Clarendon

Air Force Cycling Classic Coming This Weekend

By Heather Mongilio

Air Force Cycling Classic Crystal Cup(Updated at 1:20 p.m.) Hundreds of cyclists will descend on Clarendon and Crystal City for the Air Force Association Cycling Classic this weekend.

The two-day event boasts multiple races, with a men’s and women’s professional cycling race in each neighborhood. There will also be multiple amateur races, kids races and a challenge ride.

On Saturday, the highlight of the event is the Clarendon Cup, a professional/amateur course that takes cyclists through the heart of Clarendon. The course is known as one of the most difficult in the United States, according to the association.

The event starts at 8 a.m. with amateur races from 8-9:50 a.m. The women’s professional teams will race at 10 a.m., and the men’s professional teams will take the course at noon. In between the two professional races is the kid’s race at 11:35 a.m.

Arlington cycling enthusiasts can block out their morning or decide to come for a couple of the races, said Emily Helpern, a PR rep. She recommends viewers watch near the start/finish line, where the main stage is located, at the intersection of Wilson Boulevard N. Herndon Street.

On Sunday, the event moves to Crystal City and starts at 7 a.m. with a non-competitive challenge ride. After the ride concludes, the men’s pro teams will start the Crystal City Cup races at 10:20 a.m, followed by a kid’s race at 12:25 p.m., the women’s pro race at 12:35 p.m. and amateur races at 1:45 p.m.

Helpern also recommends spectators watch from the start/finish line on Crystal Drive between 20th and 23rd Streets S.

Those willing to brave some of Arlington’s hottest days should plan on using the Metro to get down to the course and get off at the Clarendon or Crystal City stations, both of which are on the Blue Line. There will be some public parking on Saturday and parking is free at the Crystal City’s underground public garages.

Residents may want to avoid driving in Clarendon and Crystal City as a result of the races. Many of the roads, including Wilson Boulevard and Clarendon Boulevard, will be closed.

The following roads will be closed from 4:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday for the Clarendon Cup:

  • Wilson Boulevard, from Fillmore Street to Washington Boulevard
  • Clarendon Boulevard, from Washington Boulevard to N. Fillmore Street
  • Washington Boulevard, from Wilson Boulevard to N. Highland Street
  • N. Highland Street from Wilson Boulevard to Washington Boulevard
  • N. Garfield/N. Fillmore Streets from Wilson Boulevard to Washington Boulevard

The following roads will be closed from 4:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday for the Crystal City Cup:

  • Crystal Drive, from 15th Street S. through 23rd Street S.
  • Wilson Boulevard, from N. Kent Street to the ramp to Route 110
  • S. Clark Street, from 20th Street S. to 23rd Street S.
  • 20th Street S., from Crystal Drive to S. Clark Street
  • 18th Street S., from Crystal Drive to Bell Street
  • 23rd Street S., from Crystal Drive to S. Clark Street
  • Crystal Drive (west side), from 23rd Street S. to the Century Center Parking Garage

The ramps from Memorial Avenue, to Route 110 and Route 27 on the GW Parkway will be closed Sunday, June 14, from 5 a.m. to noon.

Clarendon ‘Food Truck Thursdays’ Kick Off Today

By Mariah Joyce

The new Miami Vice Burgers food truckStarting today, Clarendon residents will have an additional option for dinner every Thursday, courtesy of a new weekly gathering of food trucks.

The DMV Food Truck Association is helping to organize Clarendon Food Truck Thursdays, which will bring two to five food trucks to the corner of North Irving Street and Washington Boulevard from 6:30-8:30 p.m. every Thursday for the rest of the summer and part of fall.

The truck lineup will change from week to week. Tonight features Arepa Zone, which offers Central and South American cuisine, and Bada Bing, which slings cheesesteaks and other “sangweeches.”

Weather permitting, Food Truck Thursdays will continue through the end of October.

Clarendon co-working company Link Locale began Food Truck Thursdays last summer. This year, the food truck association is organizing the weekly event in partnership with Link Locale.

“Clarendon Food Truck Thursdays are a great option for Arlington residents looking for affordable, freshly prepared and quick bites for dinner,”said the association’s executive director, Che Ruddell-Tabisola.

‘At Minimum 300’ First Dates at Faccia Luna Have Ended in Marriage, Says Co-owner

By Mariah Joyce

Interior of Faccia Luna (photo via Google)Faccia Luna, one of Clarendon’s oldest restaurants, is touting itself as a destination for young love.

Readers of Washington City Paper recently voted the neighborhood joint ‘Best Pizza’ in the paper’s annual Best of DC series, and the Wilson Blvd restaurant used that as an opportunity to highlight its apparent propensity for being a spot for successful first dates.

Together with Faccia Luna locations in Alexandria and State College, Pa., co-owner Joe Corey says he has talked to at minimum 300 couples who had their first date at Faccia Luna and eventually got married. At least five couples whose relationship started at Faccia Luna returned to the restaurant to propose, and two more have held their wedding receptions there.

“We always knew about it — we would talk to our customers, and every week we would find one or two new couples who had had their first date here,” Corey said. “This is something to be proud of.”

About a year and a half ago, after years of hearing stories of first dates leading to marriages, Faccia Luna began officially documenting the trend, via a continuously updated Word document.

Faccia Luna Trattoria’s Arlington location is 23 years old; the restaurant’s first location opened its doors in State College, PA in 1989. Corey describes Faccia Luna as a homegrown restaurant and attributes its longevity and success as a neighborhood institution to its “commitment to quality, coupled with an upscale, urban design.”

Washington City Paper readers praised Faccia Luna for what they called “real Italian pizza.”

“Pizzerias have come and gone, presidents have come and gone, even those critically acclaimed pizzerias have come and gone and still Faccia Luna has met the ‘Taste of Thyme,'” the restaurant said in a press release.

All-American Bar Crawl to Return This Month

By ARLnow.com

2014 All-American Bar Crawl attendeesThousands of revelers will celebrate their independence from sobriety at a Fourth of July-themed bar crawl in Clarendon on June 27.

The event will run from 2:00-9:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 27. Tickets are $20 in advance or $30 at the door.

“The All American Bar Crawl celebrates America’s birthday a few days early!” said the bar crawl’s website. “Rock your red, white and blue and get ready for a day full of Star Spangled shenanigans and bar-hopping in Arlington with thousands of your closest friends.”

Participants will get a “signature freedom mug,” “patriotic party beads,” a raffle entry, free event photos, prizes “for the most festively dressed participants” and, of course, food and drink specials around town. While the drink specials cannot be advertised, per Virginia law, the food specials include $2 cheese pizza slices from Bronx Pizza.

Participating bars include Clarendon Grill, Mad Rose Tavern, American Tap Room, Clarendon Ballroom, Spider Kelly’s, Hard Times Cafe, Hunan One, Whitlow’s, Mister Days, SoBe, Don Tito and IOTA Club and Cafe.

The crawl is being organized by Project DC Events.

Coworking Space with Babysitting Center Launches in Clarendon

By Heather Mongilio

Startup Monday header

Editor’s Note: Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces and a stage for formal presentations.

The burgeoning coworking trend in Arlington commercial real estate has a new wrinkle: child care.

CoWork CoPlay launched last month, founded by the owner of Saffron Dance, adjacent to her belly-dancing studio at 3260 Wilson Blvd in Clarendon. The venture combines flexible coworking office space with an on-demand babysitting service, where parents can leave their children for up to four hours and hold business meetings, get work done or run errands.

CoWork interior shot (courtesy CoWork CoPlay)“While parents are not required to bring their kids while they are coworking and customers don’t have to be a parent to cowork, the close proximity of on premises childcare responds to one of the most common challenges facing families in today’s society — affordable childcare,” the company said.

CoWork CoPlay operates as a coworking space from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Childcare is also available during those times, except on Wednesday mornings. Childcare is available for two hour slots (8-10 a.m., 10 a.m. to noon, 1-3 p.m. and 3-5 p.m.) and parents can sign their children up for two time periods per day. On Wednesdays, childcare is available from 1-5 p.m.

“What parents really need are expansive options throughout the week to get work done and the flexibility to leave the premises while their children are safely playing and learning,” said founder Rachael Galoob-Ortega, who also goes by stage name “Saphira.”

CoWork CoPlay offers four pricing packages, which includes pricing for each space or using both. Parents can reserve the spaces online, but childcare reservations must be made 12 hours in advance.

CoWork interior shot (courtesy CoWork CoPlay)Up to 20 working parents at a time can work in the 1,000 square foot space that makes up the coworking area. It’s equipped with WiFi and patrons are given headphones with microphones to allow for Google chats and Skype meetings. There is also a telephone room for calls.

“It definitely doesn’t have a corporate feel,” Galoob-Ortega said. “It has a more organic feel because we designed it.”

Parents can leave their children in an adjacent room where P&E Babysitting, a local company, watches the kids. The room can accommodate 12 children, from 18 months to six years old. Parents can leave children for up to four hours while they take meetings outside of the building or run errands, provided the children are potty trained and at least two years old.

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Ri Ra Irish Pub Closes in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Ri Ra exterior photoRi Ra Irish Pub has quietly closed its doors for good in Clarendon.

The bar, at 2915 Wilson Boulevard, served its last patrons Sunday night. It is closed today, following the expiration of its ten year lease, manager Ian McInnes told ARLnow.com.

McInnes said there were no special events held on the last night, and staff “just went about our business.” He said Ri Ra was unable to negotiate a favorable lease and, with rising rent and sluggish business, the company made the decision to close.

There are nine other Ri Ra locations listed on the company’s website, including one in Georgetown and others from Maine to Las Vegas. McInnes said the company has no plans to reopen in Clarendon and is looking beyond the Irish pub to other, more current restaurant concepts — like a sports bar and a craft beer and whiskey bar.

“The market has changed dramatically over ten years,” he said.

Clubs and other organizations that regularly met at Ri Ra — like a Liverpool FC boosters club — are currently being notified of the closure. Other regularly-scheduled events at the pub which are now canceled include a weekly pub quiz and standup comedy night.

The pub posted a goodbye message on Facebook:

We are sorry to say that RiRa Clarendon has pulled its final pint, and is now closed. A huge thank you to all of our friends in and around Clarendon, as well as the wonderful staff, for what was 10 fantastic years. We are sorry to be leaving, but the Clarendon pub and the people that made it such a great place to spend time in have left us with great memories that will stay with us forever.

Cheers!
Sincerely, The Rí Rá Owners

McInnes said he wishes Ri Ra’s customers and the future tenant of its now-former location well.

“Change is a good thing,” he said. “As we move on I’m sure that there will be another business that will complement the other businesses in the Clarendon market. We’ve had a good run, I hope people have enjoyed us being here and we hope they enjoy the next business that comes here.”

How Longtime Regulars Mourned the Last Day of Jay’s

By Tim Regan
1/11

A crowd of locals swapped memories, shared beers and even fought back some tears while saying goodbye to longtime neighborhood hangout Jay’s Saloon on Monday.

Jay’s Saloon first opened its doors in the fall of 1993, and became famous throughout Clarendon for $8 pitchers of beer during happy hour, cheap eats and a no-frills dive bar aesthetic.

In 2011, the bar received news that the building that houses it could be demolished and replaced with a mixed-use development. Last summer, that news became reality. The new development, called 10th Street Flats and located at 3132 10th Street N., is planned to have 135 residential units, 3,660 square feet of retail, almost 5,000 square feet of office space and nine live/work units.

Kathi Moore, who co-owned Jay’s with her ex-husband, spent the night slinging beers and hugging old friends.

“This is my life,” said Moore. “I spent half my working life here.”

For Moore, the closure of Jay’s represents an end, but also a new beginning. “[It’s] another phase of my life,” she said. “I’ll get another job.”

Moore’s patrons spent the night toasting the bar’s iconic status as the last dive bar in Clarendon.

Charlie Heitman, who manages the condo across the street from Jay’s, ate lunch there three or four days a week for more than a decade. To Heitman, the bar’s closing means one less place for locals to feel at home.

“It’s not a corporate bar, where everything is pre-programmed,” Heitman said. “I’m more sad about this than my last divorce.”

Last Saturday, Heitman served as auctioneer as bar sold off memorabilia and keepsakes.

“We sold almost everything off the wall. It was a frenzy,” said Heitman. “People [wanted] just a little piece of Jay’s to take home with them.”

“We know all the waitresses, we know all the bartenders,” said longtime regular Elaine Ethier. “There’s no other place in Arlington like this.”

Jacki Barnett, who was a bar regular since 2007, spent the night savoring the minutes before last call. Even though she knew the doors would close for good, Barnett said she will always keep in touch with the people she met over the years.

“I’m going to take a big deep breath, I’m going to shed a tear, realize that all these people are still my friends,” Barnett said. “I’ll see them around the corner in just a minute.”

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Rainbow over D.C. on 5/18/15 as seen from Rosslyn

Taste of Arlington Winners — The judges at Sunday’s Taste of Arlington event in Ballston selected four winners among the dozens of restaurants that participated. Il Forno won for Best Appetizers, Liberty Tavern won for Best Fast Casual, Water and Wall won for Best Fine Dining and Northside Social won for Best Dessert.

Real Estate Prices Rise — Real estate prices in Arlington continue to rise. The median home sale in Arlington between January and April was $545,000. That’s up 9 percent year-over-year. [InsideNova]

Clarendon Real Estate Was a Bargain in 1900 — Clarendon is full of nice restaurants, luxury condos and million dollar homes now, but in 1900 it was an emerging suburban community with vacant land for sale. How much were plots of land going for? Between $90 and $140. [Ghosts of DC]

Presidential Candidate in Arlington Today — Mark Everson, a former IRS commissioner and a candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, will speak and greet supporters at a $100-a-head reception in Courthouse today. The event is being held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Courthaus Social, 2300 Clarendon Blvd. [Mark Everson for President]

APS Educator Named Top Hispanic Teacher — Arlington Traditional School art teacher Veronica Perez has received the Victoria D. de Sanchez Northern Virginia Hispanic Teacher of the Year Award. [InsideNova]

Young Republicans to Hold Gay Marriage Discussion in Clarendon

By Ethan Rothstein

Logo-step2One group of young Republicans, hoping to lead a change in the way the GOP talks about gay marriage, is holding an event in Clarendon to discuss it next week.

NextGenGOP, a Virginia group hoping to push statewide Republicans forward on social issues, is hosting a “Freedom to Marry Happy Hour” on Wednesday, May 20, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Mad Rose Tavern (3100 Clarendon Blvd).

The event, praised by Washington Post opinion blogger Jonathan Capehart, is aimed directly at millennials who, even among Republicans, largely support marriage equality.

“Our members believe not just in economic freedom, but also personal freedom,” the group said in a press release. “We believe in tolerance. We believe in the rule of law, and equality under it.

“That is why we are taking action, why we are organizing,” the press release continues. “Our generation will be heard. We are NextGen GOP and we are part of the generation that will define the future Republican Party. We will no longer be forced to say, ‘I’m a Republican but…’ We believe in freedom to marry just as firmly as we believe in economic freedom.”

One of the group’s leaders, and the event’s organizer, is Cameron Kilberg, former Virginia assistant secretary of technology under Gov. Bob McDonnell and founder of Disrupt Fitness. The event is free, and anyone can RSVP online.

Image via NextGen GOP

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

10th Street Bridge over Route 50 (Photo courtesy Peter Rof / Alt Globo MediaWorks LLC)

TargetExpress Coming to Rosslyn — A new 23,000-square-foot TargetExpress store is coming to Rosslyn. Located at 1500 Wilson Blvd, the store will have an in-house Starbucks, a pharmacy, a technology and mobile phone section and will carry clothing, groceries and prepared foods. Also coming to 1500 Wilson Blvd: a District Taco restaurant and a Wells Fargo bank branch. [Washington Post, Washington Business Journal]

Little Saigon Remembered — A master’s student at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia campus recounts Clarendon’s former identity as “Little Saigon,” thanks to the immigration of Vietnamese refugees following the end of the Vietnam War. As a project, the student has created a self-guided walking tour of Clarendon in connection with the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. [Preservation Arlington]

Victory for Yorktown Coding Team — The Yorktown High School Coding Club celebrated a big win at the Microsoft Imagine Cup U.S. National Finals in San Francisco last month. The team placed first in the competition’s “World Citizenship” category. [Arlington Connection]

Photo courtesy Peter Rof / Alt Globo MediaWorks LLC

Pinkberry in Clarendon has Reopened

By Ethan Rothstein

Pinkberry in Clarendon reopens Pinkberry in Clarendon reopens

The Pinkberry frozen yogurt shop in Clarendon (2930 Clarendon Blvd) reopened yesterday under new management.

The California-based froyo chain closed its only Arlington location last December after its regional franchise owner filed for bankruptcy. The storefront, along with all the other locations in the D.C. area, was sold to a new franchisee at auction, according to store employees.

This afternoon, employees were restocking the shelves, but serving cups of chocolate hazelnut and cinnamon churro flavors, among others. Pinkberry rejoins FrozenYo in Rosslyn and Crystal City, Iceberry in Rosslyn, Menchie’s on Columbia Pike and Tutti Frutti in the Lee-Harrison Shopping Center in Arlington’s frozen yogurt shop inventory.

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