Burger District, located at 2024 Wilson Blvd, held its grand opening on Friday (Aug. 3), taking the place of Basic Burger, which closed up shop at the location last month in order to expand elsewhere.
The new burger eatery is offering a free drink with any meal, through next Monday (Aug. 13) to lure in customers. The restaurant’s menu includes wings, shakes and hot dogs, in addition to burgers.
Burger District also currently has a state license to sell beer and wine, according to restaurant staff, with plans to eventually offer a full bar.
The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. most days.
Work on Dudley’s Sport and Ale in Shirlington continues (via Facebook)
Dudley’s Sport & Ale in Shirlington (file photo)
Dudley’s Sport & Ale in Shirlington (file photo)
Work on a long-awaited Shirlington sports bar seems to be picking up steam.
Dudley’s Sport and Ale, set to be located at 2766 S. Arlington Mill Drive in the Village at Shirlington, could be open in time for football season to kick off, according to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
Owner Reese Gardner has worked for years now to open up a new pub in the space formerly occupied by The Bungalow Sports Grill, which closed in June 2015.
Construction Update! We are making a push for the start of regular season. Depending on county inspections we should make it.
Gardner told ARLnow that he still doesn’t have a firm opening date ready, though he hopes to have “a solid date after a big round of inspections next week.” As of late May, he was eyeing a grand opening sometime this month for the restaurant.
Most of the delays have been driven by wrangling with county inspectors over the bar’s planned steel rooftop, Gardner’s stressed in the past. He’s hoping to have 3,000 square feet of rooftop bar space to sit atop the 12,000-square-foot restaurant.
Gardner’s company also owns Copperwood Tavern in Shirlington and Irish Whiskey Public House in D.C.
We, The Pizza is gearing up to open a new location in Ballston this fall.
The restaurant is set to be part of the Ballston Exchange building at 4201 Wilson Blvd currently undergoing some big renovations, following the departure of the National Science Foundation.
The Ballston store, located between a Dunkin Donuts and a UPS Store, will be We, The Pizza’s second restaurant in Arlington, with another location open in Crystal City. The chain serves up gourmet pizzas, chicken wings and beer, and was launched by former “Top Chef” contestant Spike Mendelsohn.
The building’s owner, Jamestown LLP, is still in the midst of recruiting new tenants for the property, with plans to wrap up construction by the end of the year.
Shake Shack, Cava and Philz Coffee plan to set up shop as retailers, while the coworking space Industrious recently committed to become the first new tenant in the building’s offices.
Clarendon Grill, long a fixture of Arlington’s nightlife, could soon be on the move.
The restaurant’s space at 1101 N. Highland Street is currently listed for lease by realtors at the Trimark Corporation, and an online listing notes that the location is “currently occupied by the Clarendon Grill but is available right away.”
“This space will go fast!” the listing proclaims, advertising the location as “the heart of Clarendon.” A realtor with Trimark declined to discuss the listing and referred questions to the restaurant’s managers.
Owner Peter Pflug did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking clarity on whether the restaurant is shutting down or moving elsewhere. He previously told ARLnow that he’d signed a lease to remain at the location through 2022, even as high rent prices have challenged some local businesses.
The bar’s been in business since 1996, making it one of oldest establishments in downtown Clarendon.
The space was fully renovated in 2010, and has regularly hosted a full slate of live entertainment and even salsa dancing classes. The restaurant currently lists live entertainment dates throughout the month of August on its website.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-8th District) chat at Nestle’s Rosslyn ribbon cutting.
County Board member Christian Dorsey speaks at Nestle’s Rosslyn grand opening.
Gov. Ralph Northam (D) speaks at Nestle’s Rosslyn ribbon cutting.
Rep. Don Beyer (file photo)
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) speaks at Nestle’s Rosslyn ribbon cutting.
(Updated Aug. 1, 9:15 a.m.) For Rosslyn, and perhaps Arlington itself, Nestle’s arrival could represent a bit of a breakthrough.
As the federal government’s cut back on office space and more companies shift to telework, the neighborhood has seen its office vacancy rate skyrocket over the past few years, straining the county’s finances in the process. But the packaged food giant’s decision to relocate its corporate headquarters from California to Arlington, bringing 750 jobs to a high-rise at 1812 N. Moore Street, could very well signal the reversal of that trend.
Or, at least, that’s what local leaders are counting on.
“We were in a long kind of slump,” County Board member Libby Garvey told ARLnow, reflecting on Nestle’s impact as the company officially opened its Rosslyn offices today (Tuesday). “But this is really a turning point, and I think it’s really positive.”
Garvey points out that the building Nestle is moving into was built “on spec,” without any tenants locked in before its construction, and sat vacant for years after its completion in late 2013.
But since Nestle announced last year that it’d be moving to Arlington, she’s seen a domino effect in the neighborhood. The company’s not only brought one of its subsidiaries to Rosslyn, announcing Gerber’s relocation to the area this spring, but Nestle’s arrival also helped convince the Grocery Manufacturers Association to move to get closer to the company, Garvey says.
“It just put us on the map,” Garvey said. “You just start to attract birds of a feather.”
While those businesses may very well help fill the county’s coffers, they didn’t come without a cost. The Board handed out about $4 million in performance grants and committed to $2 million in infrastructure improvements to woo Nestle to Rosslyn in the first place, earning criticism from people all along the political spectrum in the process.
Yet Garvey points out that the county’s denied relocation incentives for some smaller companies looking to come to the area in the wake of Nestle’s move, only to win their business anyway. She has full confidence in county staff to make sure that Nestle is living up to the economic benchmarks laid out in the grant requirements, noting “if there’s a problem, I assume they’ll tell us.”
“But I don’t think there’s going to be a problem,” she said.
Incentives for corporations are a touchy subject around the county these days, with much of the debate around Arlington’s bid to win Amazon’s second headquarters centered on what exactly the county’s offered the tech company to move here.
Officials have largely been silent on the subject, citing the fierce national competition to win HQ2 and its promised 50,000 jobs. But with other states publicly offering billions in incentives and transportation improvements, Virginia leaders have noted that the county’s surest path to luring the tech giant may be highlighting its highly educated workforce and top-ranked schools.
Steve Presley, Nestle USA’s chairman and CEO, repeatedly highlighted the quality of the school system in laying out why his company picked Arlington, and that’s the sort of feature the county’s boosters believe could prove similarly persuasive to Amazon.
“They’ll be thinking not only, ‘Can we find the qualified workers we need?’ but, ‘How do our workers feel about coming to Virginia?'” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) “Workforce and the education system go hand in hand. That’s what we always need to focus on to attract businesses and we need to sell the fact that we have a really good education system compared to other states. That’s a real strength.”
Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has certainly been involved in making that pitch to Amazon, reasoning “the more talent we bring in here, the more folks that follow.”
But he says there’s no telling when Arlington might know if Nestle is the biggest fish the county will land, or if there are more ribbon cuttings in its future.
“I think they’re keeping their cards pretty close,” Northam said. “I don’t know anything you don’t.”
Longtime Arlington diner Linda’s Cafe has officially closed its doors, clearing the way for work to start on a new Bob and Edith’s location at the Lee Highway site.
Linda’s, located at 5050 Lee Highway, served up its last meal yesterday (Sunday), after it spent the last two decades at the location. Staff briefly posted a banner saying “Thank You Arlington” prior to the shop’s closing.
Greg Bolton, the owner of the Bob and Edith’s chain, hopes to eventually transform the small restaurant into his third diner in Arlington. County property records show a company he controls purchased the land for $1.1 million.
Ryan Brown, Bolton’s attorney, told ARLnow last month that the new Bob and Edith’s could open in the next “six to nine months.”
A new restaurant offering coffee, smoothies and “superfood” is gearing up to open in Clarendon.
Signs promising that Waterhouse Coffee and Juice Bar is “coming soon” recently appeared on an office building at 3033 Wilson Blvd, near the road’s intersection with N. Garfield Street.
Though the restaurant doesn’t have any online presence to speak of just yet, the signs say the eatery will offer Lavazza coffee and espresso, “freshly pressed juices” and smoothies. The store is also set to serve “powerful superfood” including acai bowls and avocado mash.
The signs do not, however, offer any clarity on when the restaurant might open its doors.
Waterhouse is located around the corner from Casal’s Spa and Salon and Hunan Number One.
(Updated July 25 at 3:55 p.m.) A new pop-up store is setting up shop in Rosslyn’s Central Place Plaza next month.
The Rosslyn Business Improvement District is preparing to open “The Alcove” in a roughly 5,000-square-foot space at the corner of 19th Street N. and N. Moore Street, next to Nando’s Peri-Peri. The store is set to open to the public on Aug. 8, and remain in place through the end of September.
The BID says the store, which will be the first brick and mortar pop-up the group has ever set up, will primarily be anchored by Turning the Page, a D.C. nonprofit selling used books, CDs and DVDs. Proceeds will benefit students in public schools.
The store will also offer “artisan-made products, food and beverage items, apparel, art and even bridal accessories,” according to the BID, and plans to court additional vendors, like local artists selling their wares on Etsy.
The BID plans to hold interactive events in the store, including “musical performances, fitness classes, DIY workshops and readings by well-known authors.” The Arlington County Public Library is also organizing more than 20 events for the store, including author talks and a “maker series” that allows both adults and kids to explore art, books and crafts.
Sponsors for the store include JBG Smith, Davis Construction, Gensler, Streetsense and Capitol Drywall.
The shop will be open from 11 a.m to 8 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
A sign posted on the door of the Upper Crust Pizzeria on Lee Highway
Upper Crust Pizzeria on Lee Highway
The Upper Crust Pizzeria along Lee Highway has closed down, roughly three years after opening.
The store, located at 4514 Lee Highway as part of the Lee Heights Shops, shut its doors last Monday (July 16), according to a sign posted on its door.
The restaurant was the small chain’s first in Arlington, and opened for business in October 2015. Chief financial officer Ben Deb did not respond to a request for comment on what prompted the closure.
The chain is primarily based in the Boston area, though it previously operated a D.C. location until closing it 2012 amidst bankruptcy proceedings.
A small electrical fire broke out at a business on the 4700 block of Lee Highway this afternoon.
The fire was contained and quickly extinguished, but not before causing light smoke to fill the business. According to scanner traffic, the fire was at 4745 Lee Highway, which is home to the well-reviewed framing store KH Art & Framing.
As of 1:45 p.m., firefighters are working to ventilate the building and investigate the cause of the fire.
Drivers should expect temporary lane closures near the busy intersection of Lee Highway and N. Glebe Road.
