A new Japanese restaurant in Ballston may open later this month.
Preparations for Kanji Izakaya have been underway at 4301 Fairfax Drive since at least last June. That’s when a permit application indicated that a new eatery was coming to the sizable former home of Willow restaurant, which closed in 2015.
A representative told ARLnow recently that Kanji Izakaya, which applied for a liquor license in March, is coming soon — perhaps by the end of April.
“It’s for neighbors, it’s for people working in the office, so pretty much for everyone,” the rep said.
Window stickers advertising sushi and ramen are up outside the forthcoming establishment. The restaurant has more than 100 seats inside in addition to the patio, according to the representative.
Kanji Izakaya would be one of several new Japanese restaurants to open in Arlington within the last year.
Gyu San began serving up Japanese barbecue just a few blocks away from Kanji Izakaya last June. Further south, the Japanese street food restaurant Ryu Izakaya opened in October at 3030 Columbia Pike.
A new sushi restaurant, Bluefish Bistro Sushi & Kitchen, also quietly opened at Centro Arlington on Columbia Pike in December.