new restaurant

Cava Meets Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

The parade of new restaurants coming to Clarendon continues. Missy Frederick at the Washington Business Journal has today’s scoop that Cava, a popular upscale Greek eatery, will be coming has leased a nearly 4,000 square foot space in the new Station Square development on Clarendon Boulevard.

This will be Cava’s third location, with the other two located in Rockville, Md. and on Capitol Hill. Owner Ted Xenohristos told WBJ that Clarendon offers “a perfect demographic.”

“It’s like a little city over there,” he said.

We’ve been told — strictly off the record — that Cava isn’t the only popular Capitol Hill restaurant that’s eying Clarendon as an area for expansion. This restaurant (which we’ll name after getting confirmation) is in the process of looking for the right space to lease, we hear.

Expansion and Development in Shirlington

By ARLnow.com

Two popular Shirlington destinations are growing. Capitol City Brewing, which is closing its Capital Hill location,  is expanding its brewing capacity so that it can supply more beer to the local chain’s non-brewing restaurants.

On the other side of Shirlington Village, Busboys and Poets is also expanding. The restaurant will be building larger event and dining areas and a stage, reports Shirlington Village Blogspot.

In addition to the expansions, work on the new Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro pub at 2800 South Randolph Street continues. Shirlington Village Blog has this photo of the building permit.

Rustico and Buzz Bakery Bringing Much-Needed Local Flair to Ballston

By ARLnow.com

When one thinks of Ballston, an image of soulless office towers, paint-by-numbers “luxury” apartments and oversized bars located in underperforming shopping malls may come to mind. To some degree, that reputation is deserved.

For several years now, Ballston residents have watched with envy as Clarendon has attracted a steady procession of new, homegrown restaurant developments. Ballston has retained its favorite watering holes, but there has been a dearth of new reasons to stay in the neighborhood after quittin’ time.

Enter Michael Babin, co-owner of Neighborhood Restaurant Group.

“We love Ballston,” Babin said in a recent telephone interview. “It’s just what we have been looking for.”

Babin, whose group runs Tallula and EatBar in Lyon Park and Evening Star Cafe in Alexandria, is making a major investment in Ballston. His company is taking over almost an entire block’s worth of ground level retail space with jumbo-sized versions of two of its newer Alexandria restaurant concepts: Rustico and Buzz Bakery.

Rustico, as we’ve previously reported, will be a beer lover’s paradise. It will feature 400 bottled beers, 40 beers on tap and two cask-conditioned ales.

The menu will be similar to the Alexandria location, with a large wood-fired oven on premises for pizza and other hearty foods. Chef Steve Mannino will, however, introduce a few new items, including some Mediterranean-influenced dishes created with the wood-fired oven in mind.

Buzz Bakery will seek to do for Ballston what Northside Social is doing for Clarendon — create a WiFi hangout that attracts coffee-drinking and pastry-eating crowds in the morning, lunch-time crowds in the afternoon, and wine and cocktail-sipping crowds at night (there will be a small bar in the back). It should be noted that the first Buzz Bakery, on Slaters Lane in Alexandria, actually opened well before Northside Social.

Buzz will have “a few wrinkles in the menu” and a feel that’s “coherent with the original location,” Babin says. “What’s neat about the Buzz atmosphere is that it’s not the typical bar atmosphere, and if you want that you can go to Rustico.”

Buzz and Rustico will inhabit two separate storefronts on the 4000 block of Wilson Boulevard, in the Liberty Center development. The storefronts will be divided by a small courtyard that features a rhythmic water fountain. Each restaurant will have abundant outdoor seating.

Rustico is slated to open in August. (Update on 10/7: We’re hearing that Rustico should open by the end of October.) Buzz Bakery will open at an unspecified time later this year.

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Pizza Autentica Coming to Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Two days after reporting that Buffalo Wild Wings will be bringing some nightlife to Crystal City, we can report that D.C. pizza chain Pizza Autentica will be one of BW3’s new neighbors.

Pizza Autentica, run by prolific casual restaurateur Hakan Ilhan, has leased a space in the same building at 23rd Street and Crystal Drive as Buffalo Wild Wings. In downtown D.C., Pizza Autentica is primarily a lunchtime destination. There’s no word so far whether this new location will also serve a nighttime crowd.

Don’t expect the gourmet, wood-fired treatment at Pizza Autentica, but it will be nice to have an above-ground pizza place in an increasingly vibrant portion of Crystal City.

Buffalo Wild Wings Coming to Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Crystal City has been looking to attract just the right business — a bold-faced name that could convince local office workers to stay in the neighborhood for a drink or three while also drawing in people who don’t otherwise live or work in Crystal City.

They may have found just the right place.

Buffalo Wild Wings has just signed a lease for a currently-unoccupied retail space across from Jaleo at 23rd Street and Crystal Drive. The popular beer-wings-and-sports joint should attract quite a crowd.

It will be the sixth ‘BW3‘ in the area, one of two that are near a Metro station (in addition to the Rockville location), and the closest to D.C. proper.

No word yet on when the restaurant will be opening.

Clarendon’s TangySweet Will Be the First of Its Kind

By ARLnow.com

Aaron Gordon is throwing the kitchen sink at his first Arlington project.

Gordon is not only opening a Red Velvet Cupcakery and a TangySweet frozen yogurt store side-by-side on Clarendon Boulevard, he’s also planning to make this his first foray into salads.

“A gourmet salad shop for everyone… I think that concept is well overdue for the Clarendon area,” said Gordon.

He says his as-yet-unnamed TangySweet salad concept will improve on the salad offerings of competitors like SweetGreen, Mixt Greens and Chop’t, which has a location in Rosslyn.

“We’ll make it better and have more to offer,” including more specialized meats, Gordon said. He expects a December or January opening date, depending on when construction wraps up on the building, which is part of the new Clarendon Center development.

The 36-year-old entrepreneur, who grew up in D.C. but spent ten years after college in Southern California, had praise for two of his soon-to-be competitors; he said he’s a fan of Bakeshop and Red Mango, both of which opened this year.

However, he was “not worried” when he heard that NYC-based Crumbs is planning to open a Clarendon location in August. He says Crumbs bakes its cupcakes as a central location and ships them to stores, rather than making them fresh in-store, which gives Red Velvet a competitive advantage.

Gordon says all the local competition “shows that [Clarendon] is a good market for us.”

“We love Clarendon because it’s young and thriving and there are a lot of fun concepts,” he said.

Photo courtesy of TangySweet, Inc.

Pupatella Pizzeria Opening Tonight

By ARLnow.com

Pupatella, the pizza cart turned brick-and-mortar restaurant, will be welcoming its first sit-down customers around 6:00 tonight. Tomorrow is the official opening, but management says they’ll start serving anyone who comes in today.

Owner/couple Enzo Algarme, 30, and Anastasiya Laufenberg, 29, started selling made-to-order pizzas from a cart near the Ballston Metro in September 2007. Pupatella won praise, gained loyalty and made money, but it was their dream all along to open a real restaurant.

After saving up some money, the couple started looking for a storefront in February. They found 5104 Wilson Boulevard. Now they have parking, art on the walls, and a custom-made pizza oven from Naples, Italy. Oh yeah, and there’s gelato.

“It’s cool, it is a dream come true,” Algarme said.

Consistent with Algarme’s Italian roots, the restaurant is a family affair. The “Pupatella” name was actually the nickname of Algarme’s grandmother and the pizza boxes feature a prominent photo of Algarme’s one-year-old son.

The pizza cart will be out of operation while the couple focuses on the restaurant, but Algarme says he hopes to eventually get it back out on the street.

More photos after the jump.

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Red Mango Opens in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

At long last, Red Mango opened its doors for business today. Located just up the road from Whole Foods on Clarendon Boulevard, it’s the first Red Mango franchise in the DC area (a Tysons Corner location is also planned) and the only Korean-style frozen yogurt store in the Courthouse-Clarendon area.

Employees were handing out free samples outside the store this afternoon as a steady stream of new customers trickled inside. First-time franchise owners Monte and Betsy Winterhalter, who moved here from Connecticut in order to run the store, mingled with customers and provided guidance to their new hires.

Red Mango is only accepting cash for now, as management works to get the credit card machines working.

The store will hold a grand opening celebration on Saturday, June 5, with free t-shirts to the first 100 customers and free yogurt from 11:00 to 6:00 p.m.

In addition to four different yogurt flavors and more than 20 toppings, Red Mango also offers free WiFi.

More photos after the jump.

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TangySweet, Red Velvet Coming to Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Cupcakes and pizza, that’s what Clarendon does!

On the heels of the announcement of the neighborhood’s eleventh and twelfth pizza restaurant (seriously) comes word that Clarendon will be getting its third cupcake bakery (after Bakeshop and Crumbs, which is opening in August or September) and second trendy frozen yogurt store (after Red Mango, opening later this month).

A “TangySweet Garden” and Red Velvet Cupcakery will be moving into a ground-level space on Clarendon Boulevard, in the new Clarendon Center development. The store will be located between Hard Times Cafe and the future Pete’s New Haven Apizza.

What’s a TangySweet Garden? We’re not sure, but we’re guessing it will have both a froyo and a salad component, a la Sweetgreen.

TangySweet and Red Velvet are both owned by the same guy, but it’s not clear whether the stores will occupy one unified space or if there will be separate storefronts.

Hat tip to @jamesp326 and @clarendonnights.

Update on 5/8 — Owner Aaron Gordon confirms that TangySweet and Red Velvet are coming to Clarendon. Gordon expects a December or January opening date, depending on when the Clarendon Center development is completed. He also confirms that the new TangySweet will have a salad component, but says they have not settled on a name for the store.

What To Try At Lyon Hall Tonight

By Scott Brodbeck

So you got lunch at The Burger Joint and you’re planning to go to P. Brennan’s for happy hour — now all you need to do to complete today’s “official opening” trifecta is dinner at Lyon Hall in Clarendon.

We stopped by the hotly-anticipated European brasserie over the weekend for one of the “soft opening” events and, despite the high expectations, left thoroughly impressed.

The first thing we tried was the mussels. Lyon Hall has two distinct mussel varieties: spring garlic/English peas/fontina/mustard and Hungarian lamb sausage/celeriac-apple-beer broth. We went with the Hungarian lamb and were not disappointed. You’d be hard-pressed to find a tastier plate of mussels anywhere in the D.C. area. And the $14 “large” option was more than enough for two people.

Since it was a late night, we skipped the entrees and went straight for dessert. The chocolate praline cake was uber chocolate-y, with some subtle hazelnut and praline crunch action. It was good, as was the chocolate stout ice cream that came with it. But the best part was the shot of sweet chocolate goodness . We’re not sure what exactly was in it, but “nectar of the gods” seems to be a good description.

We also tried a few selections from Lyon Hall’s sizable but well-curated wine and beer menus. The Hoffbrau Malbock was a bold but accessible brew, and it sold for just $5 on draft. At $9 the Gouldan Cardus Tripel was more expensive but it packed a punch. The favorite beer of the night was the Silly Saison, a Belgian beer that was darker, slightly sweet, and a steal at $6.

We tried one red wine from the menu, a 2008 Domaine De la  Guicharde from Cotes du Rhone, France, which came recommended by the bartender and by the gentleman sitting next to us, who happened to be its local distributor. It was sharp and spicy, and left a bit of sediment in the bottom of the glass. One member of the party loved it, the other was not a fan.

We didn’t order any items from the other menu categories — salads, raw bar, cheeses, sausages, charcuterie, spaetzle — but we’re definitely looking forward to trying more.

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