business closing

Linda’s Cafe on Lee Highway Set to Close, Could Soon Be Replaced by Bob and Edith’s

By Alex Koma
1/3

Longtime diner Linda’s Cafe is closing its doors and could soon be replaced by another Arlington institution: Bob and Edith’s Diner.

General manager Joe Ellian told ARLnow he heard from attorneys for the restaurant last Thursday (May 31), informing him that they’ve purchased the small space at 5050 Lee Highway from his landlord and giving him 30 days to move out. Bob and Edith’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment on their plans for the property.

“I’m going to miss all the customers and the neighborhood so much, it’s just very sad,” Ellian said. “It just isn’t enough time for a restaurant to pack up… I have bills to pay, food to sell, a family.”

Ellian says he’s run Linda’s out of the Lee Highway location for the last 20 years, and he’s heartbroken to be leaving the area. The restaurant was known for its all-day breakfast and burger offerings, as well as a sometimes colorful Twitter account.

“It was like a family here, we had good relationships with all the customers,” Ellian said. “As soon as we saw a car pull up, we knew who it was. We knew their order and had their food waiting for them.”

Ellian notes that he never had trouble making rent, but believes his landlord, Joe Djassebi, received a lucrative enough offer that he felt forced to sell. The property had an assessed value of more than $757,000 in 2018, according to county records.

Ellian isn’t sure what he’ll do next — he is hoping to bargain for more time to move all his equipment out of the Lee Highway location — but he may move Linda’s elsewhere in Arlington, if he can find the right spot.

“A good location is hard to find,” Ellian said.

Bob and Edith’s currently operates two diners in Arlington, with another in Alexandria and one in Springfield.

Ice Cream Shop Appears to be Coming to Shirlington

By ARLnow.com

It looks like Shirlington will be getting its own ice cream shop.

An application has been filed to convert a storefront at 4150 Campbell Avenue into an “ice cream take out” business. There is a frozen yogurt store a block away, but no other ice cream shops in the neighborhood.

The exact storefront could not be confirmed, though Knits Etc. at 4150 Campbell Ave recently closed and is currently vacant.

Hat tip to Chris Slatt

Boccato Gelato Planning to Leave Clarendon Location, Relocate Elsewhere

By Alex Koma

After serving up frozen treats for the last decade along Wilson Blvd. in Clarendon, Boccato Gelato is now set to relocate.

The gelato and espresso lounge posted a notice on its front door and social media accounts Saturday (May 19) that it will soon be moving elsewhere, leaving 2719 Wilson Blvd. behind.

However, the restaurant’s managers wrote that “our future location is in the works.” They did not immediately respond to a request for comment on where they might be moving.

“While we were very lucky and blessed to have found this amazing spot in 2008, it has been quite a task and great challenge to keep up with the obligations of our lease,” Boccato’s staff wrote. “We would like to thank our landlord for giving us a chance to serve you in this wonderful location, and to all the employees of Arlington County for helping us get started and giving us the opportunity to introduce our business to the beloved town of Clarendon.”

The restaurant’s managers added that they have not yet decided on when their final day serving up scoops on Wilson Blvd. will be, and plan to post that information to their Facebook and Twitter accounts in due time.

The move will not affect the Cowork Cafe, however, which has operated out of Boccato for the last three years. The notice Boccato posted said that the Cowork Cafe has signed a new lease at the same space.

File photo

Rosslyn’s Bistro 360 Closing By End of May

By Alex Koma
1/4

Rosslyn wine bar and market Bistro 360 is closing up shop at the end of the month.

Owner Art Hauptman says he plans to shutter the restaurant, located at 1800 Wilson Boulevard since the fall of 2014, by May 25. While he has yet to sell the place to someone else, he says he’s received enough “good offers for the space” to decide to move on.

“We appreciate all the patrons we had here, but it felt like the right time,” Hauptman told ARLnow. “It didn’t go gangbusters or else I’d be staying, but it was worth a try.”

Hauptman added that his chef and general manager for the last few years is moving out of the area, so he felt it made sense to shut things down now rather than wait any longer.

He plans to “consolidate” most of the restaurant’s wine offerings and specials over at the other Arlington eatery he owns: Cassatt’s Kiwi Café and Gallery, at the Lee Heights Shops off Lee Highway.

In the meantime, Hauptman says Bistro 360 will stay open Tuesday through Saturday from 4-9 p.m. each night, with a big “blowout” party planned for Thursday, May 24.

“I think we gave a lot of people a nice local joint,” Hauptman said. “We tried to make it conversational where people could actually hear themselves talk, and I think we succeeded in that.”

Crystal City’s Cafe Italia Has Eviction Notices On Door

By Bridget Reed Morawski
1/3

Cafe Italia has been evicted from its Crystal City location, according to notices affixed to the restaurant’s front door and signed by an Arlington County deputy sheriff.

The restaurant opened in 1976, according to its Facebook page.

Cafe Italia, which was located at 519 23rd Street S., served breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Out of 185 Yelp reviews, it averaged about three out of five stars.

The restaurant’s website appears to have been deactivated. A call to the listed phone number went straight to voicemail.

H/t @WhiskeypalianEsq

JUST IN: Goody’s to Serve Last Slices Tonight

By ARLnow.com
1/12

Beloved Clarendon pizza shop Goody’s will be closing up shop after tonight (Saturday).

Co-owner Vanessa Reisis — affectionately known to customers as “Momma Goody” — confirmed in a brief phone conversation that the family-run pizzeria will be closing after Saturday night and that she and her husband will be retiring.

An anonymous tipster told ARLnow.com Saturday morning that “somebody bought them out” and that the petite storefront along Clarendon’s main drag of bars could “possibly reopen as pizza spot.” Reisis declined to provide additional details about the closure.

Goody’s opened in 2006 and has served legions of local residents, bar-goers and Clarendon office workers since. It is also popular with Arlington police officers, particularly those working the weekend Clarendon bar detail.

Over the past few years Goody’s managed to hang on to its loyal clientele despite competition from the likes of Bronx Pizza and the recently-downsized Pete’s Apizza. Despite the competition, Goody’s continued to serve only two varieties of New York style pizza by the slice: plain and pepperoni.

In a 2016 interview, Reisis said the closing of Hard Times Cafe was a bad harbinger for the “friendly little neighborhood places” that helped turn Clarendon into a popular food and nightlife destination. In 2017, Reisis said on ARLnow’s 26 Square Miles podcast that business had picked up, but running a small shop like hers was still difficult given the neighborhood’s rising rent.

In addition to what it was best known for — food and family — Goody’s was also noted for the hand-drawn seasonal signs on the front window, which always proclaimed that the “best pizza in Arlington” was inside.

La Tasca Has Closed in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com
1/3

(Update at 1:35 p.m.) Spanish tapas restaurant chain La Tasca has closed its Clarendon location.

The two-floor restaurant, at the corner of Wilson Blvd and N. Fillmore Street, served its last customers on Saturday, we’re told. Workers could be seen removing furniture and peeling off lettering on the windows this morning.

An employee said La Tasca was closing because its lease was expiring, but the company is reportedly exploring the possibility of reopening somewhere nearby.

La Tasca originated in the UK but has several D.C. area locations. The now-closed Clarendon location recently hosted a “pop up concept” called Txuleton by La Tasca, which specialized in “Basque steaks (Txuletones) as well as pintxos and tapas.”

La Tasca is expected to be replaced by a new taqueria concept from the team behind Ambar and Baba, across the street.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

ATS Parents Peeved About Overcrowding — Arlington Traditional School parents are protesting the addition of classes and relocatable classrooms to the already-overcrowded school. [Arlington Connection]

Alliterative Pothole Patching Update — Via Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services: “Punctilious, present pothole people have plugged 500-plus problems post-2017 but prefer a plethora for practice. Please provide. http://topics.arlingtonva.us/reportproblem or call 703-228-6570.” [Twitter]

AIM Petition Nearing 1,000 Signatures — More than 900 people have signed a petition calling on the County Board to nix the proposed 20 percent cut in funding for Arlington Independent Media. “The proposed Arlington County FY ’19 budget would be catastrophic for AIM,” the petition says. [Change.org]

Arlington Ranks No. 2 in Virginia ‘Healthiest’ List — Arlington is second only to Loudoun on a list of the healthiest counties in Virginia, compiled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. [WTOP]

Capitol City Files for Bankruptcy — Shortly after closing its Shirlington brewpub, Capitol City Brewing Co. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Owner David von Storch says he intends to keep Cap City’s downtown D.C. location open, serving its four core in-house beers, which will now be brewed by a contract brewery, as well as local craft brews. [Washington Business Journal]

Kaine to Talk Guns at Wakefield HS — Via press release: “On Friday, March 16, Senator Tim Kaine will hold a classroom conversation on gun violence and school safety with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington. Kaine will hear students’ perspectives on how policymakers should address this issue and which solutions they would like to see implemented to keep schools safer.”

Photo courtesy @thelastfc

Tortoise and Hare Has Closed in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com
1/2

A decade-old Crystal City bar scene stalwart has closed its doors.

Tortoise and Hare Bar and Grill, at 567 23rd Street S., served its last customers on Wednesday, Feb. 28. In a Facebook post, the bar said it had been trying to find a buyer but it was unable to come to an agreement before its lease expired at the end of February.

“It is with great pride and a lot of sadness that we announce that after over 10 and a half years, Tortoise & Hare will be serving its last drinks to the public tonight,” the business wrote. “We can’t express enough how much we appreciate all of our customers over the years making this such a great place to come to every day. And we sincerely thank all of our staff that have worked for us through thick and thin over all these years.”

Tortoise and Hare was a popular destination for sports fans. It was most well-known as a Pittsburgh Steelers bar, but also tuned its TVs to Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins games, as well as Penn State, Ohio State and Florida State athletics.

https://www.facebook.com/tortoiseandharebar/posts/1700170083359325

‘My Thrive Pilates’ Has Closed

By ARLnow.com

A local fitness business has suddenly shuttered all of its locations.

My Thrive Pilates sent emails to customers Sunday night announcing that it was closing immediately and selling its equipment “to pay remaining payroll obligations.” Several tipsters forwarded the email to ARLnow.com.

Content has been removed from the company’s website and its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages have been taken down. A Google search indicates that it had locations in Courthouse, Shirlington and Falls Church.

The fitness studio was well reviewed, garnering a 4.5 star review on the Yelp page for My Thrive’s Courthouse location and 4 stars for the other locations.

The full email, after the jump.

To the My Thrive Community,

I regretfully write to share that My Thrive Pilates will be permanently closing all locations as of 8 p.m. Sunday, March 11th 2018.

All equipment will be auctioned to pay remaining payroll obligations.

I am heartbroken by and apologize for this happening and wish to share that we did everything in our power to keep the studios up and running.  We thank each and every one of you for your support.

Over the last 7 years we have enjoyed and are grateful for the people who became a part of our community and wish all of you the very best.

Thank you,

Stephanie Westberg
My Thrive Pilates

UPDATE: Capitol City Brewing Has Closed in Shirlington

By ARLnow.com
1/4

Update at 5:30 p.m. — A statement was just posted on the Capitol City Brewing Shirlington Facebook page, confirming that it has closed permanently.

After 22 years of proudly serving Northern Virginia, we have had to make the difficult decision to close this location. We thank you for your tremendous support and loyalty over the years and for that we are truly grateful. Please visit us at our Downtown location (at 11th and H St NW) to enjoy our award-winning beers, great food and friendly service.

Earlier: Capitol City Brewing appears to have closed its Shirlington location, but it’s unclear whether the closure is permanent.

Paper covered the brewpub’s windows and its doors remained closed today. Nobody answered the phone as of 3 p.m.

Several tipsters have emailed ARLnow.com to say Cap City, located at 4001 Campbell Avenue, had closed. Some were upset, saying employees were abruptly told today, without prior notice, that it had closed.

On its website and social media Friday afternoon, things seemed to be business as usual. OpenTable was still taking reservations and the business’ Facebook account wrote a cheery, generic post: “You could stay in this Friday night, but we think you’d have much more fun with us and your favorite beer in hand.”

“Unless you live in Shirlington, apparently,” said one person, in return. “You freaking lying pieces of [poop emoji],” wrote another.

An anonymous tipster contacted ARLnow.com last week, advising us to “watch for Capitol City Brewing Company closing in Shirlington in early March.” Calls and emails sent to the company since have not been returned.

A mainstay of the neighborhood, Capitol City has remained busy on most weekdays and weekends. The company also hosts the popular, annual Oktoberfest event in Shirlington.

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