(Updated on 2/23/20) The sports bar and restaurant Champps in Pentagon Row has permanently closed.
Coronavirus wasn’t the sole cause of the bar and restaurant’s demise — a staff member at the now-closed restaurant said they’d been struggling for months — but he said that it had been the final nail in the coffin.
“We’re battling through the leases but as soon as coronavirus came through [the company] decided they couldn’t keep operating the ones that were losing money,” the staff member said.
The Pentagon Row Champps first opened in 2001, shortly after 9/11, and donated the first couple days of beverage sales to a relief fund for victims of the attack on the Pentagon. It was one of the first large restaurants in the then-new shopping center.
In the classic Arlington cycle of restaurant death and rebirth, Twitter users both mourned the late restaurant and started wondering what could be next for the large space.
Looks like @Champps at @PentagonRow is closing for good. In the mid-2000s, it had a great vibe + was a go-to spot for locals but it really went (way) downhill over the years. It’s a huge space; curious what’s coming. @FederalRealty @ARLnowDOTcom pic.twitter.com/m7kOt8BfxN
— CartChaos22202 (@CartChaos22202) March 19, 2020