Clarendon Grill (1101 North Highland Street), which recently reopened after extensive renovations, will be hosting a “grand reopening party” Saturday night.
The event will feature local 80’s rock tribute band Toxic Mouse. No word on a set time, but the band will likely take the stage at some point between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m.
HiBall Events is handling promotion for the bash.
Did you miss Clarendon Day? Out of town for the Rosslyn Jazz Fest? If so, you’re in luck. Arlington Independent Media was there filming the musical performances, and now they’ve put the videos online.
Don’t tell your boss, but the jazz in particular may be something you could listen to while whittling away the hours at work.
See the Jazz Fest video here, and the Clarendon Day video here.
Viewing tip: mouse over the video and use the arrow buttons on either side to switch between performances.
This fall, AIM also has entire high school football games available for your viewing pleasure.
Pizza shops are about to be as ubiquitous in Arlington as Starbucks stores and brown flip flops.
Clarendon, believe it or not, is getting yet another pizza place. Bronx Pizza and Subs is coming to 3100 Clarendon Boulevard in “late December,” according to the Washington Business Journal.
There’s at least one thing that may differentiate Bronx Pizza from the all the others. The pizzeria “will cater to the late-night crowd, serving up dishes until 5 a.m.,” WBJ reports. I don’t know who’s buying pizzas past 3:00 a.m. in Arlington, but being the lone late night food option when the Clarendon bars close could drive some serious business.
Around daylight hours, however, the pizza scene will be much more crowded. By the time Bronx Pizza opens, local options will include: Pete’s New Haven Apizza, Fire Works Pizza, Pizza Autentica, American Flatbread, Faccia Luna, Pupatella, Piola, Ledo’s, Jerry’s Subs and Pizza, Papa John’s, Mario’s Pizza House, Z Pizza, Goody’s and, perhaps, the Flippin’ Pizza truck.
Pretty soon, the production of pizza will be an industry in and of itself in Arlington — just below military contractors on the hierarchy of importance to the local economy.
It started with a couple of fun races and ended with a performance of “The Arlington Rap.” Clarendon Day 2010 benefited from beautiful weather (okay, it was a bit hot) and plenty of food and entertainment options. Below are some photos captured by ARLnow.com readers.
Photo credits: Amber Wilkie Photography, Chaita_1, Chris Bavaria, Discojing and Tom Petty.
Rain, At Last — After a long dry spell, we’ll get periods rain all day and potentially strong thunderstorms tonight. More from the Capital Weather Gang.
Local Lobbyist Pleads Guilty to Illegal Campaign Contributions — Lobbyist Paul Magliocchetti pleaded guilty Friday to making $386,250 in illegal campaign contributions to members of Congress. Magliocchetti founded the Arlington-based firm The PMA Group, which folded in 2009, several months after being raided by the FBI. One of PMA’s major beneficiaries was Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), who received nearly $1 million from the firm over ten years. More from the Washington Times.
WaPo Profiles Alcova Heights — The Washington Post digs up some of the history of Alcova Heights, which up until the 1920s was a farm. If you ever wanted to know where the name came from (hint: it’s not very imaginative), read on.
Boccato Gelato Redesigned — The gelato has remained the same, but Clarendon’s Boccato Gelato now has a new interior. More from Clarendon Nights.
Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA
We spotted plenty of people wielding fancy cameras at Clarendon Day on Saturday, and each of those shutter bugs was probably taking better photos than the grainy, haphazard cell phone pics snapped by ARLnow.com.
If you took photos at Clarendon Day, we’d love to showcase your best shots (with credit, of course) tomorrow morning. Add them to our Flickr pool or email them to arlingtonnews[at]gmail.com.
Please resize photos before emailing, and let us know how to credit you.
We’ve talked a lot about Clarendon Day, but there are a bunch of other fun and interesting events happening around Arlington this weekend.
Among them: the Arlington Kids Stuff Sale, the Great American Bake Sale to benefit Share Our Strength, An Evening of Shakespeare in Klingon starring George Takei, the AMEN 35th anniversary celebration and WalkArlington’s Yorktown Walkabout.
See our events calendar for more details.
The start of Clarendon Day 2010 is less than 24 hours away, and already the excitement is brewing. This year’s event will include a performance by “Arlington Rap guy” Remy Munasifi, a burrito eating contest and 20 different food vendors.
Things will kick off Saturday at 8:20 a.m. with a 5K race, followed by a 10K and a Kids Dash.
Then at 11:00 a.m., the main festivities get underway.
Ten bands are set to perform on two different stages. Acts scheduled to perform on the main IOTA Club & Cafe Stage include:
Clarendon Day also features dozens of art, retail and community booths. Among the organizations setting up shop will be WJFK (“106.7 The Fan”) and WJLA/TBD (ABC 7).
Shhhh. Don’t tell anybody, but Clarendon Grill is opening its doors tonight for the first time since it closed for renovations on August 1.
Tonight’s “soft opening” will start at 6:00 and go until whenever management decides to kick everybody out. Owner Peter Pflug says he’s hoping for a small crowd, so the staff is not overwhelmed while they get used to the new setup.
Just this afternoon bartenders were still stocking and sorting bottles of liquor and the outdoor patio was still buzzing with construction workers who were laying bricks on the adjacent sidewalk. The padded bar stools only arrived from a factory in Canada yesterday. A small, separate bar by the music stage appeared to still be a work-in-progress.
Assuming all goes well over the next two days, popular local cover band Gonzo’s Nose is scheduled to perform Saturday night.
Clarendon Day, the Shirlington Oktoberfest, the opening of Rosslyn’s new Artisphere — it’s a three-week procession of big events in Arlington.
Which event are you looking forward to?
Is The Papery, the high-end stationary and engraving store at 2871 Clarendon Boulevard (next to Orvis), going out of business? One tipster came to that conclusion after spying rows of near-empty shelves.
But a store employee tells us they’re not closing shop, they’re just low on stock. A new shipment should be arriving soon, we’re told.
So don’t worry, it seems that you will still be able to order Vera Wang-designed wedding invitations in the heart of Clarendon.
The family-owned, New Jersey-based retailer has at least seven locations, according to its web site. The Arlington store and a store in Bethesda are the only locations outside of New Jersey.
