restaurant

Lost Dog Cafe to close on Columbia Pike this week after months of declining sales

By Katie Taranto

A longtime Columbia Pike pizzeria is closing its doors for good.

Lost Dog Cafe will serve its last pies at 2920 Columbia Pike this week after 16 years in business there. The closure comes months after the local business’s owner shared concerns of flagging sales amid ongoing roadwork.

“With the construction in the Pike, we aren’t able to stay in business,” managing partner Sarah White told ARLnow. “We have loved our time there and appreciate all that have supported us over the years. We couldn’t be more proud of our staff and their Herculean effort to keep going, but it just isn’t feasible any longer.”

The restaurant’s last day “will likely be Friday, but we aren’t ruling out closing tomorrow [Thursday],” White said. Any events scheduled in South Arlington will be moved to one of the local chain’s other locations, she added.

Lost Dog Cafe had previously considered closing back in 2021, raising concerns about the high cost of parking in a nearby garage.

The restaurant, which serves sandwiches, salad and soups in addition to pizza, has five Northern Virginia locations, including an original Westover spot that opened in 1985. It’s among several small businesses along the Pike that have shared worries of declining revenue during the years-long construction project, which is expected to reach substantial completion by the end of this year.

Last month, owners of the Celtic House Irish Pub & Restaurant expressed disappointment over the roadwork causing the temporary closure of outdoor patios and some parking spaces.

“It’s no surprise that the loss of our patios and construction on the property will have a direct financial impact on our business, especially in the cooler summer and fall evenings,” the owners wrote.

In April, Acme Pie Co. owner Sol Schott attributed storefront construction and restricted sidewalks to a 50% decrease in retail sales since 2023.

The Lost Dog Cafe team hopes to start future projects “in locations that are better suited to doing business,” White said.

Arlington Restaurant Week returns Monday with over 80 participating businesses

By Katie Taranto
Kimchi ramen with beef, bean sprouts, kimchee, seaweed and a poached egg from Ryu Izakaya (staff photo by James Jarvis)

A week of countywide dining deals kicks off on Monday with the return of the annual Arlington Restaurant Week.

Over 80 Arlington restaurants plan to offer discounts, specials and prix fixe meals from Oct. 13-20 as part of the yearly promotion by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. Participants range from fast-casual to formal dining and include local favorites like The Italian Store.

“From neighborhood favorites to new culinary experiences, this week is an opportunity for our community to come together, discover something different, and show our appreciation for the restaurants that make Arlington such a vibrant place to live, work, and visit,” Chamber CEO Kate Bates said in a release.

Here are some of the highlights.

Bayou Bakery

In Courthouse, the New Orleans-inspired bakery plans to serve a $12.50 “breakfast bundle” with a biscuit egg sandwich, tater tots and drip coffee from 7-11 a.m. It is also offering some three-course, prix fixe lunch deals starting at $17.

1515 N. Courthouse Road

Big Buns

In Ballston and Shirlington, Big Buns is offering a $35 lunch for two. Choose between a blackened red snapper sandwich or a wagyu burger. Each sandwich comes with fries.

4401 Wilson Blvd and 4251 Campbell Avenue

Colony Grill

Two pizza pies from this Clarendon pizzeria will go for $19.35 during restaurant week. Extra toppings are available at $1.95 each.

2800 Clarendon Blvd

Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe

From Oct. 14-19, the longtime bakery is dishing out bagel sandwiches and a 12-ounce coffee for $7.25. Croissant sandwiches are available for $1 more. For lunch, try a $10.25 chicken curry salad sandwich and cookie or wurst on a roll with strudel for $11.95.

2150 N. Culpeper Street

Ryu Izakaya

The Japanese fusion spot on Columbia Pike is offering a three-course $15.99 lunch and $22.99 dinner menus, with entrees like pad thai, chicken teriyaki donburi and bulgogi udon soup.

Several other deals are planned along the Pike at Abi Azteca Grill & Bar, Pike Cornerstone, Mpanadas and Celtic House Whiskey Bar.

3030 Columbia Pike 

T.H.A.I. in Shirlington

Three-course dinners go for $40 per person at this longtime Shirlington eatery, which is allowing diners to choose any item from its appetizers, entrees and desserts for each respective course.

4029 Campbell Avenue

1983 Chinese Cuisine

A four-course “special meal” from this new Cantonese dim sum spot is available at $48 per person. Options include crispy jumbo shrimp with fried garlic, honey-glazed char siu (barbecue pork) and steamed spare ribs.

1101 S. Joyce Street 

A complete list of participating restaurants is available on the Chamber’s website and a map of their locations is below.

Burger Billy’s Joint to bring fast service and contactless food lockers to Cherrydale

By Madisson Weyrich
Burger Billy’s Joint (via @alysonphoto/X)

A new burger restaurant with a novel take on contactless service is coming to Cherrydale.

A sign for Burger Billy’s Joint has been installed above a ground floor retail space at the condo building at 3800 Langston Blvd.

This post is exclusively for ARLNow Press Club members. Not a member? Join here.

Members can sign in here.

Falls Church has twice as many restaurants as Arlington on new Washingtonian ‘100 Very Best’ list

By ARLnow.com
1/5

Falls Church may be pint sized compared to Arlington, but the Little City next door has the county beat handily in a new list of the region’s best restaurants.

Three Arlington restaurants appear in Washingtonian’s just-released 100 Very Best Restaurants list. Twice as many Falls Church restaurants appear in the same pages.

That’s despite solid Northern Virginia representation on the “Very Best” list.

“Some of the year’s coolest spots — Joon in Tysons, Ellie Bird in Falls Church, Kirby Club in Fairfax — debuted in the Virginia suburbs,” the magazine noted in its introduction. In all, 21 Virginia eateries were listed.

Those in Arlington are:

  1. Cafe Colline
  2. Ruthie’s All Day
  3. Padaek (which recently opened in Arlington and has another location in Seven Corners)

The six in Falls Church are:

  1. Ellie Bird
  2. La Tingeria (formerly an Arlington food truck)
  3. Nue
  4. Pho Ga Vang
  5. Rice Paper
  6. Thompson Italian

Mister Days appears to be returning to Clarendon

By Madisson Weyrich
The Pinemoor in Clarendon on Jan. 21, 2024 (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Former Clarendon mainstay Mister Days appears to be opening in a new location, nearly five years after its closure.

An LLC associated with Mister Days, Celtic LB Group INC, recently applied for a liquor license for the currently vacant restaurant space at 1101 N. Highland Street.

Tiffany Lee, daughter of Mister Days founder Bobby Lee, said in an email to ARLnow that her father “is once again at the helm.” She noted that she is “not involved in the new one.”

The previous occupants of 1101 N. Highland Street include Clarendon Grill, which shuttered in 2018 after 22 years, and The Pinemoor, which closed its doors in July after three years. The Pinemoor was the last occupant of the large restaurant space, which features both an inside bar and an outside patio bar.

In late November, readers noted an old Mister Days sign in the space.

Sign in the new Mister Days space at 1101 N. Highland Street (courtesy anonymous)

Mister Days first opened in an alleyway off Dupont Circle on Nov. 21, 1977 serving prime rib, ham sandwiches, a soup and a salad. In the years that followed, Mister Days moved to 18th Street NW between L and M Streets NW before opening in Arlington in 2000.

Mister Days grew a strong following and remained a local staple for over 40 years. The Arlington sports bar closed permanently in April 2019.

The original bar served famous guests like movie star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as former Washington football greats like Sonny Jurgensen and John Riggins. It also had live entertainment from singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter early in her career.

D.C. area winter Restaurant Week extended another week

By James Jarvis
Makers Union in Pentagon City (staff photo by James Jarvis)

In light of the recent snowstorms, a number of Arlington restaurants participating in this winter’s Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Week are extending their promotions for an extra week.

The event, organized by the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW), will now run from today (Monday) through Sunday, Jan. 28.

“The decision to extend Winter Restaurant Week is reflective of our commitment to the well-being and enjoyment of our restaurant community and its consumers,” RAMW President and CEO Shawn Townsend said in a press release. “This extension is an opportunity for more people to safely enjoy what our local restaurants have to offer, showcasing the resilience and adaptability of our industry.”

Roughly half of Arlington’s eateries that participated in the initial Winter Restaurant Week are extending their offers, as of this article’s filing. The continuing restaurants will retain their previous promotions, including three-course lunches and brunches at $25 or $35 and dinners for $40, $55, or $65.

The list of Arlington restaurants extending their promotions is below.

Two dozen Arlington eateries join D.C. area’s winter Restaurant Week

By James Jarvis
1/6

At least two dozen Arlington eateries are taking part in the semi-annual Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Week that kicked off yesterday.

This week-long culinary event, spanning from January 15 to 21, is organized by the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington. RAMW is a regional trade association dedicated to representing the restaurant and food service industry across the D.C. area, according to its website.

Participating restaurants have advertised three-course lunches and brunches for $25 or $35 and three-course dinners for $40, $55 and $65.

Menus and pricing are specific to the Restaurant Week event, and some menus include cocktail or wine pairings with a meal. Below are the Arlington restaurants listed as participating in the event, so far.

New owner takes over Copperwood Tavern in Shirlington

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

Copperwood Tavern in Shirlington is under new ownership.

Viswanath Vasireddy, of Aldie, Virginia, tells ARLnow he finalized the purchase of the restaurant on Dec. 26, after learning the business was for sale from a broker with whom he had previously worked.

“I looked at it and it seemed like a good business,” he said of the New American restaurant at 4021 Campbell Avenue in the Village at Shirlington shopping center.

For now, just the ownership has changed and he retained the restaurant’s employees during the transition, he said. While the menu is the same, he has asked the chef to see if there are any new dishes to introduce.

Vasireddy says he is currently on-site 3-4 hours a day, applying for licenses — a liquor license application filed last week is currently pending, Virginia ABC records show — and transferring account ownership for various vendors.

The restaurant was formerly owned by Reese Gardner, whose Wooden Nickel Bar Company also owns Dudley’s Sport and Ale in Shirlington, Quinn’s on the Corner in Rosslyn and Brass Rabbit Pub in Clarendon. He has plans to open a new restaurant in Tysons while continuing to expand outposts of Greenheart Juice Shop.

“After 10 successful years with Copperwood, it was time to sell and move on,” says Gardner. “The industry has completely changed and the days of having two concepts within steps apart just isn’t realistic anymore. Cost of goods, staffing plus the annual rent increases make it tough enough with just one in each area.”

Wooden Nickel Bar also owned the now-closed Pinemoor in Clarendon, which opened not far from Brass Rabbit just a few months into the pandemic.

Gardner says he had also hoped for success with The Pinemoor and Brass Rabbit close together but the Pinemoor ultimately closed. He attributed this to a concept that did not quite connect with customers, the restaurant and landlord not coming to better terms, and being unable to sell.

This winter, Gardner aims to get his Tysons restaurant — Ox & Rye, next to the Capital One Hall — open soon and aims to open the Courthouse location of Greenheart Juice Shop in February.

Amid those new openings, he is also focused on his existing restaurants “and most importantly, being a dad.”

As for Copperwood Tavern’s new owner, Vasireddy, he already owns a trio of restaurants in Northern Virginia: New American spot Clarity in Vienna, pan-Asian place Inchin’s Bamboo Garden in Herndon and an Indian restaurant Bawarchi Biryanis in Ashburn.

He says he had experience in the restaurant business back in India, before immigrating in 2008 to the U.S., where he has since worked in information technology.

“I thought about pursuing my dreams a little bit,” Vasireddy said, starting at Bawarchi Biryanis in February 2022 and taking over Inchin’s Bamboo Garden and Clarity last year.

Around the time he was working to close the purchase of Copperwood Tavern, he quit his job at Capital One to focus on restaurant operations full time.

“Business is good,” he said. “I have some expansion plans for 2024 and 2025.”

Chicken + Whiskey in Clarendon has temporarily closed due to ‘lackluster sales’

By James Jarvis
Chicken + Whiskey in Clarendon (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Chicken + Whiskey in Clarendon “temporarily” closed last week, leaving its future uncertain.

Situated at 3033 Wilson Blvd, the D.C.-based South American rotisserie chicken and whiskey bar concept made its debut in the Northern Virginia dining scene last June.

Since its opening, however, the Clarendon outpost — one of four Chicken + Whiskey locations in the D.C. area — has experienced “lackluster sales,” according to a press release.

“Rather than continue to absorb dramatic financial losses throughout the typically slower winter months, the company has decided to conserve its resources, close the doors, and re-open at more appropriate time,” the company said in the release.

Co-owner Desmond Reilly said the Clarendon location’s failure was surprising.

“We thought Clarendon would love our Peruvian Chicken concept,” he said in the release. “We are going to rethink our product offerings and hopefully come back stronger than ever!”

Led by Chef Enrique Limardo, also the head chef at Immigrant Food and D.C.’s Seven Reasons, the restaurant chain serves Peruvian-style chicken, arepas and sandwiches and has a full cocktail and whiskey bar.

Limardo also co-founded the newly opened restaurant Surreal — described as an  “elevated diner” concept — in Crystal City.

Chicken + Whiskey is managed by SRG Concepts, which also operates several other restaurants in D.C. and Maryland, including the Vietnamese street food restaurant Doi Moi, The Walrus Oyster & Ale House and Bennie’s Pizza.

Bennie’s Pizza is also “temporarily closed” for the holidays and is working out some “culinary details” before reopening, according to the restaurant’s Instagram.

Within the last few months, Clarendon has seen the closure of a handful of other businesses, including Mediterranean restaurant Cava Mezze, the international bakery Le Pain Quotidien and outdoor goods store Orvis.

Though located at an address across from the Clarendon Metro station, Chicken + Whiskey is in the rear of the building, fronting N. Garfield Street in the former Hunan Number One space. Another restaurant in the same building but closer to the Metro station, Bar Ivy, closed just over a month ago.

Hat tip to @SCG703 and various other tipsters

Rice Crook in Ballston Quarter Market has closed, but several new eateries are moving in

By James Jarvis
Rice Crook in Ballston Quarter has quietly closed (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Fast-casual Korean restaurant Rice Crook has quietly closed its location inside Ballston Quarter Market.

The restaurant, a creation of noted local chef Scott Chung that was known for its customizable rice bowls, moved into the food hall at 4238 Wilson Blvd in 2019. Now, all that remains is a sign above its former stall.

There was no closure announcement on the restaurant’s Instagram page and Chung did not respond to a request for comment. Chung also owns Bun’d Up in Westpost (formerly Pentagon Row) and, in a spare room of that restaurant, a speakeasy-style bar, restaurant and mahjong hub called Sparrow Room.

Ballston Quarter General Manager TaVida Rice confirmed the closure is permanent and revealed several forthcoming additions to the food hall.

Japanese crêperie T-Swirl is set to open this spring and D.C.-based Dumpling District is slated to open in the fall. Hal & Al’s BBQ, which serves halal brisket sandwiches, ribs and mac and cheese bowls, opened last month.

Korean BBQ restaurant Top Pot, meanwhile, is set to open in a restaurant space along the Glebe Road side of the mall, next to Chick-fil-A. And laser hair removal company Semper Laser is slated to open this spring in the mews area near Lenscrafters, Rice said.

None of the new businesses will take over Rice Crook’s former spot, and the shopping center is still looking for a replacement, she noted.

Hat tip to Jason Gooljar

NEW: The Freshman has closed in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com
1/4

Crystal City hangout The Freshman has permanently closed its doors.

The all-day cafe/bar/restaurant just announced on social media that it has closed, just under three years after opening in the spring of 2021, in the midst of the pandemic.

Owner and namesake Nick Freshman, in announcing the closing today, noted the lengthy delay in opening caused by Covid-19.

I am sad to announce that The Freshman has served its last espresso; we are permanently closed. I want to thank my staff for their tireless dedication, my investors for their unwavering support, my landlord JBG SMITH for their steadfast partnership, and lastly our loyal customers who made it a joy to be open every day.

When I began planning The Freshman in 2018 the landscape was very different. As the world changed, our team adjusted, pivoted, iterated, and endured. Now, with significant construction in our building on the way, it is time to move on. The good news is that Mothersauce Partners is growing, and you can look for our fingerprints on a number of exciting new projects; projects that are also new homes for many of the staff at The Freshman.

We hope to see all of you soon at our newest project in Rosslyn opening in Winter 2024!

Freshman’s Mothersauce Partners is revamping The Assembly food hall near the Rosslyn Metro station, the Washington Business Journal reported last month.

American Real Estate Partners has tapped Mothersauce Partners, the hospitality company behind The Eleanor, Thompson Italian and City-State Brewing Co., to oversee the roughly 27,000-square-foot space at Rosslyn City Center. AREP owns the building, 1700 N. Moore St., and opened the food hall in 2021.

Mothersauce hopes to freshen up the design, branding and concept curation at the food hall. Details are still being worked through, and AREP and Mothersauce said it is premature to reveal more details of the partnership ahead of a more formal launch in the new year. […]

The change comes more than three years after AREP tapped another firm to establish a food hall from inside what was then known as Rosslyn Metro Center, a 40-year-old mall that’s since gotten a major makeover.

The Freshman was one of the first restaurants to announce an opening in Crystal City, following the announcement of Amazon’s HQ2, the main office complex of which opened in nearby Pentagon City this past summer. Leased Amazon offices remain open in Crystal City.

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