new restaurant

Clarendon Restaurant Set to Open With New Take on Traditional Hot Pots

By Vernon Miles
1/5

Riverside Hot Pot is planning to open tomorrow (Friday) at 1028 N. Garfield Street in Clarendon.

The new restaurant features the traditional Chinese hot pot, but don’t expect traditional decor. Co-owner Vivi — who preferred not to use her last name — said she’s planning a restaurant that celebrates modern Chinese cuisine as much as it does the traditional.

This is the second location for Riverside Hot Pot, which also operates a buffet-style location in Gaithersburg, Maryland under different ownership.

To move into Arlington, Vivi said the restaurant would have to shift from something that catered almost exclusively to families to a restaurant that could reach Arlington’s young professionals.

“We didn’t want this to look like a traditional Chinese restaurant,” Vivi said, “It’s something new.”

Vivi says traditional hot pot meals are cooked in a collective pot, but the new restaurant will feature individual bowls with items ordered from a tablet at each table.

A conveyor belt system runs through the restaurant, sending dishes around on small platters, allowing customers to spot new items they might want to add to their meal.

Vivi said the restaurant had a taste testing a week earlier and the feedback was very positive.

“This is the first [restaurant] for me, so I was very nervous at first,” said Vivi, “but everything has been fine and I’m confident about the opening.”

The restaurant is set to have its soft opening Friday evening and to be open for dinners only for at least a week after its opening.

New Drive-Thru Starbucks Coming to Lee Highway

By Vernon Miles
1/4

A new stand-alone Starbucks appears to be coming to the location of a former bank branch along Lee Highway.

Permits have been filed to replace the former BB&T Bank at 5515 Lee Highway with a coffee shop.

A permit filed on Monday (April 29) seeks approval for extensive renovations to the building and its drive-thru window.

Remodel of existing building for new coffee [shop], interior alteration, new walls, floor, ceiling, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, exterior work, new canopy, new drive through window and associated equipment, trash enclosure, mechanical units.

The Arlington Economic Development website says the new tenant for the 2,609 square-foot building is Starbucks, as does the permit on the window of the building.

Once it opens, it’s unclear what will happen to the nearby Starbucks store at the Lee-Harrison Shopping Center, a block away.

The new cafe would be the first drive-thru Starbucks in Arlington, though there are others throughout the region. The closest is a drive-thru at Barcroft Plaza (6365 Columbia Pike) in Falls Church. Another Starbuck drive-thru is planned to open tomorrow (May 2) at 367 Maple Avenue E. in Vienna.

Hat tip to Chris Slatt

True Food Kitchen Plans Grand Opening Next Week

By Vernon Miles
1/4

(Updated 12 p.m.) True Food Kitchen — a health-food chain — is planning to open its new Ballston Quarter location next Wednesday (May 8) at 11 a.m.

The restaurant has a seasonal menu that includes a variety of vegan and vegetarian choices, like tofu bowls and cheese-less pizzas, in addition to a selection of burgers, sandwiches and entrees with and without meat.

The Arlington restaurant will have an opening dining area, an outdoor patio, and two private dining rooms for special occasions. A bar at the location includes fresh-pressed fruit and vegetable juices, seasonal cocktails, local beer and wine, according to the restaurant website.

The restaurant is also currently hiring staff, including bartenders, servers, and a butcher.

If you want to try True Food before then, the next closest location is the Mosaic District (2910 District Ave.) in Fairfax County.

New Ballston Domino’s Pizza Now Open

By Airey
1/3

A new Domino’s Pizza in Ballston is now bringing in the dough on N. Quincy Street.

The pizza shop is located at 550 N. Quincy Street next to Jimmy John’s and nearby the Founders Square development.

Staff told ARLnow today (Thursday) that the store will have a grand opening soon but a date hadn’t been picked yet. After the grand opening, staff expects the store to be open Sundays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m.

In the meantime, staff says the store will sling pizzas from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day as part of a soft opening.

As of today (Thursday) two delivery cars in the parking lot are outfitted with the trademark Domino’s signs — a parking arrangement previously approved by the County Board.

The eatery is the latest to open amid a flurry of restaurants openings in Ballston.

Muse Paintbar Plans July Opening in Ballston Quarter

By Vernon Miles

The growing “paint and sip industry” is making its way to Arlington with a new Muse Paintbar location in Ballston Quarter.

The art-studio-slash-bar first showed up in county permits last fall. A spokesperson for Muse Paintbar confirmed that the bar is planning to open in July, though no more specific date has been chosen and construction at the location hasn’t begun.

Muse Paintbar is planned to open on the mall’s first floor at 4238 Wilson Blvd.

The chain was founded in 2012, offering public events and private parties focused around learning how to paint while sipping on a variety of wine, craft beer and food. (Just be careful which cup you sip out of.)

If you cannot wait for the Ballston location to open, there are also Muse Paintbar locations at the Mosaic District (2920 District Avenue) and National Harbor (122 Waterfront Street).

Muse Paintbar joins a series of other restaurants and businesses opening recently in Ballston Quarter, including another bar — Ballston Service Station — in the Quarter Market food hall.

Photo courtesy Muse Paintbar

New Sushi and Ramen Restaurant to Open in Courthouse

By Vernon Miles
1/4

Takeshi Sushi — a new Japanese restaurant at 2424 Wilson Blvd — is planning an opening sometime in May.

Owner Wu Lin said the restaurant is planning to offer sushi, ramen, and other Japanese food in a quick-service style eatery.

The new restaurant is located next to Delhi Dhaba Indian Restaurant and under Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill. Takeshi Sushi is replacing a Subway that closed in November.

Lin said the restaurant is his first location, but they are planning to simultaneously open another Takeshi Sushi in the Fairfax Circle Shopping Center, in the Fairlee neighborhood of Fairfax.

Pupatella Coming to South Arlington

By ARLnow.com
1/3

(Updated 4 p.m.) One of Arlington’s most successful restaurants is coming to one of the county’s least successful restaurant locations.

Neapolitan pizzeria Pupatella, which was a popular food truck before opening its acclaimed bricks-and-mortar location in Bluemont in 2010, is opening a second Arlington location in the restaurant “Bermuda Triangle” at 1621 S. Walter Reed Drive. The opening is planned for this summer.

“The restaurant is 2,200 square feet and will seat approximately 60 guests inside,” a press release said of Pupatella’s new location in the Nauck neighborhood. “The location also features a covered patio area that will have seating for another 40 or so guests.”

Pupatella also announced plans today to open a 2,700 square foot location at 1821 Wiehle Avenue in Reston by early 2020, as part of a new expansion push fueled by a $3.75 million investment.

“More company-owned locations are currently being pursued in Fairfax County, Montgomery County and Washington, D.C.,” said the press release.

“The community in Arlington has been so wonderful to us over the past decade that it was a simple decision for us to open a South Arlington location,” Pupatella founder Enzo Algarme is quoted as saying in the press release. “The area is exploding with growth, and we want to be sure that growth includes great pizza!”

Algarme did not respond to multiple inquiries from ARLnow.com last week seeking to confirm that they were behind the new restaurant at 1621 S. Walter Reed Drive. A spokeswoman said today that he was out of town.

Eater, which reported the Pupatella news late Thursday morning before the press release was sent to ARLnow, quotes another company co-owner as saying the Walter Reed Drive location will help fulfill “spillover demand” from its busy, original location.

The full press release is after the jump.

(more…)

Ballston Quarter Market Launches Next Round of Openings Tomorrow

By Vernon Miles
1/3

Two new restaurants are planning soft openings Thursday in Ballston Quarter’s new food hall, Quarter Market, with another planning a grand opening happy hour celebration.

Local Oyster, a Baltimore-based seafood joint, is planning to launch tomorrow with a limited menu. The full menu for the eatery includes beer as well as seafood like lobsters, scallops, crab legs, and — of course — oysters.

Next door, sushi and dumpling restaurant Roll’d — helmed by Sushi Taro’s Chef Nobu Yamazaki — is also tentatively planning a launch with a limited menu.

Meanwhile, the food hall’s main bar, Ballston Service Station, has been serving drinks for a couple weeks now, but the bar’s staff said a grand opening is planned tomorrow around 4 p.m.

The new openings coincide with the “Ballston Quarter Celebration” at the mall. From 11 a.m.-2 p.m., the first 100 guests to check in at the Ballston Quarter tent will receive a voucher for a complimentary lunch at any vendor in the market.

A family-friendly happy hour is planned for 5-7 p.m. with live music, a caricature and face painter, and food and drink specials.

Other restaurants currently open in Quarter Market include Copa Kitchen and Bar, Hot Lola’s, Ice Cream Jubilee, Mi & Yu Noodle Bar, Rice Crook, Sloppy Mama’s BBQ, and Turu’s by Timber Pizza Co.

Health Food Restaurant “Dirt” Planning to Open Next Week in Ballston

By Airey
1/4

The new location of Dirt restaurant in Ballston is hoping to open next week.

The fast-casual, health food eatery will “likely” welcome its first Arlington customers next Wednesday, April 17, though the exact opening date is not yet set in stone, said spokeswoman Kyle Schmitz.

Dirt is located at 4121 Wilson Blvd in the former headquarters of the National Science Foundation, which is now known as Ballston Exchange and which houses Shake Shack, Philz Coffee, and — soon — We the Pizza.

Schmitz said there are “a couple of finishing touches” left to do to the menu but otherwise customers will be able to order most of what’s on the online version.

Dirt’s menu features paleo-approved bowls and sandwiches as well as trendy toasts and breakfast dishes tailored for post-workout recovery with ingredients like activated organic chia seeds. Offerings also include 11 “sustainable proteins” add-ons like vegan plant protein powder and cashew ricotta.

The Miami-based chain first announced plans for its 1,800-square-foot space in the ground floor of the Ballston Exchange in November.

At the time, the chain’s backers said they eyed Ballston for expansion because of “the energy of the neighborhood,” and the rapid growth of businesses at the Ballston Exchange and the Ballston Quarter development across the street, where several restaurants have opened doors since March.

The restaurant says it will be donating 1 percent of all proceeds from its seasonal items to the Arlington Food Assistance Center.

From Baltimore to Ballston, Local Oyster Eyes Opening Next Week

By Airey
1/4

Baltimore-based seafood joint Local Oyster may open their new Ballston Quarter location as early as next week, staff say.

Founder and co-owner Nick Shauman said he’s planning a soft opening next Thursday, April 18, pending final permits (which, it should be noted, don’t always come through on time).

“We’ll definitely be shucking oysters and pouring beers,” Shauman said confidently. “Fingers crossed.”

The eatery will feature a full kitchen, beer lines, and big metal baskets awaiting oysters as well as claims, lobsters, scallops, mussels, crab legs, and catfish. Today (Wednesday) a back wall was decorated with a wall of buoys, and bright red metal stools fresh out of their packing are lined up around wooden high-top tables.

For next week’s hoped-for opening, Shauman plans to serve up a special limited menu.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwAtIaEnj9T/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The full menu includes cocktails, wine, beer and cider, in addition to its oysters and clams, soups, sandwiches and lobster rolls, crab cakes, and vegetable sides.

Local Oyster sources its oysters from its farm in southern Maryland, the True Chesapeake Oyster Co., in Southern Maryland. Shauman said the Ballston location will carry their house oyster, dubbed the “skinny dipper.”

“We are no frills seafood,” said Beverage Director Chelsea Gregoire. “We do it well, we do it local.”

Gregoire said she’s developing a cocktail menu that makes diners “feel like they’re at the beach” and focus on fresh fruit and tasty spirits “to go with your shrimp salad sammie.”

Shauman told ARLnow that Local Oyster has hired 16 “badass bartenders and shuckers” so far.

“This whole thing started as a pop-up about six years ago,” he said of Local Oyster’s origins in Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood, where he says he just might know some Honfest ladies willing to journey to Ballston for the restaurant’s grand opening.

The Local Oyster is the latest addition to the Quarter Market where restaurants have opened rapid fire since March. The market is inside the renovated Ballston mall where cooking classroom Cookology opened this week.

Maya Bistro Now Open on Lee Highway

By ARLnow.com
1/6

A new restaurant has opened along Lee Highway.

Maya Bistro, which offers Turkish and Mediterranean cuisine in a sunny, modern setting, recently opened its doors. Spurred by positive reviews on Nextdoor and Yelp, customers flocked to the restaurant Friday night, causing it to run out of some of its menu items, staff said Saturday.

Open for brunch, lunch and dinner, Maya Bistro is family-run and those working in the front and back of the house over the weekend included a brother, sister, father and grandmother.

Menu items include moussaka, sandwiches including falafel and adana, grilled meats on skewers, and several varieties of pide flatbreads.

Maya Bistro is located at 5649 Lee Highway in the Leeway-Overlee neighborhood, in the former Nook Play Space storefront.

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