soft opening

South Block Planning to Open New Rosslyn Location Next Week

By ARLnow.com
1/2

The new Rosslyn location of juice, smoothie and acai bowl emporium South Block is expected to open its doors on Monday.

Located at 1550 Wilson Blvd, the new South Block — the “Arlington born and bred” company’s 10th location — is next to BASH Boxing in the former Cafe Asia space. The 1,300 square foot space includes a mural created by local artists MasPaz and CheLove.

South Block is planning to host a soft opening in Rosslyn starting Monday, August 26. The eatery is scheduled to be open weekdays from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

“When I opened my first location, I had no idea what to expect,” said owner and Northern Virginia native Amir Mostafavi, in a statement. “I’m not sure what ‘making it’ really means! I still don’t think I’ve made it… but I hope my story inspires others to pursue their passions.”

A subsequent grand opening event is planned next month. More from a press release:

South Block’s “good vibe tribe” will be out in full force at the Grand Opening “Block Party” on Saturday, September 7 at 9 a.m. The first 100 “Block Party” attendees will receive a swag bag complete with a reusable smoothie cup, sunglasses, and some fun surprises from local community partners. There will be plenty of fun surprises for all who attend while a live DJ keeps the good vibes rolling!

WHO: South Block Rosslyn
WHAT: South Block Rosslyn’s Grand Opening “Block Party”
WHEN: Saturday, September 7, 2019 at 9 a.m. (Store opens to the public on Monday, August 26).
WHERE: South Block | 1550 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209

All proceeds on September 7 will go to South Block’s fundraising initiative, Fruitful Planet, to support the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC), a community-based non-profit that provides supplemental groceries to Arlington neighbors in need. South Block created Fruitful Planet as a way to give back to those in need and build healthy communities. “We believe that small acts can make a big impact! The Arlington community has been so great to South Block… we want to do everything we can to support the community and show love back said Mostafavi.

New Asian Restaurant in Virginia Square to Open Next Week

By Vernon Miles
1/3

The former Atrium Cafe (901 N. Nelson Street), adjacent to the Virginia Square Metro station entrance, is being converted into a new Asian eatery called Pike Kitchen.

The Pike Kitchen in Rockville, Md. is a food hall-type venue with a variety of cuisine options, like bibimbap and bubble tea. From the signs outside the Virginia Square location, the new Arlington eatery seems to share a similar concept.

Signs on the wall say the new location will carry Monster Tea, which offers bubble tea; Bowl Play, which offers Korean bibimbap and poké bowls; and Pike Chicken and Beer, which presumably offers chicken and beer.

The manager of the restaurant said a soft opening for Pike Kitchen is tentatively planned for Saturday, though some final details are still being decided, with a full opening set for some time within the next week.

The restaurant is currently hiring staff, with applicants asked to text 571-229-7467 or email [email protected].

H/t to @btj

Ballston Quarter Market Launches Next Round of Openings Tomorrow

By Vernon Miles
1/3

Two new restaurants are planning soft openings Thursday in Ballston Quarter’s new food hall, Quarter Market, with another planning a grand opening happy hour celebration.

Local Oyster, a Baltimore-based seafood joint, is planning to launch tomorrow with a limited menu. The full menu for the eatery includes beer as well as seafood like lobsters, scallops, crab legs, and — of course — oysters.

Next door, sushi and dumpling restaurant Roll’d — helmed by Sushi Taro’s Chef Nobu Yamazaki — is also tentatively planning a launch with a limited menu.

Meanwhile, the food hall’s main bar, Ballston Service Station, has been serving drinks for a couple weeks now, but the bar’s staff said a grand opening is planned tomorrow around 4 p.m.

The new openings coincide with the “Ballston Quarter Celebration” at the mall. From 11 a.m.-2 p.m., the first 100 guests to check in at the Ballston Quarter tent will receive a voucher for a complimentary lunch at any vendor in the market.

A family-friendly happy hour is planned for 5-7 p.m. with live music, a caricature and face painter, and food and drink specials.

Other restaurants currently open in Quarter Market include Copa Kitchen and Bar, Hot Lola’s, Ice Cream Jubilee, Mi & Yu Noodle Bar, Rice Crook, Sloppy Mama’s BBQ, and Turu’s by Timber Pizza Co.

Clarendon’s “Bakeshop” Expands to Falls Church

By Airey

Clarendon-based bakery Bakeshop is expanding.

This week Bakeshop opened a new location in the City of Falls Church. The new shop had its soft opening yesterday (Monday) after weeks of teasing pictures of new equipment and barista training with Vigilante coffee on social media.

Founder Justin Stegall told ARLnow he “loves Arlington” but “was traveling around and kind of fell love in with Falls Church also.”

“The neighborhood vibe is a little less urban, a little more old-fashioned,” he said of Falls Church.

It was a neighborhood he thought could use a cupcake shop, and as of this week it has one. Bakeshop is now open at 100 E. Fairfax Street and plans to be open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Stegall added that he will tailor the Falls Church menu to suit his new customers, likely adding more breakfast options and some exclusive cookies.

For now the new bakery shares a menu with the Clarendon location, which features a rotating cast of cupcakes with favorites like salty caramel and red velvet, as well as cakes, pies, and some light breakfast fare like croissants and scones.

The flagship Clarendon store on 1025 N. Fillmore Street has gained fame over the years for personal stories posted on Facebook post in 2016, and being featured on the Cooking Channel in 2012.

Stegall said he’s “very happy to have become a piece of the Arlington fabric.”

Nearly ten years after some critics (including our commentators) predicted the 2010 cupcake fad would fade, Stegall and his staff are still in business.

“It’s crazy for me to think about,” he said. “Ten years is a pretty big chunk of life. I never even had a ten-year-out plan.”

When asked if he has plans to continue expansion, Stegall laughed.

“The vision right now is to stay with the two until the next vision comes,” he said.

Photo via Facebook

New Mexican Restaurant TTT Opening Today in Clarendon

By Airey
1/6

(Updated at 3:50 p.m.) Arlington’s newest stop for tacos is holding a soft opening tonight (Friday) in Clarendon.

Tacos, Tortas, and Tequila (TTT) is the colorful creation of serial restauranteur Ivan Iricanin, who also owns Ambar and Baba across the street. Iricanin modeled the menu after Mexico City’s street food.

Starting Friday and continuing through Sunday, Iricanin says TTT will test out a limited version of its new menu with a dozen types of tacos available to order in groups of three. TTT will serve patrons from 4 p.m. until 1 a.m. tonight, he said.

The new restaurant’s soft opening continues this weekend, with TTT serving up taco combos Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

“The goal is to be a neighborhood gathering spot,” Iricanin told ARLnow Friday morning, gesturing to the downstairs bar where he hopes people will order drinks, food, and bring books or laptops to hang out.

Eventually, he plans to open TTT for brunch seven days a week, keeping the taco eatery open from 7 a.m.

TTT occupies the ground floor of the giant, three-story homage to Mexican cuisine that Iricanin opened in what used to be La Tasca at 2900 Wilson Blvd. A mural of traditional Mexican motifs adorns the new eatery’s open kitchen in the style of Diego Rivera, and murals along the wall help guide patrons to the right floor.

The concept is similar to the Iricanin’s Silver Spring TTT, but he says the new spot will be unique because of a a collaboration struck with famed Mexican chef Gerardo Vázquez Lugo of the award-winning Nicos restaurant in Mexico City. With Chef Lugo’s help, the theme of the Clarendon building’s three restaurants — TTT, Buena Vida, and Buena Vida Social Club — is traditional Mexican food not altered for American palates.

“What I learned from Ambar is if you stay true to the roots and present the culture you can’t go wrong,” said Iricanin.

Upstairs from TTT is Buena Vida, a sit-down restaurant that opened Monday with a focus on what Iricanin called “indigenous recipes” of traditional family-style cooking in Mexico. Waiters prepare caesar salads and guacamole fresh at patron’s tables using  rolling side carts that line the edges of the spacious room overlooking Wilson Blvd and N. Fillmore Street.

Buena Vida’s menu features cold starters like tropical ceviche with tuna, cucumber and pineapple and classic starters like queso fundido served with herbs and tortillas made in-house. Entrees are a mix of meat and seafood dishes, like a Yucatan recipe for duck cooked in a pumpkin seed sauce.

The rooftop floor will host a third restaurant and bar space newly named “Buena Vida Social Club” and is still under construction. Iricanin says he hopes to open it in late April.

“It’s a challenge opening one restaurant. We’re opening three,” Iricanin admits.

He plans to also seat patrons on patios outside Buena Vida and TTT come early summer, pending better weather and sidewalk seating permits. With the patios, the three-story establishment will be able to seat a combined 345 people.

Despite the “tequila” in the name, Iricanin says he’s focusing on growing the restaurant’s wine selection. At the moment he says he’s importing craft wines from Mexico’s Baja region to pair with the menu, and hired a sommelier from Mexico City to help make the selection for Clarendon.

“Their wine culture is growing, there are amazing wines there,” said Iricanin. “My goal is by the end of the year to have 50 to 80 wines.”

Other future plans include using the 190 inch projection screen installed in front of TTT’s mural for game nights during the World Cup, or black and white movies on Fridays.

Bread & Water Opens In Pentagon Row

By Bridget Reed Morawski

The new location of Bread & Water had a “soft opening” the past weekend on Pentagon Row (1201 S. Joyce Street).

The eatery, the original location of which is in the Belle View section of Fairfax County, sells pastries like fruit bars, danish, muffins, key lime pie, plus sandwiches, salads, and more.

The artisan bakery regularly sells at local farmer’s markets in Ballston, Crystal City, and Columbia Pike. Additional farmer’s market stops are as far apart as Dale City, Va., and Silver Spring, Md.

Signs for the bakery initially went up in January. It is located at Pentagon Row’s central plaza, in a space formerly occupied by a sunglasses store and a Capital Teas shop.

The store’s Facebook page lists hours of operation between 7 a.m.-7 p.m. The company also caters.

Wilson Hardware in Clarendon to Open Tomorrow

By Chris Teale
1/7

(Updated 2:10 p.m.) After months of anticipation, the successor to the former RiRa Irish Pub in Clarendon will open its doors tomorrow (Friday).

Wilson Hardware’s soft opening at 2915 Wilson Blvd will begin at 5 p.m. Friday, with happy hour from 5-7 p.m., according to an event listing. It will open at the same time on Saturday as well, with a DJ to perform on both nights from 10 p.m. until close.

Anyone wanting to make dinner reservations for Friday or Saturday can now do so online.

“The team has been working hard create a beautiful, multi-level space for everyone’s enjoyment,” an invite to the soft opening reads. “Guests can anticipate bold fixtures, textured artwork and a unique experience in the new eclectic venue.”

The new 7,000-square-foot bar and lounge has three distinct bar areas, including one on the roof. Inside and outside are motifs and murals.

Food to be served will include Hardware fritters, crab dip and panzerotti, which is crisp-fried pizza dough stuffed with cheeses and marinara sauce. The menu will also feature avocado burgers with grass-fed beef, duck confit with roasted vegetables, steak frites and pan-seared salmon with saffron mashed potatoes.

Many of the drinks will reference the Virginia Hardware store, which occupied the space from the early 1960s until 2005. The cocktail menu will feature signature drinks such as the “Blueprint,” a mix of rosé, vodka, cantaloupe, lemon, ancho chile and mint; the “Adjustable Wrench” made with bourbon, rum, vanilla and chocolate bitters and the “Bright Idea,” a shareable cocktail for two.

Work to renovate and build out the space began last year.

“We’re so excited for everyone to finally see our vision for Wilson Hardware to come to life,” co-owner Jad Bouchebel said in a statement. “We know Arlingtonians will be pleasantly surprised when they see how we’ve revamped the space into an elegant new restaurant and bar.”

Photos No. 2, 4-6 via Instagram.

New Fast-Casual Korean BBQ Restaurant Opens in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com
1/3

A new fast casual Korean barbecue restaurant has opened in Crystal City.

KBQ Korean BBQ & Bar is located at 2450 Crystal Drive, next to Buffalo Wild Wings. It opened earlier today, offering a Chipotle-style experience, allowing customers to build their own rice and lettuce bowls, lettuce wraps, tofu dogs and rice burgers.

KBQ offers six proteins — from steak to pork belly to tofu — and nearly a dozen “banchans,” or sides. That’s topped off by a selection of sauces and garnishes.

In addition, there’s a separate “bubble tea shop” offering a selection of bubble teas, including taro, chai and mango, for $5 apiece. As of earlier today, the boba for the teas was not yet ready, so customers had to make do with bubble tea sans bubbles.

Though KBQ seems likely to capture a primarily lunchtime dining crowd in Crystal City, it also has a bar serving cocktails, beer, wine and “bombs” — as in soju, Jager, car and cherry bombs. The restaurant will be open nightly until 1 a.m.

Korean barbecue “is the hottest trend in the culinary world,” according to a press release announcing the restaurant’s opening today. The full release, after the jump.

(more…)

Spirits of 76 Now Open in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com
1/8

Spirits of 76, new bar with a patriotic name and Americana decor, has opened.

Specializing in whiskey and American comfort food, Spirits of 76 aims to be a neighborhood hangout. Live music is also part of the plan.

The bar quietly opened its doors Wednesday as part of a soft opening. It’s now open from 4 p.m. to last call on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to last call on weekends.

Shh, the Rosslyn Target Is Now Open

By ARLnow.com
1/9

Despite signs on the door and statements to the press to the contrary, the new TargetExpress store in Rosslyn is now open.

Even at mid-afternoon today the store wasn’t lacking for intrepid customers who figured out that they could just walk right past the “Opens October 11” sign on the door. An employee described it as a “soft opening.”

The 23,000 square foot store, at 1500 Wilson Blvd, stocks a selection of groceries, beer, wine, personal care items, clothing, tech gadgets and other sundry goods. It also boasts the area’s third Starbucks store within a one block radius.

Maserati of Arlington Now Open

By Morgan Fecto
1/4

Maserati of Arlington, located at the former M. Slavin & Sons Seafood site on S. Glebe Road, opened its doors to customers today.

Although the location plans to have a grand opening event within the next two weeks, it opened today with lease specials, finance specials and discounts on certain cars. The sticker prices on the dealership’s website start at $132,999, but General Sales Manager Alex Macatuno said at least one model is being offered for less than $70,000.

Macatuno said the location,  an affiliate of Maserati of Washington in Sterling, opened next to I-395 in Arlington in order to better serve customers closer to the District.

“We wanted to be closer to Washington, so that’s one of the reasons why I think it’s a great location,” Macatuno told ARLnow.com. “There’s an Audi store here, there’s a Porsche store here, there’s a BMW store two exits up and a Mercedes store right down the street, so it’s perfect.”

Macatuno said the dealershop, at 2710 S. Glebe Road, will cater to people “right around the Beltway” and from the Pentagon. It is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Maserati owners can drop their cars off at the dealership for service, he said.

As of 1:00 p.m. today, the location hadn’t sold any cars, according to salesman Tate Attia.

The storefront, as it stands presently, is a “temporary facility,” according to Macatuno. Within the next two to three months, construction is expected to begin on a new 18,000 square-foot facility that will accommodate more cars and more employees. The dealership will remain open during the construction, Macatuno said. Afterwards, the existing building is expected to be knocked down.

In the next two weeks, Maserati of Arlington plans to hold a “grand opening” event. Community members and “those in the area who own luxury brands” are among those the dealership is hoping will attend the event, Macatuno said.

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