Ballston’s Sushi2Go restaurant posted a sign announcing it’s closed for repairs
Ballston’s Sushi2Go restaurant posted a sign announcing it’s closed for repairs
Ballston’s Sushi2Go restaurant posted a sign announcing it’s closed for repairs
(Updated on 08/06/19) A Ballston sushi restaurant has re-opend after being closed “for repairs” last week.
The Sushi2Go by the entrance to the Ballston Metro’s “Darth Vader canopy” on 901 N. Stuart Street had previously closed for repairs, according to a sign on its door.
The handwritten note thanked customers with a smiley face, but did not contain any information on when the eatery could re-open. On Tuesday, August 6, the eatery is now serving customers once again.
Calls for more information to the number listed on the “We’re Hiring” sign — also posted on the business’s windows — were not answered. No other contact information could be located.
Sushi2Go originally opened in the small space inside the Metro plaza back in 2015 and gained popularity for the low prices of its maki rolls — most recently for its offer of three roll combo lunch deal for $13.
Family Dry Cleaners posted going out of business signs (Image courtesy of Teresa D.)
Family Dry Cleaners posted going out of business signs (Image courtesy of Teresa D.)
Map showing the former location of Family Dry Cleaners (via Google Maps)
Last month, when Jeannie Osborn dropped off her new dress at her usual Arlington dry cleaner, she never thought it could be the last time she would see the garment
Osborn now lives in D.C. but still drives to Arlington to do her dry cleaning at the same spot for years: Family Dry Cleaners on 5021 Columbia Pike. The business offers nearly unbeatable prices — normally charging $2.29 per piece of clothing — which Osborn said made up for inconvenience of having to pay upfront in cash.
But five days after she took her new $128 Banana Republic dress to the dry cleaner on June 25, the business closed.
Now there’s a sign taped to the door reading “GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!” and asking customers to pick up any garments by June 30, “otherwise you will not be able to pick up your clothes FOREVER.”
Osborn was on vacation when the business went under, and only learned her dress was locked in the building when she tried to pick it up last week.
“I’ve been going there for six years,” she told ARLnow Monday. “And the fact that they are just closed is shocking.”
The business is located in the Columbia Pike Plaza shopping center, near the Arlington Mill Community Center, between a CVS and a Little Caesars. ARLnow could not reach the strip mall’s property management company, Bethesda-based Rakusin & Becker Management.
After reaching out for comment to the company and the county, Arlington Resident Ombudsman and Director of Constituent Services Ben Aiken said he had good news to share.
Family Dry Cleaners will temporarily re-open on Thursday from 4-7 p.m. so customers can retrieve their belongings, per Rakusin & Becker.
“Anyone with clothing that needs to be picked up should try to go,” said Aiken, who noted afterward the owners may be unavailable to re-open the shuttered shop.
Family Dry Cleaners’ phone number was out of service when called on Monday and a Facebook page for a business with the same name had no posts nor ways to contact the owner.
Aiken previously said he heard from two customers whose clothes are apparently locked in the cleaners, and told ARLnow today (Tuesday) that he “shares their frustration.”
“It’s an unfortunate circumstances,” he said, adding that whenever dry cleaning customers are left out to dry it can be “tricky” to access legal remedies.
When a dry cleaner business closed in Silver Spring two years ago, the Montgomery County Consumer Protection Agency had to step in to return clothing.
Last August, customers in Austin, Texas, taped signs to the locked doors of a dry cleaning business, pleading with the owners to call them and return their clothes after the business unexpectedly shut down.
Last September, a Denver cleaner posted a sign for its customers that read, “if you have clothes, sorry we are closed.” Those customers were out of luck until another cleaning company purchased the inventory and returned the clothes to customers for free, per a press release.
Jeannie Osborn took pictures of the storefront and its sign last week that show a full rack of clothing behind the counter. She says she could see her dress through the glass.
“It’s just hanging there in the front,” Osborn said. “They hadn’t even put it on the conveyor belt yet.”
Naked Lunch, an organic vegetarian and vegan eatery attached to the MOM’s Organic Market at 1901 N. Veitch Street, has closed.
According to staff at the grocery store, the location — along car-oriented Lee Highway, a long walk from Courthouse — meant that Naked Lunch never got the kind of traffic it needed and the restaurant closed last Monday, June 24.
The signs on the storefront have been taken down and through the window, the last of the kitchen supplies can be seen being packed into boxes.
Naked Lunch opened on Lee Highway with MOM’s Organic Market in 2015. The restaurant served salads, soup bowls, sandwiches and more, along with organic juices.
The next closest Naked Lunch locations are at 3831 Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria’s Arlandria neighborhood or 8298 Glass Alley in Fairfax’s Mosaic District.
Almost exactly five years after it first launched in Courthouse, kickboxing gym franchise 9Round has left Arlington.
At one point, 9Round had three locations in the county, in Courthouse, Ballston and Columbia Pike. All three are now shuttered.
A letter in the window at the Courthouse location (2250 Clarendon Blvd) confirmed the closure was permanent.
“We regret to inform you that 9Round NoVa will be closing, with our last day of training on Saturday, June 22,” the sign reads. “We want to thank you all for your loyalty and patronage!”
A email address listed on the sign, for patrons to seek additional information, is no longer active. Phone numbers for the Arlington locations go straight to voicemail and their respective webpages are no longer active.
Both the locations at 927 N. Quincy Street in Ballston and the original location at Courthouse were locked up and in the midst of having gym equipment packed up.
The Columbia Pike location (2501 9th Road S.) closed earlier this year and is already in the process of being converted into an F45 gym, though the website says the gym is not yet open.
District Taco Considering Franchising — “All stores are corporate-owned, but Hoil is exploring the possibility of expanding District Taco’s growth strategy to include franchise units, too. The key is to find partners who will be just as invested in and energetic about the concept as he is.” [QSR Magazine]
New Car Seat Law in Va. — “Starting July 1… a new Virginia law will require parents to keep their precious infants and toddlers in rear-facing car seats until the child turns two, or reaches the minimum weight limit for a forward-facing child restraint seat, as prescribed by its manufacturer.” [Press Release]
Ray’s Hell Burger Closes in D.C. — Following the closure of Ray’s the Steaks in Courthouse, Ray’s Hell Burger has closed in the District. [PoPville]
The Clarendon restaurant, which specializes in Australian cuisine and boozy brunches, first opened at 2950 Clarendon Blvd in 2015. Despite some televised internal turmoil, Michael Darby told ARLnow in 2017 that the couple turned things around with the hiring of a new chef, Northern Virginia native Brad Feickert.
In a statement today, Ashley and Michael said the imminent arrival of their first child (Michael has two adult children from a previous marriage) prompted the restaurant’s closure.
Michael and Ashley Darby announce, with regret, that they have decided to close Oz Restaurant and Bar. As you all know, both Michael and Ashley are involved in multiple businesses and are expecting a baby boy in the very near future. They have decided that there was just not enough time to dedicate the right amount of time to raising their son and continuing to run the restaurant.
‘It has been four years since the restaurant opened and we have had the best employees anyone could ask for and we have made so many new friends who have patronized Oz.’ said Ashley.
‘I’m sad to see my little slice of Australia disappear but I have so many good memories of people enjoying the Australian experience at Oz. We are replacing one Aussie baby with a new one-half Aussie baby.’ said Michael.
Oz will serve its last meal this Sunday with an extended brunch. Please come in this weekend to say goodbye.
Closure letter posted inside Pentagon Row Starbucks
On Sunday, June 30 at 4 p.m., the Starbucks at Pentagon Row (1101 S. Joyce Street) will close permanently.
“We would like to thank you for being part of our store community, you are the heart of who we are at Starbucks,” a letter posted on the door said, the wording identical to a letter posted at Pentagon Centre Starbucks in March.
The cafe did not meet its sales requirements for months and was therefore one of 150 Starbucks slated for permanent closure in 2019, individuals familiar with the situation but not authorized to talk to the media told ARLnow.
The letter directed Starbucks customers to the Pentagon City mall location in the food court and the Starbucks in The Arcadia at 1201 S. Fern Street, a block east of the mall.
Cheese store and wine bar Cheesetique has closed its Ballston location at 800 N. Glebe Road after three years in business.
The restaurant served its last customers last night (Sunday), though the company’s Shirlington and Alexandria locations remain open.
Restaurants on the western side of N. Glebe Road have struggled to stay in business amid an increasing number of dining options on the other side of the busy street, closer to the bulk of Ballston’s office and apartment buildings.
More on the closure from Cheesetique’s Facebook page:
After three years in operation, Cheesetique Ballston will be closing after dinner service this Sunday, June 16th.
We’re sad to leave our Ballston neighborhood, but hope you can come by for one last visit this weekend. And after that, we look forward to hosting you at one of our other cheese-tastic locations (Cheesetique Del Ray, Cheesetique Shirlington, Cheesetique Mosaic).
Thank you to all of our loyal Ballston patrons. We’ll see you soon!
With the announcement that Ray’s the Steaks would be closing Saturday (June 15) after 17 years, finding seating at the iconic restaurant has become a herculean challenge in its final days .
Last night (Thursday), owner Michael Landrum stood outside the restaurant with a clipboard, taking orders from dozens of locals hoping for a spot at the restaurant in its closing weekend.
Ray’s the Steaks is a no-frills steakhouse tucked away in the Courthouse neighborhood. In its final two weeks, the restaurant has stopped taking reservations and is working on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The system left hopeful carnivores herding to the entrance, leaving their names and table-sizes with Landrum. Either he would eventually find a spot for them or, if not, tell them to try again the next night.
A paper sign taped to the front door informed the gaggle of stranded steak-hungry locals when the next tables would be open. However, a new sign eventually replaced it, announcing the closure of the waitlists, with the hopefuls left to try again Friday.
Outside the restaurant, Landrum was too busy to talk, but noted curtly that “any interview questions you might have should be answered by the crowd outside.”
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.
Notification of closure in the window of Fiona’s Irish Pub
Fiona’s Irish Pub in Crystal City
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.
