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A new location of the popular eyewear purveyor Warby Parker is coming to Pentagon City mall.
A storefront cover displaying the message “Nice to see you (soon)” greets visitors as they enter through the main entrance of Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, on the first floor of S. Hayes Street.
The New York City-based company — which started as an online-only retailer, known for its prescription eyewear, contacts and sunglasses — says on its website that it expects to open this year. The mall’s website notes the store is “coming soon.”
The introduction of Warby Parker would augment the mall’s existing selection of eyewear stores, which already includes Sunglass Hut and LensCrafters.
A spokesperson for the mall declined to comment on the timing of the store’s opening.
This will be Warby Parker’s inaugural Arlington location and its ninth in Virginia, per the company’s website. Warby Parker currently operates 251 brick-and-mortar locations throughout the U.S. and five in Canada.
Hat tip to @CartChaos22202
Former Clarendon mainstay Mister Days appears to be opening in a new location, nearly five years after its closure.
An LLC associated with Mister Days, Celtic LB Group INC, recently applied for a liquor license for the currently vacant restaurant space at 1101 N. Highland Street.
Tiffany Lee, daughter of Mister Days founder Bobby Lee, said in an email to ARLnow that her father “is once again at the helm.” She noted that she is “not involved in the new one.”
The previous occupants of 1101 N. Highland Street include Clarendon Grill, which shuttered in 2018 after 22 years, and The Pinemoor, which closed its doors in July after three years. The Pinemoor was the last occupant of the large restaurant space, which features both an inside bar and an outside patio bar.
In late November, readers noted an old Mister Days sign in the space.
Mister Days first opened in an alleyway off Dupont Circle on Nov. 21, 1977 serving prime rib, ham sandwiches, a soup and a salad. In the years that followed, Mister Days moved to 18th Street NW between L and M Streets NW before opening in Arlington in 2000.
Mister Days grew a strong following and remained a local staple for over 40 years. The Arlington sports bar closed permanently in April 2019.
The original bar served famous guests like movie star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as former Washington football greats like Sonny Jurgensen and John Riggins. It also had live entertainment from singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter early in her career.
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Chip City Cookies has opened its doors in Clarendon.
According to the general manager, the grand opening Friday was successful with folks waiting in the snow to take a peek at the new sweets shop.
“We had a line out the door on Friday while it was snowing,” she said. “It was crazy.”
The Clarendon location at 2700 Clarendon Blvd is the cookie business’s first foray into Virginia, though Chip City is in the midst of a big expansion effort overall in the D.C. area and across the country.
Known for its large, gooey 5.5-ounce cookies, Chip City has a rotating weekly menu of 40 different flavors, including the classics, chocolate chip and triple chocolate, and more inventive flavors, from cannoli to horchata.
There are two dairy-free options: chocolate chip and a rotating flavor.
There’s no shortage of cookies in Arlington. Captain Cookie and the Milkman opened a location in Courthouse earlier this year while Crumbl Cookies is planning to open this spring at the Lee-Harrison Shopping Center. There’s also delivery-only local cookie purveyor MOLTN.
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A new butcher shop is set to open in Falls Church within the next few weeks, giving Arlingtonians more options for high-end, locally sourced meats.
Brick House Butcher, owned and operated by brothers Afsheen and Arash Tafakor, will be located just off of W. Broad Street, next to Dominion Wine & Beer, which they also own. They aim to open the shop by the end of January.
The shop at 109 Rowell Court will offer an array of beef, poultry, pork and seafood products and a variety of homemade items — like crabcakes and meatballs — that are ready to cook or eat. It will additionally feature different types of compound butter made and sold in-house and will serve OddFellows Ice Cream.
The two butchers working at Brick House, Mike and Emma Ferguson, have a combined 23 years in the hospitality industry, including fine dining and livestock management, according to the shop’s Instagram account.
Afsheen says Brick House Butcher has a “farm-to-butcher-to-table” concept and will source meat from Virginia farms. The butcher will also find ways to use the whole animal, rather than focus on specific cuts.
“We’re a whole-animal butcher shop, so we’ll break down a whole animal,” Afsheen said. “We don’t just get, like, loins of ribeye. We have a lot of the parts of the animal that we gotta use.”
The brothers decided to open Brick House Butcher after noticing a lack of “old-school American butchers” in Falls Church, Afsheen said. The closest option is The Organic Butcher in McLean, a perpetually busy shop that serves many Arlington clients.
Afsheen and Arash grew up working at Georgetown Square Wine and Beer, owned by their father. In addition to Dominion Wine and Beer, they own Downtown Crown Wine and Beer in Gaithersburg and have plans to open a restaurant called Stratford Gardens elsewhere in Falls Church.
The butcher will eventually provide meat to Dominion Wine and Beer’s in-house, second-floor restaurant, as well as to Stratford Gardens, according to the brothers.
A Cold Stone Creamery location is moving into a vacant standalone building at the Lyon Village Shopping Center, permit records show.
It will take over the half of 3141 Langston Blvd — near Spout Run Parkway — that used to be home to a bank. The other half of the building was once home to a barber shop. This building is a few paces from the main strip, which is home to the Italian Store, Big Wheel Bikes and BGR Burgers Grilled Right, as well as a CVS, a Giant and a Starbucks.
Mohammed Haque, the owner of the forthcoming ice cream shop location, says he is looking to open sometime after May, taking into account six to eight weeks for getting permits squared away and three months to ready the space.
Haque, who used to live in Arlington, said he knows the area very well. After exhausting his options closer to Ballston, where he could not find sufficient space at an affordable rent, he settled on the old bank location in the shopping center.
While he awaits permits, the building already is seeing some signs of interior demolition. This will include taking down partitions, doors and finishes — including the columns outside — as well as some minor mechanical and electrical work, according to permit records.
Hat tip Chris Slatt
A Korea-based coffee chain quietly opened its first permanent U.S. outpost in the Ballston neighborhood last month, drawing long lines and rave reviews.
Gute Leute Coffee Bar, located at 800 N. Glebe Road next to Mussel Bar & Grille, held its soft opening on Saturday, Dec. 23.
Although Gute Leute translates to “good people” in German, the coffee chain was conceived in Seoul, South Korea.
The cafe’s menu offers a variety of teas and coffee drinks, including espressos and lattes. A unique highlight is a weekend-only, three-course tasting event, available only with a reservation.
Dubbed the “Omakase” coffee experience, which translates to ‘I leave it up to you’ in Japanese, customers who book online can savor a variety of seasonal espresso drinks, including the Pine Cone, served in a sour sugar-rimmed glass, the Granita with lemon sorbet, and the Gute Leute, a blend of cream and cookies over a butterscotch base.
Sang Moon, a Fairfax resident and co-owner of Gute Leute, told ARLnow he was one of the original investors of the coffee chain back when it first opened in Seoul in 2021. Five Gute Leute stores are currently operating in Seoul, according to Sang.
After working with company’s corporate headquarters for years, Sang said he approached the CEO about bringing the concept to the U.S.
“It was a little bit unique,” he said. “We have nothing similar here.”
At the behest of the company’s CEO, Sang and his business partner, Sean Moon, conducted multiple market tests — pop-up cafes — in New York City last year.
“It was very successful,” Sang said.
Having successfully demonstrated the viability of the concept in the U.S. market, Sang was given the green light by the Gute Leute CEO to open his own franchise in Arlington.
It appears to have been a good decision so far: over the weekend the cafe’s Instagram account warned of 20-45 minute waits for coffee due to a “surge of customers.” That’s despite opening with little fanfare during the holidays, on the “quiet” western side of Glebe Road, where businesses have struggled in the past.
Despite complaints about the wait, online reviews have raved about “some of the best coffee” in the D.C. area.
While Gute Leute currently only offers coffee, Sang says the plan is to add pastries to the menu soon.
“Right now, we’re trying to focus on quality and service,” he said. “But we plan to offer croissants, breakfast sandwiches and pastries.”
Before Gute Leute, Sang operated the Korean fried chicken restaurant Noori Chicken in Annandale, which closed last week. He also co-owns the quick-serve Courthouse restaurant Bibimix with Sean, who himself owns the Korean bakery Paris Baguette in Fairfax.
Gute Leute joins a growing list of coffee options in the Ballston area, including the upcoming Roggenart Bistro & Café, the outdoor stand Ballstonian, and Slipstream, near the intersection of Wilson Blvd and Glebe Road.
Hat tip to John Peck
Two new apartment buildings in Crystal City are almost ready for residents to move in.
Construction started on the two residential towers at 1900 Crystal Drive in 2021, nearly one year to the day after JBG Smith received approval to redevelop the aging office building previously there.
Now, JBG Smith tells ARLnow it expects residents can starting moving into the buildings — a 3-minute walk from Amazon’s second headquarters — this February. The developer has already begun receiving partial certificates of occupancy for certain floors of one tower, dubbed “The Grace.”
JBG Smith said it expects to wrap up construction by the third quarter of 2024.
The 583,000-square-foot north tower, The Grace, and a 567,500-square-foot south tower, called “Reva,” are each 300 feet tall and, across them, have 808 rental units and about 40,000 square feet of street-level retail. A pedestrian-friendly street bisecting the towers will connect 18th and 20th Streets S. and a not-yet-built park.
The Crystal City Sector Plan envisions this park space as the largest in Crystal City, at about 74,000 square feet. The plan says it “would allow for a wide variety of uses, such as passive recreation, exhibitions, concerts, festivals, cafes, some temporary kiosk retail, and evening outdoor movies” among other uses, says Dept. of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Jerry Solomon.
JBG Smith granted to the county a public park easement of approximately 45,000 square feet to establish this open space, dubbed “Center Park.” The county received the easement understanding that the rest of the proposed public space would come as part of a future development, Solomon said.
JBG Smith also contributed $300,000 for the park’s master planning, a community engagement process where people will weigh in on programmed elements and other features.
“The current [Capital Improvement Plan] envisions the design of Center Park to begin in FY 2025 with construction to begin some time in FY 2027,” she said in an email. “In July 2024, the County Board will be considering the FY 2025-2034 CIP which may contain changes to the potential timelines and funding for public space development within the Crystal City corridor.”
While residents of The Grace and Reva can start moving in February, it is looking like a summer opening for at least some of the six announced businesses move into the ground floor retail spaces.
Per window dressings and Arlington County permits, 1900 Crystal Drive will be home to new outposts of Tatte Bakery & Cafe, a the ice cream shop Van Leeuwen, D.C.’s Chinese-French fusion restaurant Bar Chinois and Cuban café and bar Colada Shop, a nail salon called nailsaloon, and New York City-based botox spa Peachy.
Nailsaloon recently opened a location in Chevy Chase and aims to move into Crystal City this summer, a spokeswoman said.
Colada Shop is also targeting a summer opening, a company spokeswoman said.
The other businesses did not respond to requests for more information about when they might open.
JBG Smith says it still has some retail space to fill, so additional announcements may be coming.
From rendering to reality. The 1900 Crystal Drive development is transforming National Landing's skyline with its two standout towers – the Grace and Reva.
🔗 Learn more: https://t.co/vzv0WOcE8i pic.twitter.com/2hcnfrpIyn
— NationalLanding (@NationalLanding) January 3, 2024
A former Dunkin’ in Clarendon is set to become a new Jersey Mike’s Subs.
The sandwich shop is looking to move into the storefront at the intersection of Clarendon Blvd and N. Garfield Street, a block from the Clarendon Metro station, according to the beginnings of a permit application filed with Arlington County. The spot has been vacant for two years.
Arlington does not yet have a Jersey Mike’s Subs location, though another one is in the works at the base of the Westmont Apartments at the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Glebe Road. The closest current locations are in Falls Church and Alexandria.
Jersey Mike’s Subs franchisee Beth Wiley is bringing forward both the Clarendon and Columbia Pike locations. She says the process has just started for the Clarendon location: an architect has completed drawings and soon, a contractor will review the project and estimate costs.
The new Clarendon outpost will move into a former Dunkin’ that also housed a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop. It opened in 2017 and closed in 2021, just as a new Dunkin’ came online near Clarendon on Wilson Blvd.
“It’s helpful because it was already a restaurant,” Wiley said. “The work is not quite as extensive. It’s a remodel, as opposed to starting from scratch… Everything is in pretty good shape.”
The county processed the initial request for interior alterations to the nearly 1,400-square-foot space at 3009 Clarendon Blvd last week and now awaits plans and documents, the permit records say.
As for the Pike location, Wiley says the county is reviewing plans, submitted a month ago, and she has a contractor lined up. All that remains is getting the go-ahead from landlord Republic Properties, which held a grand opening for its new development earlier this month.
The franchisee says the two locations could potentially open sometime this spring.
Wiley says she is excited to bring the brand to Arlington as it expands beyond suburban strip malls and into more urban areas.
“When I signed on for Jersey Mike’s, I signed on for Arlington,” she said. “I grew up in this area… It seemed like a great opportunity, if you find the right sites, and here we are, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Hat tip to Chris Slatt
Amazon’s One Medical recently opened a new healthcare clinic in Rosslyn, offering more than just the usual medical services.
Like a regular primary care doctor’s office, patients can seek treatment for a range of medical issues, from common illnesses to routine health check-ups.
The membership-based service offers other benefits such as 24/7 virtual care, same-day appointments and minimal wait times, for an annual fee of $199. Last week Amazon announced that Prime members could get One Medical membership for $9/mo or $99/year.
Located at 1771 N. Pierce Street, at the base of the Cortland Apartments and a stone’s throw from the upscale market and café Foxtrot, this clinic marks One Medical’s first foray into Arlington.
It joins similar full-service clinics in the area, including in Tysons and the Mosaic District.
Amazon, which completed the first phase of its second headquarters in Pentagon City this summer, acquired One Medical in February.
This was a significant shift for the company, which unsuccessfully tried to start its own telemedicine and primary care provider.
Upscale market and café Foxtrot plans to open a new location in Ballston.
“Opening soon” signs are up in the space previously occupied by the fast-casual chicken sandwich shop Farmbird, which closed in 2022.
Foxtrot — which advertises itself as a high-end corner store, market and café with a swift delivery service — has expanded into Virginia over the last two years with locations in Old Town Alexandria and Rosslyn.
The Ballston outpost would be the Chicago-based company’s third in Virginia and ninth location in the D.C. area. In all, the company operates 23 stores across the U.S.
Foxtrot did not respond to a request for more details before publication.
The boutique market joins a handful of other coffee shops, stores and restaurants that have announced openings in the Ballston neighborhood this year, including Greenheart Juice Shop, Panera Bread and Roggenart Bistro & Café.