new restaurant

Japanese restaurant Ryu Izakaya opens on Columbia Pike

By James Jarvis
1/9

A new restaurant specializing in Japanese street food opened last week on Columbia Pike.

Ryu Izakaya, located at 3030 Columbia Pike, on the ground floor of the Days Inn hotel, celebrated its soft opening last Thursday after almost a year of renovations. It moved into the former home of Rincome Thai, a Pike mainstay.

The restaurant serves both lunch and dinner but the owners may adjust the hours a grand opening set for later this month, Panni Satayayuk, the restaurant’s marketing director, told ARLnow.

Satayayuk noted the owners are keen on gathering customer feedback before the grand opening.

“We still try to get feedback from our customers and how they like the soup. How do you like the fish, or is it too sweet? Is it too salty too sour?” she said. “So we are like in a learning process on this our first few days.”

The restaurant is co-owned by two couples, Ben and Bow Jaypakdee and Tony and Jenny Seesiadkhaall, who immigrated to the U.S. from Thailand more than a decade ago, Satayayuk said.

While none of the owners are of Japanese descent, Satayayuk said Ben and Bow have spent the past decade working in Japanese restaurants in D.C. Tony and Jenny, who co-own Absolute Noodle and Sushi Bar in D.C.’s Chinatown, also have backgrounds in Japanese cuisine, specifically making sushi.

The four friends started talking about opening a new restaurant in 2020 when Absolute Noodle started making a profit in 2018, according to Satayayuk. The idea was to have a more casual Japanese restaurant dining experience with smaller plates and a bar that is open late.

“Right now in Japan, they started doing this trend called izakaya,” said Satayayuk. “It’s like street food. People drink at night having like… tapas, but the Japanese version.”

A few highlights from the menu include the Mt. Fuji Roll — spicy tuna, salmon, crunchy tempura and eel sauce — and yakitori assortment.

Satayayuk noted part of the restaurant’s mission was to expose more people to Japanese street food like   yakitori and donburi, in addition to more mainstream staples like ramen and sushi. The other motive was to appeal to a younger crowd.

“In this Arlington area, there’s not many [options for a] younger vibe for Japanese food,” Satayayuk said.

The owners also chose the Columbia Pike location, in part, because it was less expensive to open a restaurant in Arlington than D.C. and there is a lot of new growth nearby.

“The food price would have to be higher to pay for the market rent everything [in D.C.]. So, here is still not easy, but it’s less challenging,” she said.

Peruvian Brothers opens new restaurant at Amazon HQ2 in Pentagon City

By James Jarvis
1/8

Peruvian Brothers is officially open on the ground floor of Amazon’s second headquarters in Pentagon City.

The D.C.-based Peruvian food truck and fast-casual eatery officially opened its second brick-and-mortar restaurant this past Friday. The location at 1450 S. Eads Street is only open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. but “dinner and brunch services will launch in a few weeks,” according to a press release.

“We are so honored and excited to bring a large piece of our beloved Perú right to Amazon’s doorstep in Arlington,” co-owner Giuseppe Lanzone said in the release. “After years of perfecting our craft, we’re excited to have a space large enough to share the full experience of our culture, heritage, and flavorful Peruvian cuisine with our community.”

Amazon announced in July 2022 that the restaurant would move into a 2,000-square-foot space within its HQ2, among several eateries, including Makers Union and Good Company Doughnuts & Cafe.

The restaurant planned to open its first phase over the summer in April, however, the opening was pushed back “to ensure everything was 100% ready,” a spokesperson told ARLnow.

This marks a return to the area for Peruvian Brothers, which previously occupied a stand at the Crystal City Water Park before the park underwent renovations to add new food and drink kiosks. The water park re-opened earlier this month.

Co-owners Giuseppe Lanzone and his brother Mario relocated with their family from Peru to McLean in 1997. Before becoming a restaurateur, Giuseppe was a two-time Olympic rower for Team USA.

In 2012, the duo launched their Alexandria-based food truck and catering business. Nearly a decade later, the brothers opened their first brick-and-mortar spot in La Cosecha, a Latin American market in D.C.

Giuseppe and Mario say the cuisine, which includes sandwiches, empanadas, ceviches, rotisserie chicken and a Peruvian stir fry called saltado, is inspired by their upbringing in a port city within the sprawling metropolitan area of Lima.

Some noteworthy dishes at the HQ2 outpost include the pan con chicharrón sandwich — fried pork tenderloin on a French roll with sweet potato slices and a Peruvian salsa called criolla — and lomo saltado, a savory beef stir-fry with tomatoes, onions and fries.

The new space has both indoor and outdoor seating. Inside, a mural evokes scenes of La Punta, Perú, where the brothers grew up, and pays homage to Inti, the ancient Inca god of the sun.

The restaurant also has a bar that serves Peruvian beers, wines, liquor and a frozen cocktail formulated by the brothers: the Pisco Sour Slush.

Peter Chang’s NiHao expects to open this winter in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com
1/2

(Updated at 11:30 a.m.) Famed chef Peter Chang is set to open his second Arlington restaurant in Crystal City this winter.

NiHao “will serve modern Chinese eatery with small ‘tapas’ size dishes with an emphasis on quality and convenience,” spokesperson Molly Hippolitus tells ARLnow. “It is now realistically looking like January 2024 for the opening.”

It was reported earlier this year that the restaurant was coming to a Crystal Drive space next to the Alamo Drafthouse. From our prior coverage:

The initial plan was for NiHao to be a bit different from the chef’s other local Arlington location, in the Lee-Harrison Shopping Center. It would focus on a modern approach to Szechuan cuisine while providing an “introduction” to authentic Chinese food, Chang told DCist in February, much like the Baltimore location with the same name.

A rendering provided to ARLnow shows outdoor counter seating and a retractable window next to the restaurant’s entrance, in addition to the indoor seating area. The total number of seats is anticipated to be in the 40-50 range, Hippolitus said.

Another Peter Chang restaurant, meanwhile, is set to open today in McLean.

“The eponymous restaurant from the prolific Chinese chef will open at 6715 Lowell Avenue… on Oct. 12,” our sister site FFXnow reported last week. “Located under Tachibana in the former House of Fortune space, Peter Chang will serve a variety of Chinese dishes, including Peking roast duck, dim sum, wagyu beef lo mein, Amish honey ribs and more.”

The McLean restaurant is the chef’s 11th, according to Hippolitus.

Padaek now open at Arlington Ridge Shopping Center

By James Jarvis
1/6

Lao and Thai restaurant Padaek is finally open for business in the Arlington Ridge Shopping Center.

The day after we last reported on the restaurant’s progress in late August, Padaek started fulfilling to-go orders, according to a restaurant spokeswoman. The restaurant added its dine-in service on Sept. 12, she told ARLnow today.

The restaurant, located at 2931 S. Glebe Road, also recently opened its bar and plans to announce its grand opening “soon,” she added.

This is the second outpost of the Lao and Thai restaurant, originally founded in Falls Church by award-winning D.C. chef Seng Luangrath.

It was initially expected to open in June but Luangrath told ARLnow it had to wait a little longer while the last permits from Arlington County came in.

The family-owned eatery serves dishes from both Thai and Lao cuisine, from Pad Thai to an herbal curry stew with wood ear mushrooms.

Padaek is named for the fermented fish sauce that provides a distinctive salty base to many Lao dishes. The salty flavors balance out several stand-by Thai recipes, sweetened by a base of coconut milk.

Padaek is open from noon to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday. The restaurant will close daily from 3-4 p.m. to switch from lunch to dinner service.

The 3,500-square-foot space along Glebe Road was formerly home to Delia’s Mediterranean Grill, Tazza Kitchen and Cafe Caturra.

Super Garden Market in Virginia Square returns under different owner and concept

By James Jarvis
1/4

A new deli and coffee shop has opened in Virginia Square and it is hoping that Arlington mid-century nostalgia will bring in customers.

Super Garden Market has opened at 3444 Fairfax Drive, in the former Coffee Beanery location that closed earlier this year.

The new name references the original Super Garden Market and Deli — which operated in the same location for 47 years, before closing over three decades ago. Although the new coffee shop shares the same name as its predecessor, Asefaw Redai Sultan, the shop’s owner, clarified there’s “no relation” between the two.

“We are renewing the name,” Sultan said. “Everyone remembers the older name… we hope they’ll come back.”

Unlike the original grocery store and deli, Super Garden Market sells breakfast sandwiches, salads, smoothies, pastries and coffee.

Eventually, Sultan plans to expand the menu to include lunch items and is waiting for the state to greenlight a liquor license to sell beer and wine.

Sultan, a resident of Arlington for two decades, acquired Coffee Beanery from a friend he said was eager to leave the coffee industry. He filed for a new business license with the state this past June, according to the State Corporation Commission website.

Sultan says he began refurbishing the space in July. Super Garden Market held its grand opening this past Sunday.

Photos: What to eat and drink at the newly reopened Crystal City Water Park

By James Jarvis
1/21

Starting today, all 11 food vendors and restaurants within Crystal City Water Park are officially open for business, following a soft opening two weeks ago.

Morning to night, the 1.6-acre outdoor food hall and park in Crystal City will serve everything from indulgent duck-fat fried chicken sandwiches to Indian-style crepes filled with lentils and chutney to gelato.

The kiosks include:

Perched atop a water wall at the back of the park, meanwhile, is the cocktail and oyster bar Water Bar.

Operated by Atlanta-based hospitality group STHRN, the restaurant offers light lunch and dinner options, ranging from salads, seafood sandwiches and oysters to ceviche and specialty cocktails.

For something more casual, STHRN operates a New York-style pizzeria that serves beer, wine and cocktails, called Crush Pizza.

The park’s owner, JBG Smith, aimed to provide a comprehensive dining experience from breakfast through dessert, Amy Rice, the company’s senior vice president of retail leasing, tells ARLnow.

“We were really deliberate in wanting to make sure we could create a bit of an 18-hour offering,” she said.

At the park’s grand opening tonight, attendees can sample from nine newly opened restaurant kiosks, a sit-down seafood restaurant and bar or a new pizza place, all while listening to music. A month-long live concert series kicks off next Friday.

The kiosks are home to several minority- and women-owned businesses that were “having a hard time making the jump from a farmers market or food truck into a traditional brick and mortar,” Rice said.

“Typically, if you were a retail-like, fast-casual restaurant, and you wanted to start a new restaurant in a new building, it would probably be upwards of a million-dollar-plus investment to actually get your business up and running in that location,” Rice said. “We removed both of those barriers by creating these turnkey kiosks for these operators.”

Those looking for recommendations can try Water Bar’s “Middle Ground” cocktail, a Mezcal-based drink with tepache, made from fermented pineapple, and grapefruit, lime and peppercorn. At Crush Pizza, the mushroom lemon cream pizza was memorable.

Live music performances from 5-7:30 p.m. will start at the venue next Friday, Oct. 13, and run through Nov. 3. A performance by Virginia native R&B artist Bryan Lee will kick the inaugural concert.

“This series is just the first of many engaging Water Park events that will celebrate our diverse and growing downtown,” Tracy Sayegh Gabriel, president and executive director of the National Landing Business Improvement District, said in a press release.

New European-inspired bakery and cafe ‘coming soon’ to Ballston

By James Jarvis
‘Coming Soon’ signs in the windows of Roggenart Bistro and Café, set to take over the space previously occupied by Republik Coffee Bar (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Maryland-based bakery and coffee retailer Roggenart Bistro & Café is set to make its Arlington debut in Ballston.

It is moving into the previous home of Republik Coffee Bar, at 4401 Wilson Blvd, next to restaurants Big Buns Damn Good Burgers and Nando’s PERi-PERi. Republik and its Tysons counterpart permanently closed earlier this year.

Details about Roggenart’s opening remain sparse but the company, which operates four locations in Maryland, filed a permit with Arlington County on Thursday to start work on the space

The café’s owners did not respond to ARLnow’s request for additional information. Roggenart has existing locations in Columbia, Ellicott City, Savage, and Towson, Md.

The menu for the European-style café and bistro includes a range of breakfast and lunch items, including eggs benedict to a cast-iron grilled reuben. The establishment also offers baked goods such as croissants and danishes and espresso-based drinks.

Roggenart joins a growing list of coffee options in the Ballston area, including newcomers like the outdoor stand Ballstonian and, just across Wilson Blvd from the future café, Slipstream.

Hat tip to Jeff Keith

Big Tony’s Pizzeria & Dive Bar opens in Clarendon, replacing Bronx Pizza

By James Jarvis
1/6

Bronx Pizza is back in Clarendon under a new name: Big Tony’s Pizzeria & Dive Bar.

Last May, the pizzeria closed its doors with little warning after doing business for more than a decade.

Some thought it might be a hit job, but co-owner and managing partner Katherine Basile tells ARLnow that the owners, Anthony, Mike and Nick Cordero, wanted to rebrand the restaurant.

“They figured they could probably do something a little bit different and a little bit more upbeat in there, since that space was kind of dead at one point,” she said, calling the new space “Bronx 2.0”

Basile says the Cordero brothers approached her and her business partner Kristina Murphy for business ideas. The duo and the brothers go back more than a decade, having worked together on other local Cordero-owned establishments, including Don Tito and A-Town Bar & Grill.

Basile says she and Murphy envisioned a “trendy” 80s and 90s retro theme for the pizzeria, which the Cordero brothers loved. New York City-based designer Yvette Irene was enlisted to design an eye-catching space.

The revamped pizza place is intended to have “a nice, fun vibe where people could really just be who they wanted to be in there,” Basile said. Another new addition: an upgraded outdoor dining space with all-weather booth seating.

While Big Tony’s retains some menu items from its days as Bronx Pizza, there are new options, including “The Snooki” meatball parmigiana sandwich and a pizza topped with mac and cheese and bacon, as well as a full-service bar with craft cocktails.

The restaurant held a soft opening two weeks ago and plans for a grand opening are in the works.

The grand opening date has not yet been confirmed but Basile said it will feature Anthony Cordero’s 4-year-old daughter Quinn, nicknamed “Big Tony,” who plans to sign autographs in crayon.

Clarendon’s Bar Ivy now open ‘morning, noon and night’ with new breakfast options

By James Jarvis
1/6

In honor of its new breakfast menu, Clarendon eatery Bar Ivy is offering free coffee this week to customers who buy their new bagel sandwiches.

The RAMMY-nominated restaurant, which opened last year, announced Tuesday that its doors will now open at 7:30 a.m. from Tuesday through Saturday, with a new menu of bagel sandwiches and specialty coffee drinks.

From open until 3 p.m., patrons can grab sandwiches such as a maple shoyu pork belly bagel with Gruyere cheese and an over-easy egg or a cured salmon bagel with miso scallion cream cheese and an heirloom tomato, per a press release.

Customers can wash these bagels down with new specialty espresso drinks as well as iced chai and matcha lattes. They can take their breakfast order to-go or eat it inside, taking advantage of free Wi-Fi to get some work done.

Lunchtime service at the “West Coast-inspired eatery,” previously limited to Thursday through Saturday, was also extended to include Tuesday and Wednesday, running 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The menu includes a rotating soup of the day, sandwiches and burgers.

Bar Ivy opened in the summer of 2022 on more limited schedule, open for happy hour and dinner on Tuesday-Wednesday and lunch through dinner Thursday-Saturday.

It is not changing its closing hours Tuesday through Saturday, which range between 9:30-11:30 p.m. Nor will it change its 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday schedule, for now.

A spokesperson for Bar Ivy told ARLnow the restaurant is considering longer hours Sunday evening, though no final plans have been confirmed.

Happy hour, which includes $5 “shorty” beers and $11 espresso martinis, now runs all day from open until 6 p.m.

Revamped, food-centric Crystal City Water Park set to open next week

By James Jarvis
1/5

After nearly three years of waiting, the Crystal City Water Park is slated to reopen next week, JBG Smith announced yesterday.

The newly renovated, privately owned 1.6-acre park will feature nine restaurant kiosks, a cocktail and oyster bar, seating areas, public art installations, new water features — including a water wall — and a live performance stage.

“Water Park is a manifestation of our vision for National Landing as a premier 18-hour community that warmly embraces families, workers, students and visitors of all ages,” Kai Reynolds, chief development officer at JBG Smith, said in a press release.

“In addition to creating an urban oasis where people can relax, linger and enjoy time spent together, we have intentionally curated Water Park to serve as a celebration of the region’s rich and diverse culinary traditions,” he continued.

JBG Smith says it plans to host a grand opening ceremony next Friday, Oct. 6, from 6-10 p.m.

After deferring an initial proposal due to concerns about pedestrian and cyclist safety, the Arlington County Board approved plans for the park in March 2021. Construction started in March 2022.

While the park previously had a small food and drink kiosk, the new iteration has nine kiosks for a variety of food vendors, with a focus on “local, minority- and women-owned businesses.”

The vendor lineup features:

  • Brij, D.C. a café and wine bar by Skyler Kelley, supporting single mothers, the LGBTQ+ community and people who are homeless
  • Bubbie’s Plant Burger, a Kosher, plant-based American eatery by the creators of D.C.’s Pow Pow, Margaux Riccio and Shaun Sharkey
  • Cracked Eggery, a D.C. food truck known for inventive egg dishes that now has two brick and mortar locations in Cleveland Park and Shaw
  • Dolci Gelati, a D.C.-based gelato shop offering over 450 seasonal, artisanal flavors, plus coffee and espresso
  • Falafel Inc., a Georgetown-based charitable eatery that offers hummus and falafel dishes
  • PhoWheels, a new Vietnamese-inspired food vendor
  • Tiki Thai, a Reston-based Thai-Polynesian eatery
  • Queen Mother’s, a fried chicken concept created by James Beard Award semi-finalist Chef Rahman “Rock” Harper

In addition to the kiosks, there is be a new cocktail and oyster bar, dubbed “Water Bar,” perched on top of the water wall at the back of the park.

The restaurant, operated by the Atlanta-based hospitality group STHRN, features a raw bar and an extensive cocktail list, according to JBG Smith. STHRN will also be opening an outpost of Crush Pizza, its New York-style pizzeria.

“We are excited to bring the delicious taste of Water Bar to life through unique, tasty cocktails and the deeply immersive flavors of the east coast,” Elizabeth Feichter, a partner at STHRN, said in the release.

(more…)

Cookie purveyor Chip City could open next month in Clarendon

By James Jarvis
1/2

(Updated on 12/4/23) Chip City appears to be on track to open its first Arlington location in Clarendon as early as next month.

The New York City-based cookie shop announced earlier this year it planned to open two new locations in the county: at The Crossing Clarendon, at 2700 Clarendon Blvd, and the Village at Shirlington, at 4014 Campbell Avenue.

The Clarendon location is currently undergoing renovations and an electrician was on-site installing hardware when ARLnow stopped by last week to take a peek.

While an exact opening date has still yet to be confirmed, Theodore Gailas, the company’s co-founder and chief brand officer, told ARLnow that the Clarendon location is likely to open between “late October” and “early November.” Gailas noted Shirlington location is still slated for “early January.”

“That is of course you know, assuming no surprises,” he said.

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 unique flavors, from cannoli to horchata.

If the Clarendon location opens this fall, as projected, patrons may get to squeeze in a seasonal pumpkin spice latte cookie.

The weekly cookie rotation at Chip City (via Instagram)

Chip City’s move into Arlington is part of a 40-store expansion in the D.C. area and across the country. This includes a Bethesda location Gailas also says could open in “early October.”

But Chip City will have some competition as cookie stores continue to gain popularity locally.

Captain Cookie and the Milkman opened in Courthouse earlier this year. Crumbl Cookies has plans to open this fall at the Lee-Harrison Shopping Center. And delivery-only local cookie purveyor MOLTN Cookies also operates a ghost kitchen in the Dominion Hills neighborhood.

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