MS-13 Gang Graffiti In Pentagon City
Notorious Salvadorian street gang MS-13 is active in Northern Virginia, which is easy to forget in the low crime environs of Arlington County. But for anyone who has walked past the old DHL warehouse between Eads and Fern Streets in Pentagon City recently, the gang’s presence has been on dispay.
This graffiti — with the words “La Mara Salvatrucha” and the number 13 — was scrawled on the side of the brick warehouse, near a heavily-traveled path that Metro commuters take to get to the eastern end of Pentagon City.
A police report was just taken and building management is now working to clean up the graffiti.
It had been there for at least a week.
Whitlow’s Expanding Upstairs With Rooftop ‘Fu Bar’
Whitlow’s is expanding — upward. The 15-year-old Wilson Boulevard institution has just received the building permit for a long-anticipated rooftop deck.
The wooden deck will have casual tiki bar theme and will be called “Fu Bar,” owner Greg Cahill tells us.
It will be massive — with room for up to 286 people. Food will be served and there will be about 50 tables for outdoor dining. The menu will remain the same as Whitlow’s this year, with changes possible for next year.
Construction is set to begin Monday and Cahill hopes to have the deck open in September.
Photo by Monika & Tim
New Irish Pub in Shirlington Importing Irishmen
Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub is looking for a few good Irishmen (and women).
To make sure there’s some brogue to be heard in Shirlington Village, the Tipperany-born owner of the under-construction pub has placed an ad for bartenders and servers on an Irish jobs web site.
“We will assist qualified candidates in obtaining a visa,” the job listing says. “If you are hard working, honest and have a sense of adventure, then we feel you would enjoy working on our team.”
And as if actual Irish employees weren’t authentic enough, the entire interior — light fixtures, mill work, artifacts, tile and all — is being manufactured in Ireland and shipped across the Atlantic as we speak.
“We will not be a ‘Disney Ireland’ as some Irish pubs choose to be,” owner Mark Kirwan said via email. “We are not trying to be an Irish-American pub, but rather I am trying to re-create what a true pub is like in Ireland.”
In addition to authentic, Samuel Beckett’s — named as the Nobel Prize-winning Irish writer — will also be huge. Kirwan anticipates indoor seating for 280, outdoor seating for up to 100, an upstairs mezzanine level, and three bars to make sure nobody is ever too far from a Guinness.
The pub will be located at 2800 South Randolph Street. Kirwan, who’s a partner in Daniel O’Connell’s restaurant in Alexandria but is striking out on his own with Samuel Beckett’s, expects to be able to open the doors by mid-October.
Logo via Shirlington Village Blogspot
T-Minus One Week to the Arlington County Fair
You can almost smell the deep-fried Oreos already. Yes, it’s that time of year again — the Arlington County Fair is nearly upon us.
New this year, a traveling educational show called Bixby’s Rainforest Rescue will make its Arlington debut. Bixby will bring with him a sloth, birds, snakes and other exotic rainforest animals. His 30-minute show will include lessons on the value of the rainforest and ways to save it.
This year’s fair will also mark the triumphant return of the racing piglets, who were conspicuously absent last year. The piglets and Bixby will both hold about five shows per day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Plan on sticking around after dark on Friday and Saturday. The movies Up and Twilight: New Moon will be playing outdoors on the tennis courts.
As always, dozens of vendors will be on hand with plenty of food, rides, and exhibits to keep the family fed and entertained and to lighten the load from mom and dad’s pocketbooks.
The fair will start on Wednesday, August 18 and wrap up on Sunday, August 22. It’s being held, as it has for the past 33 years, at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center (3501 South 2nd Street).
Here’s the bad news: there is no parking, except for handicapped spaces. And neighboring streets will be closed to non-local traffic. And there’s no Metrorail nearby. So you’ll either have to live within walking distance, take a bus, ride a bike or take one of the three fair shuttles, which charge $1 each way.
The shuttles run sparingly — every 30 minutes — and only pick up in three locations:
- Arlington Career Center (816 South Walter Reed Drive)
- I-66 Parking Garage (near Washington-Lee High School)
- Ballston Metro station
For more information, check out the fair web site, Facebook page and Twitter account.
Photo via Facebook.
Superintendent to Hold Community Chat Tonight
Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Pat Murphy is bringing his summer roadshow to the Langston Brown Community Center (4854 Lee Highway) tonight.
From 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., Dr. Murphy will talk about “a wide range of school-related topics,” and will answer questions from those in attendance.
The gathering, part of Dr. Murphy’s summer chat series, is being hosted by the African American Leadership Council of Arlington. Space is limited — call 703-228-2581 to RSVP.
The superintendent’s next chat will be held around lunchtime on Thursday, August 26, at the county’s Courthouse Plaza office building.
Morning Notes
Korean Burger Joint Looks To Arlington — Kraze Burger is coming to the D.C. area, and the Korean company has its sights set on Arlington. So far, though, no leases have been signed in the county. More from the Washington Business Journal.
BBC Visits Ray’s Hell Burger — President Obama’s burger summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev continues to pay publicity dividends for Ray’s Hell Burger. BBC News recently came calling and got a tour of the über-busy burger joint from owner Michael Landrum.
Meet Ballston’s Twenty-Something Civic Leaders – TBD profiles James Schroll, 25, and Conor Marshall, 24 — roommates, recent University of Mary Washington grads, and the newly-elected president and vice president of the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association.
Home Sales Volume Falls, Sale Prices Up — The Sun Gazette has the latest real estate stats for July.
Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA
