restaurant

The former owner of Atilla’s on Columbia Pike is a new partner in a Glebe Road restaurant

By Matt Blitz
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The former owner of Atilla’s on Columbia Pike has combined forces with his brother for a new restaurant.

Back in May, the well-loved Turkish restaurant Atilla’s and its next-door grocery store closed on Columbia Pike after nearly five decades of operation due to the building’s impending demolition. At the time, Atilla’s management told ARLnow that they were looking for another close-by space where they could open a new business that would focus on carry-out and retail.

But those plans appear to have changed somewhat.

Instead, Atilla’s owner Zulkuf Gezgic is now working with his brother at a relatively new restaurant on S. Glebe Road called Akivva Grill.

That restaurant opened at 2921 S. Glebe Road in the fall of 2021, but it was about two months ago when Gezgic “combined” his business with his brother’s.

Akivva, located about two miles away from Atilla’s former home, is a “different concept” than his previous eatery, Gezgic told ARLnow, but the Turkish and Mediterranean cuisine is similar to Atilla’s.

At the moment, he’s “unsure” if he’ll open another Atilla’s. Gezgic said he decided to not open an altogether new restaurant but, rather, work with his brother on an already existing one because Akivva was already an “established brand.”

The former location of Atilla’s is still standing, though it’s expected to be torn down soon to make way for a new residential development. Currently, there’s a sign on the door directing people to the new location.

Sign on the door of the former location of Atilla’s Restaurant on Columbia Pike (photo courtesy of Gabe Paal)

The restaurant’s original owner, Atilla Kan, opened the restaurant on Columbia Pike in the mid-1970s.

In 1998, he sold it to Gezgic but Kan stayed on making bread, hummus, and other items for the majority of the next two decades. Because of that, the menu didn’t change that much from when it first opened nearly 50 years ago.

But what did change was the neighborhood, with impending development up and down Columbia Pike prompting several other businesses like Atilla’s to close. Next door, The Salsa Room moved to Tysons in 2020. Last year, both the Columbia Pike Partnership and the Black Heritage Museum closed and relocated down the street.

In May, the Atilla’s long-time manager Sarah Engi told ARLnow that it felt like many of Arlington’s older, small businesses were being pushed out.

“I’m sad. We are losing family,” Engi said. “Big companies are moving in and smaller businesses are leaving. Things are changing. It’s really sad.”

Ballston resident’s new book serves up dishy stories about working at local restaurants

By Matt Blitz
Isa Seyran (photo courtesy of Ibrahim Turk)

As a waiter at some of the region’s glitzy, famous, and most expensive restaurants, Ballston resident Isa Seyran has seen it all.

Tense political negotiations. Joyous family reunions. Power brokers holding court. Elaborate marriage proposals. A first lady having a great night out.

And now, after more than two decades, Seyran is telling his story about serving others in his new book “Waiter: Reflections and Memories, A Brief History of Washington D.C’s World-Class Dining Scene.”

“Call me crazy. Call me romantic,” Seyran told ARLnow. “But I think there’s something sacred about feeding people.”

Seyran made his way to this country and Arlington 22 years ago. He grew up in a small village in Turkey, always interested in “literature, language, and poetry.” While he says he could have had a fine life there in a “diplomatic career,” Seyran knew that wasn’t for him.

“I wanted to be free. So, I escaped with a one-way ticket and $300,” he said.

And that’s how he landed in the Ballston neighborhood, where he has lived since moving to the U.S.

He calls himself a true “Ballstonian,” throwing out memories like how there used to be a Shell gas station where he washed his car at the spot where The Salt Line is now.

Isa Seyran (photo courtesy of George Kolotov)

Seyran began working in restaurants, using his charisma, love of people, “genuine smile,” and ability to learn quickly to earn a place working as a waiter, bartender, host, and manager at some of the region’s most well-known eateries.

That includes ​​Zaytinya, Rasika, Bombay Club, Galileo, Fiola Mare, Faccia Luna, and Ballston’s The Salt Line, where he works as a waiter today.

By his estimate, he’s served nearly a half million diners in his career.

Besides working at restaurants, he’s also found time for his “hobby” as an author, playwright, and filmmaker. In 2015, a play he wrote was part of the Capital Fringe festival. Then, in 2019, Seyran’s short film about working in the local restaurant industry was chosen to be part of an Amazon-sponsored film festival.

The new book is an all-encompassing look into his life over the past two decades filled with stories, experiences, and memories.

The point of the book, he said, is not to be “salacious or malicious” about the industry he has worked in, but to provide an “honest account” of what restaurant workers experience on an everyday basis.

“There are people who are the unseen heroes of our industry, the busboys, the managers, and the dishwashers I work with. I thought it would be a nice tribute…writing their stories,” Seyran explained.

That being said, there are a number of anecdotes in the book that may create some good old-fashioned D.C. buzz.

There’s the one about former First Lady Michelle Obama being a “camper.”

Michelle Obama had the night of her life with two of her female friends at Rasika, drinking martinis first, then a bottle of wine, eating a sumptuous meal with appetizer, main course, dessert, masala chai and the whole nine yards. But when her security detail did not eat or drink anything, I lost between seventy and a hundred dollars in the first seating.

Like that was not enough of a loss, Ms. Obama turned out to be what we call in the industry “camper,” a guest who overstayed their welcome, which cost me another hundred dollars in the second seating.

Or how he once got bribed to give up a famed Washington Post restaurant critic’s identity.

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La Cocina VA rebrands as ‘Kitchen of Purpose’ as mission expands

By Jo DeVoe
The Kitchen of Purpose café at 918 S. Lincoln Street along Columbia Pike (courtesy photo)

Changes are happening within the Columbia Pike-based nonprofit La Cocina VA.

Since its inception in 2014, the nonprofit has provided culinary job training to Spanish-speaking immigrants and donated the meals made by trainees to people in low-income housing and shelters.

Over time, it widened its focus to help immigrants, refugees and unhoused people from all backgrounds. Founder Paty Funegra tells ARLnow the nonprofit was renamed Kitchen of Purpose last month to recognize that shift formally. She also gave a heads-up of some other changes slated for the new year.

Kitchen of Purpose will be putting an $80,000 grant from longtime supporter Bank of America to use to address food insecurity and support workforce development. Meanwhile, the nonprofit will be updating the menu and adding outdoor seating to the café it operates out of its facility at 918 S. Lincoln Street in a bid to attract new customers. Kitchen of Purpose moved into the facility in 2020.

Funegra says the name change was a years-long process that wrapped up last month.

“It didn’t take too long until we had applicants to our program from other ethnicities, immigrants from other places, Americans who speak good English who were interested in food service as career opportunities,” she said.

While La Cocina VA began offering classes in English by 2018, “we were always labeled as ‘La Cocina only serves the Hispanic community,'” Funegra said.

She says many of Asian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European descent — mostly women — have applied to Kitchen of Purpose’s small business incubator program.

“They already utilize food as not only a way of gathering families, but creating something,” she said.

Bank of America’s $80,000 grant will increase the number of meals Kitchen of Purpose can provide to people in affordable housing and homeless shelters, to senior residents and public schools children during the summer. A portion will support the nonprofit’s workforce development program that helps unemployed people get jobs and training in food service and hospitality.

“It definitely is a large contribution,” she said. “We project this is around 10,000 meals that we can provide our clients, using part of this grant.”

With the new name comes a “relaunch” of the café on S. Lincoln Street, which doubles as an incubator for other restaurants, including RAMMY-nominated fried chicken spot Queen Mother’s.

Starting in February, customers can order from the new food menu, with international flavors, Sunday brunch, plus beer, wine and cocktails. The interior will be redesigned and, by the spring, there should be outdoor seating.

“We want to bring more attention to the café,” Funegra said. “Like any other establishment, we’re surviving the pandemic… Some people know about us, but we want to come out with a new look, new name and new personnel to bring clients and raise awareness about us.”

It’s a far cry from where she started: a 167-square-foot kitchen in a church basement. To help small business owners make similar kinds of moves, she says in the near future she wants to provide microloans. That way, they can start building credit and eventually qualify for bigger loans.

“They have the talent, knowledge and passion, but because of their condition, they face barriers to obtain a small seed capital loan,” she said. “We’re exploring opportunities to create a fund that would allow us to inject capital — $5,000 to $10,000 loans — to these entrepreneurs so they can start generating business.”

No chalupas for Christmas as Courthouse’s Taco Bell Cantina prepares for opening

By Matt Blitz
1/3

There may not be chalupas for Christmas, but Courthouse’s new Taco Bell Cantina is set to open in just a few weeks.

The fast-food restaurant that’s coming to 2039 Wilson Blvd in Courthouse was originally expected to open this month, but that might no longer be the case.

A company spokesperson said in an email to ARLnow that the eatery is “waiting for an electric service upgrade” which could push the opening past the new year. The Taco Bell should be “open within the next 30 days,” the spokesperson said.

This morning, crews were putting up the familiar purple and white logo and signage above the entrance.

The restaurant is currently hiring, per the website and flyers on the door. In September, flyers advertising job openings could be seen affixed to trees in the Courthouse neighborhood.

ARLnow reported that Taco Bell was opening one of its Cantina concept restaurants in Courthouse back in May. The location appears to be an effort to appeal to the late-night crowd leaving nearby bars as well as serving those who live in the numerous nearby apartment and condo communities.

The main difference between a regular Taco Bell and a Taco Bell Cantina is that the latter sells alcoholic beverages.

The Courthouse location will also have a walk-up window to allow hungry customers to get their Gorditas just a bit faster.

The commercial building at 2039 Wilson Blvd was previously home to Guarapo Lounge, a popular Peruvian bar and after-work staple. It closed six years ago and the space next to the post office has not had a tenant since.

If you can’t wait the several weeks for a chalupa in Courthouse, there are Taco Bell Cantinas on King Street in Old Town Alexandria and D.C.’s Columbia Heights. There’s also a standard-issue Taco Bell on Langston Blvd.

Bar inside of Ballston Quarter food hall is now boarded up and closed

By Matt Blitz
Ballston Service Station is now closed at Ballston Quarter (photo courtesy of Ray Caputo)

Bar and snack spot Ballston Service Station located inside of Ballston Quarter Market is now closed

The bar at the center of the food hall shuttered several weeks ago, Ballston Quarter Market’s general manager tells ARLnow, confirming several reader tips received by ARLnow.

Ballston Service Station was one of the first businesses to commit to the newly-revamped Ballston Quarter in late 2018.

The low-key watering hole was designed to look like “your hometown gas station.” It had a bar, a tap, and several televisions. Now, there’s only plywood and paneling covering the bar.

ARLnow reached out to the owners of Ballston Service Station about why it closed but has not heard back. Ballston Quarter management also declined to comment on if another tenant is lined up to replace it.

Recent months have seen several comings and goings at the food hall inside the Ballston mall. In August, British-inspired Salt Pop Kitchen closed while, in September, Kung Fu Tea opened on the other side of Ballston Service Station.

Meanwhile, the Macy’s next to the mall is set to undergo a huge redevelopment after County Board approval this weekend.

Photos: Items from the closed Silver Diner in Clarendon now up for auction

By ARLnow.com
1/8

Silver Diner, a local staple since 1996, is auctioning off iconic decor from its Clarendon location following its closure this past weekend.

The diner’s staff is moving to a new, 6,700 square foot location in Ballston — set to open tomorrow (Wednesday) — but long-time decorations are now on the auction block for charity.

Items and current bid prices range from a two-top table for $35 to a “Time to Dine” clock for $600 and a retro tabletop jukebox for $1,800. Also up for auction are iconic neon signs, vintage chairs, and other items.

The online auction closes just before midnight on Thursday, Dec. 22 and will benefit Real Food for Kids, the local nonprofit that works “to end hunger and bring nutrition security to children in Arlington” and the greater Washington region.

Silver Diner operated its Clarendon location for more than 25 years, serving up classic American comfort food with a modern twist. The new location, at the corner of N. Glebe Road and Wilson Blvd, is set to have a full bar plus 244 seats — 191 indoors and 68 on a seasonal outdoor patio.

Shirlington’s Taco + Pina is closed and it’s unclear whether it will reopen

By Matt Blitz
Taco + Pina in Shirlington appears to be now closed (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Fast-casual Mexican restaurant Taco + Pina is closed in Shirlington, at least for now.

Neither the restaurant nor the Village of Shirlington has confirmed whether the closure of the eatery at 4041 Campbell Avenue is permanent.

The door was locked, a ladder was inside the eatery, and no employees were present when ARLnow went to the restaurant late last week around lunchtime. When calling Taco + Pina, the phone rings for a while before going to a full mailbox.

The website also notes that every item and dish is “out of stock.”

Taco + Pina opened in Shirlington at the height of the pandemic, in May 2020. It moved into the former location of Lotus Grill and Noodles. Owner Graham Bartlett was a former executive chef under local restaurateur Richard Sandoval, who owns El Centro in D.C. and Tysons’ La Sandia.

“TACO + PINA’s is a labor of love which has been in the works for almost a year and a half now,” Bartlett said at the time. “While some may question opening during a pandemic I believe it is our destiny to launch on Cinco de Mayo, which this year also falls on Taco Tuesday.”

If it is in fact closed, it’s not immediately when exactly it happened. There hasn’t been a social media post since October, but there are several Yelp reviews from as recently as last month. (The taqueria has a four-out-of-five star rating on Yelp.)

Over the past year or so the Village of Shirlington has had a number of high-profile establishments announce they were moving into the dining-and-shopping center. Many have yet to open.

Great Falls-based Greek restaurant Our Mom Eugenia was looking to open this fall, but it appears that’s been delayed to early next year. ARLnow had the scoop that Jeni’s Ice Cream was set to start serving in Shirlington way back in April, but doors remain locked with no timeline for when the ice cream shop might open.

Astro Beer Hall announced that it was moving into the former Capitol City Brewing Co. space a year ago, but that also has yet to make its debut.

Pentagon City noodle eatery Yong Kang Street is now closed

By Matt Blitz
Yong Kang Street at the Pentagon City mall is now closed (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Yong Kang Street has served its last meal at the Pentagon City mall.

The Taiwanese restaurant that was situated right off of the food court closed last month, a mall spokesperson confirmed to ARLnow. They didn’t share why the restaurant closed and what might be coming in its place.

“Unfortunately, Yong Kang Street is no longer serving its tasty noodles and dumplings at Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, however we’re working to bring a new and exciting option that shoppers are sure to enjoy,” mall spokesperson Todd Jerscheid wrote in an email to ARLnow.

The eatery, known for its noodles and dumplings, was named after a road in Taiwan famed for its street food.

Yong Kang Street first opened at the mall, otherwise known as Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, in the fall of 2018 after being announced earlier that year. The restaurant also had locations in Houston and Las Vegas, but it appears those are also both closed.

It did seem popular, though, with one reader emailing ARLnow to say it was their “favorite Chinese place in the area so I’m devastated!”

Yelp reviewers also mostly agreed, with a majority rating the restaurant four or five stars.

“Oh. my. goodness,” reads a five-star review from over the summer. “I haven’t had good Chinese food in so long and I definitely didn’t expect to find it in the mall of all places!”

While some lost one of their favorite restaurants, the Pentagon City mall is gaining a couple of new eateries. Rosa Mexicano is now open for lunch and will be opening for dinner as well later this week, per a restaurant employee.

Maizal Grill is also planning on opening soon, next to Rosa Mexicano.

Clarendon Silver Diner set to close this week, ahead of Ballston location’s opening

By Matt Blitz
1/3

The Ballston Silver Diner is finally opening this month, which means the Clarendon location is closing after 26 years.

The new Silver Diner at N. Glebe Road and Wilson Blvd, next to Target, is planning to officially start serving on Wednesday, Dec. 14, a restaurant spokesperson told ARLnow.

The planned diner was first announced more than five years ago. The locally-owned chain was originally supposed to open in Ballston in the summer, but the timeline slid later as many construction projects experienced delays due to supply chain and staffing issues.

The new 6,700-square-foot location will be a mile away from the existing Clarendon diner. It’s set to have a full bar plus 244 seats, including 191 indoors and 68 on its outdoor patio. The patio will be open “seasonally.”

There will be 100 parking spots, 40 spots more than the Clarendon location. Parking will be free with a 2-hour validation.

The restaurant will have roughly the same hours as the Clarendon location, opening at 7 a.m. seven days a week and closing between midnight and 3 a.m.

The opening also signals the closing of the Silver Diner in Clarendon, which has sat between Wilson Blvd and N. Irving Street for more than a quarter of a century. The closure has long been expected and will make way for a new development that’s set to include a hotel, gym, and a 286-unit residential building.

That Silver Diner will shutter on Sunday, Dec. 11, the spokesperson said. The purpose behind moving only a mile away was to “maintain [Silver Diner’s] neighborhood presence in Arlington.”

Clarendon’s staff will be moved over to Ballston, per the restaurant’s website.

“They literally expect to shut down one location, walk down the street and open the other location,” a spokesperson wrote ARLnow in August.

The restaurant is planning an auction of memorabilia to support a local charity, we’re told, but details are not yet available.

Police: Suspect facing wounding charge for spatula attack

By ARLnow.com
File photo

A warrant has been issued for a suspect who beat a victim with a spatula, causing a significant injury.

The incident happened the afternoon before Thanksgiving, around 3:30 p.m., on the 3400 block of Washington Blvd in Virginia Square. Police did not say exactly where it took place, but that block includes a barbecue restaurant, a hot pot restaurant and a grocery store.

“Police were dispatched to the report of a fight in progress,” said an Arlington County Police Department crime report. “Upon arrival, it was determined the victim and known suspect were involved in a verbal dispute, during which the suspect allegedly struck the victim with a spatula, causing a laceration. The suspect then fled the scene on foot.”

The victim was hospitalized and the resulting criminal charge suggests that his or her injury was significant, though not life-threatening.

“The victim was transported to an area hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries,” the crime report continued. “A warrant for Malicious Wounding was obtained for the suspect. The investigation is ongoing.”

Bollards may be on the menu after Ireland’s Four Courts crash

By Jo DeVoe
Ireland’s Four Courts boarded up on 9/15/22 (staff photo)

The following article was supported by the ARLnow Press Club. Join today to help us do more in-depth local reporting.

Storefront safety is now top-of-mind for Ireland’s Four Courts after a rideshare driver plowed into the pub and sparked a fire, seriously injuring several people.

While those injured were inside the restaurant, safety advocates say this crash demonstrates why many have concerns about outdoor dining and nightlife, as well as traffic configurations that rely on everyone driving perfectly. For Four Courts, the crash is a chance to rebuild with a greater focus on safety.

“Since the accident, storefront and patio safety is most definitely our highest priority as we plan our reopening,” Managing Partner Dave Cahill said. “I think installing safety bollards in the front of business locations like ours would eliminate the risk of vehicles crashing into buildings and pedestrians.”

Arlington County is more than a year into an initiative to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries. But because storefront crashes like this one are so rare, they aren’t the focus of Vision Zero efforts, according to the county. Instead, this initiative to eliminate traffic serious injuries and fatalities focuses on locations within Arlington’s High Injury Network.

“These types of crashes are often high-profile, but are uncommon,” says Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Katie O’Brien.

Since 2017, 0.25% of total critical crashes, or 32 out of 13,035, involved a driver hitting a building. Two of these crashes — excluding the Courthouse crash — involved a visible, but not severe, injury, while the remainder resulted in property damage only.

Still, it has restaurateur David Guas, of Bayou Bakery, who watched the crash happen, thinking more about safety as well.

“Witnessing it first hand, I had a flash in the pan thought, ‘someone could’ve come down N. Veitch and into Bayou,'” he said. “Technically, it could happen, especially if this is a freak medical emergency.”

Police announced last month that the rideshare driver who drove straight in to the long-time pub likely suffered a medical emergency and will not face charges.

Risk factors

There are a lot of factors that put people at risk near storefronts, according to Storefront Safety Council cofounder Rob Reiter.

“Outdoor dining is inherently more risky,” says Reiter. “Speeds are up everywhere and… you’re always one drunk away from someone accelerating into a crowd.”

Nationally, based on statistics the council has compiled from news reports, court records and studies, the most common reasons are operator error and pedal confusion, followed by drunk driving.

Storefront crash causes (via Storefront Safety Council)

In Arlington, of the serious crashes into a building, almost 30% involved a drunk driver, O’Brien said.

A driver suffering a “medical event” in a crash, as is believed to have happened with Four Courts, is fairly common, Reiter says. Council data indicate medical events make up 9% of storefront crashes.

The bigger issue here, Reiter said, is that the pub sits at a “T” intersection.

These are common in Arlington, in areas of low speed limits and multiple traffic signals and traffic signs, O’Brien said. The intersection ending in Ireland’s Four Courts “was and is being looked at for redesign, as is standard,” she added.

Another hairy traffic configuration is when perpendicular parking abuts the entrance to a store, said another Storefront Safety Council cofounder, Mark Wright, who was hit 14 years ago by a woman who rolled through a parking spot and into the 7-Eleven he was exiting.

While it is convenient, Wright said, “it’s a very risky parking arrangement and obviously parking is a critical component of any thriving, successful shopping center.”

Per Storefront Safety Council data, 23% of crashes involved retail stores and 19% involved restaurants.

(more…)

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