The new Buffalo Wild Wings in Crystal City (at 23rd Street and Crystal Drive) held an employee orientation session for a couple dozen new hires last night.
During the orientation, the glow from the galaxy of overhead flat screen TVs illuminated a relatively wide open, comfortable-looking space. The decor looked a bit more sleek than your standard, suburban Buffalo Wild Wings location. The huge floor-to-ceiling windows facing the street also helped to add a more urban feel.
(Updated at 10:25 a.m.) Nearly 300 Dominion customers are without power in Crystal City and Pentagon City this morning.
The outage is due to scheduled work to replace an underground cable along Crystal Drive, according Dominion spokesperson Le-Ha Anderson. Power should be restored by 4:00 this afternoon, she said.
Which Rosslyn and Crystal City businesses have been calling the police on the new Bada Bing sandwich truck? Cops have shown up at the truck at least eight times since it launched just over a month ago, we hear.
Officers show up, dutifully check out the truck’s license and examine whether it’s parked legally, and inevitably leave without finding a violation.
Bozzelli’s Italian Deli served its first customers around 11:00 this morning. It will be open tonight until 8:00 tonight, an employee told us over the phone.
The new Bozzelli’s (the original is located in Springfield, Va.) is serving its “famous subs” and fresh-made salads today. Hand-tossed pizzas, soups and pasta will make it onto the menu within a couple of days, we’re told. An employee said they’re still working out the kinks.
The latest Arlington County crime report shows that mid-to-late November has been somewhat slow, crime-wise. Most of the crimes reported by Arlington Police from Nov. 17 to 23 were of the standard larceny/burglary variety.
One such incident stands out, however. Two young men from Alexandria were taken into custody in Crystal City after their alleged cell phone theft was foiled by a group of restaurant patrons.
Passenger Protests, Midwest Weather Could Cause Airport Delays — Flying out of Dulles or Reagan National Airport today could be a challenge. On the busiest travel day of the Thanksgiving holiday, thousands of passengers are planning a nationwide, grassroots revolt against the TSA’s use of full-body scanners. Instead of going through the machines, they will protest by insisting on a time-consuming pat-down. That, combined with a storm system in the upper Midwest could cause delays. So far, however, flights at DCA and IAD are on time. More from the Washington Post.
Crystal City Renaissance Hotel To Open in March — A new LEED-certified Renaissance Hotel is coming to the quickly-developing area south of Crystal City and north of Potomac Yard. The hotel, located at 2800 South Potomac Avenue, is expected to open in March 2011. Rooms will initially start at $299 per night, according to HotelChatter.com.
It now appears that Buffalo Wild Wings will be opening its Crystal City location in December, after all.
An insider tells us that the wings, beer and sports joint is planning to open on Monday, Dec. 13 (Update: Thursday, Dec. 16). Last month we told you that the restaurant’s opening would either be in December or February, depending on the pace of progress.
Airport Body Scanner Company Is Based in Crystal City — One of the companies behind the controversial “naked” body scan machines in U.S. airports is located right here in Arlington. Recently, writer Annie Lowrey visited the company’s Crystal City offices to see how they were handling the controversy. More from Slate.
AT&T Rolls Out Pentagon City Store — AT&T’s new wireless store in the Pentagon City mall opened its doors yesterday, just in time for the holiday shopping rush. The store features “a state-of-the-art, hands-on design to engage customers and provide a ‘try before buy’ service experience,” according to a press release.
The new Jimmy’s John’s sandwich shop in Crystal City quietly opened its doors to customers for the first time today.
In fact, the opening was so quiet that the Jimmy John’s web site doesn’t even list Arlington as one of the chain’s locations yet (a listing should be added tomorrow, we’re told). Nonetheless, a steady stream of excited customers streamed into the store around lunchtime today.
Panel Discusses Energy Plan Options — The task force in charge of helping to craft a Community Energy Plan for Arlington met yesterday to discuss options for providing “district energy” in the county’s denser areas. District energy would centralize heating and cooling in an area, serving multiple buildings. One of the big questions posed to the task force by its energy consultant was whether the company that provides the district energy plant should be county-owned, a public-private partnership or privately-owned. More from TBD.
Gunston to Get New Field, But Board Cuts Canopies — On Tuesday, the board approved a $715,000 contract to replace the synthetic field turf at Gunston Middle School. But they stripped out $120,000 in funding that county staff had allocated for shade canopies over the bleachers. More from the Sun Gazette.
Sept. 15, 2011 was supposed to be the date by which some 5 million square feet of military-occupied office space in Arlington — 17 percent of the county’s office inventory — would be moved out as a result of the Base Realignment and Closure Act.
Now, it appears that most of that leased space will still be in use by the military through 2012 and beyond.
The mother of four brought 30 family members in from various parts of the country for tomorrow’s opening of her Crystal City store. Of her nine brothers and sisters, eight made the trip.
The family members were joined in the store this afternoon by many of Yang’s 46 employees. Also among the crowd were nearly 30 corporate employees and fellow store owners, who were here to train employees and help out with the marketing.
