new restaurant

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

The Multi-Million Dollar Irish Pub — Samuel Beckett’s Irish Pub, expected to open in Shirlington at the end of November, is quite the ambitious undertaking. Owner Mark Kirwan is sinking $2.2 million into the project, according to the Washington Business Journal.

Another Road Gets Sharrows — The county added some bike-friendly sharrows to 15th Street North between North Courthouse Road and North Rhodes Street over the weekend. The sharrows remind drivers to share the road with bicyclists. More from Ode Street Tribune.

New Marymount Dorm Opens — Dozens of Marymount University students are moving out of the Ballston Holiday Inn and into the newly-completed Rose Bente Lee Ostapenko Residence Hall. The building, part of the university’s 26th Street Project, can house up to 239 students. More from the Sun Gazette.

Flickr pool photo by Micha84

Rustico Ballston Update

By ARLnow.com

Update on 10/20 — Rustico will open for lunch and dinner starting on Oct. 26, according to spokesperson Amber Pfau.

A tentative opening date for Rustico’s new Ballston location has been set.

Assuming all the necessary permits go through, Rustico is expected to open its doors on the 4000 block of Wilson Boulevard on Monday, Oct. 25, according to a Rustico employee we spoke to at Saturday’s Oktobeerfest in Alexandria.

Update on Construction at Samuel Beckett’s

By ARLnow.com

After some delays, Shirlington’s new Irish pub is expected to open by the end of November.

Signs and renderings posted in the window give an idea of what the place will look like when it opens.

“The entire interior for Beckett’s is coming from Ireland,” a letter to customers reads. “We [will] have a total of three bars, two fire places and a mezzanine level.”

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Pizza Is the New Brown Flip Flops

By ARLnow.com

Pizza shops are about to be as ubiquitous in Arlington as Starbucks stores and brown flip flops.

Clarendon, believe it or not, is getting yet another pizza place. Bronx Pizza and Subs is coming to 3100 Clarendon Boulevard in “late December,” according to the Washington Business Journal.

There’s at least one thing that may differentiate Bronx Pizza from the all the others. The pizzeria “will cater to the late-night crowd, serving up dishes until 5 a.m.,” WBJ reports. I don’t know who’s buying pizzas past 3:00 a.m. in Arlington, but being the lone late night food option when the Clarendon bars close could drive some serious business.

Around daylight hours, however, the pizza scene will be much more crowded. By the time Bronx Pizza opens, local options will include: Pete’s New Haven Apizza, Fire Works Pizza, Pizza Autentica, American Flatbread, Faccia Luna, Pupatella, Piola, Ledo’s, Jerry’s Subs and Pizza, Papa John’s, Mario’s Pizza House, Z Pizza, Goody’s and, perhaps, the Flippin’ Pizza truck.

Pretty soon, the production of pizza will be an industry in and of itself in Arlington — just below military contractors on the hierarchy of importance to the local economy.

Samuel Beckett’s To Open in November

By ARLnow.com

Over the weekend, Shirlington Village Blog published a letter from Mark Kirwan, owner of the under-construction Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub at 2800 South Randolph Street.

Kirwan says he’s now hoping to open in early November. The opening was expected to be “mid-October” when we checked in with Kirwan last month.

“It has been a tough ordeal dealing with the County,” Kirwan wrote to Shirlington Village Blog.

When we asked what sort of problems he has encountered, Kirwan replied simply: “It’s mainly signage issues and different people’s interpretation of code.”

According to county records, Samuel Beckett’s has been granted a use permit for a restaurant with 228 indoor seats.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

ART Route 75 Expands on Monday — The ART 75 bus route will add stops at the Shirlington Transit Center and the Virginia Square Metro station on Monday. More from the Arlington Transit Blog.

New Ballston Burger Joint Coming Soon — Brgr:Shack (4215 Fairfax Drive) will feature grass-fed beef, home-made buns, and a selection of wine and beer. The 30-40 seat restaurant is expected to open in early November. More from TBD.

Shirlington Oktoberfest Map — It’s not as highly-anticipated as Clarendon Day, according to our informal poll, but the 10th annual Mid-Atlantic Oktoberfest in Shirlington next weekend is sure to attract another huge crowd. The good news is that there will be plenty of stations serving beer, so getting each of your 4 oz. samples hopefully won’t take too long. Shirlington Village Blogspot has a map of all 79 vendor booths.

Flickr pool photo by Chris Rief

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Bayou Bakery Opening Set — Cookbook author David Guas is hoping to open his Bayou Bakery coffee bar and eatery concept by November 1. The restaurant, which is taking over the old Camille’s space at 1515 North Courthouse Road, will feature Louisiana-style pastries, sweets, sausages, and other savory selections.

Rosslyn CVS To Renovate — The CVS at 1100 Wilson Boulevard will be getting a major facelift. The 26-year-old, nearly 10,000 square foot pharmacy will get a new layout, new window displays and new finishes throughout the store. No timeline was given for the construction. More from the Washington Business Journal.

Residents Vent About Helicopters — Wow. One Fairlington man who attended last night’s forum on helicopter regulations has filed more than 350 helicopter noise complaints since 2007. The forum, hosted by Arlington County Board Member Mary Hynes, featured a number of local military and air traffic control officials. The result of the forum: a pledge to hold more meetings. More from TBD.

GOP Votes to Oppose Bonds — The Arlington County Republican Committee voted last night to oppose three out of four bond referendums on the November ballot. The local GOP is saying no to bonds for Metro, parks, and community infrastructure, but yes to the $103 million school bond that will fund a new Wakefield High School. If history is any indication, however, all the bond measures are expected to easily pass. More from the Sun Gazette.

Flickr pool photo by Philliefan99

Ballston’s New Pizza Autentica Expected to Have Outdoor Seating

By ARLnow.com

Pizza Autentica has applied for sidewalk seating outside its forthcoming Ballston restaurant, and county staff is recommending that the request be granted.

The county board is expected to decide on the matter at Saturday’s board meeting. Staff is recommending that the board approve seating consisting of eight tables with two seats apiece at the northwest corner of Wilson Boulevard and North Randolph Street, facing Ballston Common Mall.

Pizza Autentica has apparently done its homework on the county’s outdoor seating do’s and don’t. It has agreed to not have any outdoor speakers in the cafe area, the seating will still allow for a clear seven foot path on the sidewalk and the Ballston Partnership is supporting restaurant’s request.

Pizza Autentica is also slated to open a new location in Crystal City in the near future.

New Eatery: Ganges Grill and Ice Cream

By ARLnow.com

The Quiznos that used to quietly do business on the ground floor of the Reserve at Clarendon Center building (3000 North Washington Boulevard) is no more, replaced by a homegrown eatery: Ganges Grill and Ice Cream.

The store has a decent selection of sandwiches, salads and ice cream. A sign out front suggested there would be burgers — maybe they’re still working on that, because it wasn’t on the menu. There were, however, hot dogs.

Ganges just opened so some initial kinks are to be expected. But on a visit this afternoon there were actually a few too many issues for comfort.

The store lacked napkins. The lighted menu boxes on the back wall were still bare, displaying only fluorescent tubes. The paper menus were littered with barely-decipherable misspellings. The server behind the counter was friendly but spoke little English, resulting in an order getting messed up. The hot dog bun was freezer-burned. And the total charge was determined with a calculator Scotch-taped to the front of a new-looking cash register.

The biggest bright spot was the ice cream, which was pretty tasty.

It’s always good to see homegrown businesses run by hard-working entrepreneurs supplant chains, so let’s hope Ganges can get their act together soon.

More photos, after the jump.

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Where’s Cava?

By ARLnow.com

We believe the space above, the one with the big “retail space for lease” sign, is where Cava’s new Clarendon location is supposed to be. Yet the gas-lit entrance, on the ground floor of the Station Square development at 2900 Clarendon Boulevard, remains boarded up and there are no building permits to be found in the county’s public records system.

“Is Cava Restaurant still planning to come to the Station Square development?” a tipster asks. Does anybody know?

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Examiner Keeps Blasting Arlington on HOT Lanes — Arlington’s million dollar HOT lane lawsuit continues to cause blood to boil at the Washington Examiner. This time, the Examiner hammers away at county board member Chris Zimmerman for his role on the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board. Zimmerman is up for reelection this year, of course. More from the Washington Examiner.

Courthouse Hookah Bar Could Open By This Weekend — It seems impossibly speedy, but TBD reports that Adam’s Corner, the new hookah bar being launched by the owner of nearby Chez Manelle restaurant, could open to the public by the end of this week. Adam’s Corner will serve light fare and drinks (a liquor license is in the works), and will allow hookah smoking on the wooden deck outside. More from TBD.

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA

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