Some dishes on the menu at Padaek (courtesy Noh Leftovers)
Chef Seng Luangrath in her new kitchen at Padaek in the Arlington Ridge Shopping Center (courtesy Noh Leftovers)
Cafe Colline (staff photo)
Ruthie’s All-Day in Arlington Heights (courtesy photo)
Ruthie’s All-Day (courtesy photo)
Falls Church may be pint sized compared to Arlington, but the Little City next door has the county beat handily in a new list of the region’s best restaurants.
Three Arlington restaurants appear in Washingtonian’s just-released 100 Very Best Restaurants list. Twice as many Falls Church restaurants appear in the same pages.
That’s despite solid Northern Virginia representation on the “Very Best” list.
“Some of the year’s coolest spots — Joon in Tysons, Ellie Bird in Falls Church, Kirby Club in Fairfax — debuted in the Virginia suburbs,” the magazine noted in its introduction. In all, 21 Virginia eateries were listed.
ART buses move through the Quincy site in the Virginia Square neighborhood (via BVSCA)
There is a new twist in the stand-off between Arlington County and neighbors over bus parking on a county site in North Arlington.
Arlington County recently dropped litigation against three neighbors and the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association, who tried to use the Board of Zoning Appeals process to block the county from parking 29 Arlington Transit (ART) buses on a county lot near Washington-Liberty High School.
The parking is a temporary arrangement while a new ART bus facility is built in Green Valley. The Arlington County Board allowed this when it approved a special exception use permit in the spring of 2022.
Nearly two years ago, the county zoning administrator determined the Dept. of Environmental Services could park the buses on the site — a requisite step for obtaining a use permit. One resident appealed the decision but a county staff member rejected it. A week later, the county sued him, his wife, a third resident and the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association, alleging he used the BZA process improperly to block the parking use.
The defendants say the county sued them preemptively and that the bus activity would seriously undercut their property values and quality of life.
“This could and should become a case study in how not to run a county government and then considering your role you and not considering your unique role as owners of the site and how your actions may affect neighbors,” said Maurya Meiers during public comment on Saturday, when the Arlington County Board reviewed the special exception permit for the site.
A BZA appeal had been filed on Meiers’ behalf two years ago and she is named in the lawsuit, per meeting materials and court documents.
Some residents came to the defense of their neighbors and their legal plight.
“It’s a SLAPP [Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation] suit: a use of superior resources to haul citizens into court wear them down and demoralize them, perhaps even beggar them lest they become too vociferous and their concerns about pollution, noise and other avoidable nuisances, such as those which this permit enables,” said neighbor Thomas Viles. “So far your lawsuit has accomplished nothing expensive as it was it proved insufficient to shut these voters up.”
Indeed, Arlington County says it dropped its suit because the BZA is now set to hear the appeal case built by neighbors who live in homes overlooking the parking lot. The hearing will determine whether the county zoning administrator acted properly or if her decision runs afoul of zoning ordinances, a site plan and a 1985 deed of covenant.
Viles says the BZA agreed to take up the appeal after hearing about the suit in ARLnow.
“When they did learn, however, the BZA repudiated [county government] for having kept them in the dark,” he said.
This fracas is obliquely referenced in a resolution the BZA passed last September, directing the zoning administrator to avoid this situation again by sharing all appeals with members regardless of their merit.
“The BZA has never authorized any person to decline to accept an appeal on the BZA’s behalf,” the resolution says. “County staff did not consult the entire membership of the BZA before declining to accept any appeals of a zoning administrator determination, nor did County staff inform the BZA of its communications and actions in regards to any appeals filed between March 7, 2022 and the date of the adoption of this resolution.”
Each week, “Just Reduced” spotlights properties in Arlington County whose price have been cut over the previous week. The market summary is crafted by Arlington Realty, Inc. Maximize your real estate investment with the team by visiting www.arlingtonrealtyinc.com or calling 703-836-6000 today!
Please note: While Arlington Realty, Inc. provides this information for the community, it may not be the listing company of these homes.
As of October 13, there are 210 detached homes, 54 townhouses and 244 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 44 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week, including:
Please note that this is solely a selection of Just Reduced properties available in Arlington County. For a complete list of properties within your target budget and specifications, contact Arlington Realty, Inc.
The Pinemoor in Clarendon on Jan. 21, 2024 (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Former Clarendon mainstay Mister Days appears to be opening in a new location, nearly five years after its closure.
An LLC associated with Mister Days, Celtic LB Group INC, recently applied for a liquor license for the currently vacant restaurant space at 1101 N. Highland Street.
Tiffany Lee, daughter of Mister Days founder Bobby Lee, said in an email to ARLnow that her father “is once again at the helm.” She noted that she is “not involved in the new one.”
The previous occupants of 1101 N. Highland Street include Clarendon Grill, which shuttered in 2018 after 22 years, and The Pinemoor, which closed its doors in July after three years. The Pinemoor was the last occupant of the large restaurant space, which features both an inside bar and an outside patio bar.
In late November, readers noted an old Mister Days sign in the space.
Sign in the new Mister Days space at 1101 N. Highland Street (courtesy anonymous)
Mister Days first opened in an alleyway off Dupont Circle on Nov. 21, 1977 serving prime rib, ham sandwiches, a soup and a salad. In the years that followed, Mister Days moved to 18th Street NW between L and M Streets NW before opening in Arlington in 2000.
Mister Days grew a strong following and remained a local staple for over 40 years. The Arlington sports bar closed permanently in April 2019.
The original bar served famous guests like movie star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as former Washington football greats like Sonny Jurgensen and John Riggins. It also had live entertainment from singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter early in her career.
Local comedian, Rahmein Mostafavi, taps an iPad as if it’s a microphone (courtesy of Rahmein Mostafavi)
Comedians will again battle ChatGPT in an event at Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse on Columbia Pike tomorrow (Thursday).
Local comedian Rahmein Mostafavi will host the interactive comedy show “Comedian vs. Machine” at the theater at 2903 Columbia Pike. He will be flanked by two other comedians helping him “carry the funny” — Baltimore comic Josh Kuderna and D.C.-based comic Becca DiLuzio.
Doors will open at 6 p.m. for a 7 p.m. show start time.
This won’t be Mostafavi’s first time battling artificial intelligence. He hosted a comedy show against ChatGPT last September — an experience that he says taught him “what segments worked best and more about how the technology needed to be used to maximize timeliness and efficiency.”
Mostafavi, while preparing for the show, shared with ARLnow that he believes comedians can use AI and other technology to their advantage.
“As comedians, we observe everything happening in the world. Politics. Society. Self,” said Mostafavi, “AI is a new entity we are all experiencing for the first time. So as comics, we will add our [point-of-view] about it in our jokes because it’s part of our reality, ironically.”
Although AI can write essays, email newsletters and generate images, Mostafavi says that for him, the new technology is just a “fun alternative” that will not change his approach to comedy.
And while there is a great deal of concern about how AI might replace artists, or at least steal their work, Mostafavi says he believes AI does not stand a chance against him and his comic entourage.
“Human experience is a must for top-level comedy,” said Mostafavi. “AI can write basic jokes but it will never be human.”
