Clarendon’s newest watering hole will be open to the public this weekend, serving tacos, Tecate and plenty of tequila.
Don Tito will open to the public in the former Eventide space at 3165 Wilson Blvd this Sunday starting at 5:00 p.m. It will be considered a “soft opening” as the staff “works the kinks out,” co-owner Scott Parker said as he gave ARLnow.com a tour of the space yesterday.
Red Top has signed a purchase agreement with a developer for its properties on Washington Blvd and N. Hudson Street, the Washington Business Journal reported. While that article said Red Top’s future was “unclear” — the reporter was not able to talk to a Red Top rep before publication — Director of Sales and Marketing Von Pelot says the company’s future is secure, even in the age of Uber.
“I was reminded of the words of Mark Twain when his obituary was prematurely published, ‘Reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated,'” Pelot said via email. “Our recent development and introduction of the Red Top Select app which provides our customers with the convenience of booking, tracking, and paying for their ride through their mobile phone, is an example of our continuing commitment to our customers and our community.”
Red Top Development Deal Struck — A potential deal to redevelop Red Top Cab’s property in Clarendon, which we first reported in September, is closer to becoming reality. The Shooshan Company has reportedly entered a purchase agreement with Red Top that would build three residential properties with 584 units on the 3.44 acre site. [Washington Business Journal]
Spring Yard Waste Collection — Arlington County’s spring yard waste collection is set to start Monday and run through April 24. For homeowners, the collection will take place the next business day after their trash collection. [Patch]
The location would be RA Sushi’s first in Virginia. The chain’s closest restaurant, in Baltimore, has a seven-page menu and offers hand rolls for $5.50 and specialty rolls from $8.50 to its king crab roll for $17. It also sells sake and sake bombs, as well as a list of cocktails, beer and wine.
The restaurant is hoping to add an outdoor cafe along Washington Blvd, but county staff have deferred their recommendation due to concerns about the width of the sidewalk.
The parade is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. on N. Barton Street. About 30 floats and assorted groups are currently expected take part in the roughly half-hour-long event, which will run up Wilson Blvd to N. Irving Street.
Last year the parade was postponed due to a snowstorm, before being cancelled altogether due to another snowstorm. This year the parade was originally scheduled for Feb. 17, but was again postponed due to snow.
Jillian Anderson was eliminated early on this season, and infamously slipped on a rug and nearly fell when she thought this season’s bachelor, Chris, called her name during the rose ceremony. Instead, he picked her competitor, Julia, and 25-year-old Anderson returned to her home in Arlington. Tonight, she will be at Bracket Room in Clarendon (1210 N. Garfield Street) to watch Chris hand out his final rose.
Bracket Room is owned by a former contestant of The Bachelorette, Chris Bukowski, and has hosted viewing parties for the reality show’s season finales since it opened in 2013. Happy hour begins at 4:00 p.m. and the show starts at 8:00 p.m. Bracket Room’s Facebook page says there will be specials on wine and dessert.
The “tacos, tequila and beer” spot will be opening in the former Eventide space at 3165 Wilson Blvd. Scott Parker, one of five partners in the business, says Don Tito should officially open to the public on Sunday, March 15, with a “soft opening” starting perhaps as soon as Wednesday, March 11.
Interior work is still underway, but should be wrapping up before the soft opening. The establishment’s exterior sign is expected to arrive this coming Thursday.
The Saturday following the annual celebration of the Irish spirit, thousands of carousers will be wearing green and holding commemorative mugs for the event hosted by Arlington’s Project DC Events.
To take part in the festivities, drinkers can register online for $15. After 11:59 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday), the price goes up to $20.
A tavern serving European dishes, European beers with imported European furniture and European lighting fixtures plans to open in Clarendon this summer.
Park Lane Tavern has leased space at 1200 N. Irving Street, in the new Beacon at Clarendon apartment building. Owner Greg Knox said the third location of his restaurant — following openings in Hampton and Fredericksburg farther south — will be 5,000 square feet and unlike anything else in the neighborhood.
Parade Now Scheduled for March 10 — The Clarendon Mardi Gras Parade has a new make-up date. After being postponed due to snow last month, the parade was originally rescheduled for St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. However, “the Arlington County Special Events Committee determined that ACPD resources would be over-stretched were the parade to be held on that date,” according to a press release. “A poll of the Parade Participants led to the decision to reschedule for March 10.” [Clarendon Alliance]
Urban Chicken Issue May Be Clucked — Those who want to raise chickens in their backyards in Arlington are losing their last ally on the County Board. It was Chris Zimmerman, who left the Board early last year, and Walter Tejada, who’s retiring at the end of this year, who were the primary supporters of urban hen raising in Arlington. As for those seeking the two available County Board seats this year, per County Board member John Vihstadt: “Any attempt to introduce poultry into the 2015 campaign would quickly lay an egg.” [InsideNova]
(Updated at 10:35 a.m.) Arlington County medics, firefighters and the hazmat team are on the scene of a Clarendon apartment building for a potential case of Ebola.
The call came in just after 9:30 this morning, for a possible Ebola patient in the new Beacon at Clarendon apartment building at 1128 N. Irving Street. According to ACFD spokeswoman Lt. Sarah Marchegiani, the department dispatches an Ebola response out of an abundance of caution when a sick person has a travel history and symptoms consistent with a case of the deadly virus.
Andruss will spend 9 months in jail, after Arlington Circuit Court Judge Daniel Fiore handed down a 5 year sentence, with all but the 9 months suspended.
Andruss was also ordered to pay restitution of $70,000, perform 100 hours of community service and spend 5 years on supervised probation — all while remaining sober and submitting to random testing.
