new restaurant

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

New Restaurant Coming to Penrose Square — Restauranteur Cathal Armstrong is reportedly planning to open a new fish-and-chips restaurant on Columbia Pike, in the new Penrose Square development. The restaurant will be the second location for Old Town Alexandria staple Eamonn’s: A Dublin Chipper. In addition to Eamonn’s, Armstrong owns Alexandria eateries The Majestic, Restaurant Eve and Virtue Feed and Grain. [Eater, Pike Wire]

Galaxy Hut Expanding to Falls Church — The owner of Clarendon’s Galaxy Hut is planning on opening a new location on W. Broad Street in Falls Church. Much like the Clarendon location, the new Galaxy Hut will be a music and entertainment venue, in addition to a bar. [Washington Post]

Moran Holds Deficit Reduction Exercise — Nearly 300 people participated in Rep. Jim Moran’s “Principles and Priorities” national debt reduction workshop on Monday. Moran said he was “shocked” by two conclusions — the group’s near-unanimous desire to freeze defense spending and to gradually eliminate the home mortgage interest deduction. [Patch]

New Signs on Meade Street — There’s a new wayfaring sign for tourists on Meade Street, near the Iwo Jima memorial. The sign lists dozens of attractions in the Rosslyn area. [Ode Street Tribune]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

New Mexican Restaurant Coming to Clarendon — A Craigslist help wanted ad reveals that Lime Fresh Mexican Grill is planning on coming to Clarendon. [Clarendon Culture]

Boehner at Guapo’s, Again — House Speaker John Boehner was spotted at Guapo’s in Shirlington Village Wednesday night. This is Boehner’s fourth such visit to the Mexican restaurant, that we’re aware of. While there, Boehner posed for a photo that was then posted on a local blog. [Shirlington Village Blog Spot]

Arlington Establishments Up for Radio Awards — Several Arlington businesses and neighborhoods are nominated in HOT 99.5’s “Hottys” award contest. Among the Arlington nominations: Whitlow’s for best bar, Lyon Hall for best restaurant and best bathroom, Goody’s for best drunk food and Clarendon for best neighborhood. Users can vote for each item by clicking a Facebook “like” button.

Flickr pool photo by Christaki

Coming Soon to Clarendon: Rabbit Salad and Grill

By ARLnow.com

Clarendon’s new salad-sandwich-and-cupcake concept, Rabbit Salad and Grill, now has a name and an opening date.

A web site for the new restaurant, located at 3035 Clarendon Boulevard, appeared online yesterday. A representative tells us that they’re hoping to hold a grand opening on July 28.

Rabbit will offer “quality salads, sandwiches and meals in a comfortable dining room,” along with a selection of beer and wine.” In addition, sweets will be offered thanks to an in-store Red Velvet Cupcakery counter (Rabbit and Red Velvet share the same owners).

The restaurant is now hiring cooks, dishwashers and servers.

Naked Pizza Opens in Pentagon City, Plans Va. Square Location

By ARLnow.com

The first Arlington outpost of the all-natural pizza chain Naked Pizza opened in Pentagon City over the weekend.

The store, located in the old Pizza Milano space near Harris Teeter, features signature pies like the Ragin’ Cajun (sausage, chicken, garlic bell pepper onion), the Superbiotic (artichoke, spinach, bell pepper, mushroom, garlic, red onion, cliantro) and the Smokehouse (hickory-smoked BBQ sauce, onion, chicken), as well as specialized options like gluten-free crust.

As we reported in March, the New Orleans-based chain says it’s trying to be “part of the solution to the global epidemic of obesity and chronic disease” by making fast food “healthful instead of harmful.”

About a dozen employees in bright green shirts were working inside and outside the store this afternoon. Those not manning the kitchen or the counter held signs directing passersby to their 1101 S. Joyce Street storefront. The eatery will be seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to midnight.

A second Arlington location is planned for the ground floor of the Quincy Plaza Apartments (3900 Fairfax Drive) in Virginia Square. This weekend the County Board is expected to grant the future pizzeria permission to establish a pizza delivery service.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Greene Turtle Coming to Ballston — Sports bar The Greene Turtle is coming to Ballston later this year. The restaurant has signed a lease for a 7,000 square foot space on the ground floor of the new Virginia Tech Research Center (900 N. Glebe Road). [Washington Business Journal]

New Apartment Complex Coming to Ballston — A new 150-unit apartment complex called The Crimson on Glebe is coming to Ballston. The five-story mixed-use building will be located across from Ballston Common Mall at the corner of Glebe Road and N. Carlin Springs Road. Owners are hoping to wrap up construction by mid-2013. [CoStar Group]

Buck-a-Burger Sale at Whole Foods — Get ready for your Fourth of July cookout with the Buck-a-Burger deal at Whole Foods. Today only the Clarendon Whole Foods is offering eight varieties of burger patties for $1 each. (They’re normally $2.) [Clarendon Culture]

Remy ‘Dissed’ in Video — A pair going by the names of Barack Flobama and St. Fatrick have released a music video “dissing” Arlington Rap guy Remy Munasifi. [YouTube]

‘Melody Tavern’ Coming to Potomac Yard

By ARLnow.com

A new bar/restaurant is coming to the Market Square at Potomac Yard development (3650 S. Glebe Road) near Crystal City.

“Melody Tavern” will serve healthy, modern American fare and will host live music and comedy acts, according to owner Michel Daley. It will target the more mature “professional set,” he said.

Daley, formerly the co-owner of D.C. waterfront hotspot Zanzibar, says the restaurant will be opening in the large, 7,000 square foot space once occupied by the now-shuttered McGinty’s Pub. He anticipates a September or October opening date.

The restaurant will have fewer flat screen TVs than McGinty’s, Daley said, but will still show sports and other programming during times when no live entertainment is booked. There will be a weekly, live jazz brunch on Sundays as well as occasional live jazz and blues performance at night.

Daley said he’s confident Melody Tavern will be a “destination” that will attract customers to the relatively new retail square, which he admitted is somewhat “off the beaten path.” He said two other new restaurants in the square — the Asian fusion eatery Heebeen and pizza-and-pasta joint Paisano’s — will be opening soon and will also help to add vitality to the area.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Daley said. “I couldn’t have found a better spot.”

At first, the restaurant will only be open at night on weekdays. It will eventually open for lunch during the week when tenants start moving into a new office building across the street, Daley said. Like McGinty’s, Melody Tavern is expected to seat more than 150 people inside the restaurant and outside on its 1,000 square foot outdoor patio.

Cafe Caturra Coming to Arlington Ridge

By ARLnow.com

A Midlothian, Va.-based coffee shop/wine bar/soup-salad-and-sandwich restaurant is coming to the Arlington Ridge Shopping Center (2901 South Glebe Road).

Interior construction is underway on Cafe Caturra, located in a storefront once occupied by a Blockbuster video store. The store’s arrival coincides with a pedestrian-oriented renovation of the 85,000 square foot shopping center, which is anchored by a Giant supermarket.

Founded in 2005, Cafe Caturra offers specialty coffees and boutique wines to drink, as well as breakfast sandwiches, soups, salads, paninis, mini pizzas and other fresh fare to eat. The growing chain currently has five locations in Virginia and North Carolina. This will be the company’s first D.C.-area restaurant.

No word yet on an opening date.

Hat tip to John Breyault

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

School’s Out for Summer — Today is the last day of school for elementary students in Arlington. High school students had their last day on Wednesday and middle school students had their last day on Thursday. [YouTube]

Man Charged With Pentagon Shootings — Alexandria resident Yonathan Melaku, 22, has been charged with destruction of property and firearm violations in five separate shootings at Northern Virginia military installations last year. Melaku was arrested in Arlington National Cemetery last Friday, authorities say, with a backpack containing a ammonium nitrate, a key component in certain explosives, and a notebook containing referencing Al Qaeda and jihad. Sources tell Fox News that Melaku was “self-radicalized through the internet,” but there’s “no indication he was planning to harm individuals.” [FBI, Fox News]

‘Rabbit’ Coming to Clarendon in July — The new salad-and-cupcakes store ‘Rabbit,’ from the father-son pair behind Tangysweet and Red Velvet Cupcakery, is expected to open in late July. Rabbit’s location in Clarendon is “the perfect place,” says co-owner Aaron Gordon. The 50-seat restaurant will also serve wine, beer and sandwiches. [Washington Post]

Cava Restaurant Close to Opening in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Work is wrapping up on the new Clarendon location of Cava Restaurant.

The upscale Greek eatery, located on the 2900 block of Clarendon Boulevard, is about two weeks away from opening, says owner Ted Xenohristos. There are only “a few small things” that need to be completed before it can open its doors to customers, he said.

This will be Cava’s third location and its first Virginia outpost.

Permits Up for Pinkberry in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Two months after we first told you that a Pinkberry frozen yogurt store was coming to Clarendon, construction permits are posted on the Clarendon Boulevard storefront.

So far Pinkberry reps are mum about when the company hopes to open the small store. It appears that interior construction is only just getting underway, however, signaling that an opening by the end of the summer is unlikely.

Pinkberry has a “cult-like” following in other parts of the country, but it will face tough competition in Clarendon. An existing Red Mango froyo store is only one block away and the new Larry’s Homemade Ice Cream store two blocks away expects to sell non-fat frozen yogurt.

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