Around Town | ARLnow.com

District Taco’s Cart Closes Today

Published March 7, 2014 at 1:30PM

The District Taco cart, which was launched four years ago and has now spawned four brick-and-mortar restaurants, is retiring today in Rosslyn.

District Taco owner Osiris Hoil said the team that runs the cart is needed to support the restaurants, with locations at 5723 Lee Highway and at Metro Center, Eastern Market and soon-to-be-open Dupont Circle in the District. The decision was purely a business one, but that didn’t make it any easier for Hoil, who opened the cart using family recipes after being laid off from a construction job.

AAA: Daylight Saving Time May Make for Drowsy Drivers

By ARLnow.com

Published March 7, 2014 at 10:00AM | Updated March 7, 2014 at 11:40AM

The change will result in an extra hour of daylight in the evening, but will come at the cost of darker mornings and an hour of lost sleep.

AAA Mid-Atlantic warns that the change can leave drivers drowsy on Monday morning. The automobile association issued the following press release, urging drivers to make sure to get at least 7 hours of sleep.

Delivery Startups Expand to Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Published March 6, 2014 at 3:40PM

The company announced the expansion earlier this week, adding Arlington and Bethesda and additional neighborhoods in the District of Columbia. Arlington neighborhoods now served by Postmates include Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon, Lyon Village and North Highlands.

Postmates bills itself as a service that’s “transforming the way local goods move around a city by enabling anyone to get any product delivered in under one hour.”

Retail Experts Say R-B Corridor Set for Future Success

By Ethan Rothstein

Published March 6, 2014 at 2:30PM | Updated March 6, 2014 at 3:58PM

Those in and around the retail industry say the recent trends toward mixed-use, urbanized development and the growth of “milennials” among consumers in the post-recession years add up nicely for Arlington.

Bruce Leonard, a managing principal at Streetsense, a real estate, retail and marketing firm, gave a lecture at George Mason University’s Arlington campus last month called “the changing face of retail.” He contended that the retail market is catching up to the real estate market in seeking urban, walkable centers.

Photos: Bill Cosby Helps to Open Ben’s Chili Bowl in Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com

Published March 6, 2014 at 12:00PM | Updated March 6, 2014 at 12:33PM

(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) Comedian Bill Cosby joined Arlington County Board Chairman Jay Fisette and other local notables in helping to open the new Ben’s Chili Bowl in Rosslyn this morning.

Cosby’s jokes and antics drew laughs from the large crowd of media and spectators that gathered to see the ribbon cutting for the iconic U Street eatery’s first stand-alone, brick-and-mortar expansion. Other attendees and speakers included the Ali family, which owns the restaurant; the ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago, late founder Ben Ali’s home country; WPGC DJ Shack Nd Pack; and Rosslyn BID President Mary-Claire Burick.

Girl Scout Cookies Return to Arlington

By Ethan Rothstein

Published March 5, 2014 at 2:30PM

From now until March 23, Girl Scouts will be set up all over the county selling boxes of cookies. Tomorrow (Thursday), the Girl Scouts will be conducting a special cookie blitz in Rosslyn.

From noon to 3:00 p.m., they will be stationed in the lobbies of office buildings at 1555 Wilson Blvd and 1611 N. Kent Street. From 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., they will be at Piola Restaurant (1550 Wilson Blvd), Rosslyn Overlook (1616 N. Fort Myer Drive), and the Waterview office building (1919 N. Lynn Street). From 3:30 to 6:00 p.m., they’ll be in the Rosslyn Business Improvement District office at 1911 N. Fort Myer Drive.

IHOP Offering Free Pancakes Today

By Ethan Rothstein

Published March 4, 2014 at 1:00PM

The restaurant chain’s location is the only one in Arlington, and it’s offering a free short stack of pancakes to all its customers today while collecting donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma society, according to an IHOP employee.

The employee said the wait is about a half hour for parties of four and 15 minutes for parties of two at about 12:15 p.m. today. The promotion lasts all day, and the store is open 24 hours.

Heavy Seas Alehouse in Rosslyn Now Open

By Ethan Rothstein

Published March 4, 2014 at 11:45AM

Heavy Seas Alehouse in Rosslyn (1501 Wilson Blvd) opened last week and welcomed big crowds immediately.

General Manager Keith Kirkland said the restaurant has done more than $70,000 in business in just five days, including its soft opening last Wednesday. They’ve also gone through more than 50 kegs of Heavy Seas beer, he said.

Va. Square Snowball Fight Attracts Big Crowd

By Ethan Rothstein

Published March 4, 2014 at 10:30AM

More than a hundred people gathered in Quincy Park in Virginia Square yesterday afternoon to participate in the Battle at Ballston snowball fight.

Snowball fight organizer Danny Douglass set up a game area and held four dodgeball-style games, with more than 90 people participating in some of the matches.

Bailey’s in Ballston Closes, Could Take Former Union Jack’s Space

By Ethan Rothstein

Published February 28, 2014 at 1:30PM | Updated March 1, 2014 at 2:02PM

(Updated at 1:55 p.m.) The Bailey’s Pub and Grille in Ballston Common Mall at the corner of Wilson Blvd and N. Randolph Street has closed, but it may not be gone for long.

A Bailey’s employee who was cleaning out the space told ARLnow.com that the restaurant is “under contract” to take over the former Union Jack’s space along N. Glebe Road, but couldn’t say for sure that the move was imminent. ARLnow.com reported the move was possible in December.

Arlington Food Truck Makes Yelp ‘Top 100’ List

By ARLnow.com

Published February 28, 2014 at 10:30AM

Arlington’s El Chilango food truck has made Yelp’s list of the “Top 100 Places to Eat” in the United States.

The list seeks to identify “the spots Yelpers have deemed the ultimate, try-before-you-die, food-coma-inducing, so-good-it-makes-you-want-to-slap-your-momma places to eat.” El Chilango was ranked No. 58, was the only eatery from Virginia on the list and one of only two from the D.C. area.

Pizza Pizza: Little Caesars Coming to the Pike

By Ethan Rothstein

Published February 27, 2014 at 2:30PM | Updated February 27, 2014 at 4:53PM

A new location of the Little Caesars pizza chain is expected to open in the Columbia Pike Plaza shopping center at the corner of Columbia Pike and S. Dinwiddie Street.

The location is in the former AT&T Wireless store at 5025 Columbia Pike, in the shopping center across S. Dinwiddie Street from the Arlington Mill Community Center. There’s no hint of an expected opening date.