The Burger King on Columbia Pike is getting a makeover.
Located at 3627 Columbia Pike, Burger King’s realm was looking a bit less-than-regal as of late. Over the past few days, however, workers have spruced up the interior.
More remodeling — including exterior changes — appears to be in the works.
During the interior renovation, the restaurant’s dining room was closed but its drive-thru remained open.
Hat tip to John Fontain
Power Outage at Courthouse Metro Station — A power outage has been reported at the Courthouse Metro station. The outage turned off most of the lights and trapped some customers in the station’s elevator, according to Twitter accounts. The station is said to now be operating on emergency power. [Twitter, Twitter]
Interview with John Vihstadt — Washingtonian has published a Q&A with Arlington County Board member John Vihstadt. During the interview, Vihstadt said of county government: “by and large, it’s well managed.” Before he was elected, however, Vihstadt said the county was in danger of losing its way. “There was a growing consensus that we were too self-congratulatory. There was too much ‘Aren’t we doing great?’ And if there was room for improvement, it was nothing another taxpayer dollar couldn’t solve.” [Washingtonian]
Garvey on I-66 Widening — In a county-produced video, Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey discusses the somewhat controversial VDOT plan to widen a portion of I-66 in Arlington. [Facebook]
Another AAA Rating for Arlington — Bond rating agency Fitch Ratings has again assigned Arlington County its top AAA rating. The high rating allows the county to borrow money more cheaply than less creditworthy jurisdictions. [BusinessWire]
Rising Sea Levels and Arlington — A new interactive map shows what rising sea levels would mean for D.C. and Arlington. The good news is that the two meters of sea level rise predicted to occur by 2100 would result in little impact for most of Arlington; the most vulnerable areas are portions of Reagan National Airport, East Potomac Park in D.C. and other areas along the banks of the Potomac. [Washingtonian]
Arlington Little League Opening Day — It looks to be a cool and cloudy start to the local little league season this weekend. Arlington Little League’s 30th anniversary season kicks off at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Barcroft Park. [Twitter]
One Year Anniversary for Shirlington Restaurant — Osteria da Nino in Shirlington (2900 S. Quincy Street) is celebrating its one year anniversary on Sunday. The restaurant will offer a complimentary glass of Prosecco and appetizers for guests from 4-6 p.m. [ARLnow]
Flickr pool photo by Airamangel
Hard Times Cafe in Clarendon occupies one of the most iconic restaurant locations in Arlington, directly across from the Clarendon Metro station. After more than 20 years in business at 3028 Wilson Blvd, it appears that the local eatery is preparing to leave.
While Hard Times in Clarendon remains open, its 8,240 square foot space is being offered for lease. A marketing flyer says the “trophy restaurant or retail space” is “available immediately.”
The space consists of three levels, including a basement kitchen and storage area. It’s being marketed by the Maryland-based firm H&R Retail.
So far, Hard Times has not responded to a request for comment emailed to the store.
Hard Times was founded in Old Town Alexandria in 1980 and has a dozen locations around the D.C. area.
It’s going to be a busy six days at Ireland’s Four Courts (2051 Wilson Blvd) in Courthouse.
On Saturday morning, the local watering hole will again sponsor the sixth annual Four Courts Four Miler race. After the 9 a.m. race, the bar will be packed with runners enjoying their complimentary beverage and other post-race libations. There will also be a live band.
Registration is still open and will be available at Four Courts on the day of the race.
On Wednesday, Four Courts will mark its 20th anniversary. To celebrate, the bar will be offering Guinness for the original 1996 price of $4.50 from 4-8 p.m. Live music will follow, with Sanford Markley taking the stage at 6 p.m. and Sheen Righter at 9 p.m. There will also be a giveaway of $1,000 cash and other prizes, “in support of your loyal patronage.”
On Thursday, St. Patrick’s Day, Four Courts will open at 9 a.m. for the usual St. Daddy’s festivities. There will be live music all day and a heated tent in the back to help accommodate the crowds.
Dave Cahill, an Irishman and Four Courts’ long-time general manager, credits the establishment’s longevity, amid all the change in Arlington, to its core mission of being a community-oriented place to eat and hang out.
“I think we’ve never lost sight of the fact that we’re a neighborhood restaurant,” he told ARLnow.com today. “We have a great relationship with the community, we sponsor sports teams and donate to charities. We have a home-like atmosphere.”
The evidence of customer loyalty is literally hanging from the walls: Four Courts has sold 2,750 pewter mugs to its regulars. The mugs are proudly displayed around the bar, available for use when a customer comes in. Want more proof? Some of the staff are the now-grown children of Four Courts’ first customers.
In addition to pouring Guinness and running Four Courts, Cahill has another race day duty. He’s the race’s official running leprechaun, of course.
Ten minutes after the race starts, Cahill will take off down the course, dressed in green and accompanied by a lady leprechaun on a bicycle, announcing his approach. By the end of the four mile race, Cahill, 44, will have passed about two-thirds of the field.
“I usually catch the first people around the mile and a half mark,” he said. “I catch more people on the mile 2-3 turn. Then, coming up the hill [on Wilson Blvd between Rosslyn and Courthouse] people start looking over their shoulder waiting to see the leprechaun coming.”
Those who beat the leprechaun get a prize from Pacers. For every runner Cahill passes, $1 is donated to the Arlington County Police Benevolent Fund.
How does he do it? It’s not by tricks or the luck of the Irish. Cahill happens to be a very accomplished amateur runner. At last year’s Potomac River Run Marathon, he clocked a 3:10 finish time, good enough to qualify for his first Boston Marathon, in April.
The Four Miler will result in some road closures Saturday morning. The traffic alert from the Arlington County Police Department, after the jump.
Republic Kitchen & Bar (801 N. Quincy Street) has been shuttered for the past several days and may be closed for good.
The Ballston eatery has a sign in the window that reads “We close [sic] to make some changes today, sorry for your inconvenience.” Its phone number, meanwhile, has been disconnected, as has its website. The restaurant’s Facebook page was last updated Jan. 16.
Another sign in the window — this one handwritten — states that the local backgammon club has moved its meeting to Carpool, at least temporarily.
Republic opened in 2014, replacing the former Leek American Bistro, which replaced the former Thai Terrace.
Republic served “modern comfort food” and took on something of a lounge atmosphere at night. After it opened, Republic’s owner bragged that the food was so fresh the microwave in the kitchen wasn’t even plugged in and was being used for storage.
Last night, the finalists for the 2016 RAMMY Awards were announced and a number of Arlington restaurants made the cut.
Organized by the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, the RAMMYs recognize excellence among D.C. area restaurants. Typically the awards are pretty District-centric. In 2011, for instance, only two Arlington restaurants were nominated.
This year, Arlington restaurants garnered a half dozen or so nominations. Among them:
Rocklands Barbeque, at 3471 Washington Blvd, has some exotic meats on the menu this week for an annual event called “Grills Gone Wild.”
The four-day event is being held from Tuesday to Friday at the four Rocklands locations in the D.C. area, including Arlington.
The menu includes:
The restaurant is encouraging customers to use the Twitter hashtag #grillsgonewild to suggest new “Grills Gone Wild” meat offerings for next year.
Today through next Monday, more than a dozen Arlington restaurants will be participating in Northern Virginia Restaurant Week.
The weeklong event is being organized by the Reston, Loudoun, Arlington and Prince William Chambers of Commerce, with more than 60 restaurants participating across Northern Virginia. First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe kicked off restaurant week during a ceremony at Jaleo (2250 Crystal Drive) in Crystal City this morning.
Unlike D.C. Restaurant Week, which involves fixed lunch and dinner prices, restaurants participating in the Northern Virginia event are able to set their own “value price” — provided it ends in .16.
Here are the Arlington restaurants participating:
The very first brick-and-mortar restaurant opened by District Taco has closed for renovations.
Situated at 5723 Lee Highway, the restaurant first opened in 2010. Since then, District Taco has expanded with a slew of new locations in D.C. and Northern Virginia.
Osiris Hoil, who founded District Taco as a single taco cart and now serves as the chain’s CEO, said the Lee Highway restaurant is getting some needed TLC and will remain closed for a few weeks.
“We opened back in November 2010 with a low budget and since then we have improved the model with our new restaurants,” Hoil told ARLnow.com. “I believe in a system that our work environment need to be fun and clean so we can perform better in general.”
“The Arlington location, is getting the love that the other DT stores have and our longtime employees of that store will love getting a new restaurant with new equipment,” Hoil continued. “We should reopen in [a] couple weeks, we are working day and night so we can reopen and serve tacos to our amigos again!”
Arlington residents with a District Taco craving can head to the company’s new location in Rosslyn, which has been doing brisk weekday lunchtime business since it opened.
Photo courtesy Matt Gibert
Dudley’s Sport & Ale, a new sports bar coming to the former Bungalow space in Shirlington, is hoping for a June opening.
Initially it was hoped that the bar could open in March, but work associated with the planned rooftop deck has pushed that back, according to owner Reese Gardner, who also owns nearby Copperwood Tavern.
Dudley’s plans to make the most of its airy 12,000 square foot interior space. According to renderings shared with ARLnow.com, there will be a 28-seat bar, another 125 seats in the dining area, a private room and bar for events and — in a unique touch that should make sports fans jealous of their home theater setup — a “stadium style” viewing area, with more than a dozen comfortable, drink-holder-equipped seats, facing a giant screen made up of four 90-inch displays.
Dudley’s will have Shirlington’s first rooftop bar. The 3,000 square foot space will have a game area, a 15-seat bar and patio seating for 114, according to the renderings.
Additional details about Dudley’s are not expected to be released until closer to its opening.
Wakefield Advances to Finals — The Wakefield boys varsity basketball squad defeated Potomac Falls last night, 76-67, in the regional semifinals. The Warriors will now face Potomac in the 5A North Region final at 7 p.m. Saturday. [Washington Post, Twitter]
Hough, Laich Tip Big at Don Tito — Caps player Brooks Laich and his fiancée, dancer and actress Julianne Hough, recently left a server at Don Tito in Clarendon a $100 tip on a $24 bill. [Washington Post]
Wakefield Grad to NFL Combine — Former standout Wakefield High quarterback Drew Powell will be competing at the NFL regional Combine in Baltimore tomorrow. Powell just finished his final season as quarterback at Division II Livingstone College, where he broke six school records. [InsideNova]
Spotlight on Developmental Disabilities — The Arlington County Board has declared March 2016 “Including People with Developmental Disabilities Month.” [Arlington County]
Flickr pool photo by J.D. Moore
