restaurant

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Favola Weighs in on Country Club Tax Bill — State Sen. Barbara Favola (D) said in an op-ed that Gov. Ralph Northam should veto a bill lowering the taxes of Arlington country clubs. She added: “If the country clubs are really interested in preserving open space, Virginia has a successful land preservation tax-credit program. It gives financial incentives to landowners who agree to keep their open space undeveloped, in perpetuity, while ensuring that the space is maintained for everyone’s benefit.” [Washington Post]

Fatal Motorcycle Crash Near Fairlington — A 34-year-old Haymarket man died after he crashed his motorcycle on King Street near Fairlington early Friday morning. Residents said on a local online group that a large group of motorcyclists was riding down King Street at the time of the crash. [Patch, WTOP]

New Ballston Restaurant Serving Nepalese Dishes — Urban Tandoor, which opened last week in Ballston, is serving Tibetan dumplings — or momos — in addition to the traditional Indian fare that makes up most of the menu. [Eater]

Dance Party on Streets of Clarendon — An impromptu group song and dance performance broke out on a Clarendon sidewalk after last call early Saturday morning. [Twitter]

Another Successful E-CARE — Arlington’s E-CARE recycling and disposal event over the weekend collected 83,208 pounds of “household hazards” over the weekend. [Twitter]

Hundreds Give Blood in Ballston — “Hundreds lined up at the Washington Capitals practice facility to donate blood for Inova Blood Donor Services. The drive, held at Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, was one of several sports-themed drives that Inova holds every year, teaming up with local sports teams to promote blood donation in a fun way.” [WTOP]

Flickr pool photo by Lisa Novak

Urban Tandoor Now Open in Ballston

By Bridget Reed Morawski
1/5

Urban Tandoor opened its doors yesterday (March 29) in Ballston.

The Indian restaurant, at 801 N. Quincy Street, is the newest restaurant in the neighborhood, and is down the street from Ballston Quarter construction. Urban Tandoor replaces Republic Kitchen & Bar, which replaced the former Leek American Bistro.

A lunch buffet will run from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. every day, and an à la carte dinner menu will be available from 5:30-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 5-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

Most entrees on the menu run from $16-20, including an $18 lamb madras dish “cooked with coconut milk and spices.”

Happy hour pricing on certain food items runs from 3:30-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday.

There are seven dessert options, ten varieties of naan and similar breads, and a number of appetizers, vegetarian and otherwise. There’s also a small kids menu.

La Tasca Has Closed in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com
1/3

(Update at 1:35 p.m.) Spanish tapas restaurant chain La Tasca has closed its Clarendon location.

The two-floor restaurant, at the corner of Wilson Blvd and N. Fillmore Street, served its last customers on Saturday, we’re told. Workers could be seen removing furniture and peeling off lettering on the windows this morning.

An employee said La Tasca was closing because its lease was expiring, but the company is reportedly exploring the possibility of reopening somewhere nearby.

La Tasca originated in the UK but has several D.C. area locations. The now-closed Clarendon location recently hosted a “pop up concept” called Txuleton by La Tasca, which specialized in “Basque steaks (Txuletones) as well as pintxos and tapas.”

La Tasca is expected to be replaced by a new taqueria concept from the team behind Ambar and Baba, across the street.

These Businesses Are Still Open in Arlington This Snow Day

By Anna Merod
1/8

(Updated at 5 p.m.) With Arlington schools, county facilities and the federal government closed for the snow day, it might be worth asking: just what is open today?

Below is a partial list of some restaurants, bars and other businesses that are still open or closed in the county.

What’s open:

What’s closed:

ARLnow reporter Bridget Reed Morawski was live on Facebook earlier this afternoon giving a walking snow tour of roads, sidewalks and businesses from Clarendon to Rosslyn. The video replay of that is below.

https://www.facebook.com/arlnow/videos/10160227547325224/?notif_id=1521654309015705

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

More on Hit-and-Run Suspect Arrest — A lobbyist known for his promotion of conspiracy theories, particularly theories about the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich, says he was the victim of an incident that led to the arrest of a man in Fairlington on Saturday. Jack Burkman says the suspect, Kevin Doherty, shot him twice and tried to run him over with an SUV in the parking garage of the Key Bridge Marriott in Rosslyn. [Washington Post]

Isabella Sued for Sexual Harassment — “Celebrity chef Mike Isabella, the head of a $30 million culinary empire based in the nation’s capital, was sued Monday by a former top manager who claims that Isabella and his partners repeatedly sexually harassed her in the workplace… [The plaintiff] told The Post she joined Isabella’s company as a regional manager in 2015, helping to open his three Arlington, Va., properties.” [Washington Post]

Sprynt to Reopen for Season — Local free ride service Sprynt will be reopening for the season “in a few weeks,” according to founder Alex Villanueva. One of the company’s electric vehicles was seen parked in Clarendon last night with a “now hiring” sign on it. [Twitter]

Hotel Company Moving HQ to Crystal City — Interstate Hotels and Resorts is moving its headquarters from Ballston to Crystal City, per a press release. The company is leasing 35,000 square feet at 2011 Crystal Drive. [Twitter]

Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman

Courthouse Chinese Restaurant TNR Cafe Expanding

By Anna Merod
1/3

After 10 years in business, Courthouse-based Chinese restaurant TNR Cafe will be doubling in size by expanding to the storefront next door, according to restaurant owner Kanya Larthongkan.

“We’d like to make it bigger,” Larthongkan said. “We want to add a new touch.”

The renovation is being undertaken in two parts, and restaurant operations will switch from the current restaurant space to the new side — formerly home to Stanley Adams Printing — in two weeks, according to Larthongkan. Once the renovations are complete on the 10-year-old space, the wall between the retail spaces will be knocked down.

Larthongkan says all renovations should be complete by the end of June. With all the changes, she added, the expanded restaurant should be able to sit 90-100 people. That’s twice as much as the 50 people that currently can be seated.

There will also be some updates made to TNR Cafe’s menu, she added. More changes will be made to the menu after Larthongkan hires a new chef for the expanding kitchen.

Northern Virginia Restaurant Week Returns Next Week

By Bridget Reed Morawski

This year’s Northern Virginia Restaurant Week is kicking off next week.

From Monday, March 19 to Monday, March 26, more than 50 restaurants, around Arlington and the region, will be offering special menus and pricing.

Arlington has at least 17 restaurants participating this year, including Bistro 360, BABA, Gaijin Ramen Shop, and La Côte d’Or.

Diners at these restaurants aren’t required to order from the restaurant week menu, and menus and pricing varies by the restaurant. Some restaurants have already listed their restaurant week menus, and customers are encouraged to reserve in advance to guarantee seating.

Some of the Arlington restaurants which have listed their restaurant week menus are below.

Photo via Northern Virginia Restaurant Week

Arlington-Based Restaurant Software Company Poised for National Rollout

By Anna Merod

Startup Monday header

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

Bo Davis, CEO and co-founder of MarginEdge, has been in the restaurant business since 2005, when he opened a sushi conveyor belt restaurant called Wasabi in the Tysons Corner mall.

But Davis is also familiar with the technology sector, as he started a software company called Prometheus that was later sold in 2002. In his experience running a restaurant, Davis had to deal with tons of paperwork involving lots of purchasing information. He also struggled with getting all the purchasing information into his account system while keeping all inventory and recipes up to date.

“It’s just a bit of a nightmare, honestly. That inspired it,” Davis said.

Then MarginEdge, a software application designed to help restaurants with their back office accounting processes, was launched by Davis and a group of co-founders in 2015.

The web-based platform comes with a phone app that allows restaurant employees to take a pictures of invoices and receipts. From there a team in India does the data processing from the invoices and within 24 hours all item-level detail is in MarginEdge’s system.

The software also ties into a restaurant’s point of sales, allowing MarginEdge to pull from the restaurant’s sales data by gathering the cost of things bought and sold. Then MarginEdge can compile reports on food costs, spending and other points of interest, Davis said.

Basically, MarginEdge simplifies accounting procedures and makes things more transparent for restaurants, he added.

For the first couple years of MarginEdge, Davis said the Arlington-based startup only had 20 restaurants for customers that were friends of the co-founders. It’s only within the past year that the company began taking on more customers and now has 200 clients, growing 400 percent in the process.

Most of the clients are local restaurants including District Taco, Buffalo Wing Factory and Glory Days Grill.

“We’re pretty conservative people so we spent two years making sure it was robust, it was strong enough,” Davis said. “And so it was more of a question taking our time to make sure we got it right, and then once we felt like it was really working then we were ready to take it out.”

On MarginEdge’s website, Greg Casten owner of Ivy City Smokehouse, Tony & Joe’s and Nick’s River Place, said the software has “so dramatically improved the way we process invoices and monitor critical costs that we credit it for producing the most profits we’ve ever achieved period after period.”

Restaurants have told Davis that they’ve saved 10-20 hours a week in data entry since using the product.

“I’m most proud of the fact that restaurateurs are enjoying what they get out of it and it’s making their lives easier,” Davis said.

Some clients have also decided to invest into MarginEdge. The company announced last month that it had raised $3 million to take its service national.

“It’s exciting to think that customers that we didn’t know liked it so much they invested in the company,” Davis said.

Photos via MarginEdge

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Partisans Stake Out Sides on Country Club Tax Bill — There are two very different political perspectives on the state bill that would greatly lower the tax bills of Arlington’s two country clubs. On one hand, a writer on the conservative blog Bearing Drift says Arlington’s tax treatment of Army-Navy Country Club (which is covered by the bill along with Washington Golf & Country Club) is “manifestly unfair, and… impacts an especially distinguished and patriotic group of older folks.” On the other hand, progressive blog Blue Virginia says the bill, which passed the Virginia General Assembly last week, should be vetoed by Gov. Ralph Northam (D) because it would “lavish big $$$ on super-rich people, weaken local autonomy vs state AND set a horrible precedent.” [Bearing Drift, Blue Virginia]

County Launches Online Payments for Building Permits — After years of grumbles from local businesses, starting today Arlington County is accepting online payments for building permits. Payments can only be made online when one is submitting permits via the ePlan Review portal. [Arlington County]

Arlington Tourism Tax Bill Passes — “More than a dozen Republican members of the House of Delegates voted against, but Arlington’s effort to retain its ability to levy a surtax on hotel stays to pay for tourism promotion is headed to the governor’s desk.” [InsideNova]

Arlingtonian Making World Record Attempt — Crystal City resident and elite runner Tyler Andrews will attempt to break the 3o-year-old record for fastest 50K run next month. [STRIVE Trips]

First Down Marks Ninth Anniversary — First Down Sports Bar & Grill in Ballston is celebrating 9 years in business today. [ARLnow Events]

Nearby: Lebanese Taverna Closing in Bethesda — Arlington-based local restaurant chain Lebanese Taverna is closing its Bethesda location, citing an inability to reach agreement on a new lease with the landlord of Bethesda Row. [Bethesda Beat]

Photo courtesy Paola Lyle

Darna Restaurant and Lounge Closed By County

By ARLnow.com
1/3

(Updated at 11:45 a.m) Darna Restaurant and Lounge in Virginia Square has been ordered temporarily closed by the county building inspector.

A recent inspection of the nightclub at 946 N. Jackson Street “revealed that there were numerous violations of the Building, Fire, Zoning and Environmental Health codes, affecting the health, safety and welfare of the public,” according to county staff.

A bright orange sticker on the door of the lounge warns that “this structure is unfit for habitation.” A separate sign says “Darna Lounge will be closed for repairs to our sprinkler system.”

Detour Coffee, on the first floor of the building, was open as of Monday morning.

The Arlington County Board is expected to review Darna’s live entertainment and dancing permit at its upcoming February meeting, a month ahead of schedule. Among the likely topics of conversation are the building inspection findings and complaints about noise.

“During the last County Board review in October 2017, staff received correspondence from a neighboring citizen with concerns about loud music during and after the hours of live entertainment and dancing,” a county staff report notes. “Several calls to the police for noise and other complaints were identified during the last County Board review.”

Darna has been open for about six years, and has since expanded, adding an open air patio on the second floor.

Hat tip to Chris Slatt

Cassatt’s Café Updates Menu, Hires New Executive Chef

By Bridget Reed Morawski
1/3

Cassatt’s Café, the New Zealand bistro at 4536 Lee Highway, is rolling out a new dinner menu today.

The restaurant is introducing new dishes with ingredients and preparations from other parts of the globe, which will be offered in addition to the usual New Zealand classics. Behind the additions is a new executive chef, Evan Synder.

Synder has cooked at several local restaurants, including the French-Belgian restaurant Marcel’s in Washington, and Volt in Frederick, Md. The Le Cordon Bleu, Orlando, graduate most recently worked as the sous chef at Jose Andrés’ FISH at the MGM casino in Oxon Hill, Md., according to a press release.

“Dishes like Charred Cucumber with Mint, Dill Yogurt & Casovertrano Vin speak to Chef Snyder’s appreciation of Middle Eastern cuisine (specifically Israeli food) and personal love of bold flavors,” said the press release. Other new, less-than-Kiwi menu items include a $16 octopus shawarma dish and a $14 haloumi cheese plate.

The rollout of the new menu is happening on Waitangi Day, a significant New Zealand holiday celebrated annually on Feb. 6.

The restaurant, named after American impressionist painter Mary Cassatt, has been in business for 15 years. It is located in the Lee Heights Shops.

Photos courtesy Cassatt’s Cafe

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