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Columbia Pike Ethiopian Restaurant ‘Overwhelmed’ with Community Support

Published March 3, 2021 at 3:55PM

In the weeks after opening, new Columbia Pike Ethiopian restaurant Greens N Teff (3203 Columbia Pike) said the response from the community has been better than they could have hoped.

The restaurant, which features an entirely vegetarian/vegan menu, sold out twice in February, following ARLnow’s coverage of its opening.

“Everything has been good,” said Hanna Elias, one of the restaurant co-owners. “The neighborhood response… it’s been overwhelming. We’re happy to be here, and every customer has been happy to be here.”

Elias said that one of the biggest surprises so far has been that most of the customers order the “extra large” selection on the menu: a base with three proteins and four greens for $14.99. Elias said customers ordering extra large options said they’ve been getting take-out meals for for their family to share and tasting a variety of options.

“Mostly that’s been how they’re ordering: for families,” Elias said. “People were also happy that we have gluten-free injera.”

Injera, a spongey flatbread made from the eponymous teff, serves as the base for many Ethiopian dishes. Elias said the restaurant has also gotten positive feedback on its entirely animal-free menu.

For those who visit, Elias said she recommends the collared greens with the spicy lentils and mushrooms, which she said pairs nicely either with rice or injera.

Photos via Greens N Teff

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 14, 2021 at 7:30AM

Arlington Firefighters Getting Vaccinated — From the Arlington County Fire Department: “As @ArlingtonVA moves into Phase 1b of the #CovidVaccine rollout, we would like to thank @ArlingtonDHS and @VDHgov for helping us provide the first round of Moderna vaccine to 67% of our workforce so far.” [Twitter]

Ideas for Plant-Based Dining — Here’s a new list of “13 vegetarian and vegan takeout options to kickstart 2021” in and near Arlington. [Arlington Magazine]

Man Brings Lots of Bullets to DCA — “TSA officers at @Reagan_Airport stopped a man with 100 bullets in his carry-on bag at one of the security checkpoints last week.” [Twitter]

Reminder: Vote in the Arlies — If you haven’t already, vote for your favorite places, people, and businesses in the inaugural Winter 2021 Arlies. [ARLnow]

D.C. Dispatch Trouble for Crash Call — The fire department response to Tuesday night’s GW Parkway crash that sent two vehicles careening into the Potomac was delayed by cross-jurisdictional dispatch issues. [Twitter]

Downtown Stations to Close for Inauguration — “Metro will close 13 stations inside the security perimeter, with 11 stations closing on Friday and two additional stations on Saturday and continuing through the end of service on Thursday. During this time trains will pass through the closed stations without stopping.” [WMATA]

PETA To Protest at Clarendon Starbucks Tomorrow

By ARLnow.com

Published January 21, 2020 at 2:45PM

Animal rights activists are planning a protest at the Clarendon Starbucks tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says demonstrators will “occupy” the cafe at 2690 Clarendon Blvd — as well as other Starbucks location in the U.S. and Canada — to pressure the coffee chain to offer dairy-free milk free of charge. The protest is scheduled to take place from noon-1 p.m.

It’s part of a “Week of Action” aimed at pressuring Starbucks to “stop penalizing people for choosing eco- and animal-friendly options.”

Arlington Pie Store Makes PETA “Top 10 Vegan Pies” List

By Kalina Newman

Published November 21, 2019 at 3:30PM

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, Arlington’s Acme Pie Co. has earned kudos from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for its vegan blackberry pie.

The animal rights group announced in a press release yesterday (Wednesday) its list of “Top 10 Vegan Pies (and 2 Honorable Mentions) for Thanksgiving.”

“Acme Pie Co.’s Blackberry Pie is as delicious as it is kind to animals, and it’s the perfect way to end a Thanksgiving meal,” said PETA President Ingrid Newkirk.

The Blackberry with a Hint of Lime pie is made of fresh blackberries, lime, and clove, criss-crossed with a lattice crust. Instead of using butter or cream, the bakery uses tapioca in the filling.

After five years of selling pies out of a basement kitchen, Acme Pie opened a retail store at 2803 Columbia Pike earlier this year.

In June, Acme Pie founder Sol Schott told ARLnow they’re churning out around 20,000 pies a year. The blackberry pie — which Schott’s favorite — is inspired by going blackberry picking and making the pies with his mother as a child.

The bakery, which is typically only open from 3-9 p.m. most days, will be open from 1-9 p.m. on the three days before Thanksgiving (November 25-27).

Indie Rocker Bar Galaxy Hut in Clarendon Cooks Up New Vegan Options

By Vernon Miles

Published August 29, 2019 at 11:00AM | Updated August 29, 2019 at 11:21AM

Joe Baker, manager at Galaxy Hut, talks with a customer

(Updated at 11:20 a.m.) Vegan Americana has been making waves, from the new Impossible Whoppers at Burger King to Kentucky Fried Chicken’s vegan chicken buckets. But at one popular Clarendon bar, vegan options are a longtime specialty receiving a new focus.

Galaxy Hut is a small, dimly lit bar at 2711 Wilson Blvd with regulars huddled around tables with built-in arcade games or in the outdoor brick alleyway. The bar has a long history in the local punk rock scene, opening in 1990 in the nascent era of the Clarendon bar scene. It’s strictly for the over-21 crowd, opening at 5 p.m. every day and closing at 2 a.m.

The bar also has a Smithsonian-worthy collection of VHS tapes playing on a regular cycle. Last night (Wednesday), it was Pulp Fiction.

In early August, the Galaxy Hut adjusted its menu with a masthead noting — as it has since 2017 — that every item on the menu can be made vegan. This is not a small menu either. Sandwiches like the Reuben or meatball sub can all be swapped out with vegan imitation ingredients. Others, like the “big mock” — a vegan burger with pickles, onion, Russian dressing and non-dairy cheddar — are implicitly designed as vegan entrees.

Each of these items can be paired with tater tots or eggplant fries, which manager Joe Baker swears by. All of the condiments on the menu are made in-house, according to Baker, so traditionally egg or dairy-based aiolis or ranch are swapped with vegan ingredients.

“We used to carry honey mustard, but people pointed out that’s not vegan so now we use sweet mustard,” Baker said. “We listen to our customers and adjust. Personally, I’ve stopped saying ‘do you want normal cheese’ and switched to ‘do you want dairy-cheese.'”

The vegan menu was not a sudden change but a gradual evolution, according to Baker. Galaxy Hut’s owners are vegan and the bar has been making adjustments over time to cater towards the establishment’s “pretty consistent vegan crowd.”

“We’ve had a significant vegetarian customer base for a long time,” said Lary and Erica Hoffman, the owners, in a joint email to ARLnow. “Galaxy Hut went entirely vegetarian for 9 months in 2012, but decided to add meat options back to the menu due to customer demand.”

The veggie focus event landed Galaxy Hut as the Virginia standout on a “50 States of Vegetarian Food” list compiled on the Food Network website.

A handful of the beers also have non-vegan ingredients, but Baker said all of the bartenders know the taps well enough to let those ordering vegan food items know which of the beers to avoid.

Naked Lunch Closed on Lee Highway

By Vernon Miles

Published July 1, 2019 at 3:30PM

Inside the closed Naked Lunch on Lee Highway

Naked Lunch, an organic vegetarian and vegan eatery attached to the MOM’s Organic Market at 1901 N. Veitch Street, has closed.

According to staff at the grocery store, the location — along car-oriented Lee Highway, a long walk from Courthouse — meant that Naked Lunch never got the kind of traffic it needed and the restaurant closed last Monday, June 24.

The signs on the storefront have been taken down and through the window, the last of the kitchen supplies can be seen being packed into boxes.

Naked Lunch opened on Lee Highway with MOM’s Organic Market in 2015. The restaurant served salads, soup bowls, sandwiches and more, along with organic juices.

The next closest Naked Lunch locations are at 3831 Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria’s Arlandria neighborhood or 8298 Glass Alley in Fairfax’s Mosaic District.

True Food Kitchen Plans Grand Opening Next Week

By Vernon Miles

Published May 1, 2019 at 9:15AM | Updated May 1, 2019 at 11:58AM

(Updated 12 p.m.) True Food Kitchen — a health-food chain — is planning to open its new Ballston Quarter location next Wednesday (May 8) at 11 a.m.

The restaurant has a seasonal menu that includes a variety of vegan and vegetarian choices, like tofu bowls and cheese-less pizzas, in addition to a selection of burgers, sandwiches and entrees with and without meat.

The Arlington restaurant will have an opening dining area, an outdoor patio, and two private dining rooms for special occasions. A bar at the location includes fresh-pressed fruit and vegetable juices, seasonal cocktails, local beer and wine, according to the restaurant website.

The restaurant is also currently hiring staff, including bartenders, servers, and a butcher.

If you want to try True Food before then, the next closest location is the Mosaic District (2910 District Ave.) in Fairfax County.

Alt’s Vegetarian Restaurant to Open Soon in Lyon Park

By Anna Merod

Published March 27, 2018 at 2:55PM

(Updated at 3:05 p.m.) Alt’s, a vegetarian restaurant in Lyon Park, might soon be opening.

Though Alt’s signed a lease at 2300 N. Pershing Drive in May 2015, according to the restaurant’s Facebook page, and filed permits to renovate later that year, the restaurant has only recently revealed signs of life.

Signs and a business hours card are up on the restaurant’s storefront. A company representative arrived unannounced at ARLnow’s office yesterday with laminated menus in hand, saying that it was opening this week. (Note to other businesses: please email information to us instead.)

No one from the restaurant answered calls or emails today and it was not open during lunchtime.

The restaurant’s business signs indicate it will be closed on Mondays and open from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 12-2 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. on Saturday to Sunday.

The restaurant sells basic vegan and vegetarian “Altburgers” for $4.50 and a vegetarian “altbacon” cheeseburger for $6.20 — “the true pinnacle of meat alternative burgers.” Customers can sub out the bun for a “delicious gluten free rice tortilla” if desired, according to the menu.

On Alt’s website, it claims people can’t tell the difference between a regular burger and its meatless burgers.

“Come to Alt’s, where your perception of a meatless burger will be forever changed,” the site writes.

Sugar Shack Along Columbia Pike Offering Vegan, ‘Gluten-Friendly’ Donuts

By ARLnow.com

Published March 28, 2016 at 2:30PM

Vegan, dairy-free and “gluten-friendly” donuts are now being offered at Sugar Shack Donuts and Coffee along Columbia Pike.

The donut store opened at 1014 S. Glebe Road to much local fanfare last month. Today Sugar Shack announced the new vegan, gluten-friendly offerings, the result of “a few weeks of testing.”

“We’ll be offering these bad boys around 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day,” said store owner and former state legislator Rob Krupicka. “They are best when they are fresh out of the kitchen… We will be topping these with a variety of gluten-free toppings. We are also making vegan, gluten-friendly apple fritters.”

Why the “gluten-friendly” label?

“These donuts do not contain gluten, but as there is a lot of flour in our store, we can’t say they are gluten-free because the chance of cross-contamination is too high,” Krupicka said. He added that the new donuts will be an exclusive for the Arlington Sugar Shack location, at least for awhile.

“Because our Arlington store is bigger, we have more room to do new things in the kitchen,” he said. “We hope to offer these at all our stores soon, but for now, to get these rare, unicorns of donuts, head over to Sugar Shack Arlington on the Pike.”

Yoga Studio Opening Soon in Crystal City

By Katie Pyzyk

Published December 28, 2012 at 3:05PM | Updated December 28, 2012 at 3:40PM

A yoga studio and holistic center will be opening next month in the Crystal City Shops.

Mind Your Body Oasis is scheduled to open at 1750 Crystal Drive on January 12. Owner Amanda Shipe said the area has been hurting for a business of this type.

“I’ve lived here for 15 years, I own a house on South Glebe Road, so I kind of know the lay of the land really well. I’m also a realtor,” said Shipe. “There’s not a yoga studio in the area. It’s very densely populated and is really in need of something different than what’s happening with the restaurants and shops.”

In addition to yoga, the center will offer massages, facials, acupuncture and nutritional coaching.

“There is nothing else like my studio,” said Shipe. “You have your yoga studios that have just yoga and maybe massage, but there is not a center that has hot yoga, regular yoga, pilates and the spa options and acupuncture. There is no other studio that combines everything I’m doing into one in the entire D.C. metro area.”

The Crystal City location made even more sense to Shipe after she led a few outdoor yoga classes in the neighborhood earlier this year. She said the studio will be easy to get to by Metro, and customers can enjoy the renovated courtyard area at the Crystal City Shops. Shipe said customers can take food they buy at her studio into the courtyard to eat.

The food will be provided by local startup Postmodern Foods. Business owner Denise Hicks will make the pre-packaged health food that will be sold out of a refrigerator near the studio’s front desk. Hicks became more involved with health foods when she became ill a number of years ago, and she saw positive changes in her body and emotions due to a change in diet and exercise. She then attended the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York and learned about concepts such as cooking foods to keep them nutritionally intact.

“It took me to another level in terms of understanding different philosophies about food. I think food is really powerful, but it can be more powerful if you handle it respectfully,” said Hicks. “I’m really excited to be able to create food that I believe in and give it to the market. I want to make sure that people have access to really healthy foods that can change the quality of their lives.”

Although about 80 percent of the selections will be raw foods, Hicks plans that around 20 percent of the products will be cooked.

“100 percent raw is not something that you want all day, every day, especially not in winter,” she said.

Hicks makes all the items herself and plans to sell the beverages in glass containers, and the food in compostable, cornstarch based plastic containers. One of the pre-packaged dishes she’s featuring will be a quinoa and egg scramble, with an organic tortilla, corn, salsa fresca and a spicy black bean sauce.

Shipe said she is excited to have Hicks on board for the wholistic center, not just because of the healthy raw food concept, but also because she enjoys helping local people start a small business. Another business she’s helping out by selling its products is House of Steep, which is owned by Shipe’s sister, Lyndsey DePalma.

“We really play off of each other with our strengths and weaknesses. She helped me with the business plan, I helped her with the marketing,” Shipe said. “She’s a little bit ahead of me, so she gives me a future view of what I should be doing. It’s a very, very fun bonding experience for us. It’s been two years since we started this journey. We’ve been along for the ride together.”

If all goes well for both businesses, the sisters would eventually like to open a location combining Mind Your Body and House of Steep. But for now, Shipe is focused on getting out the word about her wholistic center.

“I want Mind Your Body Oasis to be a community and be a place where people can come and meet like minded people and escape the world,” said Shipe. “When you walk in the studio you have a sense of peace and harmony and it’s your little oasis to escape to for a while and forget about anything you’re dealing with that day.”

Mind Your Body Oasis will have a grand opening event from 2:00-9:00 p.m. on January 19. There will be raffles and samples of the juices that will be sold at the center. Customers are also welcome to check out the facility and enjoy a free yoga class.

Cafe Wilson Closes in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Published October 24, 2011 at 9:01AM

Cafe Wilson (3033 Wilson Blvd) closed up shop on Friday.

The cafe and deli was noted for its vegan sandwich options and its close proximity to the Clarendon Metro station.

The cafe’s owner told ARLnow.com that she was not given the option of renewing her lease, though she would have liked to. The owner, who declined to give her name, said she hopes to reopen at some point in a different location on Wilson Boulevard.