The County Board has voted against a Clarendon bar’s request to host DJs and karaoke, citing concerns about recent violations at the location.
The split 4-1 vote on Tuesday night came despite arguments from the owners of Big Tony’s, who said that live entertainment helps keep the restaurant alive and that there was confusion about the county code and the compliance process.
For the majority of Board members, the decision appeared to hinge on a question of fairness and respect for the county’s own rules.
Big Tony’s, a retro-style bar that opened in Clarendon in 2023 as a rebrand of Bronx Pizza, had received a notice of violation back in January for hosting unpermitted live entertainment. According to county staff, however, it continued to hold karaoke nights for months without the county’s permission.
“Live entertainment” is a broad category in the Arlington County Zoning Ordinance, including not only professional singers and musical ensembles, but also DJs, dancing, karaoke and other formal and informal performances.
“We have to be able to maintain order, and be able to maintain safety, and be able to maintain the community for everyone, not just the people who attend the restaurants and the live entertainment, but also those around — those in the rest of the community,” said Vice-Chair Maureen Coffey, who lives in the Clarendon area and has been heavily involved in past conversations about noise complaints and other code violations.
The restaurant and bar submitted an application for a special exception use permit in early March.
Nick Cordero, who co-owns Big Tony’s through Cordero Hospitality, told Board members that although he has other live entertainment permits at Don Tito and Bronson Bierhall, “we’re learning as we go.” He added that the first night he stopped karaoke, revenue dropped from $5,000 to $1,000.
“I don’t want to say that I was disobeying anybody, but also I don’t know what to do in that kind of situation, and I just didn’t want to close my business, either,” Cordero said.
Co-owner Katherine Basile argued that one night of karaoke per week harms no one, and that Big Tony’s hasn’t had issues with noise complaints — just noncompliance with one part of the county’s 439-page zoning ordinance.
“We’ve done what we thought was the proper way to go about all of these things without specifically coming [to] you,” Basile told the County Board.
Board member J.D. Spain Sr., however, viewed the history of noncompliance at Big Tony’s as “a conscious neglect to adhere to the rules and regulations.”
“If we don’t step in and draw the line in the sand, then people are going to run all over this Board and over this county,” Spain said.
The lone Board member in support of the business’s request was Takis Karantonis, who agreed that “it is very clear that Big Tony’s knew better and didn’t follow the rules.” However, Karantonis also noted that the county’s approval process can feel “excruciatingly long” for a business owner who is trying to remain afloat in challenging conditions.
“It is a lengthy process. It is not intuitively a business-friendly process,” Karantonis said.
He moved for the County Board to approve the requested permit, but review it in eight months to ensure that Big Tony’s complies with all conditions. This motion failed to earn any additional votes.
Chair Matt de Ferranti encouraged Big Tony’s to continue working with county staff and suggested that the Board could reconsider its decision at a later date.
