The Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe sign has finally come down from 1515 North Courthouse Road.
A Bayou Bakery sign will be taking its place later today, staff tells us.
Bayou will be open for breakfast and lunch but will close at 5:00 p.m. for the rest of the week, except for Thursday when it will be closed for Thanksgiving.
It now appears that Buffalo Wild Wings will be opening its Crystal City location in December, after all.
An insider tells us that the wings, beer and sports joint is planning to open on Monday, Dec. 13 (Update: Thursday, Dec. 16). Last month we told you that the restaurant’s opening would either be in December or February, depending on the pace of progress.
The restaurant is located in a large, glass-paneled retail space at the corner of Crystal Drive and 23rd Street, across from Jaleo. Crews were hard at work preparing the interior when we peeked inside yesterday afternoon.
This will be the sixth Buffalo Wild Wings location in the area. It will be one of two that are near a Metro station (in addition to the Rockville location) and the closest to D.C. proper.
The new Jimmy’s John’s sandwich shop in Crystal City quietly opened its doors to customers for the first time today.
In fact, the opening was so quiet that the Jimmy John’s web site doesn’t even list Arlington as one of the chain’s locations yet (a listing should be added tomorrow, we’re told). Nonetheless, a steady stream of excited customers streamed into the store around lunchtime today.
The restaurant, located at 2450 Crystal Drive, is open from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. seven days a week (except major holidays). It offers corporate catering and delivery service to the Crystal City/Pentagon City area via phone at 571-257-7261.
Jimmy John’s has a short and simple menu but a large and loyal following, much like Chick-Fil-A, which just opened down the street.
For two short, unannounced hours today, Courthouse’s new Bayou Bakery opened its doors and started serving customers. The soft opening will continue tomorrow, “from 8:00 a.m. until I have to say ‘Uncle,'” according to a Facebook post by owner/chef David Guas.
Guas had originally hoped to open yesterday, but that plan was foiled by a late Certificate of Occupancy.
Bayou Bakery, which is more of a cafe/restaurant hybrid, will be closed on Sunday. No word on when it will “officially” open with regular hours and a full menu.
If Chick-fil-A wanted an owner committed to the company’s family values, they couldn’t have done much better than Natalie Yang.
The mother of four brought 30 family members in from various parts of the country for tomorrow’s opening of her Crystal City store. Of her nine brothers and sisters, eight made the trip.
The family members were joined in the store this afternoon by many of Yang’s 46 employees. Also among the crowd were nearly 30 corporate employees and fellow store owners, who were here to train employees and help out with the marketing.
Chick-fil-A’s marketing is primarily based around giving away lots and lots of food. Yang estimated that the store has given away at least 4,000 chicken sandwiches in the past couple of days, in addition to countless biscuits and chicken nuggets.
As the family members and employees sat around inside the shiny new store on Crystal Drive today, 110 campers were lounging around in the park across the street. They arrived with tents and cold weather gear early this morning to get in line for the First 100 promotion — a time-tested marketing gimmick which promises a year’s supply of Chick-fil-A meals for the first 100 people in line at store openings.
At least 30 people had to be turned away at the crack of dawn, after the queue reached capacity, according to a company spokesperson.
What motivated the campers to spend more than 24 hours in the cold in Crystal City, awaiting tomorrow’s 6:00 a.m. opening?
“My husband used all the Chick-fil-A coupons that I had from last time, so I had to come and get more,” said Anna Matson, a stay-at-home mom from Lynchburg, Va. Matson was joined by her 17 month old son Judah, who has already attended five Chick-fil-A openings (if you count the two or three while Matson was pregnant with him).
Matson said the openings are also fun, with music, games, free food and, of course, the guy in a cow costume.
Towson University student Femi Gbangblasa, a grand opening first-timer, said he was also here for the free food. He and his six friends were trying to stay warm while chatting around one of the park’s picnic benches. Gbangblasa said he has been spending most of his time studying, but has been enjoying the experience, for the most part. Would he do it again?
“I would do it again in warmer weather, probably,” he said.
Chick-fil-A expects that some people may start camping out overnight for the “First 100” giveaway at the company’s new Crystal City location.
The company is giving a one-year supply of free Chick-fil-A meals to the first 100 adults in line at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, when the restaurant officially opens.
Chick-fil-A staffers will start monitoring the line — which will be forming in the park across the street from the store’s 2200 Crystal Drive location — at 6:00 tomorrow morning. If more than 100 people are camped out at that time, a raffle will be held to determine who is eligible to stay.
Chick-fil-A runs the “First 100” giveaway to build buzz in advance of each restaurant opening.
In another marketing move, the store distributed free chicken sandwiches to Crystal City lunch-goers over the past two days.
Update at 6:40 p.m. — Bayou Bakery is experiencing a delay in getting its Certificate of Occupancy, according to spokesperson Simone Rathle. That may force the hoped-for Thursday opening to be pushed back.
If the food and coffee at David Guas’ new Bayou Bakery taste half as good as the place looks, the bakery may very well be on track to being Courthouse’s favorite hang out.
The elaborately-decorated, Louisiana-themed cafe is expected to open at some point on Thursday, according to Guas. An exact opening time hasn’t been chosen, but the doors could be unlocked as early as 7:00 a.m.
Guas isn’t thrilled with comparisons to Northside Social — the Clarendon cafe was originally supposed to be Bayou Bakery before a disagreement between Guas and his business partners prompted them to open as Northside instead — but Bayou Bakery has the same general business plan: coffee, beer, wine and food in a comfortable, social environment.
What sets Bayou Bakery apart is the focus on the Louisiana theme. Guas, who was born and raised in New Orleans, has filled the space with music, art and knick-knacks that give Bayou Bakery an unmistakable and authentic sense of place. And if the aesthetics don’t let you escape the neighborhood’s urban, workaday surroundings for just a moment, the menu is sure to do the job.
Beignets, gumbo, Andouille sausage, chilled Gulf shrimp, spiced pecans — and even a salty caramel popcorn mixed with pieces of bacon — all promise to satisfy discerning Cajun palates. Localists will be heartened to know that despite the cafe’s Louisiana theme, many of the ingredients will be locally-sourced.
The food menu is more extensive than Northside, but the coffee program is much the same. Guas said it was his intention to serve Counter Culture coffee from the beginning, and he’s not letting Northside’s devotion to Counter Culture change his admiration for the company and its product. One unique twist will be Bayou Bakery’s French-pressed chicory coffee, which is blended in-house using a custom Counter Culture roast and imported chicory.
Bayou Bakery will initially feature one draft beer — Abita Amber, naturally — and six bottled beers, including four other varieties of Abita. There will be eight wines by the glass, including an ice wine.
Guas, a big fan of root beer, will start with three different varieties. He plans to eventually serve eight to ten types of root beer. Luzianne sweet tea, homemade lemonade, Trickling Springs milk, Boyland’s Vintage Soda, and Virginia-bottled Aquava mineral water are also on the drink menu.
Bayou Bakery is expected to get its certificate of occupancy today, the last regulatory step before opening. Guas says the cafe, which includes a comfy lounge with a flat-screen TV, should seat about 60. This spring, the bakery plans to open a sidewalk cafe with seating for another 30.
Arlington’s Land Use Plans Compared — Greater Greater Washington compares Arlington’s early General Land Use Plans from the 1960s and 1970s to maps of Arlington today. Among the interesting items: in 1964 car-happy Arlington planners wanted to create a “main street” section of Columbia Pike, with a high-speed bypass going around the commerce-heavy section and connecting to Walter Reed Drive and Glebe Road via interchange.
Streaming Classical Music from the Library — Did you know that the Arlington Public Library allows patrons to access a streaming classical music library online, no matter where they are? All you need is your library card number. The service includes more than 65,000 classical tracks. More from the Library Blog.
New Latin Restaurant Coming to Columbia Pike — A new Latin fusion restaurant and bar is coming to 3111 Columbia Pike. Fun fact: a FedEx truck crashed into the building’s front window in June. More from TBD.
Flickr pool photo by Mnemosyne2009
After a number of delays, the big day is finally here. The guys behind the the District Taco cart are holding the grand opening for their first brick-and-mortar restaurant (shown here, still under construction), at 5723 Lee Highway.
The restaurant’s menu consists of basic, fresh Mexican cuisine, served over a counter. There will also be weekly specials, where owner Osiris Hoil will get to show off a bit more of his culinary prowess. See an early preview of the menu here.
In announcing the grand opening on Twitter this morning, Hoil spoke of the journey that has brought him from laid off construction worker to restaurant owner.
“Two years ago I lost my job. 6 months later [District Taco] was born. 1 1/2 year later i am Dreaming the American Dream! Yes, you can make it too!!,” he said.
Update at 10:00 a.m. — Just in case you needed another excuse to go, District Taco is offering a “buy one burrito, get one taco free” deal.
Wilson Boulevard Paving — Paving on Wilson Boulevard between Courthouse and Clarendon tied up traffic for the better part of yesterday afternoon. At one point, the lone open lane was blocked thanks to a construction foreman arguing a parking ticket with a parking enforcement officer.
TangySweet’s Clarendon Salad Shop Gets Name — “Rabbit” is the new name of the salad component of the future TangySweet store in Clarendon. As we first reported in May, store owner Aaron Gordon wants Rabbit to “improve on the salad offerings of competitors like SweetGreen, Mixt Greens and Chop’t.” Rabbit’s opening date depends on the construction of the Clarendon Center project, in which it will be housed. Look for a March or an April opening, says the Washington City Paper.
Beer Garden Suggested for Rosslyn Gateway Park — The addition of an eatery or a beer garden is among the ideas proposed for sprucing up Rosslyn’s Gateway Park. More from TBD.
Redskins Visit Claremont Elementary — Redskins Clinton Portis and Brian Orakpo visited Claremont Elementary School yesterday as part of the NFL’s Play 60 initiative. “It’s nice to give back on my day off,” said Orakpo. More from NBC Washington and the Washington Post.
Cava is still coming to Clarendon.
It was July when we first learned that the upscale Greek eatery would be opening up in a 4,000 square foot space on Clarendon Boulevard. Despite questions about whether the restaurant might have scrapped its plans, we’re hearing that owner Ted Xenohristos is still very much moving forward with the Clarendon Cava.
According to a tipster, Xenohristos is telling people that the restaurant is 4-5 months away from opening. A banner will soon be posted outside the boarded-up storefront, and Facebook and Twitter announcements will soon follow, we’re told.
Cava currently has two locations: Rockville and Capitol Hill.
