An angular strip of land along S. Walter Reed Drive where restaurants frequentlyappear and disappear seems to be again preparing to host another eatery.
A construction permit application was filed last week for a planned restaurant at 1621 S. Walter Reed Drive. The permit calls for “interior alterations… including kitchen equipment, floor and wall coverings, partitions, plumbing and electrical fixtures.”
No structural changes are planned.
Among the various restaurants to call the building home over the years was The Corner Tex-Mix, which closed in 2016 under somewhat mysterious circumstances.
The space that once housed Clarendon Grill is going to be a bar and restaurant once more.
“The Pinemoor,” described in a bare-bones Facebook profile as an “American bar/restaurant,” is coming to the space. Signs in the window, which sport a distinctly Old West design, say the restaurant is expected to open this summer.
Tipsters told ARLnow they have seen construction activity inside the restaurant space, though it is mostly blocked from view by curtains.
Clarendon Grill had hosted bands and other nightlife at the 1101 N. Highland Street space in Clarendon for 22 years before closing late last year. “C-Grill” was renovated in 2010 and a back outdoor patio was added.
A seating area adjacent to Copa Kitchen and Bar at Ballston Quarter.
Hot Lola’s at Ballston Quarter
Turu’s by Timber Pizza Company at Ballston Quarter.
Ice Cream Jubilee at Ballston Quarter.
The location for Cucina al Volo at Ballston Quarter.
Slowly, but surely, restaurants in Ballston Quarter’s food court are opening to diners.
When the development opened up its “Quarter Market” to customers earlier this month, just one restaurant (Mi & Yu Noodle Bar) was open for business. In the days since then, two more have joined the club.
The first was Copa Kitchen and Bar, a Spanish restaurant serving up small plates, flatbreads and sangria from its “sangria garden.”
Copa opened for business last week, according to Ballston Quarter’s social media accounts, and the restaurant space is now adorned with all manner of soccer-themed apparel. Eventually, Copa also plans to offer outdoor seating in the development’s plaza.
Next up was Hot Lola’s, a fast-casual restaurant offering spicy, fried chicken sandwiches. The eatery opened last weekend.
Chef Kevin Tien, who also backed the Petworth restaurant Himitsu, plans to use Sichuan spices to flavor the sandwiches, which should pack plenty of punch. Diners will also be able to order chicken tenders, but those aren’t available on the restaurant’s menu just yet.
Ice Cream Jubilee, a local chain offering exotic ice cream flavors of all kinds, could well be the next shop to open. The stand is mostly set up, and an employee there said the eatery could be ready to serve up scoops as early as next week.
Workers also seem to have made plenty of progress on Turu’s, a restaurant from the creator’s of D.C.’s Timber Pizza Company, though no employees were at the stand Wednesday afternoon.
Nearby, another restaurant backed by Timber Pizza’s owners, the Ballston Service Station, also seems to be nearing an opening.
Details are still scarce about what, exactly, the location will serve up, but a quick glance behind some construction screens revealed what appeared to be a line of beer taps. State records show that the restaurant is asking for a permit to serve both beer and wine at the location.
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Clarendon’s Le Kon restaurant on the construction-ridden Washington Blvd is closed as of March 12 and is scheduled to re-open as a Mexican restaurant “La Finca”.
Clarendon’s Le Kon restaurant on the construction-ridden Washington Blvd is closed as of March 12 and is scheduled to re-open as a Mexican restaurant “La Finca”.
(Updated at 5:10 p.m.) Clarendon’s Mexican-Asian restaurant Le Kon is closed and rescheduled to re-open as “La Finca” later this week.
An employee of the restaurant said management needed to close the restaurant while finalizing the new liquor license but that the eatery is expected to re-open under its new name tomorrow (Tuesday) or Wednesday. ARLnow was unable to reach the restaurant’s management for more information prior to publishing.
The restaurant’s new name,”La Finca,” refers to a traditional Mexican farmhouse. The menu now posted outside the blue doors reflects the shift to Mexican cuisine with a focus on burritos, chimichangas, quesadilla, and tequila.
Le Kon opened six months ago as the D.C.-debut of chef Katsuji Tanabe who appeared on the reality television program Top Chef in 2014. Tanabe’s restaurant served Asian-Mexican fusion fare with items like crab guacamole, per Yelp reviews. At the time it replaced another establishment, Park Lane Tavern, that closed after eight months.
It’s unclear why the restaurant changed hands, and whether Tanabe is still involved. Tanabe last tweeted about the restaurant in September, and the restaurant’s last Instagram post was a table flower arrangement on Feb. 18.
Today (Monday), the backlights on the “Le Kon” sign were off and construction equipment rumbled as crews continued work on the Washington Blvd and Wilson Blvd road projects, which is expected to continue all year.
As of Monday afternoon, Le Kon’s website reads “Thank you for visiting — Le Kon Restaurant has closed. This Website is not available anymore.”
A rendering of the TTT Mexican Diner in Clarendon (courtesy of Street Guys Hospitality)
A rendering of the TTT Mexican Diner in Clarendon (courtesy of Street Guys Hospitality)
A rendering of the TTT Mexican Diner in Clarendon (courtesy of Street Guys Hospitality)
A rendering of the TTT Mexican Diner in Clarendon (courtesy of Street Guys Hospitality)
A rendering of Buena Vida in Clarendon (via Street Guys Hospitality)
A rendering of Buena Vida in Clarendon (via Street Guys Hospitality)
A rendering of Buena Vida in Clarendon (via Street Guys Hospitality)
Two of the three restaurants moving into the space formerly occupied by La Tasca in Clarendon now expect to open their doors later this month.
The TTT Mexican Diner and Buena Vida, set to occupy the first and second floors of the building at 2900 Wilson Blvd, are now set to open on March 18.
Street Guys Hospitality, the restaurant group backing Clarendon’s Ambar and Baba, laid out menu details and released concept photos of the new restaurants in a release yesterday (Thursday). The group had previously targeted a February opening for the space.
Owner Ivan Iricanin has been hard at work on the new eateries since last April, shortly after La Tasca closed its doors following a 14-year run in the neighborhood. He’s also planning a rooftop bar on the building’s third level, though he’s not expecting that to open for a while yet.
On the first floor, Street Guys says that the TTT Mexican Diner — initially dubbed “Tacos, Tortas and Tequila” — will feature 86 dining rooms seats across a 3,500-square-foot space. It will also include a bar area and a 30-seat outdoor patio.
The restaurant will serve brunch, lunch and dinner, and the restaurant group says the “tacos and tortas will be the main attraction,” with both tortillas and tortas made fresh in-house.
TTT will also boast a full bar with “agave cocktails as well as classic margaritas,” the release said.
As for Buena Vida, the second-floor restaurant will showcase “traditional, indigenous fare that incorporates recipes that have been handed down through generations.” The 3,700-square-foot space will include seating for 101 people, including a bar and private dining room.
The menu will include a raw bar, plenty of soups and seafood, in addition to an “approachable list of wines from Mexico.”
Iricanin previously opened a similar pairing of TTT and Buena Vida in Silver Spring last year. He’s also planning to bring a new Ambar location to Northwest D.C. sometime this year, which will be his second in the city.
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Inside Look at Memorial Bridge Work — Workers are laboring to restore the Arlington Memorial Bridge to its former glory, one piece of 90-year-old granite at a time. [NBC Washington]
Copa Kitchen & Bar Opening Today — The latest restaurant to open at Ballston Quarter is Copa Kitchen & Bar, which is expected to serve customers from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. today, according to a social media post. [Instagram]
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The new Ted’s Bulletin restaurant that will soon open up shop in the Ballston Quarter development also looks to be getting an attached bakery.
Signs posted at the storefront, located at 4238 Wilson Blvd, advertise a new “Sidekick Bakery” bound for the space next to the Ted’s location.
Details about the bakery, and how it might differ from the baked goods offered at other Ted’s Bulletin locations, are sparse at the moment. The local chain is already renowned for its homemade Pop-Tarts and other pastries (in addition to its array of comfort food offerings and alcoholic milkshakes), but “Sidekick” appears to be a new concept for the restaurant.
Federal records show that Ted’s Bulletin filed for a trademark for the “Sidekick Bakery” name last May, but the application offers few other details on the bakery.
The restaurant chain did not respond to a request for comment seeking more information on Sidekick.
Signs posted at the soon-to-be Ted’s location at Ballston Quarter say that the restaurant is set to open sometime this spring. The chain won permission to set up outdoor seating at the development last fall.
The new eatery will be located just above entrances to the newly opened “Quarter Market,” the development’s much-anticipated new food court. One restaurant is now open in that “food hall” space, but it remains unclear when the other 13 restaurants bound for the food court will start serving up meals.
Other stores at Ballston Quarter have slowly been opening to customers since the fall.
Ballston Quarter’s Quarter Market, which is now open.
A sign at Ballston Quarter.
Timber Pizza Co. pizza over at Ballston Quarter
A sign at Ballston Quarter.
Ballston Quarter Quarter Market food hall
Ballston Quarter Quarter Market food hall
Mi and Yu Noodle Bar at Ballston Quarter mall
Ballston Quarter Quarter Market food hall
Ramen bowl from Mi and Yu Noodle Bar at Ballston Quarter mall
Ballston Quarter’s long-awaited food court is now open, but the wait continues for most of its restaurants.
The space, dubbed “Quarter Market,” occupies 25,000 square feet in the renovated Ballston Quarter mall. As of today (Monday) Mi & Yu Noodle Bar is open for business, but all other eateries remain shuttered as construction continues and “coming soon” signs adorn the industrial digs.
Developer Forest City described the food court as an “indoor/outdoor eatery” with 14 restaurants scheduled to open:
Forest City previously told ARLnow that Quarter Market will “begin to open” on Feb. 27 after public signs promised a February opening date for months. But diners showed up that day to blocked-off entrances, and Forest City revised its timeline for the “food hall” until early March.
Delays have plagued the mall’s redevelopment with Forest City missing its September and October store opening deadline, with some stores opening in mid-November. The company also planned to open its pedestrian bridge spanning Wilson Blvd in time for that fall opening, but the bridge remains under construction five months later.
The County Board approved permits in September allowing six restaurants in the mall to build outdoor seating for diners in the 5,000-square-foot public plaza off of Wilson Blvd, despite some county staff who worried private outdoor dining would cut into the public plaza area.
The September permits will allow Bartaco in Quarter Market to serve diners outdoors in warmer weather, along with five restaurants in other parts of the mall: Compass Coffee, South Block, Ted’s Bulletin, True Food Kitchen, and Union Kitchen, according to the mall’s online directory.
Hot dog food truck Swizzler and sushi burrito chain Buredo also previously announced they would be joining Quarter Market, but are not listed on the online directory.
The lineup of restaurants has fluctuated over the past several months: in May, Forest City announced that Chick-Fil-A, French Exit, Mezeh, Slapfish, South Block, and All About Burger were all slated to join. Those eateries will now be located elsewhere in the development.
Crystal City now has a new restaurant open on its burgeoning 23rd Street S.
Los Tios Grill opened its doors in mid-February in a small space at 515 23rd Street S. The location was once home to Cantina Mexicana, which closed last December, after first opening under a different name in 1978.
The menu offers a variety of Tex-Mex favorites, and some Salvadoran specialties, from fajitas to quesadillas and more. The restaurant also boasts a full menu of tequila, margaritas, sangria and draft beers.
Los Tios got its start in Alexandria, where it has two locations. The small chain also recently opened a restaurant in Leesburg.
The eatery will sit adjacent to the newly re-opened Federico Ristorante Italiano, formerly Cafe Italia, and its opening represents the latest in a series of big changes for the popular block.
The neighborhood’s landlords previously cited the expansion of popular Arlington diner Bob and Edith’s on the street as a prime factor in keying the area’s revitalization. Freddie Lutz, who also runs the eponymous Freddie’s Beach Bar, decided recently to help relaunch Cafe Italia to bring more business back to the area.
The former Tortoise and Hare Bar and Grill space at the end of the block will also soon become home to another Alexandria-based bar: Fiona’s Irish Pub.
The future location of Taco Rock in Rosslyn (photo courtesy of Team Cordero)
The future location of Taco Rock in Rosslyn (photo courtesy of Team Cordero)
The future location of Taco Rock in Rosslyn (photo courtesy of Team Cordero)
One of Arlington’s busiest restaurateurs is bringing a new fast-casual taco joint to Rosslyn.
Chef Mike Cordero plans to open “Taco Rock” in a space at 1501 Wilson Blvd, he announced today (Thursday). He’s targeting a May opening date for the new restaurant, taking the place of the long-shuttered Spinfire Pizza.
Cordero, the co-owner of popular Arlington bars from The G.O.A.T. to Don Tito, is backing the business in partnership with his sons, Nick and Anthony.
In a news release, Cordero’s company promises that the new eatery will feature “affordable, gourmet tacos” served on homemade, blue corn tortillas. Per the release, specialty taco options will include:
The Figgy Piggy — Slow roasted pork with sweet and savory fig glaze
Bourbon BBQ Short Rib — Short ribs with caramelized onions and crispy fried onions
Pork Belly Banh Mi — Grilled pork belly, Vietnamese slaw and cilantro
Ya Mon Caribbean Jerk Chicken — Grilled chicken, cabbage, jerk sauce topped with a mango pico de gallo
TNT — Fresh blue fin tuna seared with seaweed and cucumber wasabi sauce
Land & Sea — Skirt steak and beer-battered shrimp with caramelized onions and horseradish sauce
The menu will include breakfast offerings, homemade ice cream and stuffed churros as well.
Cordero also expects to offer “an extensive tequila bar,” with specialty cocktails and Mexican beers on tap too. The roughly 2,500-square-foot space will include an 18-stool bar and room for about 50 diners.
“Taco Rock offers the best of both worlds – upscale, out-of-the-box tacos without hurting your wallet,” Mike Cordero wrote in a statement. “We anticipate the Rosslyn community will deem Taco Rock as the go-to spot for a quick bite or the place to hang out and grab a tequila or beer.”
The restaurant will be Cordero’s ninth across the Northern Virginia area, and his first fast-casual establishment. It will sit adjacent to a Roti location and across the street from the neighborhood’s Target.
