A new family-owned, halal pizza shop is looking to open next month on Columbia Pike.
Papa Deeno’s Pizza at 4109 Columbia Pike was initially supposed to open at the end of last year, but a family health emergency and supply chain challenges has pushed the opening by a few months.
The plan is now to open mid to late February, says co-owner Roxanne Mannan.
Mannan is opening the restaurant with her husband, Sapon Rahman, who’s been in the pizza business for more than 15 years. Owning their own pizza place is a fulfillment of a family goal.
“My daughter always wanted to have a pizza restaurant,” Mannan says. “She tells me ‘Mommy, my dream is to own a pizza shop.'”
So much so, that the 8-year-old designed the business’s logo, a slice dripping with cheese.
What also makes the shop unique is that it will be all halal, similar to the taco shop La Tingeria in Falls Church.
“We are Muslim and eating out can be a challenge,” Mannan explains. “We thought it would be good to have some place that’s purely halal so people could have [that] choice.”
While the family doesn’t currently live in Arlington, Mannan attended Wakefield High School and grew up in the county. In fact, on Columbia Pike and in Quebec Apartments which is almost exactly across the street from where Papa Deeno’s will be.
“It really is a dream to find a place where I have a lot of memories,” she says.
Papa Deeno’s is expecting to do a brisk delivery business, with about 225 pizza deliveries over a course of a week, according to an October Arlington County staff report. That would potentially account for 30% to 40% of the business’s sales.
The menu consists of typical fare – pizzas, salads, pastas, sandwiches and chicken wings. The website also lists a second location in Chantilly that’s coming soon.
It’s moving into a space formerly occupied by Columbia Pike Cleaners.
Mannan notes that they understand it is a bit risky opening a restaurant during a pandemic, but believes this is the right time for her and her family.
She says, “When [customers] taste our product, I hope they can tell…the quality we can give to the community.”
The self-proclaimed “world’s first decentralized pizzeria” is now serving up pies in Courthouse
Bitcoin Pizza, a “virtual restaurant,” opened on Oct. 31 and operates out of the kitchen of Fire Works Pizza at 2350 Clarendon Blvd. It is one of about 100 locations across the country and one of seven locations in the D.C.-area.
The pizzeria was created by branding company Popchew in partnership with Bitcoin influencer Anthony Pompliano.
And, yes, the restaurant accepts Bitcoin as well as U.S. dollars.
“We want to spread the word of Bitcoin through this pizza,” Popchew CEO Rushir Parikh tells ARLnow. “[Pizza] is a very approachable way to learn about Bitcoin. We want to make Bitcoin as widely known and available as pizza is.”
It’s about educating the public on cryptocurrency and making it less scary — all while serving up great food — he says.
Bitcoin Pizza is essentially a ghost kitchen, with the company doing the branding and marketing, a local restaurant (in this case, Fire Works) making the pizza, and a third-party (UberEats, DoorDash, etc.) delivering. Like many ghost kitchens, ordering is online-only.
About 20% of the generated revenue goes to Bitcoin Pizza, Parikh said.
There was no specific reason that Arlington or Courthouse was chosen as a location, beyond wanting to have a number of locations in and near major cities, he notes.
The idea for a pizzeria was inspired by the famous — in the crypto world, at least — story of how a Florida man in 2010 purchased two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins. Eleven years ago, that equated to about $40 US dollars. Today, 10,000 bitcoins are worth more than $500 million.
October 31, the day of Bitcoin Pizza’s Arlington launch (along with the launch of a number of other locations) is also an important day in the cryptocurrency’s history. On Halloween 2008, Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin white paper which explained its rules, workings, and structure.
The menu includes pizzas with cryptocurrency-themed names, like Capital Greens (veggie), Satoshi’s Favorite (Hawaiian) and Laser Eyes (pepperoni).
On its website, the company behind Bitcoin Pizza, calls itself “the coolest food court on the internet.” Parikh compares the aspirations of Popchew to Yum! Brands, which owns fast food staples Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC.
“What we want to do is work with influential brands and people to build the next generation of food brands,” he says.
Working with local restaurants, like Fire Works Pizza, allows the company and its ideas to scale up quickly.
And Popchew is already working on its next food brand. “Wingszn” has launched and is expected to open a location in Arlington in the next month or two, Parikh says.
That “virtual restaurant” will be serving up chicken wings and yes, you can pay with Bitcoin.
A new pizza place is moving into the Clarendon space formerly occupied by late night pizza spot Goody’s.
Angolino Pizza could open as early as this week, new owner Farhad Bazzaz confirmed to ARLnow, though the restaurant is still waiting on county inspections and permits.
Goody’s quietly closed earlier this year, marking the end of an era at 3125 Wilson Blvd. The diminutive restaurant opened in 2006, across from the Clarendon Metro and within close walking distance of the neighborhood’s bars. The late-night pizza spot saw its fair share of antics and devoted fans over the years.
In 2018 the original owners sold the business, which kept the Goody’s name but added a new mural. In 2019, county inspectors came calling and determined the mural was a sign and thus not allowed. Instead of colorful paintings of pizza, the new ownership repainted the building lime green.
Early last year, the restaurant started emphasizing its taco offerings and other Mexican fare, alongside its pizza. It closed within the past few months — it’s unclear when, exactly, though an online review from three months ago noted that it was closed for renovations — as the new owner took over and made some changes.
@ARLnowDOTcom What's replacing Goody's in Clarendon? Saw the sign come down yesterday, and today there's a sign on the door saying they're waiting on their certificate of occupancy
— SeanMike! (@BeerAndAShot) November 12, 2021
There isn’t much known about Angolino Pizza at this time beyond potentially opening within the next few days. The owner was unavailable for follow-up questions when ARLnow stopped by the shop — which is now painted blue — this afternoon.
County permits and a business license were issued for the new restaurant in October. The permits specify a maximum interior capacity of 15 people, including those seated at the pizzeria’s three tables and six seats.
A new &pizza location is now open in Rosslyn.
The newest Arlington location of the fast-casual pizza eatery, first reported in May, opened yesterday (Monday) at 1800 N. Lynn Street. It replaces Little Beet, which closed in September 2020, and marks &pizza’s 12th Northern Virginia location.
“With 58 shops, including 12 in northern Virginia, Rosslyn felt like the perfect location to expand our local footprint,” an &pizza spokesperson tells ARLnow. “At our Friends & Family event on Sunday 11/14, we were overwhelmed by the support of the Rosslyn community, serving up more than 600 free pies to local residents.”
Other locations in and around Arlington include Ballston, Seven Corners, and at Reagan National Airport.
Balloons encircled the entrance of the eatery yesterday, marking the opening.
https://twitter.com/RosslynVA/status/1460296655547379714
The locally based pizza chain is known for its customizability, letting customers choose from a wide variety of toppings, as well as various sauce, cheese and crust options. The pizza is then cooked assembly-line style as you stand in line.
The first &pizza opened in D.C. on H Street NE in 2012 and, in less than a decade, has expanded to nearly 60 locations from Virginia to New York. There are potentially a lot more on the way.
(Updated at 10:25 a.m.) A new pizza place is opening on the Pike, in the shopping center at the intersection with S. Randolph Street.
Papa Deeno’s Pizza at 4109 Columbia Pike is expected to open in mid-December, in the space formerly occupied by Columbia Pike Cleaners, according to its co-owner and a county staff report.
On Saturday, the Arlington County Board granted the restaurant a permit to allow for food delivery. It passed in the “content agenda” with other items considered non-controversial.
Papa Deeno’s will have 12 indoor dining seats, along with restrooms, but it’s expected that about 30% to 40% of sales will come from delivery, according to the report.
Overall, it’s thought that the restaurant will make about 100 deliveries on weekdays and about 125 deliveries on weekends.
The website, which looks to be about half-completed, describes the pizza parlor as “family-owned” and the dream of the family’s youngest daughter. Additionally, the entire menu is halal “so that everyone can enjoy our delicious creations.”
The menu consists of pizzas, salads, pastas, sandwiches, and chicken wings. The website also lists a second location in Chantilly that’s coming soon.
The shopping center at the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Randolph Street takes up nearly 34,000 square feet and was constructed in 1962, the county report notes.
It’s unclear when Columbia Pike Cleaners closed, but local dry cleaning businesses have struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic as many customers have avoided going to the office or dressing up for formal occasions.
Photo via Google Maps. Screenshot via Papa Deeno’s
Pupatella Gets Millions for Expansion — “Arlington’s own Pupatella pizza restaurant chain has raised $7.5 million to continue its growth spurt, with plans to open more more than a dozen restaurants in the coming years. The round was fully subscribed and had participation from almost all of the investors who participated in the company’s first round in 2018, when it raised $3.75 million.” [Washington Business Journal]
Steel from WTC Donated to Arlington — “Two pieces of steel from the World Trade Center will now be on permanent display in D.C. and Virginia ahead of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. The words ‘never forget’ are written on the front of a piece of steel beam unveiled during a ceremony in front of the Arlington County Police Officer Memorial on Sunday.” [WTOP]
Crystal City Getting Cooler? — “Nearly three years after Amazon announced it would be bringing its second headquarters to Arlington — and specifically to ‘National Landing,’ a name conjured by local officials to sell the area as a tech hub — its reputation may be changing.” [Washington Post]
Big Win for Fmr. Youth Soccer Star — “Congratulations to #TeamArlington alum [Eryk Williamson] and the @usmnt on winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup.” [Twitter, ALXnow]
Food Scrap Caddy Being Delivered — “With Arlington’s weekly food scraps collection program launching next month, a County-provided countertop caddy, instructions and even introductory biodegradable bags will be delivered to curbside customer homes beginning this week.” [Arlington County]
Fire Engine Involved in Crash — “An Arlington fire engine was involved in a crash at the intersection of 18th Street S. and S. Fern Street this morning around 9:30. No firefighters were injured. One person in the second vehicle involved was taken to the hospital but is expected to be okay, per an ACFD spokesman.” [Twitter]
CPRO to Mark 35th Anniversary — “As the group’s 35th anniversary looms on the horizon this fall, the recent annual meeting of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (CPRO) was a chance to take stock of tumultuous times and fly the organization’s flag in the march toward the future.” [Sun Gazette]
Arlington Poetry Book — “I picked up a copy of the ‘Written in Arlington: Poems of Arlington, Virginia’ edited by Katherine E. Young, our poet laureate emerita. Published quietly last fall during the pandemic, it showcases storytelling via 150 poems by 87 poets who ‘live, work, study, worship in or simply pass through… and in so doing, make Arlington their own,’ Young explains. She nodded to famous Arlington-based poets — George Washington Parke Custis, Doors singer Jim Morrison, and Zitkala-Sa.” [Falls Church News-Press]
It appears that Rosslyn is getting a new fast-casual dining option.
A permit application was filed yesterday for a new &pizza location in the Central Place development at 1800 N. Lynn Street.
It was not immediately clear which storefront the pizzeria would occupy, though the former Little Beet space at the corner of N. Lynn Street and 19th Street N. seems to be a likely candidate. The New York-based vegetarian restaurant chain closed its Rosslyn location last year after about three years in business.
The new &pizza will have competition from Wiseguy Pizza, which is just across Lynn Street.
There are two existing &pizza locations in Arlington, in Ballston and at Reagan National Airport. Just across the Arlington border are a pair of &pizza locations in Alexandria: in Potomac Yard and in a just-opened storefront at the Bradlee Shopping Center near Fairlington.
Hat tip to Chris Slatt
Arlington’s own Pupatella was recently named one of the best pizzas places in Virginia by Food & Wine Magazine.
“The only thing more authentically Neapolitan than the pillow-like pizzas practically flying from the oven at Pupatella in Arlington is [owner] Enzo Algarme himself,” reads part of the story’s blurb.
Reached by phone while visiting their parents in Naples, Italy, owners Enzo Algarme and Anastasiya Laufenberg tell ARLnow that they are “incredibly grateful” and “honored” for the distinction. In fact, they were not aware of the story until ARLnow reached out.
The married couple opened their first restaurant in 2010 on Wilson Blvd in the Bluemont neighborhood — from which they nearly moved last year — after getting their start selling pizza from a food cart.
Since, they’ve opened four more locations including another in Arlington along S. Walter Reed Drive, one in Reston, one in D.C., and their most recent in Richmond.
Expansion is continuing, the owners confirm, with additional locations in the Mosaic District and Springfield planned for the coming months.
Laufenberg says they owe their popularity and the ability to grow, even after a rough pandemic year, to their customers. While it was a challenge those first months, says Laufenberg, they’ve been able to gain nearly all of their business back recently and have rehired staff they had to let go.
“We’ve had a lot of support from the neighborhood,” says Laufenberg. “Our customers didn’t forget about us and have left huge tips for our staff.”
They’ve also recovered by focusing on delivery and take-out, but additionally realizing the need to shift to more outdoor seating.
“One of the biggest ways the pandemic changed us…is our commitment to building out nice, large patios,” says Laufenberg. “People are still scared to eat inside, so having big outdoor patios is a way to help with that.”
Both the locations on Wilson Blvd and S. Walter Reed Drive now have expansive outdoor seating.
Last year, 90% of Pupatella’s sales were from delivery and take-out, she says, but now that ratio is closer to 50/50 with more folks dining outside.
Of course, Pupatella’s popularity is overwhelming due to the quality of its pizza, which has earned it numerous other awards and honors over the years.
“Every region, city in Italy has their own pizza, but everyone knows that Neapolitan pizza is the original,” says Laufenberg about their style of pizza. And that has a lot to do with the wood-fired oven used to them.
All of the ovens used at Pupatella restaurants are certified by the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association, meaning they adhere to two-century-old Neapolitan techniques.
The oven bricks are even built using volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius, which last erupted in 1944.
The ash provides the bricks the ability to retain heat very well, explains Laufenberg, which allows the oven to heat up fast and cook the pizza very quickly.
“There’s still ash left… we don’t know when it’s going to run out,” says Laufenberg.
Back in 2010 when they first contemplated opening their own business, Laufenberg admits she and Algarme were scared. Building a Neapolitan pizza business is expensive and very labor intensive, after all.
Even training staff to use the ovens is difficult and requires a steep learning curve — hence, why a number of employees have been with them since nearly the beginning. But more than a decade later, even with a pandemic, it is paying off.
“You always wonder ‘is it worth it to go the extra mile? Will people know the difference?” she rhetorically asks. “Well, that extra work is worth it and people have noticed.”
In the short time that Colony Grill has been in Clarendon, the pizza place has garnered a lot of love.
The spot opened last October at 2800 Clarendon Blvd in The Crossing Clarendon (formerly known as Market Common). Colony Grill, a small Connecticut-based chain, is known for its short menu featuring one innovation to pizza: the thin-crust, hot-oil bar pie. On weekends, it becomes a breakfast pizza best served with a mimosa or Bloody Mary.
Co-owner Ken Martin tells ARLnow that the company is as excited to be in Arlington now as it was a month before the opening.
“I think we’ve been well-received by local guests and the community, which has been great,” he said.
Small, out-of-town restaurant chains setting up shop in Arlington have not always found the county to be a fruitful place to pursue an expansion. What worked in one place often does not work here, for one reason or another.
But reviewers on Google and Yelp seem to agree with Martin that Colony Grill has found a good fit: “Finally a solid pizza place right in the heart of Clarendon! Place looks amazing on the inside,” said one.
A Stamford native who now lives in Arlington said she “had high expectations for this location,” given its Connecticut provenance, and was not disappointed, praising the service and the local addition of “a down-to-earth, inexpensive, quality pizza joint.”
But business could be better, Martin said. Back in the Constitution State, most sales are inside rather than take-out. In Clarendon, most sales are inside too, but Colony Grill is limited by booth spacing. Restrictions have been lifted faster in New York and Connecticut, allowing customers to be seated back-to-back in booths so long as a barrier is in place, he said.
“We certainly need more capacity,” Martin said.
Martin observed that people in Virginia seem more reluctant to dine out than those in Connecticut and New York, where the original restaurant and its four outposts are located.
“It seems like some of our guests in Virginia, they just want to be given permission to leave their house — they’ve tried to follow the rules and do their best,” he said. “We want to get through this. We’ve been fairly healthy because of the type of restaurant we are, but we’re so desperate to get more bodies into the restaurant.”
He said he hopes to see some additional restrictions lifted in the coming weeks and months, which Colony Grill will need “to remain healthy as a business.”
“Our dine-in business has been very strong but within a context that’s a bit limited,” he said. “Takeout has been okay, but typically, takeout business lags for a year or two until we establish ourselves.”
The pizza joint is still working to establish itself as a member of the community. A “Wall of Heroes” features photos of those who have served in uniform as first responders or members of the military. For Veteran’s Day, Colony Grill offered free pizza to current and former military members.
This year, Colony Grill is sponsoring the Armed Forces Cycling Classic, which was canceled last year. The races through Crystal City and Clarendon are set to take place on Saturday and Sunday, June 5-6, respectively — pending final permit approval and an easing of restrictions on outdoor gatherings.
“We’ve tried to be a good partner for our size of business,” he said of the sponsorship.
Although uncertainty exists, Martin said his restaurant will continue its focus on its thin-crust pizza, hospitality and a wecoming atmosphere.
“That’s going to get us returning customers over the long haul,” he said.
Remember the Stamford native? She later updated her review to say she’s “been going consistently once a week.” Her one pro-tip: “Ask for your pizza on the well-done side, it’s my favorite.”
For 64 years, Mario’s Pizza House on Wilson Blvd has served up slices and memories.
From late night pizza runs to Little League baseball, for many Arlingtonians Mario’s has remained one of the only constants in a county where change is the norm. And, according to its current owner Tuhin Ahmed, Mario’s Pizza is not going anywhere, despite some of the change happening around it.
“Mario’s Pizza is going to be here forever,” says Ahmed. “It’s an Arlington institution.”
Howard Levine and his wife, Norma opened Mario’s Pizza House in 1957.
Their son, Alan Levine, tells ARLnow that his dad was a criminal defense attorney but saw a need for a quick bite type of restaurant on Wilson Blvd, which was a very busy road at the time.
“At that time, you didn’t have [Interstate] 66,” says Levine. “So, the main thoroughfare in the D.C. was Wilson Boulevard.”
So, Levine took an old flower shop and converted it to a pizza shop, one that sold ten cent slices.
As to why his father named it Mario’s, Alan laughs.
“Because not many people would have gone to a place called ‘Levine’s Pizza House’ in the 50s.”
Instantly, Mario’s became a community gathering spot. But there was one group that Howard Levine refused to serve.
“The American Nazi Party,” says Alan, of the group led by George Lincoln Rockwell, notoriously had its headquarters nearby. “If they had a swastika, he wasn’t going to serve them.”
Unsurprisingly, the Nazis didn’t take too fondly to a Jewish business owner who refused to serve them but who served slices to the Black community. They protested the pizza shop, holding signs that said things like “Mario the Jew.” But Levine was not intimidated.
“My father was a big son of a bitch,” recalls Alan. “He knew how to handle himself.”
According to Alan, the protest ended when Howard doused the Nazis with a power washer.
Howard and Norma divorced in 1962, says Alan, and his father left the restaurant to his mother as part of the settlement.
“He ran away with the au pair girl,” says Alan, “He ended up crashing a boat in Antigua and staying there forever.”
From that point on and for more than two decades, Norma Levine was the hand at the register exchanging pizza for dollars.
She always worked the register at lunch, Alan says, and that’s how she got to know everyone. When asked if his mother enjoyed the running Mario’s, Alan pauses.
“It supported the family,” he says. “She enjoyed that.”
Thanks to the Levines, Mario’s was a pillar in the community.
Countless Arlingtonians have memories of Mario’s, from sponsoring Little League teams to the donuts to a miniature golf course with a monkey that bit kids.
“My father [initially] purchased the entire block and there was a miniature golf course where the Highlander is now,” says Levine. “There was a macaw that only cussed and a monkey that [had] a hatred of little girls. [We] had to get rid of the monkey.”
Willie “Lefty” Lindsay started working the grill at Mario’s in 1965 and did so for the next five decades. He only stopped grilling up steak and cheese sandwiches (the most popular thing on the menu, he says) last year, when the pandemic hit.
He remembers Norma Levine as a good boss and someone who was great to the customers.
“She was such a fine person to work around, customers loved her,” 85-year-old Lindsay tells ARLnow. “If you did a good job, she’d reward you for it.”
He believes the key to Mario’s longevity is that the menu and the recipes have hardly changed since it first opened. The customers and the employees have not changed much, either.
Alongside Lindsay for most of those years was Joe Williams, who made the pizza.
Williams worked at Mario’s as well for more than five decades, often side-by-side Lindsay.
“We were like brothers,” says Lindsay. “We never had an argument.”
Williams died in October 2019.
“Joe was an amazing man. He worked seven days a week,” Levine says about Williams. “He never missed a day of work. Except for his wife’s funeral.”
In the mid-1980s, Norma Levine retired and left the restaurant to her kids. She died in 1990. Alan Levine ran day-to-day operations for the next several decades.
“A lot of famous people would come through [to get pizza],” says Levine. “Bill Clinton was a big fan.”
(Updated at 3:35 p.m.) Mom’s Pizza Restaurant at Westmont Shopping Center is closing this summer after 32 years, the owners tell ARLnow.
Owner John Hosein says the property manager recently informed the long-running restaurant that they would have to vacate their space along Columbia Pike for a planned redevelopment.
“They need the space,” says Hosein. “They want to… demolish the whole shopping center.”
He says it’s likely that they’ll close in June.
The County Board approved the shopping center’s redevelopment in September 2019. The plan is to replace the aging shopping center and surface parking lot with 250 market rate apartments and new retail. A small-format grocery store may be among the new retail options.
Demolition will likely happen shortly after the shopping center closes in June, a spokesperson for the property management company tells ARLnow. Construction is currently targeted to begin in late 2021, Jessica Margarit of Arlington’s Dept. of Community Planning, Housing and Development says.
The project would likely wrap up by 2024, though an exact timeline could not be immediately confirmed.
Hosein says the news wasn’t a total surprise, since their lease was up at the end of the year. While he says the agreement does allow the property owner to do this, he wishes there was more time to say goodbye.
Mom’s has always been a family affair and a showcase for their multi-cultural heritage.
Hosein was born in Jordan, where his mother — who was from Athens, Greece — first met his dad. They all immigrated to the United States, to New York initially, in the 1970s for the economic opportunities.
Hosein attended George Mason University, but opening a restaurant was “my dream,” he says. In 1989, he partnered with his mom, Rahma, and brother to open Mom’s.
“My mom was a really great chef. So, we named it [after her] and have continued calling it that since,” says Hosein, who now owns the restaurant with his wife Manal. Their daughter, Areen, also helps with the restaurant too, including running their Instagram and Facebook accounts.
“If you watched [the movie] ‘Our Big Fat Greek Wedding,’ that’s exactly us,” Areen laughs.
The restaurant’s menu is influenced by Hosein’s upbringing, featuring Greek specialities like spanakopita, and pastitsio (Greek lasagna) as well as traditional Middle Eastern fare like hummus and gyros.
There’s also, of course, pizza and pasta. Hosein notes that many dishes are made from scratch, including the pastitsio and the pizza dough. Hosein says he still cooks at the restaurant almost every day.
“I like to make the sauce,” he says. “It’s tricky. If you miss a little bit with it, it’s no good.”
When asked what dish they’d recommend to new customers, Manal Hosein says “everything.”
John Hosein says what he loves the most about owning a restaurant are the challenges everyday and that he “just loves to see people happy.” While the pandemic, like for so many Arlington restaurants, has been a challenge, cutting hours and other expenses — in combination with a loyal customer base — have kept Mom’s “above water.”
They’ve recently started informing some customers of their closing, leaving a few in tears, says Hosein. He said the family is deeply grateful for the community’s support over the years.
The couple, despite losing their restaurant, is not planning to retire — but they don’t know what comes next.
“I’m still only 58 and we need income,” says Hosein. “We were left in limbo. We don’t know what to do.”
Photo (bottom) courtesy of Mom’s Pizza Restaurant
