Shirlington

Is a Vegan Restaurant Coming to Shirlington?

By ARLnow.com

The good news is that a new restaurant is apparently coming to Shirlington.

The bad news is that we’re pretty thin on details.

A restaurant called Native Foods Cafe has registered for a license to serve beer and wine. The license seems to suggest the restaurant will be in Shirlington, in the old Bear Rock Cafe space.

If you go to Google, you’ll find out that Native Foods Cafe is a chain of Vegan restaurants in Southern California. Is this restaurant going to be the company’s first east coast location, or is the name merely a coincidence? We don’t know, since the company’s Director of Marketing has declined to respond to an emailed request for information and since the address of the holding company listed on the ABC application comes back to a UPS Store in Henderson, Nevada.

There’s also a “Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe” in the National Museum of the American Indian in D.C., but so far we haven’t been able to establish a connection there, either.

Will Shirlington be getting a Vegan restaurant? Stay tuned.

Old House Set for Demolition

By Uriah Kiser

An older house on South Glebe Road is set for demolition, except the company that states they will tear down has no record of it.

The dilapidated house sits in the 2000 block of South Glebe Road, near Shirlington Drive next to a group of occupied town homes.

Bright orange signs are posted on the structure ordering everyone to stay out, and that the building is not safe to be inside by order of an Arlington County building official.

The side of the house that faces the road has a sign that states Tyson’s Service Corporation – company that advertises asbestos removal and building demolition – said they had no record of any services that had or will take place at the property when ARLnow.com called its main offices at 2 p.m. Monday.

So the abandoned house still sits, bright orange signs ordering all to stay away.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Docs Take Money from Drug Companies –– Big pharmaceutical companies have paid tens of thousands of dollars to Arlington doctors over the past two years, raising questions about possible conflicts of interest, according to the Arlington Connection. One doctor who talked to the paper had received more than $63,000 from one drug company over the past two years.

Arlington Eateries on TV — Metro 29 Diner (4711 Lee Highway) was featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives program last night, as Twitter user Joe L. pointed out. Meanwhile, MTV was seen filming a segment for the documentary “True Life: I’m Allergic to Everything” at Busboys and Poets in Shirlington last week, according to Shirlington Village Blogspot.

Iota’s Breakfast Not Catching On, Yet — It’s too bad nobody knows that Iota Club & Cafe in Clarendon (2832 Wilson Blvd) now serves breakfast, says a reader. “Iota in Clarendon has just started serving espresso coffee, pastries, and full breakfast starting at 6:30am. Free wifi too. I just went and the coffee’s good and the place is empty,” Patricia said yesterday via email. Previously: We Love DC.

Flickr pool photo by Philliefan99

Power Outage in Shirlington

By ARLnow.com

We’re hearing initial reports of a power outage in Shirlington. A number of businesses in the Village at Shirlington are affected.

No word on how wide-spread the outage is or when power might come back on.

Update at 10:55 a.m. — The Dominion web site says 33 customers in the Shirlington area are currently in the dark. Power is expected to be restored between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m.

Shirlington Harris Teeter Gets Parking Meters

By ARLnow.com

The Harris Teeter in Shirlington is adding meters to its reserved parking spaces.

The spaces, located on the ground floor of an adjacent parking garage, are often full, leading to complaints to Harris Teeter management. Even though the spaces are reserved for grocery customers and limited to one hour, an employee tells us that drivers often flout the rules by parking in the spaces and heading to other stores.

The new meters are expected to “go live” on Saturday. Much like the meters at the Harris Teeter in Pentagon City, the Shirlington meters will have a button that will give drivers an hour of free parking. Coins will not be accepted.

Currently, the Shirlington Harris Teeter does not actively enforce its parking rules. We’re told that at least at first, the time limits on the meters will likely not be enforced, either. However, that could eventually change depending on how effective the meters are as a deterrent.

A number of people have emailed us with questions about the meters.

“If you haven’t reported it, I hope you’ll consider doing so,” one reader said. “Your readers who patronize Shirlington Village will want to be informed that parking there is about to become more costly and less convenient.”

Alas, the meters will be free and the parking rules will remain the same, at least according to people who work at the store.

Samuel Beckett’s Opens in Shirlington

By ARLnow.com

Shirlington’s new Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub opened to a capacity crowd Saturday afternoon.

Photos on Shirlington Village blog show people lining up along Campbell Avenue for a chance to check out the the long-anticipated pub, which not only imported building materials from Ireland but also imported actual Irishmen to work there.

The Samuel Beckett’s web site is now live, although much like any restaurant opening there are still some kinks to work out. For one, the title of the home page reads “Samue Becketts.”

The web site also includes a link to a video showing the interior of the new pub.

Flickr pool photo by Amber Wilkie

Samuel Beckett’s Aiming for Saturday Opening

By ARLnow.com

After enduring several months of delays and setbacks, Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub in Shirlington (2800 S. Randolph Street) is preparing to open its doors on Saturday.

“The day has arrived!!! We will open at 3 p.m. this Saturday, January 8th,” owner Mark Kirwan announced on the pub’s Facebook page. “We will only have a restricted food menu. Please be patient with us as we smooth out the bumps for the first week. We look forward to providing you with a memorable experience.”

The elaborately-designed, Irish-themed establishment will be open seven days a week, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., according to Kirwan. For the first week in operation, it will not be open for lunch or brunch.

Kirwan has been a vocal critic of Arlington’s inspection and permitting process. He vented more frustration Tuesday night:

We had an inspection today, but the angry monster that is Arlington County still has a few “issues” … Thank you so much to everybody for hanging in there and being supportive.

New county board chairman Chris Zimmerman has pledged to improve the permitting process this year.

Photos via Facebook. Hat tip to Shirlington Village Blog.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Area Bars Ring In New Year’s With Ringing Cash Registers — Initial reports from the field suggest Arlington bars and restaurants did big business on New Year’s Eve. In particular, two Irish bars brought in plenty of green. Ireland’s Four Courts in Courthouse was crowded, he hear. Another tipster tells us that the cavernous Columbia Pike watering hole P. Brennan’s — which charged a $5 cover for an evening that included a champagne toast and live music — was so busy that it apparently ran out of glasses. Said our Pike partier: “Congrats to them… higher cover next year?”

HGTV Couple Moves to South Arlington — A recent episode of HGTV’s House Hunters featured a couple who ended up moving from a condo in the District to a house in the Shirlington Crest development, reports Shirlington Village Blog.

Arlington Man Arrested in N.C. Over Hair Gel Purchase — A 23-year-old Arlington man has been arrested in Burlington, N.C. and accused of trying to buy goods with counterfeit $100 bills. The man bought hair gel and conditioner at one store and was attempting to buy hand lotion at another store when he was arrested, police said. A local newspaper that reported the arrest listed an Arlington address for the man that, as far as we can tell, does not exist. More from the Greensboro News-Record.

Flickr pool photo by Mark C. White

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Artisphere Gets Latin Flavor — Arlington’s Guajillo restaurant and the District’s Casa Oaxaca restaurant have been chosen to jointly run a full-service restaurant and bar in Artisphere, the county’s new cultural center. The county board is expected to formally approve a lease at its Jan. 22 meeting. More from TBD.

Le Village Marche Merging with Verbena — Two Shirlington Village stores are becoming one. Le Village Marche, a French housewares store, is moving into the larger retail space of Verbena, a stationary store under the same ownership. The mew store, which will inherit the Le Village Marche name, will continue to offer many of the same products and services as Verbena. More from Shirlington Village Blog.

Bowen McCauley Dance Gets Creative With Funding — Bowen McCauley Dance, an Arlington non-profit, was profiled on the PBS Nightly Business Report last night. Faced with a major financial shortfall after Virginia pulled a third of its funding, the dance company doubled down, increasing the scope of its programs by drawing on cash reserves. More from PBS. (Scroll down to the final few paragraphs.)

Readers Help Raise Money for Charity — Thank you to everybody who bought raffle tickets to support Doorways for Women and Families over the past 36 hours. The raffle is now over, and thanks to ticket purchases from the readers of this and three other local web sites, our friends at What’s the Deal raised a total of $2,615 for four very worthy causes. (Update at 11:35 a.m. — The total raised for Doorways is $487.50. We’ll pitch in the additional bucks needed to bring it to a nice, even $500.00.)

Flickr pool photo by Christaki

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Place and Street Names Explained — Ever wonder how Rosslyn, Clarendon, Aurora Hills, Lorcom Lane and other county neighborhoods and thoroughfares got their names? The Falls Church News-Press’s Arlington correspondent has the answers, courtesy of a new book from the Arlington Historical Society. More from FCNP.

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day Events in Shirlington — Check out this comprehensive list of the New Year’s Eve happenings in Shirlington Village (via Shirlington Village Blog). After you party all night, feel free to lounge all day at Busboys and Poets’ New Year’s Day pajama brunch (via Shirlington Village Blogspot).

Two Die in AHC-Owned Building — Carbon monoxide poisoning is suspected in the deaths of two people in a Baltimore rowhouse. The home is owned by Arlington-based affordable housing organization AHC Inc. More from the Baltimore Sun.

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA

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