new restaurant

Capriotti’s Coming to 1500 Wilson Blvd

By ARLnow.com

Retail space at 1500 Wilson BlvdA Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop is coming to the ground floor of 1500 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn.

The restaurant’s leasing agent made the announcement today that the lease for the space has been signed. Formerly home to Santa Fe Cafe, the office building and retail space at 1500 Wilson Blvd has since been renovated. We previously reported that Capriotti’s was looking to open in Rosslyn, but at the time a location had not been finalized yet.

Capriotti’s is a fast-casual sandwich shop with locations in more than a dozen states. It specializes in large sandwiches that feature turkey and roast beef that has been roasted in-house, overnight.

“Part of what drew us to Rosslyn is you don’t have a ton of sandwich shops here,” a company rep told us in October. “I think we’re going to be a spot where you can go in and pick something new every time and not be disappointed.”

No word yet on when Capriotti’s plans to open, but most restaurant build-outs in Arlington take at least a couple of months.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Fort Bennett Park (photo courtesy Rick Shewell)

Rosslyn Startup to Be Featured on ‘Shark Tank’ — Rosslyn-based startup Zoobean will be featured tonight on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” Zoobean, which describes itself as “a web service that recommends apps and books for children,” will pitch itself to a panel of wealthy investors, including billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. The show airs at 9:00 p.m. on ABC. The company will also be profiled as part of ARLnow.com’s “Startup Monday” feature next week. [PR Newswire, Des Moines Register]

Pentagon City Mall Expansion Imminent — Work is expected to “begin soon” on a planned 50,000 square foot expansion of the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City. The expansion will add two new levels of retail, restaurants with outdoor seating, new elevators and escalators, and an expanded food court. Mall owner Simon is also expected to announce some of the new restaurants and retailers coming to the mall “shortly.” [Washington Business Journal]

We, The Pizza Eyes ‘Late Spring’ Opening — We, The Pizza, the pizza restaurant helmed by celebrity chef Spike Mendelsohn, will be opening soon in Crystal City. No specific date has been set, but a spokeswoman said the restaurant is expected to open in “late spring.” Mendelsohn also operates burger restaurant Good Stuff Eatery in Crystal City.

‘Miss Gay Arlington’ Pageant Tonight — The Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance and Freddy’s Beach Bar in Crystal City (555 23rd Street S.) will host the annual Miss Gay Arlington pageant tonight. Four contestants will compete in four categories: presentation, talent, evening gown, and on-stage question. The event starts at 8:00 p.m. and admission is $10. [AGLA]

Enterprise CarShare Launches in Rosslyn — A car sharing service from Enterprise Rent-A-Car has launched in the D.C. area. Two of its car share parking stations are located in the Rosslyn area. [Enterprise CarShare]

Photo courtesy Rick Shewell

Cajun Seafood Restaurant Opens in Shirlington

By ARLnow.com
1/10

A new cajun seafood restaurant has opened in Shirlington Village at 4251 Campbell Avenue.

The restaurant is called Blue Sea Seafood and Bar, and it’s located in the former Bear Rock Cafe space. The concept behind it is “to make sure people were getting a great portion, great price and great food,” general manager Jonathan Theriault told ARLnow.com.

The restaurant opened to the public yesterday. Its menu features Cajun classics like pecan-crusted catfish and crab cakes, with entrees ranging from $18 to $31. The food and drink menu will change seasonally.

Theriault, who comes to Arlington from the Miami restaurant scene, said his team worked hard to create a cool, welcoming ambiance.

“I would like to think the restaurant has [a Miami vibe,]” Theriault said. “You walk in, you get the blue on the floor on the walls, so you feel a little Miami-ish but with a New Orleans background, too… The ambiance is hard to find something done this nicely anywhere around.”

Theriault said he hopes Blue Sea’s Shirlington restaurant is the first of multiple locations. The restaurant will eventually have outdoor seating and host live music on Saturday nights. Blue Sea plans to offer specials like all-you-can-eat shrimp and crab events and raw bar nights.

Four Sisters Grill in Clarendon to Open Next Week

By Ethan Rothstein
1/3

Four Sisters Grill, a Vietnamese fast-casual restaurant coming to the former Fat Shorty’s space in Clarendon, is planning to open next week.

Owner Hoa Lai, the executive chef at Four Sisters Vietnamese Restaurant in Merrifield and owner of the new venture, said he plans to open the restaurant to the public on April 17. After holding a soft opening last month, Lai told ARLnow.com he pushed back his planned opening date to “iron out some of the kinks.”

The restaurant will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Sundays. There will be about 20 menu items ranging from $4 to $14 and Lai said the restaurant plans to serve beer.

24-Year-Old Launches Meals-To-Go Shop

By Ethan Rothstein
1/2

A 24-year-old Arlington native has opened a new kind of food shop in the Dominion Hills neighborhood.

Taste by Katie opened yesterday at 6017 Wilson Blvd, in the Dominion Hills Centre. The store focuses on reheatable meals to bring home to the family.

Chef Katie Gilman, who has operated Taste as a home-based catering and personal chef business since February 2013, has also worked as a banquet chef at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View hotel.

Taste will specialize in “seasonal ingredients and global flavors,” and will offer vegetarian and gluten-free options. Gilman is also offering catering for parties and business events, and offers “happy hour to go,” with selections of appetizers.

“Taste is meeting the needs of busy people who don’t have time to cook but appreciate sitting down to a gourmet meal once they get home,” Gilman said in a press release. “I’ll also work with customers to provide specialized meals that meet their needs.”

Taste offers 10 percent off meals that are pre-ordered online by 5:00 p.m. Fridays for the next week (Tuesday-Sunday). Meals can also be picked up at Taste’s storefront, which is open Tuesday-Friday from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. and on weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.

DCA to Bring in New Restaurants, Retail

By Ethan Rothstein

DCA Terminal A renovation rendering DCA Terminal A renovation rendering

(Updated at 6:00 p.m.) The list of new restaurants and retailers coming to Reagan National Airport continues to grow.

Taylor Gourmet, &pizza, a politically themed restaurant named Grille District and a new Starbucks location are expected to open in Terminal B and C by the end of the year, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced this week. That’s in additional to the under-construction Ben’s Chili Bowl, Legal Seafoods, American Tap Room, Vineyard Vines, Pinkberry and Lacoste, which are expected to open within the next few months.

Along with the retail additions, Terminal A, which has been in the process of renovating, will complete its redesign by the spring of 2015, according to MWAA. The terminal will have a full-service spa, expanded security checkpoints, publicly accessible iPads and charging stations as well as yet-to-be-announced new retail and restaurant options.

The combined efforts go along with MWAA’s goal to either convert or reconstruct 95 percent of all restaurant and retail options at DCA and Dulles Airports.

Photos courtesy MWAA

Mazagan on Columbia Pike Opening Soon

By Ethan Rothstein

Mazagan Restaurant on Columbia PikeMazagan, the Moroccan lounge and hookah bar being built next to the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse, is expected to open within the next couple of weeks.

Chef/owner Riyad Bouizar said he’s hoping to open the business April 15, but after a long, drawn-out construction and licensing process, the opening could be delayed even further. Bouizar signed the lease for the space in August and was hoping to open in December or January.

For the first month, Mazagan will only be open for dinner and late night, Bouizar said, after which it will start selling lunch. During the week, the bar and hookah lounge will be open until 1:00 a.m., and until 2:00 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

“This is something new to the neighborhood,” he said. “With the movie theater right next door it’s a chance for people to get a drink afterwards.”

The private hookah lounge, Bouizar said, will be a glass enclosure in the dining room. That way hookah smokers won’t feel like they are cut off from the rest of the patrons, but the non-smokers won’t have any secondhand smoke.

100 Montaditos Opening Monday With Free Sandwiches

By Ethan Rothstein

100 Montaditos (photo via Rosslyn BID)Spanish mini-sandwich chain 100 Montaditos (1776 Wilson Blvd) is opening its first Arlington location on Monday (March 31) in Rosslyn.

In honor of the grand opening, customers on Monday will be treated to a free “montadito,” a spanish sandwich with ingredients like chorizo and serrano ham, and a drink. The montaditos typically cost between $1 and $3.

If customers can’t make it on Monday — or want to avoid the lines free food usually attracts — the restaurant is offering a buy two, get one free deal until April 6, according to the Rosslyn Business Improvement District.

In addition to the montaditos, the restaurant offers beer and sangria, with pitchers of the fruity wine drink and domestic beer offered for $8.

Photo via Rosslyn BID

‘Modern Comfort’ Restaurant Comes to Ballston

By Ethan Rothstein
1/3

Republic Kitchen and Bar, a “modern comfort food” concept, is open for dinner in the former Leek American Bistro space in Ballston.

Republic, at 801 N. Quincy Street, is open for dinner this week at 4:30 p.m. for a soft opening and will fully open for lunch business next week, according to General Manager Anthony Catselides.

Republic opens after Leek closed in November, after only a year in business. Before Leek, Thai Terrace occupied the space across the street from the Liberty Center development. Catselides said Republic hopes to be known for its from-scratch cooking: everything in the restaurant is made from scratch every day, with the exception of the french fries.

“We’re serving high-quality good at a medium price point.” Catselides told ARLnow.com yesterday. No entrée on the menu will cost more than $20, he said, and most will cost less than $15.

Executive Chef and operating owner Alan Newton — who comes from the Charleston, S.C., restaurant scene before working at McCormick and Schmick’s, among other restaurants — said there are going to be hints of international, Asian fusion and Southern cooking in the menu. He said he’s as serious as can be about the food’s freshness.

“We’re using our microwave as a bread box right now,” he said. “It’s not even plugged in.”

Catselides said he wants Republic to be looked at as a more mature spot — somewhere for an affordable date, a lunch meeting or drinks after work — and, when the night gets later, to become more of a lounge atmosphere. The restaurant will also have outdoor seating with heat lamps when the weather warms up.

New Sandwich Shop Opens in Clarendon

By Ethan Rothstein
1/3

(Updated at 7:00 p.m.) A new sandwich shop has opened in Clarendon at the corner of Wilson Blvd and N. Garfield Street.

Le Sandwich, a venture started by Mehdi Ben, opened yesterday at 3033 Wilson Blvd, replacing Street Corner Cafe, which had replaced Paciugo Gelato at the end of 2012. Ben said he signed the lease in early 2014 and was able to open so quickly because the eatery is focused on simplicity.

“We believe that simplicity wins,” he told ARLnow.com today. “That’s why I didn’t want to choose some extravagant [concept]. Sandwiches are what we sell here.”

Ben said the concept for the restaurant is just “a regular guy” who decided he didn’t like the sandwich offerings in the area, so he opened his own restaurant. Instead of creating a list of signature sandwiches, Ben offers customers a list of meats and toppings to put on a baguette or croissant — baked daily in-house — or on a salad with a house vinaigrette.

Among the meats are roasted Wagyu roast beef, fresh herbed ham, gourmet spicy salami. The add-ons included imported dry sausage from France and brie cheese. Ben said the restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner and until 3:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

Sultana Grill in Bluemont Reopens

By Ethan Rothstein
1/3

Sultana Grill, a Moroccan restaurant at 5515 Wilson Blvd in Bluemont that closed at the end of last year, reopened this month.

New manager Mohamed Ahmed — who had been an employee under the former management — said the reason for the restaurant’s closing was the former manager’s health problems, which forced the restaurant to close some days unannounced.

“There’s basically nothing different,” Ahmed told ARLnow.com. “We’re still specializing in Moroccan food, but we’ve added some Middle Eastern menu items. Also we’ll be open seven days a week now, starting at 10:00 a.m.”

There had been speculation that the restaurant’s lack of an alcohol license had been the reason for its financial problems, but Ahmed dismissed those concerns, and said Sultana still will not be serving alcohol.

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