Clarendon

Cornhole League Coming to Clarendon Grill

By ARLnow.com

If you’re a fan of the beanbag-tossing game of cornhole, Clarendon Grill (1101 North Highland Street) is the place to be tonight. The bar will be hosting pick-up cornhole games starting around 7:00 p.m. There will also be free passes to the new movie Despicable Me, courtesy of the Arlington Athletic and Social League.

For the serious cornhole competitor, AASL still has a few spots open for its summer cornhole league at Clarendon Grill. Now in its second year, the 10 team league plays six regular season games on Tuesday nights. The season starts next week on June 8.

Registration costs $20 and includes a free t-shirt. Plus there’s cheap beer for league members.

Photo courtesy AASL/CHASE Sports Group. Disclosure: ARLnow.com has worked together with AASL on a marketing initiative.

Organic Soft Serve Ice Cream Debuts at Northside Social

By ARLnow.com

Northside Social (3211 Wilson Blvd) is rolling out a Memorial Day-to-Labor Day summer special tonight: organic soft serve ice cream. A creation of pastry chef Rob Valencia, the ice cream is made with Northside’s organic Trickling Springs Creamery milk and other organic ingredients.

The flavors will rotate. This weekend they’re serving French vanilla and local organic strawberry. Other flavors in the works include mocha caramel, wildberry creme fraiche, and red velvet.

How does it taste? Very good. The creaminess is definitely a notch or two above your standard dining hall soft serve machine. We recommend getting the swirl.

Gearing up for Memorial Day Weekend

By Ashley Houghton

Yes, May has been an insane month. From stolen wigs to stolen cell phones, and from DoD job losses to creating new jobs for exotic dancers (or, at the very least, local arguments for it), Arlingtonians are ready for a long weekend. Take a look at some local events happening around our area to take a load off to fully appreciate Memorial Day weekend.

For Memorial Day observers: Arlington National Cemetery will hold its annual Memorial Day of Observance to remember fallen service members on Monday at the Memorial Amphitheater. The Full Honor Wreath-Laying Ceremony is at 11:00 a.m., but officials recommend visitors arrive at 9:30 for seats and for a musical prelude by the U.S. Navy Band.

For the kids: Gulf Branch Nature Center on Military Road is holding their weekly campfire for families on Friday from 7:00 to 8:15 p.m. Expect s’mores, games, and campfire songs for the little ones ($5 per person, $20 for families).

For music lovers: The Fleshtones, the quintessential 70’s/80’s American garage band, are playing Iota in Clarendon on Saturday night at 9:00. Tickets are $15 and available at the door.

For multicultural Arlingtonians: The 23rd Annual Argentine Festival is being held Saturday from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the Thomas Jefferson Theatre (125 S. Old Glebe Road). Watch tango dancing, listen to traditional music and eat traditional Argentinian treats.

For those who don’t mind wearing leather when it’s ridiculously hot outside: Rolling Thunder will be loudly and proudly riding all around Arlington and D.C. this weekend. From Friday to Sunday, groups of motorcyclists will be rolling in and out of the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, which is serving as the official hotel of the annual event. On Sunday morning a “Ride for Freedom” demonstration will be held at the North Pentagon parking lot. Washington Boulevard from I-395 to the Memorial Bridge will be closed Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Memorial Bridge will be closed from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. If you have a Harley, feel free to join the crowd (or just watch from the sidelines).

For people who like eating meat and giving to charity at the same time: 3 Bar and Grill (2950 Clarendon Blvd) will be hosting a “Charitable Pig Roast” on Memorial Day eve. There will be Bacon Bloody Marys, pulled pork sandwiches and some killer drink specials. It’s happening from 4:00 to 9:00 Sunday evening. A suggested $5 donation will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Clarendon’s TangySweet Will Be the First of Its Kind

By ARLnow.com

Aaron Gordon is throwing the kitchen sink at his first Arlington project.

Gordon is not only opening a Red Velvet Cupcakery and a TangySweet frozen yogurt store side-by-side on Clarendon Boulevard, he’s also planning to make this his first foray into salads.

“A gourmet salad shop for everyone… I think that concept is well overdue for the Clarendon area,” said Gordon.

He says his as-yet-unnamed TangySweet salad concept will improve on the salad offerings of competitors like SweetGreen, Mixt Greens and Chop’t, which has a location in Rosslyn.

“We’ll make it better and have more to offer,” including more specialized meats, Gordon said. He expects a December or January opening date, depending on when construction wraps up on the building, which is part of the new Clarendon Center development.

The 36-year-old entrepreneur, who grew up in D.C. but spent ten years after college in Southern California, had praise for two of his soon-to-be competitors; he said he’s a fan of Bakeshop and Red Mango, both of which opened this year.

However, he was “not worried” when he heard that NYC-based Crumbs is planning to open a Clarendon location in August. He says Crumbs bakes its cupcakes as a central location and ships them to stores, rather than making them fresh in-store, which gives Red Velvet a competitive advantage.

Gordon says all the local competition “shows that [Clarendon] is a good market for us.”

“We love Clarendon because it’s young and thriving and there are a lot of fun concepts,” he said.

Photo courtesy of TangySweet, Inc.

Men In Ski Masks Try Unsuccessfully To Break Into Apple Store

By ARLnow.com

A group of men in ski masks threw a cinder block into a window at the Apple Store in Clarendon overnight, but they didn’t break the glass.

The men reportedly fled after they were unable to break into the store. Police set up a perimeter and searched the area after the apparent burglary attempt, but they could not locate the suspects.

A large gash is visible where cinder block hit the window, we’re told.

Red Mango Opens in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

At long last, Red Mango opened its doors for business today. Located just up the road from Whole Foods on Clarendon Boulevard, it’s the first Red Mango franchise in the DC area (a Tysons Corner location is also planned) and the only Korean-style frozen yogurt store in the Courthouse-Clarendon area.

Employees were handing out free samples outside the store this afternoon as a steady stream of new customers trickled inside. First-time franchise owners Monte and Betsy Winterhalter, who moved here from Connecticut in order to run the store, mingled with customers and provided guidance to their new hires.

Red Mango is only accepting cash for now, as management works to get the credit card machines working.

The store will hold a grand opening celebration on Saturday, June 5, with free t-shirts to the first 100 customers and free yogurt from 11:00 to 6:00 p.m.

In addition to four different yogurt flavors and more than 20 toppings, Red Mango also offers free WiFi.

More photos after the jump.

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Healthy, Locally-Sourced Food… At a Diner?

By ARLnow.com

When you think of diners, the greasy spoon image is the one that typically comes to mind. But Silver Diner is determined to appeal to a higher, more healthy culinary calling. The local chain, which includes the iconic location in the heart of Clarendon, is now calling itself “the next generation diner.”

As Stacey Viera writes at Every Food Fits, Silver Diner has launched a new menu that includes fresh, healthy, locally-sourced options.

Robert Giaimo, Silver Diner, Inc. co-founder and President and CEO said, “Diners are reflective of how people eat today… To get eggs from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, direct to Silver Diner, it costs about fifty cents more per omelet. When we surveyed the consumer, he said he’d pay more… This is a farm-to-table [operation] on a much, much broader basis than ever before. With this menu, we found that we had to go all the way with consumers,” and completely revamp the restaurant’s supply chain.

Stacey reports that Silver Diner had to increase its food costs by almost $375,000 in order to launch the new menu. But the effort has produced some dishes worthy of consideration by even the most experienced foodies.

“Try the new Grilled Wasabi Salmon Sliders for an infusion of Omega-3s, a salad with some of the sweetest strawberries around, and treat yourself to the gluten-free Mini Brownie Sundae,” Viera advises.

Read more at Every Food Fits.

Photo courtesy Stacey Viera.

Watch Your iPhone!

By ARLnow.com

We’re told someone pulled a snatch-and-dash larceny earlier today at Northside Social in Clarendon. Someone apparently had their iPhone sitting out on a table when an unknown male grabbed it and ran.

Police were called. No word on whether they’ve been able to locate a suspect.

This is just another reminder to keep a watchful eye on your expensive gadgets at all times.

To Do Tonight: Spruce Up Your Salads

By ARLnow.com

Via Every Food Fits, we learn that Michael Kiss, resident chef at the Clarendon Whole Foods, will be teaching a class on whole grain salads tonight. What are whole grain salads? Well…

We all know that we need to incorporate more whole grains into our diets, although in practice it can be overwhelming and frustrating. Chef Kiss will showcase light and flavorful vegetarian salads, great for summer entertaining at patio dinners and picnics!

The class will start at 7:00 and run 30-50 minutes. It’s free and you don’t have to RSVP, but arriving early is recommended.

Whole Foods’ free cooking lessons are a weekly event. See some of the upcoming classes here.

TangySweet, Red Velvet Coming to Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Cupcakes and pizza, that’s what Clarendon does!

On the heels of the announcement of the neighborhood’s eleventh and twelfth pizza restaurant (seriously) comes word that Clarendon will be getting its third cupcake bakery (after Bakeshop and Crumbs, which is opening in August or September) and second trendy frozen yogurt store (after Red Mango, opening later this month).

A “TangySweet Garden” and Red Velvet Cupcakery will be moving into a ground-level space on Clarendon Boulevard, in the new Clarendon Center development. The store will be located between Hard Times Cafe and the future Pete’s New Haven Apizza.

What’s a TangySweet Garden? We’re not sure, but we’re guessing it will have both a froyo and a salad component, a la Sweetgreen.

TangySweet and Red Velvet are both owned by the same guy, but it’s not clear whether the stores will occupy one unified space or if there will be separate storefronts.

Hat tip to @jamesp326 and @clarendonnights.

Update on 5/8 — Owner Aaron Gordon confirms that TangySweet and Red Velvet are coming to Clarendon. Gordon expects a December or January opening date, depending on when the Clarendon Center development is completed. He also confirms that the new TangySweet will have a salad component, but says they have not settled on a name for the store.

Red Mango Sets Tentative Opening Date

By ARLnow.com

Clarendon is just a couple weeks away from getting its first all-natural frozen yogurt store.

Red Mango, a fast-growing chain originally founded in South Korea in 2002, plans to open its new Clarendon location at 2831 Clarendon Blvd as early as May 22, according to a store rep.

The date is tentative and may have to be pushed back, we’re told. Nonetheless, it seems likely that Arlingtonians will be able to enjoy a Pomegranate yogurt with mandarin oranges and Fruity Pebbles by Memorial Day.

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