new restaurant

Basic Burger Now Open in Courthouse

By ARLnow.com
1/10

A slick new burger restaurant and bar has opened in Courthouse.

Basic Burger pairs a relatively straightforward menu — burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, fries, salads, shakes — with a clean, modern interior and a bar offering beer, cider and wine.

It’s a bit Shake Shack-esque, with some unique touches, including sweet potato fries, onion rings, fried pickles and fizzy beverages from “craft soda” brand Stubborn Soda.

Located at 2024 Wilson Blvd, just down from the now-closed Wendy’s and up from Ray’s Hell Burger, Basic Burger opened for business on Monday. Its hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

Sweetgreen Coming to Clarendon

By ARLnow.com
1/3

A Sweetgreen restaurant is coming to Clarendon, according to construction permits.

Sweetgreen will be located in a restaurant space next to Bronx Pizza, on the ground floor of the recently renovated 3100 Clarendon Blvd office building. The space appears to be in the early stages of interior construction.

This will be the fourth Sweetgreen in Arlington. The salad purveyor also has locations in Ballston, Crystal City and another on the way in Pentagon City.

Thus far there is no opening date announced for the Clarendon Sweetgreen. The new location does not currently appear on the company’s website.

A previous effort at selling fancy, fast casual salads to the Clarendon masses, Rabbit, closed in 2013 after two years in business. It was located one block away from the future Sweetgreen.

Signs Up for New Applebee’s, Cheesetique in Ballston

By ARLnow.com
1/9

Lest there be any doubt that our tipsters were right about what’s replacing the now-closed Greene Turtle in Ballston, signs are now up announcing a new Applebee’s location.

The signs, on the ground floor of 900 N. Glebe Road, say the restaurant is “coming soon,” after renovations. The tipsters say to expect an opening date this summer.

Meanwhile, interior work on the new Cheesetique next door at 800 N. Glebe Road is proceeding. Demolition started Friday, according to the restaurant’s Facebook page.

Signs are up in the windows of the former pizza restaurant, announcing Cheesetique to passersby with cheesy witticisms like “it’s all Gouda” and “where would I Brie without you?”

‘Livin’ the Pie Life’ Expected to Open Glebe Road Store Later This Month

By ARLnow.com
1/7

The sign on the front door says it all: new pie store Livin’ the Pie Life expects to open “April-ish.”

Located at 2166 N. Glebe Road, near the intersection with Lee Highway, the store is the bricks-and-mortar manifestation of what has up until now been a business that sold its wares primarily at local farmers markets.

Owners Heather Sheire and Wendy MacCallum, two Arlington moms who founded the company in 2011, says they don’t have an opening date set yet — but they’re close.

The store just added a new espresso machine and will be serving Virginia-based Red Rooster Coffee. That’s of course in addition to cookies, cakes, pies (savory and sweet) and other pastries.

The pies will be served in regular and individual sizes, plus by the slice. There are also plans to serve ice cream later this year, once a suitable vendor is selected.

The store is awaiting a couple of county permits before opening. It includes a sizable kitchen, a counter service area and a seating area for customers.

Sheire and MacCallum will still be selling pies at the Westover Farmers Market, and on Saturday will begin serving the Courthouse Farmers Market for the first time. The company only offers whole pies at farmers markets.

Greene Turtle in Ballston to Close, Become an Applebee’s

By ARLnow.com

The Greene Turtle in BallstonToday is the last day in business for the Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille in Ballston.

The restaurant, at 900 N. Glebe Road, will close permanently at its normal midnight closing time tonight, a tipster told us and an employee confirmed.

The Greene Turtle first opened in January 2012, in an expansive space featuring more than 50 TVs on the walls and in booths. It struggled to attract enough customers to make it viable, we’re told, owing at least in part to its location across busy Glebe Road from Ballston’s main business district.

“Greene Turtle has been starving from the moment it opened,” an insider told us last month. “That side of Glebe is just brutal.”

Another tipster told ARLnow.com last month that the Greene Turtle would be replaced by an Applebee’s restaurant later this summer. An employee today said that was true. So far, the company has not confirmed the news.

Restaurant staff was informed of the closure on Friday, we hear.

Sweetgreen, Orangetheory Fitness Coming to Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com

Ground floor of the Metropolitan Park Acadia building in Pentagon CityTrendy salad purveyor Sweetgreen and trendy sweat producer Orangetheory Fitness are both coming to Pentagon City, permit applications show.

The businesses are coming to the ground floor of The Acadia at Metropolitan Park apartment building. That the same building in which a CorePower Yoga studio just opened.

Sweetgreen applied for its construction permit on the 12th Street S. side of the building on Feb. 24. Orangetheory applied for a permit on the S. Fern Street side of the building on April 1.

Also coming to the building: a European Wax Center location. And, according to a retail leasing document, a thus-far unnamed coffee shop.

Orangetheory has existing Arlington locations in Rosslyn and Ballston. Sweetgreen recently opened in Crystal City and also has a Ballston location. European Wax Center has a location in Courthouse.

The 12th Street extension between S. Eads and Fern streets is rapidly becoming a powerhouse retail corridor, even though it’s a block from an existing, expanding retail hub: the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall. A Whole Foods and a Commonwealth Joe coffee shop will be opening this summer on 12th Street S., at The Bartlett apartment building.

Coffee Shop to Replace CD Cellar?

By ARLnow.com

CD Cellar in ClarendonA coffee shop may replace the former CD Cellar in Clarendon.

A building permit application has been filed to convert the former music store at 2607 Wilson Blvd — roughly half-way between the Clarendon and Courthouse Metro stations — to a coffee shop.

The permit application doesn’t name the coffee shop, but the listed permit holder, a Courthouse resident named Andira Jabbari, recently registered the domain name Blumencafe.net, according to a Google search.

A website has yet to be set up at that domain and no other information about the coffee shop was immediately available.

CD Cellar closed in January and moved its inventory to its store in Falls Church.

Hat tip to Chris Slatt

Sweet Leaf Cafe Now Open at 800 N. Glebe Road

By ARLnow.com

Sweet Leaf Cafe at 800 N. Glebe Road in Ballston

Sweet Leaf Cafe has opened its second Ballston location.

The local salad, sandwich and coffee chain officially opened for business last week at 800 N. Glebe Road, which is about a 10 minute walk from its first Ballston location, at 650 N. Quincy Street.

“Ballston has a heavy lunch crowd and we believe it’s dense enough to support two stores,” co-owner Andre Matini tells ARLnow.com. “We have had a lot of positive feedback, most of our diners had not been to our location on Quincy Street. With all the development of Liberty Center and and redevelopment of Ballston Common Mall we think there is more than enough to go around.”

Sweet Leaf’s new location has been a challenging one for sit-down restaurants, which have struggled to convince diners to cross to the western side of busy Glebe Road, where high-rise Ballston meets the residential Bluemont neighborhood.

One high-profile casualty was Pizza Vinoteca, which closed after just six months. A new Cheesetique store is coming to the former Pizza Vinoteca location, and a new Total Wine store is coming to the same building.

There are also rumors of changes afoot at the Greene Turtle restaurant, just up the street at 900 N. Glebe Road.

Sweet Leaf now has six locations total, all in Northern Virginia. Its first Arlington eatery opened at 2200 Wilson Blvd in Courthouse in 2013.

Photo courtesy Sweet Leaf Cafe

Shake Shack Opening Soon in Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com
1/5

Exterior signage is up at the future Shake Shack at the Pentagon City mall.

The burger-and-shake restaurant is opening within a new, still under-construction expansion of the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City along S. Hayes Street. It’s the chain’s first restaurant in Arlington.

The mall’s website says Shake Shack “is expected to open as of 4/1/2016,” but a PR rep said that information is “inaccurate.” No updated opening date was immediately available. Initially, it was said that Shake Shack would open at some point this spring.

Other restaurants and stores coming to the expanded front entrance of the mall include:

Another new store at the mall, Garrett Popcorn, is currently said to be opening around June 1.

Ray’s Hell Burger Adding New Eatery in Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com
1/4

The ever-evolving Ray’s Hell Burger (formerly known as Ray’s to the Third) restaurant in Rosslyn is changing once again.

This time, the restaurant at 1650 Wilson Blvd is splitting into two. Somewhat cryptic signs outside are heralding the imminent arrival of what’s being described to us as a sit-down restaurant with Georgian (as in, the country) and Mediterranean influences.

“The Tasty Dugout,” as the new restaurant will apparently be called, is set to open Friday, April 1. It held a small “preview” event this past weekend.

The Tasty Dugout is located next to Ray’s Hell Burger, in what used to be a dining area for the original restaurant. Among the dishes it expects to serve:

  • Khachapuri — Georgian pizza, basically
  • Kharcho — A traditional Georgian soup
  • Shasklik — “A form of Shish kebab popular in Eastern and Central Europe”
  • Shakshouka — A Tunisian poached egg and tomato sauce dish

Ray’s honcho Michael Landrum was said to be out of the country and unavailable for comment when ARLnow.com stopped by the restaurant this week.

Restaurant and Lounge Coming to Former Ri Ra Space in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Ri Ra exterior photo(Updated at 1:15 p.m.) A new restaurant and lounge will be coming to the former Ri Ra Irish Pub space in Clarendon.

An ownership group that includes a number of local restaurant and nightlife veterans has signed a lease for the space, ARLnow.com has learned. Among them are partners in Opera Ultra Lounge in D.C. and local nightlife impresario Jad Bouchebel.

Bouchebel is a partner in a number of hot new hangouts in the District, including Provision No. 14, The Prospect and Bonfire.

For now, Bouchebel declined to provide additional details about the group behind the new Clarendon establishment but he did reveal a few early details about what’s planned.

“The group intends to develop a sleek and fresh restaurant, bar and lounge,” he wrote. “The restaurant will offer lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch, serving contemporary American dishes with extensive wine and beer selections. The venue will also provide daily happy hour specials and periodic live music.”

Tentatively, the new restaurant is expected to open this fall.

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