Author: Katie Taranto

Katie Taranto is a reporter at Local News Now, primarily covering business, public safety and the city of Falls Church. She graduated from the University of Missouri in 2024, where she previously covered K-12 education at The Columbia Missourian. She is originally from Macungie, Pennsylvania.

Around Town

Xi’an Famous Foods plans new Chinese restaurant in Clarendon

By Katie Taranto
Xi'an Famous Foods noodles (via Xi'an Famous Foods/Facebook)

A family-owned chain of fast-casual Chinese restaurants, known for having dishes once celebrated by Anthony Bourdain, is eyeing Clarendon for its next location.

Xi’an Famous Foods is planning a new restaurant at 2800 Clarendon Blvd, in The Crossing Clarendon shopping center. The New York City-based eatery offers cuisine inspired by CEO Jason Wang’s childhood in Xi’an, China — including a variety of hand-ripped noodles, dumplings, and a spicy cumin lamb burger favored by Bourdain on the show “No Reservations” in 2007.

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Around Town

Breakfast burrito spot with West Coast inspiration opens next week in Crystal City

By Katie Taranto
Monstera Burrito is "coming soon" to Crystal City (staff photo by Katie Taranto)

A popular West Coast-inspired burrito shop and cafe from D.C. is opening for business next week at Crystal City’s Water Park.

Monstera Burrito opens Monday at 1721 Crystal Drive, bringing its signature San Diego-style, French fry-packed burritos and an extended menu of burgers, bowls, sandwiches and other bites. It’s the restaurant’s second location, joining a residency inside Georgetown’s Grace Street Coffee Roasters that opened in 2024.

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Around Town

Local restaurateur buying out Westover Taco to launch N. Va.’s first women’s sports bar

By Katie Taranto
Westover Taco at 5849 Washington Blvd (staff photo by Katie Taranto)

Women’s sports fans could soon have a bar of their own in Arlington.

Sarah White, a longtime local restaurateur and partner at Westover Taco, is in the process of buying out of the taqueria at 5849 Washington Blvd. After that?

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Around Town

EagleBank is relocating in Ballston amid redevelopment plans

By Katie Taranto
EagleBank in Ballston (staff photo by Katie Taranto)

EagleBank’s Ballston branch is relocating to a new space just one block away.

The branch at 4420 Fairfax Drive — currently slated for redevelopment as a 22-story residential building — is coordinating a move to nearby 901 N. Glebe Road this fall, Director of Banking Operations Joe Clarke told ARLnow.

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Around Town

New boba and matcha spot opens at Crystal City’s Water Park

By Katie Taranto
Spot of Tea in Crystal City (staff photo by Katie Taranto)

A D.C.-based bubble tea shop is now serving up colorful signature beverages in Crystal City.

Spot of Tea opened last week at 1631 Crystal Drive in Water Park, offering customizable fruit tea, milk tea and matcha. With flavors including vanilla taro milk tea, mango sticky rice matcha and passionfruit green tea, the cafe’s brightly hued beverages — adjustable by the level of ice and sweetness — match its vibrant decor.

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Around Town

New ‘event-driven’ restaurant planned after Rooftop Recess closes in Courthouse

By Katie Taranto
2424 Wilson Blvd (staff photo by Katie Taranto)

A new restaurant and private event space is coming to Courthouse, replacing a rooftop bar and restaurant that closed there after less than a year in business.

Rooftop Recess permanently closed in late December after just seven months at 2424 Wilson Blvd, property owner Raghav Dumera told ARLnow. Now, Dumera and his family — who also own and operate Delhi Dhaba Indian Restaurant on the property’s ground floor — say they are in the early stages of planning “The Willow” in the same spot.

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Around Town

Paris Baguette plans new Crystal City bakery, prepares to open in Clarendon

By Katie Taranto
Signage for a new Paris Baguette in Crystal City (staff photo by Katie Taranto)

Cafe franchise Paris Baguette is planning a new location in Crystal City, and a previously announced Clarendon spot is set to open in a couple weeks.

Signs for the French-inspired eatery have appeared at 2000 S. Bell Street in Crystal City, on the ground floor of Valen apartments. The location is expected to open this summer, targeting a debut “in the third quarter of 2026,” according to property owner JBG Smith.

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Around Town

March Madness in Arlington and Falls Church: Where to watch and find deals

By Katie Taranto
Inside Wood & Iron in Virginia Square (staff photo by Jared Serre)

With just days to go until the first round of March Madness, numerous sports bars across Arlington and Falls Church are ready with drinks and bites for sports fans of all stripes.

As establishments offer deals ranging from beers and seltzers to appetizers and wings, here are some local spots to try out while watching this month’s games.

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Around Town

Restaurant tracker: Life Alive Cafe, Falafel Inc and more

By Katie Taranto
Falafel Inc on Restaurant Row (staff photo by Katie Taranto)

This is a free preview of the restaurant tracker report sent monthly to ARLnow Press Club members. Join the club to get this and other exclusive features, like our Court Update monthly emails and the ad-free Pro Update daily newsletter.

Hi everyone, this is Katie Taranto, with more updates for ARLnow Press Club members on food and drink in Arlington and Falls Church.

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Around Town

‘Pi BBQ and Bar’ opens near Restaurant Row with Korean cuisine

By Katie Taranto
Outside Pi BBQ and Bar (courtesy of Scott Goodson)

A new Korean barbecue restaurant has opened for business near Crystal City’s Restaurant Row with grilling options aplenty.

Pi BBQ and Bar, located at 420 23rd Street S., promises “an extensive menu featuring premium cuts of meat, fresh seafood and a variety of traditional Korean dishes” in a modern atmosphere. The restaurant replaces a vacancy left by the Chinese restaurant Young Chow in 2023.

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Around Town

Leftover Halloween candy will let customers borrow toys for free at Falls Church business

By Katie Taranto
Halloween candy and other treats spread out on a table (staff photo)

A Falls Church “toy library” will let customers borrow some toys free of charge in exchange for donations of leftover candy following Halloween.

The Toy Nest is collecting unopened candy as part of its annual candy buyback program, which loans out games, puzzles and more in exchange for sugary treats. The buyback program runs for a week, beginning the day after Halloween this Saturday.

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Around Town

‘Party Mania’ supply store coming to former rug shop on Columbia Pike

By Katie Taranto
Signs for "Party Mania" on Columbia Pike (staff photo by Katie Taranto)

A new party supply store is planning to open in a vacant Columbia Pike storefront where a family-owned rug shop closed last year.

New signs have appeared for Tysons-based Party Mania at 2330 Columbia Pike, which has been empty since the rug retailer Manoukian Brothers Oriental Rugs relocated to Langston Blvd.

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