restaurant

Revamped Clarendon Ballroom is back open, after a management 180

By Matt Blitz
1/7

(Updated 2:40 p.m.) The Clarendon Ballroom is back — but it never really left.

The local nightlife staple at 3185 Wilson Blvd opened its doors again earlier this month with a new interior, a renovated rooftop, and a pizza take-out window.

There’s a new 30-foot video wall, elevated VIP tables, and a renovated rooftop with redone floors and cabanas. The pizza take-out window, dubbed “Disco Pizza,” sells by the slice.

In a bit of a change of initial plans, new owner Michael Darby — of real estate development and Real Housewives fame — has decided to once more hand over management and operations of the space to Mike and Christal Bramson of B Social Hospitality, the couple behind B Live, the Lot, and other Clarendon area establishments.

For the better part of the last two years, the Bramsons have run themed “pop-up” bars in the space as part of a short-term lease. While that particular lease has ended, the three have come to a new agreement for the couple to run the iconic venue for Darby.

“Michael Darby decided to reopen as Clarendon Ballroom and assumed the lease himself. In conversations between Darby and the Bramsons, it was determined that Mike and Christal Bramson of B Social Hospitality (also, behind B Live, Coco B’s, the Lot, Rebel Taco, Alias, and Pamplona) would be the best fit to handle the management and operations… based on their success and experience in the industry,” a spokesperson for B Social Hospitality told ARLnow via email.

This means no more rotating themes, but a commitment to a “Studio 54 all year vibe” says a press release.

On Jan. 1, 2020, Clarendon Ballroom closed — permanently, it was assumed — with the Washington Post dubbing it an “end of an era.” But a year later, Darby purchased the building at 3185 Wilson Blvd that housed the large, long-time venue. Then, he and the Bramsons signed a 21-month lease that was intended to be a temporary solution while Darby figured out what to do next.

“It’s a great way of holding the real estate until the pandemic issues are over,” Darby said at the time to the Washington Business Journal. “We’ll, during that time, take it to market and find the right user for it.”

As it turns out, the right arrangement was right there all along.

Darby applied for a building permit in March 2022 with the intent of renovating the space and running it himself, as ARLnow first reported. It was revealed to ARLnow a few months later that Darby was essentially bringing back Clarendon Ballroom after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus.

“Clarendon has really come of age. You’ve got all the great restaurants and bars,” Darby said to ARLnow. “And now with what we are doing with the Ballroom, that tops it off.”

He said the reason he was taking over the space himself was that he never got another offer that he liked. But that has changed somewhat, with Darby agreeing to a similar arrangement he had with the Bramsons initially back in December 2020.

Darby’s star turn on Bravo’s reality TV series with wife Ashley has seen a series of ups and downs, from the launch and then closure of their Clarendon restaurant Oz to his separation from Ashley earlier this year. It’s unclear whether Michael Darby or “CB” will make an appearance on the show in its upcoming season.

Starting as a Rosslyn food cart, District Taco is taking over the world “one taco at a time”

By Matt Blitz

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

Seeing his cart flipped in the middle of what was then called Lee Highway in Rosslyn, with eggs and taco shells spilling down the street, Osiris Hoil was close to giving up his dream.

The co-founder of District Taco, which in 2011 was but a simple taco cart, called his neighbor and business partner Marc Wallace for help. He came to Hoil’s rescue bearing tools, know-how, and resolve to fix the cart’s broken hitch.

“I’m so stressed out, so tired,” Hoil said as he recounted the story of the flipped taco cart to ARLnow. “But then Mark said, ‘don’t worry man, someday we will be laughing about this.'”

Sure enough, more than a decade later, Hoil and Wallace are indeed laughing at the memory of their flipped taco cart, an incident that was covered by ARLnow at the time (and followed soon thereafter by another Rosslyn fender bender).

Today, the two Arlington-based entrepreneurs have just sold their 10 millionth taco and are on the verge of franchising the Mexican fast-casual restaurant that started as a taco cart on the streets of Rosslyn (and then Crystal City) in 2009.

District Taco founders Osiris Hoil and Marc Wallace (courtesy of District Taco)

As Hoil and Wallace explain it, the idea of District Taco and their partnership came out of two neighbors drinking beers on each others’ porches and lamenting about the economic downturn.

It was 2008 and both were living near Yorktown High School at the time. Wallace had just sold his tech company and would often chat with Hoil about the hardships of the construction business, the industry that Hoil worked in at the time. They’d also scarf down chips and Hoil’s homemade salsas, made from traditional recipes that his mom used back in Yucatan, Mexico.

With both at transition points in their careers — Hoil was laid off during the 2008 financial crisis — they decided to partner and open a Mexican food truck, at a time when those were still a bit of a novelty. But an actual food truck proved to be too pricey.

“So, we got a cart which we pulled behind a pick-up truck,” said Wallace. “A food truck costs $100,000, so we went with a cart.”

They got the necessary permits from Arlington County (D.C. initially denied their request) and set up their cart by the building that houses WJLA in Rosslyn.

The original District Taco cart in Crystal City (courtesy of District Taco)

Within months, breakfast tacos became District Taco’s calling card.

They also had help from local notables. WJLA’s meteorologist Brian van de Graaff would grab a couple of breakfast tacos before work and talk about it on-air, Wallace remembered.

“Before he went on the news, he would come down and get his tacos,” he said. “It was great PR for us.”

ARLnow wrote about the popular Rosslyn food cart a number of times in those early years too.

In late 2010, Hoil and Wallace opened their first brick-and-mortar location at 5723 Lee Highway (now Langston Blvd), near their homes. The original District Taco is still there today.

The first brick-and-mortar District Taco in Arlington’s Yorktown neighborhood (staff photo by Matt Blitz)

Despite that initial success, both say it was not an easy road. Beyond a flipped taco cart, there were also lean times, delays, and near disasters.

“If I told you how many times I wanted to give up, you wouldn’t believe it,” said Hoil. “I was working so many hours, wasn’t making any money… and, one time, I almost burned down my house cooking.”

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A volunteer firefighter at a going-away party helped to save lives at Ireland’s Four Courts

By Matt Blitz
Ireland’s Four Courts on fire and an injured person being helped after a vehicle crashed into the pub (photo courtesy Craig Smith)

When Timo Klotz saw the smoke and the gaping hole from across the street, he sprinted towards Ireland’s Four Courts.

“I ran across the intersection right there and followed the hole into the building, to go inside,” Klotz told ARLnow, a few days after a car barrelled into the Courthouse pub, critically injuring several people. “As soon as I saw what happened, I was like ‘I need to help.'”

A volunteer firefighter and EMT in Fairfax County with a job in emergency management, Klotz knew he had only a matter of seconds. Sifting through the wreckage, alongside Four Courts customers who also put themselves in harm’s way to help the injured, he helped pull people out of the pub and got them to safety only moments before the inferno engulfed the bar.

If it wasn’t for Klotz’s quick thinking and instincts, the situation might have been a whole lot worse.

“If it would have been 20 seconds more, yeah,” he said, trailing off a bit. “I don’t think they would have made it out.”

The fateful moment — last Friday, Aug. 11, around 6:45 p.m. — will be long etched in the memories of those who were there. A rideshare driver plowed a car into Ireland’s Four Courts at the end of a “T” where N. Courthouse Road and Wilson Blvd intersect. A total of 15 people were injured with three still remaining in the hospital. One person is still in critical condition, as of the last update from Arlington County police.

It remains unclear what led to the crash. Police said the driver is cooperating with authorities, didn’t do it intentionally, and alcohol was not a factor.

“The cause of the crash remains under active investigation and detectives continue to collect and review evidence and speak with witnesses to determine the events that preceded the crash,” an ACPD spokesperson told ARLnow yesterday (Thursday).

What is clear, though that the actions of Klotz and others likely saved lives.

Friday was Klotz’s last day working for the Arlington County Circuit Court before moving to a new job with Fairfax County’s Department of Emergency Management. So, he and several colleagues decided to have a going-away party down the street from his office, at Four Courts.

It was about 6:30 p.m. when he stepped out of the pub to move his car out of a parking garage that was set to close for the weekend. Klotz retrieved his car and parked it on N. Courthouse Road near Bayou Bakery. While getting out, that’s when he heard a loud bang.

“There’s always a lot of noise [around there], so I really didn’t make anything out of it,” he said.

But then he started hearing people screaming and seeing lots of commotion. Then, a person on the street said a car had ran into a building. Klotz ran and saw the bar he had been in only a few minutes earlier now had smoke pouring out of a large, jagged hole.

That’s when he made the split-second decision to go inside and help. Klotz told ARLnow that when he entered through the hole made by the Toyota Camry, he was stunned at what he saw.

“I couldn’t even make out that there was a car in there. There was ceiling, wires, cables, tables… everywhere,” Klotz said. “It was demolished. Like a bomb went off.”

Then he saw a person on the ground to his right. He helped that person up but saw another trapped under debris. Before he could even help them, he caught a glimpse of another person, bloody, lying on the ground.

“There’s people everywhere,” he said. “At that moment… I was almost overwhelmed to the point of thinking ‘what am I going to do? There’s so many people.'”

But Klotz’s instincts kicked in. As a volunteer firefighter, he had seen fires grow fast. As the smoke turned hot and flames started shooting out of the debris, Klotz knew there was one thing that had to happen now.

“We have a fire. We need to get people out,” he said, remembering that moment.

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New membership program launches at several Arlington bars, providing beers and pizza slices

By Matt Blitz
1/5

(Updated, 8:50 p.m.) The company behind several Arlington bars is launching a membership service that aims to position its portfolio as a casual social club, of sorts.

The D.C.-based hospitality group Tin Shop — which owns Pentagon City’s Highline RxR, Quincy Hall in Ballston, the soon-to-open Astro Beer Hall in Shirlington, and seven other D.C. area food-and-drink spots — is starting the “Tin Shop Social Club,” a $39.99/mo service providing drinks and food to members.

The aim is to give regulars (and would-be regulars) a deal that keeps them coming back.

At Highline and Astro Beer Hall, for example, members are able to get a daily free beer while at Quincy Hall there’s a buy one pizza slice, get one free deal.

There will also be “additional perks,” like monthly happy hours, members-only lines, and, eventually, early access to tickets at a new D.C. concert hall.

“We thought long and hard while our doors were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic about how to create a community to bring back a sense of togetherness and unite people,” Tin Shop co-founder Peter Bayne tells ARLnow. “Essentially, we created this membership to bring our customers together from our various spaces across D.C. and Virginia — aiming to create a real sense of community.”

The goal is to amass 10,000 members and to have weekly member events at each of the spaces, notes Bayne.

Subscriptions have become somewhat of a restaurant industry trend. Locally, Arlington-based Lebanese Taverna launched a membership program late last year.

The popularity of such programs was part of Tin Shop’s thinking in launching their own.

“Clubs and memberships are what people want to be a part of. People want to meet like-minded individuals and join groups where they can meet up and have a good time,” says Bayne.

She calls Tin Shop’s program “the DMV’s new not-so-stuffy, country club social club.”

Tin Shop has recently grown its presence in Arlington. While Highline opened in Crystal City back in 2015, Quincy Hall served its first slices this past spring. The new Astro Beer Hall in Shirlington remains slated to open sometime this fall in the former Capitol City Brewing space.

For Tin Shop, a successful membership program means creating a community of regulars that are grabbing a beer at Highline together one day and a slice at Quincy Hall the next.

“Success looks like a large membership base that can come together weekly at any of our venues and get to know each other,” says Baybe. “What are bars if not a place to come together and have a good time? Meet new friends, maybe a new date? We feel as though this membership can help drive this point across — and ultimately build a network for individuals.”

Still unclear what led to fiery crash, but Four Courts hopes to rebuild

By ARLnow.com
1/6

Arlington County police say the rideshare driver who crashed into Ireland’s Four Courts on Friday did not do so intentionally and was not drunk.

Beyond that, not much is known — or, at least, being revealed publicly — about the circumstances that led to the fiery crash that severely injured several people inside the long-time Courthouse pub.

“The Arlington County Police Department continues to investigate the cause of Friday’s crash,” the police department said in a statement late Monday afternoon. “Based on the preliminary investigation, detectives do not believe the crash was an intentional act and alcohol has been ruled out as a contributing factor. The driver of the vehicle is cooperating with the ongoing investigation.”

“Detectives continue to encourage anyone with information related to this investigation to contact Detective K. Stahl at [email protected] or 703-228-7145,” ACPD said. “Information may also be reported anonymously to Arlington County Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS.”

Police said that three people are still in the hospital, including one who’s still in critical condition and two others that are now in stable condition.

Initially, police said four people had been taken to the hospital from the scene in critical condition. In all, 15 people were injured, including nine brought to local hospitals, six of whom have since been released.

ARLnow previously reported that the quick actions of customers and first responders to treat the injured and move them away from the growing inferno likely saved lives.

Meanwhile, Four Courts has told local news outlets that it is planning to rebuild.

The pub and its staff will be helped by a GoFundMe campaign, which has blown past its $50,000 goal and raised more than $77,000 as of publication time. Four Courts employees, three of whom were hospitalized but have since been released, are also getting an assist from a fellow local Irish bar.

Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub, at 2800 S. Randolph Street in Shirlington, is organizing a fundraiser and silent auction on Thursday, Sept. 15 for Four Courts staff.

Already more than 1,000 people have said they’re going or expressed interest in the event on Facebook.

“We at Beckett’s and Kirwan’s on the Wharf would like to hold a fundraiser for the staff of Ireland’s Four Courts,” wrote owner Mark Kirwan. “We will have a silent auction and a night of fun and entertainment to raise money for these poor unfortunate souls who went through hell… Thank you in advance and let’s make this road ahead for these folks a bit easier.”

Firefighters and county building officials were at Four Courts on Monday. The pub’s general manager, Dave Cahill, told ARLnow this afternoon that Four Courts is still trying to determine how to move forward, depending on what the inspections find.

“We are working with the county and inspectors to determine the next course of action,” Cahill said. “We are extremely grateful for all the neighborhood support.”

NEW: Quick-thinking customers and first responders helped to save lives, Four Courts manager says

By ARLnow.com
1/10

The four people reported to be seriously injured when a car plowed into Ireland’s Four Courts last night may not have survived but for the quick actions of fellow pub-goers and first responders.

That’s according to Dave Cahill, long-time manager of the Courthouse fixture, which remains closed after last night’s crash and fire.

At last check, the four critically injured people were still hospitalized, but the hope is all four will pull through, we’re told. Cahill tells ARLnow that all three Four Courts employees who were injured and brought to the hospital have since been released.

The crash happened around 6:45 p.m. Friday, as people were gathered near the front of the pub for a local company’s happy hour event.

A gray Toyota Camry — ARLnow has heard from multiple sources that it was being operated as a rideshare vehicle — reportedly came speeding up N. Courthouse Road and drove through the “T” intersection, slamming directly into the pub. It was nearly 20 feet inside the business, Cahill said, and started to catch fire almost immediately.

Quick-thinking customers sprang into action, coming from the back of the restaurant to the smoldering wreckage to help severely injured customers, the driver, and at least one passenger of the car, who was also hurt. Photos taken as fire started to engulf the car and the pub show several people carrying one man — who can be seen in a photo taken seconds earlier slumped over in front of the car — to safety outside.

Police and firefighters arrived on scene as employees and customers were still trying to flee the pub. Photos and a TikTok video show police officers running into Four Courts as smoke billowed out. In frantic police radio transmissions, first arriving officers requested “a lot of ambulances” and reported “a lot of people” still inside the restaurant as fire spread.

“It’s an image I’ll never forget,” said Cahill.

Without customers risking their own safety to save the injured, and without the lightning-fast response of police and medics — ACPD headquarters is a couple of blocks from Four Courts and a fire station is a short distance down Wilson Blvd — “it could have been a lot worse,” he said.

Also helping: the pub was significantly less crowded than usual for a Friday, a server told NBC 4.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was hurt,” said Cahill.  Asked about when the pub might reopen, Cahill said “we’re not thinking about it right now.”

Building inspectors determined that Four Courts is structurally sound but not fit for occupancy due to the extensive damage. Photos of the interior from this morning, shared with ARLnow, show a vast swath of charred flooring, fixtures and ceiling near the front of the pub.

The car, meanwhile, was removed from inside and hauled away on a flatbed tow truck early this morning. Video shows heavy front-end damage from the collision.

Cahill said management will start to assess repairs and future plans next week, but noted that the kitchen and the newer rear of the pub is largely intact. The current hope is that insurance will help to pay employees and keep them on staff.

A GoFundMe page, which Cahill says was set up by a regular customer, will also help. As of publication it has raised more than $7,500 of a $50,000 goal.

A total of 14 people were injured, including eight who were brought to local hospitals, police and fire officials said last night. There’s still no word on what led to the crash.

Update at 4 p.m. — The Arlington County police and fire departments just issued the following joint statement. Two of the victims remain in critical condition, the statement says, while the other two seriously injured people have been stabilized.

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BREAKING: Multiple injuries after car crashes into Ireland’s Four Courts, catches on fire

By ARLnow.com
1/11

(Updated at 7:55 a.m.) Ireland’s Four Courts in Courthouse caught fire after a car barreled into it at the height of dinnertime Friday.

The fire is now out after a two-alarm fire department response. Photos from the scene show the longtime local bar charred, with a car fully inside the restaurant after the crash. An earlier photo shows flames shooting out of the front of the pub while police run towards the scene and an injured person is hoisted by several people on the sidewalk.

Police say four people were taken to hospitals with serious, potentially life-threatening injuries. Four additional people were hospitalized with less serious injuries, while six were treated on scene, according to Arlington County police.

The driver of the car and at least one restaurant employee are said to be among the injured.

Dave Cahill, Four Courts’ general manager, told ARLnow in a brief phone call that at least one employee was hospitalized for smoke inhalation, but none were among the seriously injured. All four of the seriously injured people are believed to be customers who were inside the bar at a happy hour for a local company, Cahill said.

The crash happened when a car “came down N. Courthouse Road and went into the building going very quick,” Cahill said. He said it went about 20 feet into the building before coming to rest and catching fire. Initial reports suggest multiple people were inside the car at the time of the crash.

Courthouse Road ends at a “T” intersection with Wilson Blvd, with Four Courts directly in front of the turning traffic. It is unclear why the driver did not stop or turn. The car appeared to be going well above the speed limit, witnesses said.

Police radio traffic from immediately after the crash paints a chaotic scene, with officers requesting “a lot of ambulances” and reporting to dispatch that “a lot of people” were trapped in the burning restaurant. A video posted to TikTok shows people evacuating as the flames quickly grow in intensity and first responders arrive.

A large emergency response remains on scene and roads in the area are expected to stay closed for an extended period of time.

“Please keep the all the injured in your thoughts and prayers,” Ireland’s Four Courts said on social media shortly before 8 p.m. “Thanks to @ArlingtonVaPD and @ArlingtonVaFD for their quick response. We are devastated.”

“Praying for the health of the injured in this horrible incident,” said County Board member Takis Karantonis.

Cahill called the damage to the front of the restaurant “very significant” but told ARLnow that he believes the newer rear portion of the restaurant and its kitchen were spared fire damage. Police said around 9:30 p.m. that the building was determined by engineers to be structurally sound but unable to be reinhabited, for now.

The smashed car was removed from the now-boarded-up pub and taken away on a flatbed tow truck early Saturday morning.

During the response to the crash and fire, an Arlington County Fire Department battalion chief’s vehicle was itself involved in a significant crash on Route 50 at the intersection with Fillmore Street. Several vehicles were reported to have been involved.

No additional information was immediately available about that crash.

Update at 1:35 p.m. — The quick actions of Four Courts customers and first responders likely saved multiple lives, according to new ARLnow reporting.

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Arlington eateries gearing up for summer Restaurant Week

By Mavis Chan
Ruthie’s All-Day (courtesy photo)

The annual summer Restaurant Week is a week away.

The regional event will be held between Monday, Aug. 15, and Sunday, Aug. 21 and is currently set to feature nearly a dozen Arlington restaurants.

During the event, the participating restaurants are expected to offer lunches for $25 and dinners for either $40 or $55.

The participating Arlington restaurants include:

  • Big Buns Damn Good Burgers (Ballston and Shirlington) — serving burgers, burger bowls, cocktails, shakes and fries. Menu not yet released.
  • Epic Smokehouse (Pentagon City) — will offer a three-course meal, charging $25 for lunch and $55 for dinner.
  • La Cote d’Or Café (East Falls Church) — three-course menus of traditional French cuisine, priced at $25 for lunch and $40 or $55 for dinner.
  • McCormick & Schmick’s (Crystal City) — a seafood restaurant that offers a $55 dinner option. Menu not yet released.
  • Mussel Bar and Grill (Ballston) — a Belgian restaurant offering three-course menus at $25 for lunch and $40 for dinner.
  • Osteria da Nino (Shirlington) — three-course meals of Italian cuisine, priced at $40 for dinner.
  • Ruthie’s All-Day (Arlington Heights) — the award-winning restaurant that specializes in Southern cuisine will offer $40 and $55 dinner options. Menu not yet released.
  • SER Restaurant (Ballston) — three-course meals of Spanish cuisine, priced at $25 for lunch and $40 for dinner.
    The Freshman (Crystal City) – a café that serves bar food, sandwiches and pastas. Menu not yet released.
  • The Melting Pot (Ballston) — three-course menus of fondues, priced at $40 for dinner and $5 extra per person for a chocolate fondue.
  • Yume Sushi (East Falls Church) — five-course menu of Japanese cuisine for $55 per dinner.

Some of the restaurants listed above are pairing their meals with wine or cocktails. All the eateries, except The Melting Pot, offer delivery, takeout or outdoor spaces in addition to indoor dining.

Organized by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, which also hosted the RAMMY awards, the event is sponsored by public and private groups, such as the D.C. Mayor’s Office, the National Landing Business Improvement District and Airbnb, according to its website.

Over 200 restaurants from the D.C. metropolitan area are participating this year, according to a RAMW tweet.

Blood drive being held in Courthouse next week

By Kelly Anderson
A blood donor in Fairfax County (Photo by Obi – @pixel6propix on Unsplash)

Inova is setting up a day-long community blood drive in Courthouse on Monday

The healthcare company’s blood donation arm is again partnering with Fire Works American Pizzeria and Bar for the event. Blood donors will receive $5 off any menu item at the restaurant for their contribution.

The blood drive is taking place from 1:30-5:30 p.m. on Aug. 8. The Inova Blood Services Bloodmobile will be parked in front of the restaurant at 2350 Clarendon Blvd, just up the street from the Courthouse Metro station.

Those wanting to donate can schedule the appointment online or by calling 1-866-BLOODSAVES (1-866-256-6372) and using the Sponsor Code #8629. Donors are also encouraged to visit the Inova Blood Donor services website for information about preparing to donate.

Photo ID and a face-covering are required. Fire Works American Pizzeria and Bar has been open since August 2010. The pizzeria has an ongoing relationship with Inova to help collect much-needed blood supplies in Northern Virginia.

Photo by Obi – @pixel6propix on Unsplash

County returns to pre-pandemic process for outdoor tents, leaving some restaurants frustrated

By Matt Blitz
The outdoor temporary tents at SER in Ballston in 2021 (image via Google Maps)

Arlington is returning to the pre-pandemic process for restaurants to apply for outdoor tents, a move that has left at least a couple of local restaurants unhappy.

For the last two years, the county has made an effort to streamline the application process for outdoor tents as part of helping restaurants set up temporary outdoor seating areas, or TOSAs.

Back in December, however, the process for applying for outdoor tents was separated from the TOSA process, which was recently extended to February 2023. Arlington, meanwhile, is letting its Covid state of emergency expire on Aug. 15.

“The application process is returning to the pre-pandemic process that has always been in place. The process for tents was streamlined to help businesses during the pandemic,” County spokesperson Jessica Baxter tells ARLnow. “As they were before the pandemic, applications for tents must be submitted via the temporary structure/tent here. The guidelines for tents remain the same and have not changed.”

Those guidelines are enforced by the Arlington County Fire Department and fire marshall. Among the rules: a tent cannot be larger than 900 square feet and there needs to be a separate permit and inspections for gas heaters.

There is also a limitation on how long an outdoor temporary tent can be up: only six months (180 days) out of the year. What’s more, a business can’t apply for another permit to put up another tent until a six-month period has lapsed since the last tent was taken down.

These rules exist, said Baxter, because of the statewide fire code and there’s not much the county can do.

“The six-month temporary tent allowance is part of the Virginia Statewide Fire Code, which the County is required to follow. If an applicant wishes to make the tent more permanent, they can apply for a building permit and enter that process,” she wrote. “At this time, no tents should be up, with the exception of restaurants that received a building permit and single, pop-up tents smaller than 120 square feet.”

Of course, the fire code seems to be in conflict with the desire of many to dine outdoors, while being protected from the elements. With the state health department still reporting more than 100 Covid infections per day in Arlington, eating outside is widely viewed as a less risky alternative to indoor dining.

Baxter said the county is “actively working to create longer-term solutions that offer permanent outdoor dining options,” but temporary outdoor tents are not part of that effort because of the restrictions laid out in the fire code.

With most of the outdoor tents coming down in December, many businesses could have started reapplying for outdoor tents for the upcoming fall and winter season in June.

But reverting to a pre-pandemic process and guidelines has left a couple of restaurants that talked with ARLnow confused, frustrated, and at a loss on how to explain this to customers.

One is Medium Rare, the local steak restaurant with locations in Maryland, D.C., and one in Arlington’s Virginia Square neighborhood.

In the previous pandemic years, the restaurant did have an outdoor tent for diners, but Medium Rare had to take it down this past December, said owner Mark Bucher.

The outdoor temporary tents at Medium Rare in Virginia Square in 2021 (image via Google Maps)

He told ARLnow that compared to other local jurisdictions, Arlington’s TOSA process, as well as the one to apply for outdoor tents, is “complicated and cumbersome.”

Bucher also wondered what the logic was behind the directive that a restaurant a tent had to come down after six months.

“Arlington has always been so restaurant-friendly, so this goes against everything,” he said. “Why put up a tent, take it down, and pay to put it back up again?”

As the weather turns cooler again, and as Covid and other respiratory diseases ramp up, customers are going to want to sit outside in a heated tent, he said. But Bucher worries that a number of restaurants are not going to go through the process to get a temporary tent again, and diners are going to take their business to other nearby jurisdictions.

For his part, Bucher said Medium Rare in Virginia Square will not be reapplying to put up an outdoor tent.

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Westover’s Stray Cat Bar & Grill has finally reopened after closing at the start of the pandemic

By Matt Blitz
1/4

(Updated at 11:35 a.m.) After being shuttered for more than two years, Stray Cat Bar & Grill in Westover has finally reopened.

The neighborhood staple at 5866 Washington Blvd started serving again last week for the first time since shutting down on March 15, 2020. That was the day after Arlington County declared a local emergency as Covid started to spread locally.

The reopening after 28 months comes with a name tweak, some interior renovations, and an updated menu.

“We wanted to bring the Cat back awhile ago, but the restaurant industry was hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Austin Garcia, owner/operator of the restaurant, tells ARLnow. “So, when we did, we really wanted it to knock it out of the park.”

It seems like the right time to reopen as the community appears to be much more comfortable dining indoors, Garcia said.

The Stray Cat Cafe first opened in Westover in 2005 as a sibling restaurant of Lost Dog Cafe, which has Arlington locations on Columbia Pike and in Westover. While the menus of the two restaurants differ, both have the same mission of “helping homeless dogs and cats find forever homes.”

The restaurants support the locally-based non-profit Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation.

When Stray Cat heeded the county’s request to close down dining rooms in March 2020, Garcia said ownership never anticipated it would be more than two years before the restaurant reopened.

But a number of things didn’t work in their favor, including staffing shortages, not being well set up to do take-out and delivery, and the physical layout of the space.

“It’s a really narrow spot. Even when Virginia lifted some regulations to start to allow dine-in, bar seating still wasn’t allowed. Bar seating was, and still is, a big part of the Cat,” he says.

Ownership realized that to reopen, some renovations were in order. That meant knocking out the double-doored vestibule at the front of the restaurant to add more booths. Garcia says the construction has opened the space and has made it feel “much less crowded,” as well as providing space to eventually host live music

Ownership also made the decision to tweak the name and logo, switching from “The Stray Cat Cafe” to “Stray Cat Bar & Grill.”

This change is to better reflect the updated interior and menu, which will focus on “an elevated yet still casual dining experience” that will feature “gourmet comfort foods.” That includes quesadillas, nachos, salads, soups, and burgers.

Garcia says he heard from the community that many missed the Stray Cat’s burgers. So, they’ve decided to lean into that by “elevating that burger experience” along with giving the dishes “whimsical cat-themed names” like “Cat Scratch Fever” and “The Sphinx.” Also new at the restaurant are craft cocktails, something that Garcia says was missing in Westover.

What hasn’t changed at the Stray Cat, though, is the mission to help pets find homes.

“Our dedication to the animal rescue is still our, our top priority and part of who we are in this small family,” Garcia says.

This past weekend was essentially a soft opening to work out any kinks. All went well, Garcia reports. For the moment, Stray Cat is only open for dinner except on Saturdays (when open all day) and is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The hope is to gradually extend hours.

After more than two years closed, Garcia says Stray Cat Bar & Grill is ready to serve the community.

“I’m ready to see us get busy again.”

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