(Updated at 3 p.m.) Those waiting on CarPool to make its triumphant return might have to keep waiting for a week — or several.
The beloved bar, which closed its original Ballston-area location on Fairfax Drive in 2017 and moved (temporarily) to Fairfax County, was hoping to open in October. But the global supply chain woes affecting everything from car manufacturing to wire hangers are delaying the opening.
There’s been a rash of reported drink spiking incidents in Clarendon and Crystal City, according to Arlington police.
The Arlington County Police Department says that it received six reports last month from women who believed their drinks were spiked.
Clarendon is getting a new café and bar with an emphasis on outdoor drinking and dining.
Construction permits were approved earlier this summer for a new restaurant at 3303 Wilson Blvd, with expansive outdoor seating and a 120 square foot outdoor kiosk. The new establishment will be called “Bar Ivy” and will also feature a nearly 3,000 square foot indoor space on the ground floor, permit applications suggest.
(Updated at 11:30 a.m.) Beloved local watering hole Carpool is returning to Arlington after a more than four year absence.
A popular after-work and sports-watching spot, Carpool closed its Ballston-area location on the 4000 block of Fairfax Drive in 2017, to make way for what is now the 22-story J Sol apartment tower. After two decades in Arlington, the brand lived on in the Fair Lakes area of Fairfax County. But now it’s coming home.
(Updated at 2 p.m. on 8/30/21) Lorton-based RĀKO Coffee Roasters is opening RĀKO, its first brick-and-mortar coffee shop, on Saturday in Courthouse.
And to celebrate the grand opening of the café at 2016 Wilson Blvd, RĀKO will offer $1 coffees from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, with specially-priced natural wines available all day Saturday until 9 p.m.
A man sitting at a bar in Clarendon was repeatedly stabbed in a seemingly random attack on Saturday.
The stabbing happened at 7:30 p.m. at Spider Kelly’s (3181 Wilson Blvd).
When Pentagon City’s Mattie and Eddie’s opened earlier this year, it immediately garnered a lot of attention. For its owner, though, the restaurant is personal.
“It’s a very personal story,” chef and restaurateur Cathal Armstrong tells ARLnow about the Irish pub’s origins. “There are pubs all over Ireland that have great food and I wanted to show that… and be respectful to my grandparents.”
(Updated 4:05 p.m.) Arlington restaurants can now apply to increase the number of diners they are permitted to serve indoors and outdoors, according to Arlington Economic Development.
The county is allowing restaurants to temporarily up their maximum capacity so that the eateries can keep using — and possibly expand — their pandemic-era temporary outdoor seating areas (TOSAs), even as indoor capacity restrictions have lifted, the AED newsletter to local businesses said.
From Clarendon bars to crowded gyms, unmasked store clerks to house parties, Arlingtonians asked the county to investigate more than 1,000 reported cases of COVID-19 non-compliance.
The reports came in through a form that Arlington County launched last year to report lax social distancing and masking.
A stretch of Wilson Blvd in Ballston will be shut down and transformed into an open-air pub and stage next month for a new event: Bands & Brews on the Boulevard.
The Ballston Business Improvement District will turn the thoroughfare between N. Stuart Street and N. Randolph Street, near Ballston Quarter, into an event space serving drinks and featuring live music from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 24.
Residents Want Better HQ2 View — “The tallest and most distinctive tower planned for Amazon.com Inc.’s second headquarters, the conch-shaped ‘Helix,’ will be like no other building in Greater Washington. And Arlington residents would like to see it from their neighborhoods… [as planned] the positioning would obstruct the surrounding community’s views of the signature structure, said Leonardo Sarli, an Arlington planning commissioner.” [Washington Business Journal]
Ebbin Endorses Colleague’s Challenger — “State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria-Arlington-Fairfax) has endorsed challenger Elizabeth Bennett-Parker in the competitive Democratic primary in the 45th House District. ‘I feel a responsibility to weigh in,’ Ebbin said in an April 22 statement… Bennett-Parker, who currently serves as vice chair of the Alexandria City Council, will face off against [Del. Mark] Levine in the June 8 Democratic primary.” [Sun Gazette]
Ballston games-and-drinks destination Punch Bowl Social is planning to reopen next Wednesday.
The “eatertainment” chain, which is emerging from bankruptcy, announced the news yesterday. ARLnow previously reported that the venue was in the midst of hiring for numerous positions.
