new restaurant

Coco B’s, Peruvian Brothers, and Astro Beer Hall all hope to open in the next few weeks

By Matt Blitz
Carbonara, soon to open in the Ballston/Virginia Square area (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

As we move through the dog days of August, several highly anticipated local restaurants are looking ahead to openings in the coming late summer or early fall.

Coco B’s is finally set to open on the roof of Clarendon’s B Live next week, pending permits, co-owner Christal Bramson confirmed to ARLnow. Besides the roof, the “tropical glam bar” consists of nearly 4,000 square feet of bars, dining rooms, and a back patio. Coco B’s has been in the works for a year and was originally supposed to open this past spring. This comes as B Live continues to revamp, including shifting away from hosting original acts and debuting a new beach bar concept this weekend.

Astro Beer Hall in Shirlington was also finally hoping for an opening this month, but that’s being pushed back at least a few weeks. While no exact timetable has been set for the two-level bar and coffee shop, a spokesperson confirmed a debut is likely coming next month. So, it will be a bit before its donut robot starts its world takeover, one pastry at a time.

Peruvian Brothers is aiming for a “soft opening” at Amazon HQ2 as soon as later this month, co-owner Giuseppe Lanzone told ARLnow. A grand opening is scheduled for September in Pentagon City, he said. It was July 2022 when the fast-casual Peruvian restaurant announced it was moving into 1400 S. Eads Street. The initial hope was to open earlier in the summer, but permitting is again the culprit.

Westover Taco also had planned to start serving this month, but that’s been pushed back. Co-owner Scott Parker told ARLnow that the new spot in Westover will “for sure” open this year but couldn’t provide an exact timetable yet. It was almost exactly a year ago when ARLnow first reported that Parker, along with owners of Lost Dog Cafe, was taking over the space once home to Forest Inn.

Carbonara, the self-described “old school” Italian restaurant in the Ballston area, is now aiming for a November debut, a spokesperson told ARLnow. The Italian eatery and wine bar is moving into the former home of Next Day Blinds on Wilson Blvd and was originally supposed to open this summer. But “difficulty with [the] mechanical system” and permitting hang-ups has pushed it to later in the fall.

Wagamama in Clarendon is coming along. While the British restaurant chain has announced several timelines for opening, none have proven to be the case. Construction does appear underway, but a spokesperson declined to give ARLnow any substantial information. “There are no updates to share regarding the opening timeline for Wagamama Arlington,” they wrote in an email.

Several other notable restaurants are also looking to open later in 2024, including Kirby Club in Clarendon and Yunnan By Potomac in Pentagon City. They are both aiming to open in the spring.

A popular noodle restaurant is moving to Pentagon City from Old Town Alexandria

By Matt Blitz
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A popular noodle restaurant is leaving Alexandria and making the move to Pentagon City.

Yunnan By Potomac is looking to start serving its contemporary Yunnan cuisine on the ground floor of the new Milton building along 15th Street S. by March 2024, owner and executive chef Shao Bruce told ARLnow in an email.

The restaurant is relocating from its home in Old Town Alexandria, where it’s been since early 2019.

“We chose to relocate to Pentagon City because it offers us a wide base of both residential and office business to draw from and is projected to be one of the fastest growing markets locally,” Bruce said in response to why they decided to move.

Bruce said the Alexandria location will remain open until the 2,015-square-foot Pentagon City space is ready to be moved into.

Last year, Yunnan By Potomac was named one of the 100 best restaurants in the country by Yelp reviewers. The eatery specializes in mixian, a rice noodle popular in southwest China that often comes with braised meat, broth, and different sauces. Bao buns, dumplings, and shaokao barbecue are also on the menu.

“Yunnan By Potomac Noodle House strives to be an ambassador for the people and culture of Southwest China and add to the story of what it means to be Chinese-American through our lens on contemporary Yunnan cuisine,” the website says.

The Milton is an 11-story, 253-unit building with ground-floor retail that is part of the multi-phase redevelopment of the Pentagon Centre shopping center, which includes the perpetually busy Costco store. The apartment building opened for move-ins at the beginning of June and units remain available for leasing, a building employee tells ARLnow.

Two other retail spaces in the Milton have been leased so far, per a recent leasing brochure. First National Bank and a salon named “Sparkle & Pop” are also moving in along 15th Street S.

Three other spaces remain available in the building, including a 1,649 square foot space intended for a “fast casual restaurant” and a much larger 5,375 square foot space for a “full-service restaurant.”

Cuban-inspired Colada Shop looking to call Clarendon home by early next year

By Matt Blitz
Colada Shop is opening in Clarendon early next year (staff photo by Matt Blitz)

The Cuban-inspired Colada Shop plans to open a Clarendon outpost early next year.

The Sterling-based Cuban cafe is moving into a 2,200-square-foot space next to Tatte and Seamore’s at the intersection of N. Edgewood Street and Clarendon Blvd. The hope is to open by “early 2024,” per a spokesperson.

This will be the fifth Colada Shop location, including one that opened in the Mosaic District in 2021. The bar space at the Clarendon shop will be what separates it from the other locations, a press release notes.

“The Clarendon store boasts a spacious interior and available seating on the inviting patio. The highlight of this new location is undoubtedly the bar space, which has been thoughtfully designed to create a lively and convivial atmosphere for guests to relax, mingle, and indulge in an array of delectable Cuban-inspired libations,” the release reads.

The exact address is 1440 N. Edgewood Street, Suite 160 and no other Arlington locations are being planned at the moment, a spokesperson told ARLnow.

Colada Shop is known for its coffee, cocktails, and Cuban-style empanadas, croquetas, and sandwiches. The first location opened in Sterling in 2016 before quickly expanding to D.C.

The building that Colada Shop is moving into dates back to 1941 but has been renovated and rebranded in recent years. Along with Tatte, Seamore’s, and now Colada Shop, Life Time fitness center and cafe opened there last month.

UPDATED: Seafood restaurant looking to open later this fall in Thirsty Bernie’s former home

By Matt Blitz
Thirsty Bernie is turning into Ocean Shack (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated on 9/5/23) Local watering hole Thirsty Bernie is becoming Ocean Shack.

The former home of the neighborhood bar and restaurant at the corner of N. Glebe Road and Langston Blvd is being turned into a cajun seafood restaurant, a spokesperson said.

Ocean Shack is from the owners of Ocean Crab in Chantilly. That restaurant serves crab, fried oysters, scallops, fried baskets and other seafood. Ocean Shack will be a different concept, we’re told, but have a somewhat similar menu.

Construction is underway in the 1,767-square-foot space at 2163 N. Glebe Road. The plan is to open in late November or early December, depending on how quickly Arlington County processes the required paperwork, according to the spokesperson.

Thirsty Bernie closed back in May after about 15 years of serving pints at Glebe Lee Shopping Center. Co-owner Gobind Ghai told ARLnow then that sales were not high enough to make it financially viable to renew the lease.

The Adagio Ballet School of Dance was also once open in that shopping center before closing in May 2020. It has since rebranded and reopened as the Virginia Dance Conservatory on Little Falls Road near Rock Spring Park.

Westmont Apartments opens on Columbia Pike, as Five Guys and another eatery plan to move in

By Matt Blitz
Westmont Apartments (photo courtesy of Matt Hagan)

The long-awaited Westmont Apartments on Columbia Pike is now open and ready for move-ins, with a pair of restaurants setting up on the ground floor.

Developer Republic Properties Corporation announced last week that the 258,000-square-foot mixed-use building at the corner of Columbia Pike and S. Glebe Road had opened its doors. The project was first approved about four years ago.

The new construction sits on the former site of the Westmont Shopping Center, which was demolished in late 2021. Apartments are “now available for lease with immediate move-ins available,” reads the press release, with monthly rental rates starting at $2,345.

Westmont is also set to have six ground-floor retail tenants in addition to 250 apartments, a spokesperson confirmed to ARLnow. That includes a now-national burger franchise returning to where it started.

ARLnow reported back in March that Five Guys Burgers & Fries was set to return to near the site of its original location. Five Guys opened its first very small location at the Westmont Shopping Center in 1986. Close to four decades later, there are more than 1,700 restaurants doing close to three billion in sales across the world.

The new Five Guys on Columbia Pike will take up about 2,400 square feet and will be located near the Glebe Road intersection. An opening date for the burger spot has not been finalized yet, per a Republic Properties spokesperson.

While the spokesperson declined to provide any other information about the other five tenants, a recent leasing brochure obtained by ARLnow provides clues to at least two other businesses moving in.

An Allcare urgent care clinic appears to be coming to the S. Glebe Road side of the development. This would be the fourth Allcare clinic in Arlington, with the latest opening in Rosslyn earlier this year.

And two doors down from Five Guys on the Columbia Pike, it appears that a Jersey Mike’s Subs will be opening in a small 1,141-square-foot space. This would be the sub shop’s first location in Arlington.

There remains a 2,164 square foot space, 1,756 square foot space, and a much larger 10,630 square foot space, per the leasing brochure.

A smaller-format grocery store was initially supposed to fill one of those spaces, but it’s currently unclear where that stands.

Kirby Club pushes back opening in Clarendon, now aiming for spring 2024

By Matt Blitz
The future location of Kirby Club, moving into the former home of IOTA Club in Clarendon (photo via Google Maps)

A buzzy new Mediterranean restaurant in Clarendon has pushed back its opening again.

Kirby Club, which previously was set to be called Tawle, is now aiming for a March 2024 opening in the former IOTA Club space at 2832 Wilson Blvd, a restaurant spokesperson confirmed to ARLnow.

When it was first announced in May 2022 that a casual kebab-centric restaurant was coming to Clarendon, the hope was to open in about a year. That was later moved back to fall 2023. But, now, the eatery is looking at serving starting in early spring of next year.

No specific reason was given for the push.

“The restaurant plans are moving along as planned, just taking more time than originally planned,” a restaurant spokesperson told ARLnow.

Kirby Club comes from award-winning restaurateur Rose Previte, who recently won a RAMMY award for her work with D.C.’s Compass Rose and Maydan.

This will be the second location of the Eastern Mediterranean-inspired casual restaurant, with the other opening in Mosaic District late last year to plenty of fanfare and has received a number of accolades ever since.

A restaurant spokesperson said that diners should expect Clarendon’s Kirby Club to be “similar” to the Mosaic District location.

In an interview last year, Previte told ARLnow that she was excited to open in Clarendon because she had attended school at nearby George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government and also had worked for Arlington Economic Development as part of a fellowship. While going to school and working, she often went out to Clarendon restaurants and bars.

“I maybe had too much fun in Clarendon because I was 25,” she said at the time. “So, to think we are going to have a bar and restaurant there is very cool.”

Z-Burger opens along Crystal City’s restaurant row

By Matt Blitz
Z-Burger in Crystal City along 23rd St. S is now open (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

A new Z-Burger started serving late last week in Crystal City.

The local burger franchise has opened a new location at 509 23rd Street S., next to Royal Pawn and Los Tios Grill. That was the former location of Taj of India and was initially set to be the home to Korean rice dog eatery Oh K-Dog and Egg Toast. But those plans never materialized and now it’s a Z-Burger.

The fast-casual eatery opened late last week, co-owner Kevin Ejtemai confirmed to ARLnow. As to be expected, the menu consists of burgers, fries, and milkshakes.

This is currently the only Arlington location for Z-Burger, though there was one previously in Virginia Square before it became an All About Burger due to a legal settlement that forced a split of the two franchises.

Ejtemai said the local chain is eyeing expansion and is actively looking for other locations in Arlington. Z-Burger has nine other restaurants across the D.C. area, including one on S. Pickett Street in Alexandria that opened recently.

The co-owner noted one of the main reasons they decided to open on 23rd Street in Crystal City — on the “restaurant row” where a number of the independent businesses have set up shop over the year — is that it’s a “historic and quaint [part of] town.”

Surreal restaurant hoping for fall opening in Crystal City but details remain sparse

By Matt Blitz
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Surreal is aiming for a fall opening in Crystal City, but much still remains unknown about the restaurant, situated in a park-like setting.

Surreal, from the award-winning D.C.-based chef Enrique Limardo, is set to move into a newly-constructed space in the JBG Smith-owned courtyard of 2121 Crystal Drive. The restaurant is part of the developer’s “Dining in the Park” project and will utilize both indoor and outdoor areas while being “set among more than an acre of greenery.”

Photos taken by ARLnow last week show that construction is moving along and apparently nearing completion.

A JBG Smith spokesperson confirmed to ARLnow that the plan is for the restaurant to open in the fall, a slight push from an earlier late summer goal.

It was back in October 2021 when Surreal was first announced to much fanfare. However, in the two years since, few details have emerged about the exact concept, the menu, and the decor.

When asking for more information, the spokesperson wrote in an email that “there is nothing new to share at this time” despite the restaurant being only a few months away from opening.

A few blocks away, meanwhile Crystal City’s revamped Water Park is also planning its opening. It will feature nine 300-square-foot restaurant kiosks, including local favorites like Queen Mother’s, Falafel Inc, and Tiki Thai.

Along with the restaurants, there will also be a live performance stage, public art installations, a building with public restrooms and bike facilities, and a “modernized fountain water wall” that empties into an “immersion fountain.” On top of the water wall will be an open-air raw and cocktail bar called “Water Bar.” A New York-style pizza place will also be located in the park.

A JBG Smith spokesperson told ARLnow is anticipating an August “soft opening” for the Water Park, with a grand opening set for shortly after Labor Day.

Astro Beer Hall and its donut robot hoping to start serving next month in Shirlington

By Matt Blitz
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Astro Beer Hall is aiming to finally debut its donut robot next month.

The long-planned, two-level bar and coffee shop in Shirlington is hoping to open sometime in August, a spokesperson tells ARLnow. While no specific date is set as of yet, the 14,000 square-foot, space-themed Astro Beer Hall expects to open its doors in a matter of weeks.

Part of that space will be taken up by a take-out shop featuring a robot making “fresh fried to-order donuts right in front of our customers,” as co-owner Peter Bayne told ARLnow earlier this year.

The initial hope was to start serving in May, as a banner wrapped around the building noted in the spring before it was removed.

The spokesperson said construction and permitting delays — a common refrain for Arlington restaurants — pushed the debut back a few months.

Back in December 2021, it was announced that Astro Beer Hall was moving into the former home of Capitol City Brewing Co. The large space at the corner of Campbell Avenue and S. Quincy Street had been vacant since 2018.

Astro Beer Hall is part of the restaurant group Tin Shop DC, which also owns a number of local bars and restaurants including Highline RxR in Crystal City, and Quincy Hall in Ballston.

Along with a donut robot, the establishment will feature a large rectangular bar with a moveable glass wall opening to a sidewalk patio, two pool tables, and a section filled with arcade games. The artwork, murals, and color scheme are expected to match the venue’s space theme.

A new Lebanese restaurant is coming to Clarendon

By Jo DeVoe
Window dressings for Zazzy, a forthcoming Lebanese restaurant (courtesy anonymous)

A new Lebanese restaurant is coming to Clarendon.

Bright yellow window coverings herald the arrival of Zeal Eatery to a vacant retail spot at the base of Zoso Apartments in Clarendon (1025 N. Fillmore Street).

“Zeal Eatery Inc.” was incorporated as a business four months ago on March 8, per the business records, but it also has an alternative name, Zazzy.

The signs, promising that Zazzy is “Revitalizing Lebanese Cuisine” and “Unveiling Urban Delights,” appear on a vacant window storefront next to Gallery Cleaners, in the same strip as Screwtop Wine Bar and Bakeshop.

The space used to be home to Revolve DC, which opened in 2011 and had the distinction of being the first indoor cycling studio in Arlington. It closed before the pandemic, someone familiar with leasing for the property told ARLnow.

He confirmed a new tenant is coming — possibly early next year.

Requests for comment to Zazzy’s Instagram account were not returned before deadline.

Restaurant owner is ‘very frustrated’ with the process to transform historic Green Valley Pharmacy

By Matt Blitz
Green Valley Pharmacy last year (staff photo by Matt Blitz)

(Updated at 12:40 p.m.) As historic Green Valley Pharmacy moves closer to being transformed into a restaurant, the owner of the new business remains “very frustrated” with the years-long redevelopment process.

Last month, the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) held its regular meeting, during which the board reviewed updated plans for the former pharmacy. The building at 2415 Shirlington Road is being transformed into a burger and pita restaurant called “Halal Spot,” as ARLnow first reported in 2021.

The board’s discussion in June centered on a proposed pergola and bioretention planters. While the planter plans were approved at the meeting, the pergola was deferred due to having not the most updated plans. At the meeting, a restaurant spokesperson said they intended to resubmit plans with a sloped awning and the pergola no longer covering the window.The window is original to the historic building and “reflective of the storefront nature of the property,” as was noted at the meeting.

The Board asked the project representative to re-submit updated plans.

Since the pharmacy building is protected in the Arlington County local historic district, any proposed exterior alterations must be approved by the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board’s design review process.

County historic preservation planner Serena Bolliger has confirmed to ARLnow that the pergola is the last element that needs to be approved for the Certificate of Appropriateness (CoA) permit but the civil engineering plan remains under review.

Restaurant owner Nasir Ahmad told ARLnow that this is his understanding as well, and aims to re-submit civil engineering plans this month. If that does happen and everything gets approved, the hope is that exterio construction can begin by mid-September. The build-out should take about six months, Ahmad said, meaning Halal Spot could open by early spring 2024.

But Ahmad remains frustrated with how long it’s taken to this point, even if it appears that approvals are finally wrapping up.

(more…)

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