerd cultural experience, the event description highlights the convention’s intersectionality with “LGBTQ, the disabled, POCs and the international community.”

Weekend passes to the convention are $55.

Photo via Blerdcon/Facebook

Morning Notes

By Vernon Miles

More Arlington Real Estate Optimism — “According to a report released Wednesday by the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors and the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis, the median home price in Arlington County is on track to spike 17.2 percent by the end of 2019.” [Washingtonian]

‘Rock the Row’ Starts Tonight — The United States Navy Band Country Current will perform tonight at Pentagon Row for the shopping center’s annual Rock the Row outdoor concert series. Concerts will be held every Thursday from 7-9 p.m. at the Pentagon Row plaza, through Aug. 1. [Pentagon Row]

Yorktown Girls Cap Off Stellar Soccer Season — “The Yorktown Patriots completed an unbeaten girls soccer season on June 8 at Hermitage High School near Richmond by winning the Virginia High School League’s Class 6 state-tournament championship.” [InsideNova, InsideNova]

Pop-Up Library Planned for Ballston Quarter

By Vernon Miles
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Ballston Quarter could soon be home to a temporary pop-up library.

According to an Arlington County Board agenda item, the owner of Ballston Quarter mall and the Ballston Business Improvement District invited Arlington Public Library to create a temporary pop-up library in unoccupied retail space on the street level of the mall.

“The use of the newly renovated mall space is being offered to the County for one month at no cost,” the agenda item noted. “The county will be permitted to open a new pop-up library location within the mall for a period beginning on July 1 through August 2, 2019.”

Library services could include a small collection of books and audio-visual materials along with technology access. The library would be open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The space will be provided by mall management at no cost to the county, while the operation of the library will be paid from the library’s general operating funds.

This would not be the first pop-up library in retail space. In 2016, Arlington County opened a pop-up library in Crystal City Shops that has since been extended through 2019.

‘House of Mandi’ Falls, ‘King of Koshary’ Rises in its Place

By Vernon Miles
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Mediterranean restaurant House of Mandi may be gone from 5515 Wilson Blvd, but mandi devotees won’t have to go far to find the eponymous dish.

King of Koshary — a new Egyptian restaurant that opened a month ago in the former House of Mandi location — includes Mediterranean dishes like mandi on its menu.

“We’re an Egyptian restaurant, but we knew a lot of people really liked mandi, so we incorporated it into our menu,” said Ayob Mentry, owner of King of Koshary.

Like House of Mandi, King of Koshary features a variety of dishes from Mentry’s home, but centers around one. In this case it’s koshari: a vegan rice, macaroni and lentils dish topped with chickpeas, tomato sauce and fried onions. Koshari is a popular fixture of the roadside street-food scene in Egypt.

“King of Koshary isn’t a name, it is a title,” the restaurant’s Facebook page boasted in a post.

Mentry said the $8.99 meal is the restaurant’s signature dish. Other entrees include a variety of kabobs, oxtail, and seafood prepared in traditional Egyptian styles.

The restaurant includes dining-in or takeout options. On Sundays from 8-10 p.m., it also has an open seafood buffet.

The restaurant is currently hiring, as much of the work is currently done by Mentry running back and forth from greeting visitors to preparing the food.

King of Koshary is Mentry’s first restaurant and is a love letter to Egypt, both in modern food and ancient-style decorations. King Tutankhamun features prominently in the artwork.

“It feels great [to be open],” said Mentry. “It’s a challenge, but not taking that risk would have felt like a bigger risk.”

Fiona’s Irish Pub in Crystal City Closes Suddenly

By Vernon Miles
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Two months after opening, Fiona’s Irish Pub (567 23rd Street S.) in Crystal City has closed — possibly for good.

“Due to circumstances beyond our control, we will be closed today, Sunday, June the 9th,” said a notice on the bar’s door. “We apologize for the inconvenience.”

But the establishment has not reopened and the pub’s website says it has closed permanently.

Earlier today a local beer vendor who had worked with the pub and staff at another nearby restaurant milled around outside the establishment swapping theories in the absence of any official reason. The timing coincided with the permanent closure of the pub’s other location at 5810 Kingstowne Center, though Covering the Corridor, a local blog, reported a representative said the Arlington location would remain open.

It was a sudden closure for a restaurant that had faced a series of delays, opening in April after missing a planned opening before St. Patrick’s Day. The closure also comes nearly a year after King Street Blues, another restaurant from the same owner, closed in Crystal City.

Fiona’s enjoyed favorable online reviews, though some noted a lack of customers.

Why Fiona is closed, and whether the Arlington location’s demise is permanent, remains unknown. The location was formerly home to long-time local bar Tortoise and Hare.

DEA Museum to Close for a Year During Renovations

By Vernon Miles

It’s probably not something on most local tourism agendas, but if you wanted to check out the Drug Enforcement Administration Museum and Visitors Center, you’d better do it soon.

The museum, at 700 Army Navy Drive in Pentagon City, will be closing for over a year as part of a headquarters-wide renovation.

Clarion Partners, the landlord for the DEA headquarters, received an $11.5 million incentive grant from the Arlington County Board in April to keep the DEA in Pentagon City. Clarion Partners agreed to invest $82 million into a full renovation of the headquarters and to secure temporary space in Crystal City.

The final day for the museum is scheduled for Saturday, July 20. The museum is planning to reopen in fall 2020.

Admission to the DEA Museum is free. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. All guests older than 18 must present I.D.

If you haven’t visited the museum, virtual exhibits are available online or you can check out Roll Call’s gonzo-style tour.

Photo via DEA/Facebook

Ted’s Bulletin and Sidekick Bakery Open in Ballston Quarter

By Vernon Miles
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Ted’s Bulletin and the accompanying Sidekick Bakery officially opened today (Monday) in Ballston Quarter (4238 Wilson Blvd).

Ted’s Bulletin is the sixth location in the regional chain offering diner-style meals and nostalgic desserts. Sidekick is a “new concept” from the same parent company and adjoins Ted’s Bulletin, but operates as more of a quick-stop, street bakery-type location.

Sidekick offers cereal or candy flavors for standard bakery items, in addition to drinks like coffee, tea and milkshakes — including non-dairy milkshakes.

Staff at Sidekick said the store is offering $1 coffee during the opening week. Meanwhile, Ted’s Bulletin next door offers $3 draft beers for happy hour from 3-7 p.m.

The location is currently only accessible from the main street, but staff at the location said the plan is to eventually turn the mall-facing side into an additional entrance. The eateries were also open at times last week as part of a soft opening.

Phone Advocacy Startup Looks Towards Global Expansion After ‘Strategic Investment’

By Vernon Miles

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

(Updated at 12:50 p.m.) Rosslyn-based tech startup Phone2Action — which aims to turn citizens into advocates — announced on May 22 that new funding will mean a global expansion.

The company received a “strategic investment” from Frontier Capital, a private equity investor, according to a press release. But neither representatives of Frontier Capital nor Phone2Action would specify how much money was included in the investment.

“Frontier Capital and Phone2Action are not disclosing the amount of the investment,” said Kristin Steele, a spokesperson for Frontier Capital, “but want to reiterate what the press release said around it being a strategic investment to help fuel future growth for Phone2Action.”

The company bills itself as a “digital grassroots platform,” helping organizations or businesses rally supporters and encouraging them to contact state or local officials. New developments at the company within the last year include email broadcasting features and an advocacy chatbot.

Ximena Hartsock, co-founder of Phone2Action, said the company is looking into expanding the range of products it offers and its markets.

“No changes on staffing at Phone2Action,” said Hartsock, “and we are looking [to use] the support we receive from Frontier to accelerate our growth.”

Partners for the company include Patagonia and Ben and Jerry’s, using Phone2Action for a variety of environmental and social advocacy campaigns.

According to the press release, the investment will be used to expand the global outreach of the program and to look into the acquisition of other complementary technologies. The release also notes that the future of grassroots advocacy and public affairs will be reliant on adapting to new technologies like machine learning.

Photo via Phone2Action

Arlington’s Summer Reading Program Could Net Locals Nats Tickets

By Vernon Miles

If you get to work on Arlington Library’s Summer Reading Challenge, you could earn tickets to a Nationals game and other prizes.

The summer reading program challenges children, teens and adults to read for 25 days between June 1 and Sept. 1. Readers can keep track of their progress either on a printed calendar, a library app, or online.

Once they’ve read for 25 days, readers can come into the library and show staff how much they’ve read. They’ll receive a prize and an entry into a grand prize that varies based on their age group.

According to the library website:

Adults, teens and kids in kindergarten and above who complete [the Summer Reading Challenge] will each receive a voucher for two tickets to see the Washington Nationals play at Nationals Stadium.

Seating is in the scoreboard pavilion, upper gallery or right field terrace.

The grand prize for adults is a chance to enjoy a Washington Nationals game from a private suite.

A press release noted that books, newspapers, magazines and audiobooks all qualify.

Several events are planned along with the Summer Reading Challenge, including a visit from Nationals pitcher Aníbal Sánchez to Arlington Central Library (1015 N. Quincy Street) on Saturday, June 15 from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. The event description notes that there will be opportunities to take photos and get memorabilia signed.

For each person that completes the Summer Reading Challenge, the press release also notes that the Friends of the Arlington Public Library will donate $1 to provide books for the Arlington County Child Advocacy Center.

‘Finishing Touches’ Underway for Sloppy Mama’s Barbecue on Lee Highway

By Vernon Miles
1/5

The Sloppy Mama’s brick-and-mortar location at 5731 Lee Highway is about two weeks from opening, according to co-owner Joe Neuman.

The sit-down restaurant announced in January will be the second Sloppy Mama’s location in Arlington, but Neuman said the restaurant will be very different from the Ballston Quarter eatery.

“We will have a full barbecue menu,” said Neuman. “The food hall is a quick service location with a limited menu for a lunch crowd. Here, we’re not in a hurry.”

Sloppy Mama’s started out as a food truck, which currently sits outside the restaurant and will still hang around for events after the restaurant opens.

Neuman said the new location will have a little bit of everything and serve meat by the pound rather than plate. The larger space will allow Sloppy Mama’s to offer a wider variety of barbecue options, so Neuman said in contrast to the traditional plate combo style meals, if someone wants to come in for just slabs of cooked meat, they can get just slabs of cooked meat.

Inside, the restaurant has a very traditional southern barbecue joint feeling, with a metal food counter and long wooden tables in one big, open room.

According to Neuman, the contractors for the restaurant are just making the finishing touches of the restaurant, like sanding and staining the table.

“It’s a lot of little things,” Neuman said. “Finger’s crossed: we’ll open just after Father’s Day.”

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