new restaurant

Taco Bamba to open next week in Shirlington

By Hallie LeTendre
1/3

Shirlington is getting the newest location of Taco Bamba.

The taqueria is set to open next Thursday (June 29) in the Village at Shirlington, replacing Taco + Piña, which closed last year.

The outpost at 4041 Campbell Ave will be Taco Bamba’s second location in Arlington, after one in Ballston that opened in 2020, and the company’s 10th location in a decade.

“Ten years and 10 locations later, staring down our most ambitious year of growth yet, I’m filled with gratitude for our Taco Bamba family, our guests, and for the opportunity to bring a second location to Arlington,” Chef Victor Albisu said in a statement.

The chef and founder of the burgeoning, taco-centric chain says the Shirlington area is inspiring him to serve up different foods from this particular location, which also has a full bar and patio seating.

“The area has such a vibrant dining scene,” Albisu said. “We look forward to challenging ourselves to provide something new and unexpected to an audience that is already familiar with what we do.”

The Shirlington location’s menu features a mix of Mexican favorites, including al pastor and carne asada, as well as original creations specific to this location, such as a steak, chicken and shrimp-stuffed quesadilla and a foot-long meat spring roll.

Inside, a mural by a local artist depicts the restaurant’s rooster mascot battling a crow — an homage to the ever-present murders of crow terrorizing the streets of the Shirlington shopping center and leaving behind their ever-present droppings.

The first 50 customers who order at the register on opening day will get a free travel mug, which can be used for the complimentary coffee all Taco Bamba locations serve daily, with a purchase, until mid-afternoon, a press release said.

This location will be open Sunday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. People can order online for pickup and delivery.

New Japanese restaurant opening in Ballston, next to Uncle Julio’s

By Matt Blitz
1/3

A new Japanese restaurant appears to be opening next to Uncle Julio’s in Ballston.

Not much is known beyond a permit application that notes there will be “interior alterations” in the space at 4301 Fairfax Drive that will convert it to a “new Japanese restaurant.”

That’s the former home of Willow restaurant, which closed way back in 2015. It does not appear as if a restaurant or business has occupied that space since then.

ARLnow has reached out to the Bethesda-based management company Willard for more information but has yet to hear back as of publication.

What is clear, however, is that neighborhood mainstay Uncle Julio’s is not closing, a restaurant spokesperson confirmed to ARLnow. There was initial worry from some locals, but the anxiousness appears to be unfounded.

The Uncle Julio’s spokesperson said that the staff and ownership are excited to finally have a business moving into the space next door, since it has been vacant for so long.

Whenever the new restaurant does open, it will have some Ballston competition.

Earlier this month, the Japanese barbeque restaurant Gyu San opened just a few blocks away. Also close by is Hawkers Asian Street Food, which serves a number of Japanese dishes along with other Asian-inspired food, plus a handful of poke, ramen and sushi options.

Gyu San BBQ is now sizzling in Ballston

By Matt Blitz
1/2

A new Japanese barbeque restaurant has started sizzling in Ballston.

Gyu San BBQ opened late last month at the corner of N. Glebe Road and Wilson Blvd, a restaurant spokesperson confirmed to ARLnow.

ARLnow first reported last September the restaurant was coming to the space that was formerly occupied by Bangkok Bistro, which closed in 2020.

It’s in the Ballston Point building, which it shares with the coffee shop Slipstream, which opened recently, albeit on the opposite side of the triangular building. World of Beer, at the building’s “point,” closed in April.

Gyu San is from Ivea Restaurant Group, which owns a number of other restaurants in Arlington and across the region. That includes Chinese dim sum eatery Tiger Dumpling and Japanese izakaya-style restaurant Izakaya 68, which are set to open next to each other on Washington Blvd in Clarendon. No word yet on when those establishments might start serving.

While Gyu San BBQ has only been up for a short time, Yelp reviews are already generally positive.

“Fun new spot in Ballston that did not disappoint,” reads one. Several reviews did note that it gets busy on weekends.

Gyu San is competing with at least one other local Japanese barbeque restaurant, Gyu-Kaku, which opened several years ago in Clarendon.

Chicken + Whiskey hopes to start serving this week in Clarendon

By Matt Blitz
1/3

(Updated at 1:15 p.m.) Chicken + Whiskey is preparing to open in Clarendon later this week, a co-owner confirmed to ARLnow.

The new South American rotisserie chicken restaurant and whiskey bar at 3033 Wilson Blvd aims to start serving this Friday (June 9), co-owner Des Reilly said, provided a Virginia ABC liquor is in hand by then. A grand opening is set for next weekend, June 16.

In September, ARLnow reported that Chicken + Whiskey was crossing the river to get Clarendon to open its first location outside the District and fourth overall. The menu consists of Peruvian-styled chicken, arepas, and sandwiches, plus a full cocktail and whiskey bar.

What makes Chicken + Whiskey different, said Reilly, is the chef.

“I bet you five bucks we are the only fast-casual restaurant on the East Coast that has a Michelin star,” he said. “Chef Enrique Limardo is really the uniqueness of it all.”

Limardo is “commonly credited as the pioneer of modern Venezuelan cooking in the U.S.,” so says the Huffington Post. He’s also the head chef at Immigrant Food and D.C.’s Seven Reasons, which was named one of the most important restaurants of the last decade by Esquire.

“Getting a guy like that who can make $8.50 Peruvian chicken with all the beautiful… Venezuela sides, that’s different,” Reilly said.

The nearly 6,000-square-foot space the restaurant is moving into was once Hunan Number One, which closed three years ago.

Reilly said that Clarendon had been “on their radar” for years and they very nearly leased out the exact same space in early 2020. However, the pandemic put expansion efforts “on the backburner.” When they came back a few years later, the 6,000-square-foot space at 3033 Wilson Blvd was still available.

The other businesses in the neighborhood are a big reason why ownership is so optimistic about Clarendon and this block of Wilson Blvd in particular.

“We always look at the other operators in the area. We like to see other brands… doing well, other restaurants thriving,” Reilly said. “There’s Ambar… Bar Ivy, which is in the same building as us… Wilson Hardware is across the street. There’s a whole sort of plethora of other great restaurants and bars that populate this area and makes it a real sort of critical mass location for us.”

While Chicken + Whiskey is set to hold its “soft opening” this Friday, there will be giveaways, food specials, and entertainment during its “grand opening” on June 16. That includes branded swag, a chance to win free chicken for a year, a $150 bar tab, and a lunch special of a chicken meal with two sides for five dollars.

As Reilly kept pointing out, the draw of Chicken + Whiskey will be the food at a decent price.

“To have a [chef] so highly rated doing a restaurant of a per person average of really $16… it’s pretty remarkable,” he said.

Columbia Pike’s Mpanadas finally getting a grand opening later this month

By Matt Blitz
New restaurant Mpanadas on Columbia Pike (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Mpanadas on Columbia Pike finally appears to be opening.

The small “South American-inspired cafe” at 2602 Columbia Pike is planning a soft opening for Thursday, June 15 and a grand opening that weekend, a restaurant spokesperson confirmed to ARLnow. The opening date is also listed on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

In addition, a “very special guest” will be in attendance. If posted images are any clue, that special guest may be of the animal variety. The restaurant’s logo features a llama eating an empanada.

The restaurant has been a bit of a mystery ever since new signage and brown paper covering the windows appeared on the 724-square-foot storefront last summer.

It was in July 2022 when ARLnow first reported that the Peruvian carry-out was making the move into the former home of a Boost Mobile. However, since then, details have been scarce.

Over the past 11 months, we have received a number of emails from hungry neighbors wondering when the eatery next to Domino’s might open. Now, the answer appears to be just in a matter of weeks.

A few other answers were also provided to ARLnow by Gabriela Rojas, the restaurant’s “brand designer” and the owner’s niece. Mpanadas is owned by Marcelo Herbas, with several of his family members also helping. This is his first restaurant; he previously owned a number of mobile phone stores on Columbia Pike.

The menu will have Bolivian and South American influences, with a focus on empanadas. Rojas said that there will be a variety of flavors, making it more them more “spin offs”of traditional empanadas. The full menu and website should be live in the next couple of days, said Rojas.

Mpanadas will be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

It’s taken almost a full year to open the eatery due to permitting “struggles,” Rojas said, echoing the challenges of numerous other recently-opened restaurants.

‘Nation’s only fast casual chicken salad restaurant’ to open Arlington location

By Matt Blitz
1/2

The “nation’s only fast casual chicken salad restaurant” is coming to Arlington.

Atlanta-based Chicken Salad Chick is set to open a location in Arlington next spring, a spokesperson tells ARLnow. So far there’s no word on exactly where in the county it would be opening.

“At this moment we don’t have an exact location available to announce,” the spokesperson wrote. “However, a new Chicken Salad Chick is coming to Arling[ton] in spring 2024.”

And that isn’t the only Chicken Salad Chick set to debut locally in the coming years. The chain is bringing eight restaurants in total over the next half-decade to both Arlington and Fairfax Counties, according to a press release.

Then, the plan is to open even more locations further north in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.

The chicken salad franchise’s menu consists of a dozen different flavors of chicken salad that be scooped or made into a sandwich, plus a variety of soups and pimento cheese dips.

Chicken Salad Chick first began in 2008 in Auburn, Alabama after founder Stacy Brown was warned by the local health department to stop selling chicken salad out of her house. She opened her first restaurant shortly after. In the 15 years since the company has significantly expanded to include more than 200 restaurants across 17 states.

The closest current location of Chicken Salad Chick is in Glen Allen, Virginia, just north of Richmond.

The franchisees behind the new D.C. area restaurants have local and family ties.

“Behind the development agreement is Devon Chamberlin, her father, Patrick Cavanaugh, and her father-in-law, Barry Chamberlin. All have close ties to the community, born and raised across Arlington and Fairfax Counties,” said the press release. “Patrick and Barry’s relationship dates back well over 20 years when they met through mutual friends. Over the years, their families have spent a lot of time together. Barry’s son, Milton, and Devon began dating a few years ago, which has culminated in their recent wedding on November 5, 2022.”

Peter Chang set to open new restaurant in Crystal City

By Matt Blitz
1/2

Famed chef Peter Chang’s newest restaurant NiHao remains “on track” to open late this year or early next in Crystal City.

Earlier this year, it was reported that the 2022 James Beard Award finalist was planning on opening a second Arlington restaurant along Crystal Drive, right alongside Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and close to Amazon’s soon-to-open HQ2.

That remains the case with the restaurant hoping for a debut in the coming months, co-owner and Peter’s daughter Lydia Chang told ARLnow.

“We’re still on track to open NiHao Crystal City. Our team is working on obtaining the building permit. Will share more about the concept when we’re ready,” she wrote in an email.

The initial plan was for NiHao to be a bit different from the chef’s other local Arlington location, in the Lee-Harrison Shopping Center. It would focus on a modern approach to Szechuan cuisine while providing an “introduction” to authentic Chinese food, Chang told DCist in February, much like the Baltimore location with the same name.

However, Chang’s recent comments to ARLnow also make it seem like the concept could be tweaked by the time it opens late this year or early next.

Peter Chang first began to amass an American following in the late 2000s. For much of his career up to that point, he was one of the most well-known chefs in China. In 2001, he moved to the United States with his family to work as the head chef for the Chinese ambassador. Two years later, he secretly fled the embassy with his wife (a pastry chef as well) and his young daughter.

He took jobs cooking at modest-looking Northern Virginia restaurants in an effort to keep a low profile, but soon his fame and delicious cooking made him a mysterious sensation. Chang eventually opened his first restaurant in Charlottesville, and it quickly became a hit. He opened others, including his first local location in 2015 in the busy strip mall on N. Harrison Street in Arlington.

Peter Chang Arlington remains popular today, along with the other acclaimed restaurants he’s opened over the last decade.

NiHao Arlington will be restaurant 15 when it starts serving in the months ahead. And there are more restaurant openings ahead. Plans are already in the works for other Chang eateries in McLean and Herndon.

A bookstore and a South American restaurant are expected to open soon at the Pentagon City mall

By Matt Blitz
Steel Life Booksellers at Pentagon City mall (image via Instagram)

A South American restaurant and a new bookstore appear to preparing to open at the Pentagon City mall.

Maizal Grill is planning to start serving sometime later this month, a spokesperson for Fashion Centre at Pentagon City told ARLnow. It’s opening on the mall’s street level in the former home of Honeygrow, next to Rosa Mexicano, which opened late last year.

Maizal Grill bills itself as serving “South American street food” with a menu that features burritos, arepas, and bowls. This is the restaurant’s second Arlington location, with another eatery inside of Ballston Quarter. That one opened in 2019.

Elsewhere in the mall, a new independently-owned bookstore called Steel Life Booksellers is opening on the first level in between Kay Jewelers and shoe seller Steve Madden. Construction appears to be ongoing, though the mall spokesperson could not provide an exact opening date.

ARLnow reached out to the owner about more information but has yet to hear back as of publication.

In addition, the women’s accessory store New York New York 2 opened this past on the second level next to Savage x Fenty. It’s the sister store to New York New York, also located in the mall.

Last month, Kong Dog opened its first Virginia location at the mall’s food court.

Lao restaurant Padaek and an acai bowl eatery are coming to the Arlington Ridge Shopping Center

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

The well-regarded Lao chef behind Padaek in Falls Church is bringing her food to Arlington Ridge.

Chef Seng Luangrath, who also helms the renowned Thip Khao in Columbia Heights, is opening a restaurant in the Arlington Ridge Shopping Center, according to construction permits and a leasing map.

“Padaek 2.0” is planning to open in “mid-to-late June,” Axios reported Tuesday. It will feature an outdoor patio and will feature some Thai and Burmese dishes, in addition much of the original Padaek menu, according to Axios.

ARLnow was unable to reach a restaurant representative for additional information by publication time. Alexandria newspaper Zebra appears to have been the first to report the Padaek plans in January 2022.

Padaek’s 3,500-square-foot space at 2931 S. Glebe Road was formerly home to Delia’s Mediterranean Grill & Brick Oven Pizza, Tazza Kitchen and Cafe Caturra.

Meanwhile, Padaek is not the only new restaurant coming to the shopping center. Posters in the window of the standalone retail building also advertise the impending arrival of Palm Berries.

The açai bowl franchise from North Carolina will be occupying a 1,000-square-foot spot next to Padaek. The Instagram page for Palm Berries lists an Arlington location as “COMING SOON!!”

The new Columbia Pike restaurant replacing P. Brennan’s is planning to open next month

By Matt Blitz
2910 Kitchen & Bar is set to open in P. Brennan’s old home on Columbia Pike (staff photo by Matt Blitz)

(Updated at 1:15 p.m.) A new restaurant is finally planning to open next month in the former P. Brennan’s space on Columbia Pike.

The family-owned eatery is set to be called 2910 Kitchen & Bar, taking its name from its Columbia Pike address. It was initially going to be named Stella, but the owners decided to change the name recently.

The plan is to open sometime in June, executive chef Rob Szydlowski told ARLnow, as construction continues on the expansive space.

The restaurant will serve “American fusion” cuisine, Szydlowski said, meaning the menu will consist of classics like steak and pasta as well as some “fun” dishes.

“This is going to be a scratch kitchen, so everything’s going to be made in-house,” he said. “We’ll have a seasonal menu… and rotating desserts.”

It will be open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch with a full menu debuting closer to opening.

P. Brennan’s closed back in 2017 and the storefront has remained vacant since, with the former Irish bar’s signage still up to this day.

From the outside, the new restaurant will look similar to the old one. Szydlowski said, however, that the interior is being completely gutted and redone.

“We’ve really made some fairly dramatic changes inside,” he said, including revamping the staircase, redoing the bar, and adding chandeliers.

It will all provide some “really cool photo opportunities for guests,” Szydlowski said.

There’s going to be an upstairs VIP area, contrasted by a “more casual” feel downstairs, we’re told.

“We wanted to do a fast-casual concept there where people can come in and have both sides of it,” Szydlowski said. “You don’t need to worry about a dress code, but if you want to get a little fancy you can. We just want to provide some really good food in a great environment.”

There will also be live music and patio seating, provided that the proper permits can be obtained

ARLnow reported in April 2022 that a “mysterious new restaurant” was moving into the long-vacant storefront next door to Rebellion on the Pike and across the street from the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse.

In September 2022, we reported that the wife-husband team of Griselda Giselle Fernandez and Raheel “Ray” Khan was behind the new restaurant. They also own two other restaurants in the region, including Heat Lounge on Lee Highway in Fairfax.

Earlier this year, they brought on Szydlowski as their executive chef. He has helped with more than 50 restaurant openings over his career, including several Well-Hung Vineyard restaurants in southern Virginia.

Despite some name changes and an initially over-aggressive opening timeline, the new restaurant at 2910 Columbia Pike is finally taking shape as it nears an opening.

“It is always a challenge when people see a [well-known] space and want to know what’s going in there. I think the bar is set pretty high for us, but I like that. I think we are more than capable,” Szydlowski said.

Pike fried chicken spot Queen Mother’s moving to revamped Crystal City Water Park

By Matt Blitz
1/9

The revamped Water Park in Crystal City is reopening this summer along with nearly a dozen new restaurants, including acclaimed local fried chicken spot Queen Mother’s.

The 1.6-acre park on Crystal Drive is reopening to the public this summer after a year-long construction effort, park owner JBG Smith announced this morning.

In addition to a number of food and drink spots, the revamped park will feature 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,” per a press release and renderings provided to ARLnow.

On top of the water wall will be an open-air raw and cocktail bar simply being called “Water Bar.” A New York-style pizza place will also be located in the park.

There will be a total of nine 300-square-foot restaurant kiosks lining Crystal Drive. Each will hold a small-scale eatery “meant to serve as incubator opportunities for up-and-coming culinary talent,” said the press release.

Among those are several notable local restaurants, including Queen Mother’s Restaurant — currently on Columbia Pike — and Reston-based Tiki Thai.

The full list of restaurants moving into the kiosks is below.

  • Brij, a DC-based café and wine bar by Skyler Kelley, whose vision is to bridge people and communities together with proceeds benefiting single mothers, the LGBTQ+ community, and the un-housed.
  • Bubbie’s Plant Burger, a plant-based and kosher certified Americana burgers, fries and soda pop shop from chef Margaux Riccio and general manager Shaun Sharkey, the creators of DC’s award-winning Asian fast casual restaurant Pow Pow.
  • Cracked Eggery, launched by Potomac native Mike Tabb and his partners as a popular food truck serving inventive egg sandwiches, bowls and tasty sides throughout DC. It now has permanent locations in Cleveland Park and Shaw, where it occupies space in a JBG SMITH-owned building.
  • DC Dosa, Bombay-born Priya Ammu’s South Indian street food concept, and her first location outside of Union Market.
  • Dolci Gelati, a DC-born gelato shop by Gianluigi and Anastasia Dellaccio serving up 450+ seasonal and artisanal flavors made fresh on a daily-basis as well as a robust coffee/espresso program.
  • Falafel Inc., launched by Ahmad Ashkar in Georgetown with a simple, inexpensive menu of falafel bowls, sandwiches and sides and the goal of feeding refugees alongside the World Food Programme.
  • PhoWheels, a family-based business from Tuan and Jennifer Vo featuring Vietnamese inspired dishes. Their kiosk will be the first brick and mortar location for the popular DC food truck.
  • Tiki Thai, a new outpost of chef Porntipa “Pat” Pattanamekar’s Reston eatery that has been dubbed “Virginia’s first premier tiki bar and Thai restaurant,” offering a wide-range of eats inspired by Thai and Polynesian cuisine.
  • Queen Mother’s, Virginia native and James Beard Award Semi-Finalist Chef Rahman “Rock” Harper’s tribute to his mother through his renowned fried chicken joint.

Queen Mother’s owner and chef Rahman “Rock” Harper, who was semifinalist for a James Beard award earlier this year, told ARLnow that the new Crystal City location will serve the fried chicken sandwiches and duck-fat fries the restaurant is known for. The plan is to also debut new flavors — and alcohol.

“We’re going to introduce some cocktails, maybe a cocktail on tap or a beer or two. So you’ll be able to get your chicken sandwich and your duck-fat fries with a nice little tasty beverage,” Harper said.

The new location at the Water Park will also mark the end of Queen Mother’s run on Columbia Pike, at least for restaurant-style service. Harper said he’s going to keep the space to help with catering orders, though.

(more…)

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