Events

DC United goalie Bill Hamid is expected to stop by and greet fans at the event, which is being organized by the Arlington Athletic and Social League. There will be gift bags for the first 50 fans who arrive, plus raffles for DC United opening day tickets (the game will be held on March 19 at RFK Stadium) and other memorabilia.

In addition to the soccer festivities inside, organizers plan to set up pick-up games of cornhole outside on the patio.


Around Town

The restaurant, located near the corner of Wilson Boulevard and North Highland Street, next to Hard Times Cafe, is still in the midst of construction. But exterior signs are up and much of the interior decorating is complete. General Manager Greg Comer says he expects the restaurant to open at the beginning of next month, perhaps as soon as April 1.

“It’s coming along pretty well,” he said outside the store today.


News

On New Year’s Day, County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman kicked off the year by declaring that the board wanted to be seen a “facilitator, a partner to small business” in 2011.

The subtext of his comment was that the county was looking to reverse course from 2010, when a series of mini-controversies over enforcement of county ordinances had some entrepreneurs questioning Arlington’s commitment to small business.


Around Town

A Naked Pizza restaurant will be replacing Pizza Milano, in a storefront that faces the Harris Teeter parking lot on the northern end of Pentagon Row. Pizza Milano, which used to offer free delivery, is now closed.

New Orleans-based Naked Pizza is noted for its devotion to making positive social change — it claims to be “part of the solution to the global epidemic of obesity and chronic disease” by making fast food “healthful instead of harmful” — as well as its health-minded pizza.


News

Sign Goes Up at Penrose Square Giant — The Giant supermarket that will be opening at the corner of Columbia Pike and South Adams Street this summer is teasing residents with a new sign. The sign went up recently on the side of the new Penrose Square apartment complex, in which the 60,000 square foot store will be located.

Fitness Center Coming to the Pike This Summer — Just up the street from the aforementioned Giant, a new 12,000 square foot Xsport Fitness Center is planning on opening on the ground floor of the Siena Park apartment building this summer. Xsports plans to stay open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. [Pike Wire]