It might not court the controversy of the new Columbia Heights Taco Bell Cantina, but national taco and tequila chain Bartaco is coming to Ballston Quarter.
The restaurant is one of the last remaining pieces for the recently-renovated mall, which has seen numerous eatery openings over the last year. It will be located adjacent to the Quarter Market food hall, with a new outdoor dining area in the Quarter Market courtyard.
No Coronavirus in N. Va. So Far — “UPDATE: Tests came back negative on a second Northern Virginia resident suspected of having the novel coronavirus.” [Twitter]
HQ2 Search Was Intended to Extract Handouts — “When Elon Musk secured $1.3 billion from Nevada in 2014 to open a gigantic battery plant, Jeff Bezos noticed. In meetings, the Amazon.com Inc. chief expressed envy for how Musk had pitted five Western states against one another in a bidding war for thousands of manufacturing jobs; he wondered why Amazon was okay with accepting comparatively trifling incentives.” [Bloomberg]
Fast-casual Mediterranean grill Mezeh is scheduled to open tomorrow on the Glebe Road side of Ballston Quarter mall (4238 Wilson Blvd).
The grand opening is scheduled to run from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., with the restaurant then reopening from 5:30-8 p.m. According to a press release and signs around the restaurant, visitors can get a free bowl with purchase of a drink, though steak or lamb bowls are $1.50 extra.
Progress is being made on Huevos, a new “all-day egg concept” from Chef Victor Albisu of Taco Bamba fame.
Albisu tells ARLnow that the restaurant’s design is nearly complete and the interior build-out will begin soon. He still expects the restaurant, in the former Yona space at 4000 Wilson Blvd, to open at some point this spring.
(Updated at 9:40 a.m.) The Ballston Harris Teeter store is set for redevelopment, but in the meantime it remains open and is reducing its hours.
Signs posted around the store say that starting Wednesday, Feb. 26 it will go from being open 24 hours a day to being open from 6 a.m. to midnight.
High-end D.C.-based fitness chain VIDA Fitness says its expansion into Arlington is just a couple of months away from coming to fruition.
VIDA announced today that it expects its new 29,000 square foot health club in Ballston to open in “mid to late March”
It actually opened three months ago, but unless you work on the western side of the 1100 block of N. Glebe Road, in the Ballston area, you probably don’t know it exists.
Olive Express Mediterranean Café, a small local restaurant and catering chain that also has locations in Reston and Herndon, opened in October at 1100 N. Glebe Road, in a long-vacant ground floor retail space.
Lane Closures Near Ballston — Sewer relining work is closing the right-hand lane of portions of Fairfax Drive and Wilson Blvd in the Bluemont neighborhood, near Ballston. [Twitter]
Arlington’s Young Population Drives Trends — “One of the reasons Virginia’s Arlington County is consistently rated highest for health and fitness is because of its young demographic. Take Ballston, for example, where 47.7% of the adult population is between 25 and 44 years old.” [WTOP]
After opening here last year, Dirt has closed its Ballston outpost, at least for now.
The small, Miami-based restaurant chain opened its 4121 Wilson Blvd location to fanfare last April, touting its health-oriented and vegetarian options. It joined an increasingly crowded Ballston restaurant scene that has seen numerous openings since the Quarter Market food hall in the renovated Ballston Quarter mall opened in early 2019.
Making its mark in Ballston center is Origin, the newest residential tower featuring studio to two-bedroom residences. In particular, a variety of great one-bedroom floorplans are available right now to accommodate a range of lifestyles.
Walking into Origin´s residences feels serendipitous with its elevated level of finish and attention to detail that has gone into the design of every room.
Compass Coffee’s new Ballston location will be opening in mid-February, a company rep tells ARLnow.
Work is nearly complete on the interior of the space at the corner of Wilson Blvd and N. Randolph Street, on the ground floor of the Origin apartment building that was built as part of the recent renovations to what is now Ballston Quarter mall.
W-L Alumni File Suit Over Name Change — “A local alumni group is filing suit in federal court over their high school’s name change. The Washington-Lee High School Alumni Association claims the public did not get the chance to weigh-in on the school board’s decision to change its name to Washington-Liberty High.” [WTOP, DCist]
Wrong-Way Driver Nearly Strikes Officer — “As officers approached the vehicle to investigate, they observed a handgun with extended magazine in plain view. The suspect disobeyed the lawful commands of the officers, placed the vehicle into drive and allegedly accelerated towards an officer. The officer quickly moved out of the way to avoid being struck and the vehicle fled the scene at a high rate of speed.” [Arlington County]
