Slapfish — a seafood restaurant featuring locally-sourced fish tacos and lobster rolls — is planning to open next week in Ballston Quarter.
“We plan to open Ballston end of next week,” Andrew Gruel, Slapfish owner and occasional Food Network judge, wrote to ARLnow. “We very well may open a few days before next Friday, but nothing guaranteed as we are still awaiting a few products, etc.”
According to the Slapfish website, the goal of the restaurant is to make eating seafood “fun and sexy again.”
The menu offers a variety of seafood dishes, from starters like “chowder fries” — french fries smothered in clam chowder and bacon — to Hawaiian shrimp and pineapple bowls.
The restaurant door notes that Slapfish will be open daily from 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Slapfish isn’t the only eatery planned to open in Ballston Quarter over the next few weeks. Ted’s Bulletin and Sidekick Bakery — a bakery and pastry shop that also serves milkshakes, coffee and tea — are also planning June openings.
Ted’s Bulletin and Sidekick Bakery in Ballston Quarter
Ted’s Bulletin in Ballston Quarter
Brunch options at Ted’s Bulletin (photo via Facebook)
Two new Ballston eateries are reportedly opening over the next two weeks.
Sidekick — a new bakery and “confectionary concept” — is scheduled to open on Monday, June 10 at Ballston Quarter (4238 Wilson Blvd), according to a press release.
A spokeswoman described the bakery as the “hybrid intersection of the whimsical and playful with the familiar,” like offering cereal or candy flavors for standard bakery items.
The restaurant is also planned to offer frozen drinks, like milkshakes.
Sidekick owner Salis Holdings is also opening a new location of its Ted’s Bulletin restaurant chain next door. While both restaurants are separate concepts, they do share a head pastry chef.
Ted’s Bulletin, known for its nostalgic desserts, was one of the restaurants that won approval for patio dining last year from the Arlington County Board.
Staff at another Ted’s Bulletin location said the Ballston location is planning to open late next week.
The press release about Sidekick is below, after the jump.
Extra Brush Pickups in Arlington — “Because of recent weather events, the County has added extra brush pickups this week. Schedule a collection online.” [Twitter]
Clement Endorses Stamos — “Arlington County Board candidate Audrey Clement won’t be on the ballot until November, but she has weighed in with a ringing endorsement of incumbent Theo Stamos in the June 11 Democratic primary for commonwealth’s attorney.” [InsideNova]
Deep Pothole in Ballston — Beware of “a small — but deep — pothole at the intersection of Wilson and Randolph in Ballston.” [Twitter]
Arlington Man Wins Big Lottery Prize — “An Arlington man is now $100,000 richer after buying a Virginia Lottery ticket at a local convenience store. Robert Hilleary, a produce clerk, purchased two 10X The Money tickets at Glebe Market located at 300 N. Glebe Road.” [Patch]
Best Business Award Winners — Last week the Arlington Chamber of Commerce recognized the 2019 winners of its Arlington Best Business Awards: Dalton Digital, Pentagon Mixed Martial Arts, Bayou Bakery, Hungry Marketplace, Signature Theatre and Arlington Community Federal Credit Union. [Arlington Chamber]
Ode to Arlington’s Environmental Assessment Process — “Regulation 4.4 establishes an admirable ideal — a careful and highly-public process to ensure that civic projects are designed to identify and mitigate potential adverse environmental effects. Though under-resourced, unevenly applied, and frequently honored only in the breach, the Regulation does reinforce and flesh out Arlington’s long commitment to both environmental sustainability and project planning.” [Blue Virginia]
Starr Hill Comes to DCA — Virginia’s Starr Hill Brewery has opened a new bar at Reagan National Airport, replacing the former Sam & Harry’s. The bar is located “near the Terminal C checkpoint pre-security.” [Twitter]
Wu Lin, owner of Takeshi Sushi and Ramen, with his certificate from the Japan Sushi Instructors’ Association
Staff at Takeshi Sushi and Ramen assemble a boxed meal
Staff at Takeshi Sushi and Ramen assemble a boxed meal
Takeshi Sushi and Ramen in Courthouse has only been in its “soft opening” phase for a week, but at lunch today (Thursday) it was nearly full with locals checking out Arlington’s newest Japanese restaurant.
The small but sunny eatery at 2424 Wilson Blvd is sandwiched next to Delhi Dhaba Indian Restaurant and underneath Arlington Rooftop Bar & Grill. It is open daily from 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
The restaurant offers a range of sushi platters, ramen soups, and rice books for between $11-$15 (one eel on rice dish, Unaju, being the outlier at $18). Vegetarian and vegan options — like a soft tofu ramen and a mango/avocado-based fruit “sushi” — are also available.
Owner and chef Wu Lin said there are a few more dishes on the way when the restaurant has its full grand opening sometime next month.
Lin said he trained at the Tokyo Sushi Academy and showed top-ranked certificates from the school.
While the restaurant is still using napkins from Papa John’s next door and has a rather sparse, hole-in-the-wall interior, the staff showed careful precision as they assembled meals. One chef slicing lemons for a boxed meal discarded two pieces after he decided they were sliced slightly too thin.
“This area is new for us, but we’re confident,” said one of the staff.
Lin said that while the restaurant offers sushi and ramen, the ramen has by far been the more popular choice so far.
A second location for the restaurant in the Fairfax Circle Shopping Center is also now open, according to Lin.
One month after it served its last beer in D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood, Meridian Pint is planning to open its new location in the Dominion Hills shopping plaza tomorrow.
For owner John Andrade, the move brings his new bar — at 6035 Wilson Blvd — a little closer to home. Andrade is from the neighborhood and many of the wait staff are hired from the nearby neighborhoods.
“I live a quarter-mile away and my daughter goes to Ashlawn,” Andrade said. “I know the neighborhood, and I’ve gotten to understand the void for folks here for craft beer.”
Andrade said oversaturation and competition with a new wave of breweries having their own bars forced Meridian Pint out of D.C., but added that the move is also an opportunity to rebuild the small community bar scene.
“There is a focus on D.C. or even Clarendon or Ballston for beers, but the neighborhoods are neglected,” Andrade said.
A sign at the front says the restaurant will be called Dominion Pint, but Andrade said there was a legal challenge to the name so the bar is sticking with Meridian Pint. The restaurant has been holding a series of soft openings for neighbors and other invitees this week, but the official public opening is Thursday.
It will be the sixth restaurant Andrade has opened, including those no longer operating. Andrade also runs three other D.C. restaurants: Brookland Pint, Rosario’s Tacos & Tequila in Adams Morgan, and Smoke & Barrel in Adams Morgan.
Andrade said the focus of Meridian Pint will be on American grilled food and craft beer — both local and national brands. In addition to beers, Andrade said he’s focusing on the restaurant’s homemade ice cream.
Jace Gonnerman, the beer program director for Meridian Pint, said his goal is to maintain a careful balance of obscure and approachable beers.
In addition to the obscure and higher-end craft beers, Gonnerman said he’s happy to have two more affordable brews for the opening: Narragansett Lager and Genesee Cream Ale.
“We want to have a beer for everyone,” Gonnerman said. “We want something for the community, but also the latest and greatest for aficionados.”
A new restaurant is planning to open soon at 3207 Columbia Pike, though the exact date is still unclear.
The sign over the former Mexican Bar and Grill still advertises a karaoke night grand opening for March 8. A man associated with the new restaurant said it is being renamed “El Campesino Mix” and an opening is planned for sometime next week. He added that he is still awaiting permit approvals from Arlington County.
An ABC license for the restaurant is also pending. “El Campesino” translates to “the peasant.”
El Campesino Mix is on the second floor of a small building that hosts a variety of international cuisine — with the Chinese restaurant Panda Bowl directly beneath it and Indian/Pakistani eatery City Kabob and Curry House on the other side.
The location has gone through a few changes in recent years. Honduran restaurant Plaza Maya opened there in 2017 and it was an Ethiopian/Italian restaurant called Toscana Flamingo before that.
A new Thai restaurant is set to open in the Colonial Village Shopping Center near Rosslyn.
“Thai Select” is currently redecorating the space formerly occupied by sushi restaurant Rolls By U and is hoping to open next month, staff told ARLnow today (Thursday).
Their new restaurant will be able to seat 48 people, according to permits.
Staff said Thai Select will serve a variety of Thai dishes and bubble tea. The latter may compete with the bubble tea served next door at frozen yogurt shop IceBerry.
Thai Select will replace the create-your-own sushi eatery Rolls By U that closed in December after opening in the shopping center in 2015. Its sister location in Foggy Bottom which opened in 2017 also appears to be closed. The Rolls By U owners’ other venture, Guarapo Lounge in Courthouse, closed in 2016.
VC Firms Eyeing Arlington, D.C. — “Two venture capital firms that have invested mostly in tech companies in the middle of the country are keeping their eye on Greater Washington in the wake of Amazon.com Inc.’s decision to place its second headquarters in Arlington.” [Washington Business Journal]
Owl Rescued from Middle School — “Last week, [the Animal Welfare League of Arlington] got a call from a local middle school that an owl was trapped in their boiler room. Officers Toussaint and White responded and were able to safely remove the owl.” [Facebook, Twitter]
Five-Vehicle Crash on Route 50 — At least two people were reported injured after a five-vehicle crash on Route 50 yesterday afternoon. [Twitter]
Wild Press Conference Near Rosslyn — “Pro-Trump operatives Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman… hosted a bizarre press conference in the driveway of Burkman’s Arlington, Va. home, while being frequently interrupted by noise from nearby garbage trucks.” [The Daily Beast]
Arlington Org Office Attacked in Kabul — The Kabul, Afghanistan office of Crystal City-based non-governmental organization Counterpart International was attacked yesterday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the deadly terror attack. [CNN, Counterpart International]
Nearby: Silver Diner Coming to Alexandria — Silver Diner is seeking permission to open a new location at 4610 King Street, in a new development in the City of Alexandria, near Arlington’s Claremont and Fairlington neighborhoods. [Patch]
The Angelico La Pizzeria on Lee Highway is gone, but a new pizza place could be opening soon in its place.
Staff at another Angelico La Pizzeria confirmed that the restaurant closed for good at the end of April.
But construction crews are already at work on renovations for another restaurant. Owner Mandeep Singh said the current plan is to convert the location into a Chicago Pizza With a Twist, a franchise that offers pizza, Indian food, and fusions of the two — like a Chicken Tikka Masala pizza.
Singh said the restaurant is currently planning to open sometime between June 5 and 10.
(Updated at 6 p.m.) The “Coming Soon” sign in front of the Bob and Edith’s Diner at 5050 Lee Highway could be a bit premature.
The space was once home to Linda’s Cafe, which closed after Bob and Edith’s owner Greg Bolton bought the property last May. A faded sign for Linda’s Cafe is still on display outside of the store.
At the time, it was estimated that the new location could open within six to nine months. But one year later, the inside of the building looks much the same as it did as Linda’s Cafe.
Rebekah Steele, a representative of the restaurant, said that they would not offer an update on the status of the location, but that more information could be available during the summer.
An employee at another Bob and Edith’s — which has diners on Columbia Pike and 23rd Street S. in Crystal City, in addition to other Northern Virginia locations in Alexandria and Springfield — said customers have been asking regularly about the Lee Highway location, but the only timeline they have been told is that the company plans to open within the year.
Avid local Twitter followers may wonder whether the delay has anything to do with a hex, of sorts, from the infamous @LindasCafeVA account, which made it clear that there was some bad blood between the former restaurant and its planned successor:
The last official day of business will be on Sunday, July 29th. I want to thank you all for the constant love and support!! Ps whoever goes to the new 5050 lee highway diner, your mom’s a hoe #loveLindas
D.C.-based burger joint All About Burger is now open in Ballston Quarter (671 N. Glebe Road).
The restaurant — owned by a pair of former partners in the Z-Burger restaurant chain — offers its eponymous hand-formed burgers alongside chicken sandwiches, hot dogs and more for under $10. The standard chocolate/vanilla/strawberry milkshakes are available for $4.99 with a wide variety of “premium milkshakes” available for $5.99.
Staff at All About Burger said the restaurant will be open from 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. every day.
The new eatery joins a spate of newly-opened restaurants in the renovated Ballston Quarter mall, including True Food Kitchen, which is set to open next Wednesday.
