new restaurant

‘Coming soon’ sign out for new Chinese dim sum restaurant in Clarendon

By Jo DeVoe
1/2

A restaurant in Clarendon has hung up the ever-elusive promise of a “coming soon” sign.

It is one sign of progress for two Asian restaurants taking up residence next to each other on the 3200 block of Washington Blvd, in a retail strip that includes a pizza place and O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub.

The “coming soon” sign advertises the impending arrival of Tiger Dumpling, a Chinese dim sum restaurant. A construction permit for the space was filed last winter.

Meanwhile, a liquor license is now “pending” for Japanese restaurant called Izakaya 68, set to occupy a space next door to Tiger Dumpling. This restaurant is modeled after informal Japanese bars serving drinks, snacks and small plates.

Both restaurants are owned by the Ivea Restaurant Group, which lists these locations as “coming soon” on its website. The group runs a number of Asian-inspired restaurants across the region, including Ballston’s Gyu San, which opened this summer.

Neither Ivea Restaurant Group nor the permit holder listed on permits posted in the window of Tiger Dumpling returned requests for updates on when the pair of eateries would open.

Ivea Restaurant Group previously told ARLnow they were aiming for a summer 2023 opening for the pair of restaurants.

Tiger Dumpling and Izakaya 68 are set to replace Utahime and La Finca, which closed in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

These restaurant spaces have seen considerable turnover over the years, and were once home to European pub Park Lane Tavern, ‘Top Chef’ contestant Katsuji Tanabe’s Le Kon and a cajun seafood-and-sushi place, Asiatique.

Cleveland-based ‘loaded fries’ eatery launches delivery-only kitchen near Clarendon

By James Jarvis
1/4

A new delivery-only restaurant specializing in “loaded fries” has opened in a parking lot near Clarendon.

For Your Fries Only is serving up fries slathered in sauce and topped with a protein of choice from a trailer in the vacant Courthouse West parking lot across from Whole Foods.

It joins a handful of other food trailers selling everything from fried chicken sandwiches to Asian street food to asada fries via third-party delivery apps.

The owner told ARLnow the business had officially launched last week. It operates from one of the three trailers owned by REEF Technology, a company specializing in transforming underutilized urban parking lots into hubs for food and logistics. The food service arm of Reef is called NBRHD Kitchens.

Like other “ghost kitchens,” For Your Fries Only operates exclusively through third-party delivery platforms such as Uber Eats and DoorDash.

The concept has attracted a lot of media buzz and investors in recent years, especially during the pandemic when many people were getting food delivered more frequently. Based on its popularity, the Arlington County Board amended its zoning ordinance in June to streamline delivery for small businesses.

For Your Fries Only initially started with two locations in Ohio and has since expanded to Baltimore, Maryland and Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, according to its website.

The eatery offers toppings ranging from chicken and steak to shrimp and pepperoni, as well as various sauces. The menu also features chicken wings, available in sets of 10, 20, or 30, and customers can have them tossed in a choice of two sauces.

Photos via For Your Fries Only/Instagram

NEW: At long last, Astro Beer Hall to open in Shirlington next Tuesday

By Jo DeVoe
1/6

(Updated at 3:10 p.m. on 9/15/23) The long-anticipated Astro Beer Hall will open next week in Shirlington, serving decadent donuts by day and “astronomic” sandwiches and apps late into the night.

Ahead of the Tuesday opening, owners Elliot Spaisman and Peter Bayne are running around, making finishing touches on the 14,000-square-foot, galactic-themed space, while the team trains and awaits deliveries.

“We’ve got a lot going on over here,” Spaisman tells ARLnow.

The Village at Shirlington location is the second for the hall, which debuted in D.C. in 2019. The owners are bringing over some famed foods — including fried chicken sandwiches made with savory doughnuts — and debuting new bites. There will also be arcade games and, eventually, billiards.

The beer hall, with a sprawling 140-seat patio and adjacent coffee shop, took over the old Capitol City Brewing Co. space at 4001 Campbell Avenue, which closed five years ago. The Tuesday opening caps off two years of work in the midst of Covid and supply chain and permitting issues, the co-owners say.

The owners say they’re more than ready to open their doors.

“There’s a million pounds off my shoulders. It’s been such a whirlwind and a beast to get this thing open,” Bayne said. “It was so frustrating along the way, so to get to this moment where we can have a beautiful spot we can open up, feels so good.”

He and Spaisman opened the first Astro Beer Hall location all of four months before Covid lockdowns. While the location is faring well now, Bayne said the downtown D.C. scene is still stifled post-pandemic and he is excited to come to Arlington, which he says is “where it’s at.”

“This is nice because it’s a dense residential area in Shirlington with commercial and offices, a nightlife strip, and a ton of great options around us,” Bayne said. “It’s a hub people want to go to on a Friday or Saturday. It’s a little bit of something for everyone.”

That seems to be the plan with Astro Beer Hall, too.

There will be a coffee shop open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., serving baked goods, compliments of a doughnut-frying robot, and Compass Coffee beverages.

Over in the beer hall, patrons can watch sports from what Spaisman says is “a massive amount of TVs.” They can play classic arcade games such as skee ball and Ms. Pacman and, in the coming months, billiards in the basement.

Once it is beer o’clock — as early as 11 a.m. on the weekends but 4 p.m. on Mondays — the hall will start serving snacks, sandwiches and salads for lunch, happy hour and dinner.

(more…)

Greenheart Juice Shop to hold grand opening this Saturday in Ballston

By James Jarvis
1/3

(Updated at 5:32 p.m.) Greenheart Juice Shop is slated to hold a grand opening for its newest location in Ballston on Saturday.

The celebration at 4121 Wilson Blvd will include wellness shots, and attendees can enter a raffle for a chance to win gift cards or class packs to local gyms.

This location, which previously housed Philz Coffee, will be Greenheart’s first in Arlington and its fourth in Northern Virginia. A second Arlington location is set to open in Courthouse “sometime this fall,” a spokesperson for the juice shop told ARLnow.

The juice chain began as one location in 2010 in the village of Aldie in Loudoun County, selling health foods such as cold-pressed juices, açai bowls and salads. Since then, the company has expanded its reach across Northern Virginia, adding storefronts in Leesburg and Vienna.

Late last year, Arlington-based hospitality group Wooden Nickel Bar Co., which also operates local restaurants Copperwood Tavern and Brass Rabbit Public House, acquired the shop. Greenheart then set its sights on expanding into Arlington.

“We’ve expanded into Ballston because [owner Reese Gardner]… saw an opportunity to be involved in a community that is very centered on health and fitness,” the spokesperson said, noting that Arlington has been named the “fittest city” for six years in a row.

The new juice shop will compete with another homegrown juice-and-smoothie chain, South Block, which has been open across the street since March 2019.

Under construction Centurion Lounge at DCA shows new signs of progress

By Jo DeVoe
1/2

It appears work is coming together for a new Centurion Lounge in Reagan National Airport.

Boards concealing construction activity are up, advertising the lounge from American Express coming to the airport’s “National Hall” in Terminal B, after passengers clear security.

Meanwhile, Compass USA, the food service provider associated with the lounge, has applied for a liquor license, per a Virginia ABC notice posted to the boards. The company placed its first legal notice advertisement about a month ago, it says.

This marks a step forward for the lounge — the first non-airline lounge at DCA — which was initially expected to touch down in late 2022. Last month, CNN reported the lounge is now expected to open “later this year.”

The new Centurion Lounge at DCA will span more than 11,500-square-feet and boast “floor to ceiling windows, airfield views and one-of-a-kind design elements inspired by the city’s history,” per a 2021 American Express press release.

“The Centurion Lounge will feature signature amenities such as a complimentary custom bar1 and food menu, premium restrooms and shower suites, access to high-speed Wi-Fi, noise-buffering workspaces, and more,” the release said.

The release notes that the project follows on the heels of Project Journey, a $1 billion capital improvement project to add new security checkpoints and a 14-gate commuter concourse replacing the notorious Gate 35X.

Neither American Express nor Compass USA returned requests for comment.

Some 13 U.S. airports currently have a Centurion Lounge — including those in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Miami and Charlotte — according to a map on its website.

New Mezeh location ‘coming soon’ to Pentagon City mall

By James Jarvis
Mezeh sign at Fashion Centre in Pentagon City (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Mezeh seems to be proceeding with its plans to open a new location at Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.

The fast-casual Mediterranean grill had originally announced plans to open in 2020, but the opening was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Coming soon” signs are now up for the restaurant, on the same level as the food court and across from the Fast Fix Jewelry and Watch Repairs. That’s the former location of Harry’s Tap Room, which a bloggier iteration of ARLnow once dubbed “Arlington’s favorite watering hole for midwestern tourists.”

A spokesperson for the mall said they “do not have an update on timing.”

Mezeh previously opened a location at Ballston Quarter mall in February 2020. The company’s first stand-alone restaurant opened in Crystal City (2450 Crystal Drive) in 2015 and a National Airport outpost opened in 2021.

Mezeh, which draws comparisons to assembly-line-style Mediterranean eateries like Roti and Cava, now has more than 50 locations up and down the Eastern Seaboard that are either open or coming soon.

Hat Tip @CartChaos22202

Makers Union pub slated to open this fall in Pentagon City

By James Jarvis
1/5

(Updated at 4:40 p.m.) Get ready to raise your forks and pint glasses.

Makers Union, a gastropub known for its upscale menu, is coming to Amazon’s second headquarters in Pentagon City this fall.

Alex Brown, the restaurant’s director of operations, tells ARLnow doors will open by mid-October, though a specific opening date has yet to be confirmed.

“I’ll put it at 90% — unless something comes up,” he told ARLnow.

This will be the third location for Makers Union, which first opened in Reston three years ago and is planning to open a second location in D.C. at the Wharf in September.

Makers Union joins a variety of new businesses and dining establishments slated to get in on the ground floor of the first phase of Amazon’s HQ2, known as Metropolitan Park, which opened earlier this summer.

“[Makers Union] is all about having fun with different events and just being that place where guests can celebrate any of life’s occasions,” Brown said.

Guests can “grab wings and a beer at the bar,” partake in bottomless brunch or celebrate a birthday or anniversary with “elevated options” such as crab cakes and ribeye steaks, he added.

The pub’s owner, Thompson Hospitality, also operates Matchbox, Big Buns Damn Good Burgers and Wiseguy Pizza, among several other local restaurant concepts.

Thompson Hospitality launched three decades ago with the purchase of several Bob’s Big Boys. It has since become a nearly billion-dollar company, with most of its restaurants still in the D.C. area., including Matchbox and Wise Guys Pizza.

Preparations continue for Padaek location in Arlington Ridge, including Buddhist blessing

By Jo DeVoe
1/2

Those hungry for an update on the arrival of Lao and Thai restaurant Padaek may have to wait a bit longer.

There is no opening date yet for the Southeast Asian restaurant moving into the Arlington Ridge Shopping Center. The message that it is “coming soon” — which is about as tantalizing as the food looks — is splashed across a banner at its location and included in a new post on social media.

“We are waiting for one more permit from Arlington County and getting closer [to a] soft opening but first we plan for take-out,” Chef Seng Luangrath told ARLnow.

Large, bright tropical flowers are splashed across some walls of the 3,500-square-foot space at 2931 S. Glebe Road, according to Instagram. Orchids decorate large windows looking out over an enclosed patio.

Luangrath, the well-regarded chef behind Padaek in Falls Church and the renowned Thip Khao in Columbia Heights, will be bringing much of the original Padaek menu to this new location, which will also serve some Thai and Burmese dishes, Axios previously reported.

Last month, the location received the blessing of local Buddhist monks, according to photos and a video posted on Instagram. The posts depict monks, surrounded by flowers and food, performing a ceremony, while attendees followed along in prayer.

An Instagram post by Padaek from July (via Instagram/Padaek DC)

Then, everyone tucked into heaps of Lao food and sweets.

In the restaurant’s most recent post, Luangrath thanked followers, family and friends “for joining us on the special traditional ceremony and blessing day on for new space.”

The Buddhist ceremony blessing the new Padaek location in Arlington Ridge (via Instagram/Padaek DC)

There have been other signs of progress recently, including an open house a month ago for cooks.

Axios previously reported that the restaurant was targeting a mid-June opening date but that has since come and gone.

Before becoming home to Padaek, the space was occupied by a rotating cast of eateries, including Delia’s Mediterranean Grill & Brick Oven Pizza, Tazza Kitchen and Cafe Caturra.

Panera Bread looks to replace former Cosi in Ballston after three-year vacancy

By Jo DeVoe
1/2

A Panera Bread appears to be moving into the old Cosi location in Ballston, according to online permit records.

The permit, filed with Arlington County, describes the work as “interior alterations for new tenant fitout for restaurant Panera Bread.”

The restaurant will take up 3,426 square feet of space at the former Cosi outpost at the base of an office building at 4250 N. Fairfax Drive, near the Ballston Metro station.

A call and an email to Panera Bread were not returned before deadline.

Despite multiple locations within close proximity in D.C., Arlington is home to only one Panera outpost, in Rosslyn. Others ring around the county in Falls Church, Bailey’s Crossroads and Alexandria.

Cosi, the fast-casual restaurant chain built on flatbread sandwiches, closed up shop in Ballston in December 2019. Its locations in Crystal City and Virginia Square followed suit in early January of 2020.

The closures occured as the company filed for bankruptcy protection. A Rosslyn location continued operating as the sole D.C. area outpost on this side of the Potomac River until closing in early 2021.

Hat tip to Leslie K.

“Tropical glam bar” Coco B’s hoping to open this weekend in Clarendon

By Matt Blitz
1/7

The much-anticipated “tropical glam bar” Coco B’s in Clarendon hopes to open this weekend, co-owner Christal Bramson tells ARLnow.

Ownership is in the process of getting final permits before the doors can be thrown open, but the belief is that everything will be ready for the coming weekend.

The long-planned companion bar to B Live — or, for the moment, “Beach Bar Live” — at 2854 Wilson Blvd was originally supposed to start serving a full year ago. It was delayed a few times, however, due to construction and permits. But now the wait appears to almost be over.

Judging by photos, Coco B’s is set to be Arlington’s pink palace of nightlife. The color covers the 6,000 square feet of space, from the walls to the chair to the umbrellas, that the business is set to occupy inside and atop the building that was once Whitlow’s on Wilson.

While it’s the rooftop — featuring a mural of a flamingo wearing a hat — that many locals might be looking forward it, Bramson said the rest of the bar might actually be the real draw.

“I don’t think people realize that Coco’s is not only a rooftop, but has nearly 4,000 square feet directly below the rooftop (next to B Live),” Bramson wrote ARLnow in an email. “It’s a collection of three bays, with two gorgeous bars, dining room, and a stunning back patio.”

The main floor will feature pink chandeliers and clamshell chairs, while another bay is the “Bubble Bar,” a champagne-forward bar with lots more pink. The third bay is for private events.

The Carribean-inspired menu is set to be curated by Chef Juan Olivera, who previously worked at D.C.’s Lupo Verde. It will feature Caribbean delicacies like jerk chicken, ceviche, and Jamaican oxtail patties, Arlington Magazine reports.

Coco B’s will have signature cocktails, including the Dac-Dac-Doc. It will be served in half coconut shells with Caribbean rum, passion dragon fruit syrup, and coconut foam.

The opening of Coco B’s will mark another expansion of Christal and Mike Bramson’s Arlington nightlife empire under the B Social Hospitality banner. B Live opened last spring as a live music venue but has since shifted away from original acts to live karaoke. It also changed concepts, at least temporarily, earlier this month.

The Bramsons also own Pamplona on Clarendon Blvd, Roll’d in Ballston, run operations at Clarendon Ballroom, and are celebrating local beer garden The Lot’s last season before redevelopment happens on the site. The couple owns several restaurants in the District as well, including Rebel Taco and soon-to-open The Cove in the District’s Navy Yard neighborhood.

D.C. restaurant Immigrant Food to journey across the Potomac into Ballston

By Jo DeVoe
1/2

(Updated at 12:20 p.m.) D.C. restaurant Immigrant Food appears to be coming to Ballston.

The eatery looks to be moving into a building across the street from the Ballston Metro station, according to an application filed with the county.

This would be the restaurant’s first foray out of the District, where Immigrant Food has three outposts: the Planet Word Museum, the White House and Union Market.

As part of its move, the restaurant applied for permission to build out a patio seating area for the space it is leasing at the base of a 7-story office building. The office tower, owned by The Nature Conservancy, is located at the corner of Fairfax Drive and N. Taylor Street, while the restaurant’s address is 4245 Fairfax Drive, Suite 150.

“The proposed changes, if approved, would further the Countywide goal of promoting the economic vitality of Arlington by increasing the walkable restaurant space within the high-traffic Ballston Metrorail area,” land use attorney Andrew Painter wrote in a letter to the county filed with the patio application.

The head chef of Immigrant Food is Enrique Limardo, of D.C. restaurant Seven Reasons fame. With the expansion of Immigrant Food into Arlington, Limardo cements his culinary presence in the county, as he is also behind Chicken + Whiskey — another restaurant that started in D.C. and opened in Clarendon earlier this summer.

The space was last occupied by Zoë’s Kitchen, a Greek-inspired soup, salad and sandwich restaurant, which appears to have closed some four years ago. Fast-casual chain Cava purchased the Zoë’s Kitchen in 2018 and has since taken over many locations.

Immigrant Food did not return requests for comment submitted to their website.

The proposed patio for a forthcoming location of Immigrant Food in Ballston (via Arlington County)
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