new restaurant

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Hotel Planned for Pike Development — Attendees at yesterday’s Columbia Pike Progress Luncheon learned that Orr Partners — which is redeveloping the Food Star grocery store and adjacent sites at Columbia Pike and S. George Mason Drive — has partnered with WhyHotel for the mixed-use project. WhyHotel touts itself as an operator of “pop-up hotels in newly built, luxury apartment buildings.” [Twitter]

County Launches LGBTQ Resource Website — Arlington County has partnered with the Human Rights Commission to develop a website with local, state and national resources for the LGBTQ community. The resources cover a range of topics including housing, domestic violence, sexual assault, health and youth needs. [Arlington County]

Mitten Departing for Illinois — Arlington Deputy County Manager Carol Mitten has accepted the job of City Administrator for Urbana, Ill. “I look forward to advancing common goals for a safe, healthy, sustainable city through thoughtful growth,” she said in a statement. [Smile Politely]

Location Named for Dominion Pint — The owners of Dominion Pint, the new restaurant from the team behind the District’s Meridian Pint and Brookland Pint, have signed a lease for their Northern Virginia establishment. The restaurant is scheduled to open in December at 6035 Wilson Blvd. in Dominion Hills. [PoPville]

VHC Employee Earns ‘4 Under 40’ Award — Virginia Hospital Center’s Taryn Overman, MSN, RN, CEN, has received this year’s “4 Under 40” Emerging Leader Award from the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association. Overman is recognized for going beyond her management responsibilities to help her community, such as during a collaboration with A-Span in which two tons of cereal was collected, and in directing a program that helped train community members in hands-only CPR.

Man Struck, Killed by Blue Line Train — A man was struck and killed by a train at the Arlington Cemetery Metro station last night. Video appears to show that the man was intentionally on the tracks at the time he was struck, according to Metro. [Washington Post, WUSA 9]

Flickr pool photo by Jennifer Presser

New Taco Restaurant Coming to Pentagon Row

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:20 p.m.) A restaurant called “Gorilla Taco” appears to be coming to the Pentagon Row shopping center.

The new Mexican restaurant has applied for a Virginia ABC permit to serve wine and beer at 1201 S. Joyce Street.

Gorilla Taco has a Facebook page, but it lists little information except for the address and a logo.

A phone number in the permit application is a listed number for Basic Burger, which is in the process of opening a new location on Pentagon Row.

Basic Burger co-owner Jamie Mansy confirmed that Gorilla Taco will be a sister restaurant to Basic Burger and will be an “eight-month pop-up” restaurant based on a food truck the company had for special and private events. It will serve “authentic street tacos,” he said

Additional information about the the restaurant was not immediately available.

Construction on New Clarendon Japanese Restaurant Underway

By Bridget Reed Morawski
1/2

(Updated at 2:15 p.m.) A Japanese chain restaurant may be a few steps closer to opening its doors in Clarendon.

Interior work has finally started on the restaurant, which first announced that it was “coming soon” to the former Brixx Pizza space at 1119 N. Hudson Street last May. The restaurant has an active commercial tenant buildout permit.

A application for Virginia ABC permit to serve wine and beer, meanwhile, was filed on Monday and is now pending. The permit suggests the restaurant will seat 101-150 people.

The restaurant’s interior was still in the buildout phase as of Tuesday afternoon, when a propped open front door showed construction material and unfinished fixtures within.

Gyu-Kak is a Japanese yakiniku restaurant chain with locations throughout the U.S., in addition to locations in Japan and other countries. This would be the chain’s first Virginia location, according to Gyu-Kaku’s website.

An email to Gyu-Kaku was not immediately returned, and a phone call to the number listed on a permit application had a full inbox and couldn’t accept a voicemail.

New Rooftop Bar in Clarendon Set For Approval

By Bridget Reed Morawski
1/4

A new rooftop bar in Clarendon is on the verge of regulatory approval.

The County Manager’s office has recommended that the County Board approve amendments and modifications to an incoming Clarendon restaurant at the former La Tasca site.

The proposed site plan amendment calls for “the addition of approximately 1,760 square feet of new gross floor area and approximately 12 feet of new building height to accommodate a roof structure for the incoming Buena Vida restaurant, with modification of zoning standards for parking.”

Approximately 129 new seats will be added to the space’s capacity with the amendment.

The County Board is set to approve those modifications, allowing the applicant to maintain the current level of parking spaces. This would reduce the project’s parking ratio from one spot per 580 retail square feet to one space per 606 retail square feet, according to a County Board agenda item.

With the Clarendon Metro station two blocks away from the restaurant site and a slew of Clarendon-area parking garages and street parking options, staff noted that “there will be no undue adverse impacts as a result of the request.”

The new rooftop area, “minimally visible to pedestrians at the ground level,” would include both an enclosed and an outdoor section, elevator access, and a lounge area. “Sound attenuating glass” has been proposed by the applicant for the wall adjacent to Wilson Boulevard, and dark sky lighting standards have been agreed to, per the agenda item.

Both the Clarendon-Courthouse Civic Association and the Clarendon Alliance have indicated support, according to county documents, for the site plan amendment. The Lyon Village Civic Association, per the document, “had not communicated a position on the applicant’s request” to the county.

The rooftop dining and bar area would be the top floor of a three floor dining concept, a Mexican beer garden called Up. The first floor will be a Mexican eatery called Tacos, Tortas & Tequila that would serve the aforementioned foods, while the second floor would be Buena Vida, an all-you-can-eat tapas style restaurant.

Medium Rare to Open Virginia Square Location This Weekend

By Bridget Reed Morawski
1/2

The new Medium Rare in Virginia Square will be opening Saturday (April 14) at 5 p.m. for dinner, according to owner Mark Bucher.

The restaurant, known for its fixed-price steak, frites, and “secret sauce,” will then open for brunch Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

The location, on the ground floor of the Latitude Apartments, is opening a little later than what had been previously reported. ABC license application notifications were first posted in November 2017.

Medium Rare has three open locations outside of Virginia — two in D.C. and one in Bethesda.

The steakhouse has help wanted signs posted in the window seeking servers and a hostess. Open interviews will be every day from 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m., according to the signs An end date for the open interviews was not listed.

The Simple Greek Sets Anticipated Opening in Rosslyn

By Anna Merod

The Simple Greek is hoping to open its new restaurant location at the Colonial Village Shopping Center in early May, according to a company representative.

Signs for the restaurant are currently up at the shopping plaza, between the Rosslyn and Courthouse Metro stations. Workers were installing equipment as of Wednesday morning.

The Simple Greek representatives had previously told ARLnow that they were hoping for a late April opening.

Located at 1731 Wilson Boulevard, the restaurant will serve personalized Greek pitas and bowls. Greek wine and beer are available at select locations, but it doesn’t appear that this location has a pending or active Virginia ABC license.

CAVA Opens Ballston Location This Week With Free Meals

By Bridget Reed Morawski

Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant CAVA is opening its Ballston location on Friday (April 13). To kick off the grand opening, the restaurant will be offering the first 150 customers a free meal.

The free meals start at 10:45 a.m., and proceeds from sales will go to City Blossoms, an urban gardens and community building focused organization.

The new 52 seat location is on the ground floor of the Stafford Place II building, at 4121 Wilson Boulevard, which is the former National Science Foundation headquarters. It will replace Matsutake Steak and Sushi, which closed at the site in 2014.

This Ballston location will be the chain’s 51st in the country, and the 28th in the Washington metropolitan region. Hours of operation will be 10:45 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

New Rooftop Beer Garden in Clarendon — The company behind Ambar is opening three new Mexican restaurant concepts in the former La Tasca space: “Tacos, Tortas & Tequila (TTT), Buena Vida and eventually a rooftop Mexican beer garden called Up.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]

School Board to Gather Once More at Ed Center — Past and present Arlington School Board members will gather prior to the April 19 board meeting for a final group photo at the Arlington Education Center building. School administrators are leaving the 50-year-old building for leased administrative offices along Washington Blvd, to make way for a new high school program. [InsideNova]

Deloitte Expanding in Rosslyn — “Global consulting firm Deloitte LLP plans to significantly increase its footprint in the Waterview building in Rosslyn, where it recently subleased about 120,000 square feet from Gartner Inc. The sublease boosts Deloitte’s presence at 1919 N. Lynn St. to about 450,000 square feet, including the five floors it has picked up from Gartner… The firm now has around 8,000 employees in Rosslyn, its largest of 13 offices across Greater Washington.” [Washington Business Journal]

Cupcake Shop, Mediterranean Restaurant Coming to Pentagon Row

By ARLnow.com
1/6

A pair of new restaurants are coming to the Pentagon Row shopping center in Pentagon City.

Smallcakes, a cupcake and ice cream chain, is set to open in a vacant storefront adjacent to the former Ristorante Murali.

Smallcakes has more than 200 locations in the U.S. and abroad. It touts its freshly-made treats, including a daily offering of 18 cupcake flavors — with “seasonal and special flavors such as Maple Bacon, Fat Elvis, Cannoli, Strawberries N’ Crème, Tiramisu, French Toast, and Pumpkin” — and 15 ice cream flavors, which are “a nod to Smallcakes’ famous cupcake recipes.”

The Pentagon Row Smallcakes location is simply listed as “coming soon” on the company’s website.

Also coming to the shopping center is Aabee Restaurant, a “Persian and Mediterranean fusion” restaurant formerly located in Fairfax. Permanent signs are up for Aabee, which is opening in the former NKD Pizza storefront across the parking lot from Harris Teeter.

Aabee’s former location is listed as closed on Yelp. Neither its former website nor Facebook page have been updated to reflect the apparent closure and new location, though a new website was recently launched. A phone number listed for the business has been disconnected.

In its previous location, Aabee offered soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas, kabobs and Iranian stew dishes. It also had Saturday night belly dancing shows, according to the restaurant website.

Potential Trouble for Alt’s in Lyon Park

By ARLnow.com

Alt’s, a new restaurant in Lyon Park specializing in meatless burgers, may be hitting some roadblocks on its way to opening.

Last month, after a representative showed up unannounced at our offices to drop off menus, it seemed like an opening was imminent. Over the weekend, however, a local resident sent us a photo of a legal notice posted on the storefront at 2300 N. Pershing Drive that suggests the opening might not be happening soon, after all.

The notice says Alt’s has failed to obtain proper insurance and pay more than $56,000 in rent.

Should Alt’s fail to fix each of the items detailed in 10-15 days, the notice says, “then be advised that KV Associates, LLC intends to exercise its option… to terminate the lease.”

The Alt’s Facebook page was last updated on May 22, 2015 when the restaurant announced that it had signed a lease.

Istanbul Grill Expected To Replace Ballston Area’s El Ranchero

By Bridget Reed Morawski

A new Turkish restaurant is coming to the Ballston area, replacing long-time restaurant El Ranchero.

Istanbul Grill will offer up traditional Turkish food, with kebabs served with rice and vegetables, and “traditional special appetizers,” according to its owner.

The restaurant, which has applied for a license to sell wine and beer, is aiming to seat between 101-150 people at a time, according to the license application.

Istanbul Grill’s owner, Turgut Yiğit, wrote to ARLnow that he “is aiming and hoping to open” May 1 at 4617 Wilson Boulevard, which is just west of Ballston in the Bluemont neighborhood.

The Istanbul Grill in Arlington, Va., does not appear to have a website at this time, and is not the same as the Istanbul Grill in Arlington, Texas.

Photo via Google Maps

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