Efforts to open the long-awaited Clarendon Wine Club are once again underway.
The planned establishment at 1114 N. Irving Street has applied for two work permits this summer, including one last week. However, the bar’s interior buildout was already completed during the pandemic, according to one of the owners.
The co-owner, who did not want their name to be used, told ARLnow that Arlington County was unresponsive during that time. The two partners have been attempting to correct a paperwork issue for the last two years, the co-owner said.
Once permitting is up to speed, the co-owner said, Clarendon Wine Club still must obtain a certificate of occupancy, beer and wine license and food preparation certification. No timeline for the business’s opening was disclosed.
The bar has already faced a variety of delays since being announced in 2022, including the death of the building’s landlord and the subsequent transfer of property ownership.
“Unfortunately, we have had a lot of setbacks, including several transfers of custodianship of the landlord estate that delayed signatures and paperwork,” the owner told ARLnow in February. “Arlington has our paperwork, and it is pending currently.”
When it does open, Clarendon Wine Club “will focus on high-end wines in an intimate space,” ownership said in 2022. It will join Screwtop Wine Bar in the neighborhood. Another wine-centric restaurant, Oby Lee, closed last year.
Hat tip to Chris Slatt. Photo (2) via Clarendon Wine Club/Google Maps
