(Updated at 4 p.m.) The Haagen-Dazs ice cream shop in the Pentagon City mall has shut down for renovations.
All evidence of the small store on the first floor of the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City is now gone, but an employee says they’re hoping to reopen by the end of the week.
The shop is located near the mall’s Sunglass Hut and the new dumpling eatery Yong Kang Street.
An ARLnow reader first reported that the store was closed last Wednesday (Feb. 27). An employee subsequently told ARLnow that the store “is being updated to the newest Haagen-Dazs finishes,” including “counters, wall tile, floor tile and equipment.”
Anyone hoping to get their ice cream fix from Haagen-Dazs in the meantime will now have to venture to the store at the Pentagon, or to one of the company’s two D.C. locations — or to a local grocery store.
Paul Tecchio, the new restaurant’s general manager, told ARLnow just signed a lease to move in a few days ago, and hopes to have it open for business by “the first or second week of April.”
The new BBQ restaurant moving in got its start as a food truck serving up smoked meats across the Northern Virginia area and D.C., Tecchio said. It’s backed by Dylan Kough (pronounced “cow”), a former financial consultant who decided to try and bring Kansas City-style BBQ to the D.C. area.
Kough opened his first brick-and-mortar location of Smoking Kow in Alexandria last year, and still operates two food trucks as well. He also worked with Tecchio, himself a “classically trained chef who has worked in kitchens around the DMV for almost 7 years,” to open the Alexandria location and will partner with him once more on this new restaurant.
“Dylan and I have poured a lot of heart and hard work into getting the first location to where it is today and we are very excited to be bringing our ‘que to Arlington,” Tecchio wrote in an email.
Smoking Kow’s menu includes a variety of BBQ staples like brisket, pulled pork and chicken and ribs, with a whole host of platters, sandwiches and even tacos on offer.
Snow Likely Tonight — An inch or two of snow may fall overnight tonight. Snow is also possible Sunday. [Capital Weather Gang]
Clement Running for County Board Again — “She’s been a familiar name and face in local elections for nearly a decade, and Audrey Clement has made it onto the ballot again for 2019. Clement filed all requisite paperwork to run for County Board as an independent, Arlington election officials confirmed.” [InsideNova]
Lee Highway Revitalization Process Chugs Along — “Neighborhood activists… turned out Feb. 12 to execute ‘The Arlington Way’ and put in their two cents on how to create a theme for the multi-ingredient pudding that has characterized Lee Highway since it was so-named nearly a century ago.” [Falls Church News-Press]
Ballston Apartment Project Update — “Saul anticipates substantial completion of its massive North Glebe Road project by early 2020. The $275 million development will include 490 apartments and 60,000 square feet of retail — small-format Target included — across 2.8 acres.” [Washington Business Journal]
Dim Sum Restaurant Closes in Seven Corners — “Fortune is closed for good. Always an awkward space in the middle of the Home Depot parking lot, but I know it was a special spot for many.” [Twitter]
Lubber Run to Become Smoke-Free — Thanks to a change in state law, Lubber Run Amphitheater could be smoke-free by the end of the year. The state has until now prohibited Arlington County from being able to enforce a smoking ban at the venue. [InsideNova]
The Capital One bank branch on Columbia Pike, which is set to close.
The Capital One bank branch along Columbia Pike now plans to shut its doors this spring.
The bank started notifying customers last week that the branch, located at 3532 Columbia Pike, will shut down on May 9, according to company spokeswoman Amanda Landers.
She told ARLnow that “there will be no changes to our customers’ accounts or their account numbers” associated with the branch’s closure.
“As always, customers can visit any Capital One branch and receive the same level of account access and high-quality service they’ve come to expect,” Landers wrote in an email. “We’re working hard to make this transition as smooth as possible. We also encourage our customers to give us a call or stop by the branch to ask us any questions before it closes, so that we could show them the available options to bank at any time with Capital One with tools such as online/mobile banking and bill pay.”
The bank branch has previously been in the news for twice being robbed in recent years, including one incident that attracted the FBI’s attention.
Capital One last closed another one of its Arlington branches along Lee Highway in September 2017.
The company still operates branches in Rosslyn, Ballston, Crystal City and another along Lee Highway.
A sign posted at Subway in Clarendon, which has closed.
Subway in Clarendon, which has closed.
A Subway location in Clarendon now looks to be toast.
The chain’s shop at 3000 10th Street N. closed for good on Tuesday (Jan. 22), according to signs posted on its doors.
The store last made the news back in 2016, when its owner pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges.
The Clarendon Subway is the second one to close in the area in recent months. Another location near Courthouse shuttered in late November.
However, anyone in the mood for one the chain’s sandwiches won’t have to go too far. The company’s website shows nine other locations still open around Arlington.
Gymboree Expected to Close — “Children’s clothing retailer Gymboree Group Inc. is expected to seek bankruptcy protection this week, with plans to close all 900 of its stores, according to people familiar with the matter.” The company has a Gymboree location at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall. [Wall Street Journal]
A First for the Local Real Estate Market — “The Arlington real estate market for 2018 was essentially flat compared to a year before – while, for the first time, the average sales price of single-family homes topped the $1 million mark.” [InsideNova]
Storm Response Now in ‘Phase 4’ — Arlington County’s snow removal effort is now in “Phase 4,” cleaning up problem areas with a focus on schools and county facilities. Overnight a refreeze produced black ice and made plowing more difficult and driving hazardous, the county said. Last night Arlington Public Schools decided to close schools today instead of open on a delay. [Twitter]
School Construction Project Update — Construction is running on time on both the future Alice West Fleet Elementary School and the future home of H-B Woodlawn in Rosslyn, but heavy rains have caused delays for the future Dorothy Hamm Middle School, formerly known as the Stratford School, on Vacation Lane. [InsideNova]
Nolas Salon in Market Common Clarendon, which has closed.
Georgetown Valet cleaners in Market Common Clarendon, which has closed.
Signs posted at Georgetown Valet cleaners in Market Common Clarendon, which has closed.
A pair of businesses in the Market Common Clarendon development have shut down in recent weeks.
Signs posted at Nolas Salon and the Georgetown Valet dry cleaners, located in the same building at 2700 Clarendon Blvd, inform would-be patrons that the shops have now closed permanently.
A sign posted on the salon’s window says that “while we are sad to be closing this store location, our employees will continue to serve your needs at other salons in the area.”
Some will be moving to Salon by JC in Ballston at 3865 Wilson Blvd, while others will head to Salon Lofts Clarendon at 3001 Washington Blvd.
Meanwhile, the sign posted at the cleaners says the shop shut down on Dec. 15.
According to its website, Georgetown Valet operates six locations in D.C., but no other shops in Arlington. The chain once operated a location in Virginia Square, but that shut down back in 2011.
The entire Market Common development has seen severalnew businesses move in over the course of the last few months, and will eventually be part of a major redevelopment of that section of Clarendon.
Panda Tea House is set to open at the former site of Kokee Tea in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall.
An employee for Kokee Tea told ARLnow that spot closed in the food court at 1100 S. Hayes Street, but was not able to say exactly when it closed.
Kokee Tea has several other locations in Virginia, including Centreville, Fairfax and Springfield.
A banner at the shuttered storefront says that Panda Tea House is “coming soon” and will serve Thai hand rolled ice cream. The menu also offers bubble tea, according to its website.
Panda Tea House opened a location at Dulles Town Center in September.
Harry’s Smokehouse, now closed in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.
Harry’s Smokehouse, now closed in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.
Harry’s Smokehouse, now closed in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.
Harry’s Smokehouse, a burgers and BBQ restaurant, has now shut its doors in the Pentagon City mall.
Signs posted at the eatery, located near the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City’s Metro entrance, indicate that it’s now permanently closed.
“Thank you for many years of patronage,” the signs read.
Readers told ARLnow that the restaurant has been closed since at least Thursday (Jan. 3).
The restaurant has long been a fixture of the mall’s lower level, starting out as a Harry’s Tap Room before rebranding to a more BBQ-centric menu back in 2011.
There’s no indication yet of what might replace Harry’s in the space.
Piola pizzeria in Rosslyn, which has since closed (photo via Facebook)
A note on the door of the Piola restaurant in Rosslyn (courtesy photo)
Longtime Rosslyn pizzeria Piola has now shut its doors.
The restaurant, located at 1550 Wilson Blvd, announced the move on its social media channels last Wednesday (Dec. 26). Piola had operated out of the space for the last 12 years.
“To our many regular customers and social media fans, we are very grateful for the support you gave us,” staff wrote in a Facebook post. “This day would have come much sooner if it wasn’t for you! We apologize for not informing you sooner, but hope you understand that the cards were not in our favor.”
Piola was known for its pizza-heavy brunches, beer specials and large World Cup watch parties every few years.
It’s now the second long-tenured restaurant on the block to close down in recent years; Cafe Asia shut down next door back in 2016. The Bash Boxing gym and South Block smoothie shop have since moved into that space.
Piola’s former home also sits across from a massive redevelopment project that will someday become bring three new residential towers, a new fire station and an improved Rosslyn Highlands Park to the area.
The pizza chain also seems to have shuttered its D.C. location, according to its website. Piola is a Miami-based company, with several South Florida locations, and a few in Texas and North Carolina as well.
Wagner owns both businesses (which sit just steps away from each other at 2803 Columbia Pike and 2900 Columbia Pike, respectively), and the closures will leave him with just the newly opened Josephine’s Italian Kitchen in the Penrose Square shopping center still operating in the area.
Wagner says he made the “difficult” decision to shutter BrickHaus after concluding that it “never took off the way we expected and hoped it would,” a development made all the more painful by the months of permitting and construction woes he endured to open the bar.
He said Twisted Vines remains quite popular on the Pike, however, but he started to feel its current space didn’t have enough room for it to grow. And with its lease up at year’s end, and a new restaurant just down the road, he saw an ideal opportunity to regroup.
“We have a great new venue in Josephine’s and figured it was a great opportunity to take Twisted down there until we can find it a new home,” Wagner said. “Twisted has been part of the Pike community for a long time and it should be back.”
Wagner dubbed his new Italian eatery, which first opened in late October, as a “home away from home” for Twisted Vines during the transition. He plans to move much of the wine shop’s offerings to the restaurant, and will keep hosting the bar’s wine club and regular wine dinners at Josephine’s.
“Josephine’s is Twisted with value added, basically,” Wagner said. “It’s a better space, with a lot more room for us.”
He’s hoping to find a new location for Twisted Vines sometime in the coming months. But, in the meantime, all the shop’s whiskey will be half off over the next few days, then all wine be marked down by 50 percent this weekend. The location will also play host to one final dinner on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the restaurant.
Wagner will also hold a “New Year’s Eve blowout” at BrickHaus, with 50 percent off all checks. He said he wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to bringing back a similar beer garden to the Pike going forward, but given the challenges he faced at BrickHaus, he’s not optimistic about the prospect.
“We’re always interested in new opportunities,” Wagner said. “We listen to people and find out what people want and give it a try. If that doesn’t work, then we keep trying. The ultimate goal is to find a concept that resonates with the community.”
