Little City Gourmet, a new restaurant and coffee shop in the East Falls Church neighborhood, is slated to hold its Grand Opening on April 15.
Located in The Crescent building at 2121 N. Westmoreland Street, three blocks from the East Falls Church Metro station and a block from the W&OD Trail, the cafe will fill a void in the neighborhood left by the closing of Bear Rock Cafe.
“Copperwood Tavern” will be opening in the former Bistro Bistro space at 4021 Campbell Avenue. The restaurant’s elaborate interior will be an updated take on an old logging tavern, Gardner told ARLnow.com in February. Old saws and moonshine bottles will adorn the walls.
The restaurant will be more upscale than Wilson Tavern, and will serve American small plates, some 30 draft beers, and 30 craft bourbons, we were told. Interior construction began on Feb. 10 and Gardener was hoping to open at some point in July.
(Updated at 11:55 p.m.) Fat Shorty’s, a new restaurant specializing in beer and sausages, will be opening in Clarendon tomorrow (Thursday).
The restaurant is located at 3035 Clarendon Boulevard, in the former Rabbit Salad and Grill space. Though it has changed names and formats, Fat Shorty’s is still owned by local restaurateur Aaron Gordon. Instead of gourmet salads and other “slow food,” Gordon has teamed up with chef Rahman ”Rock” Harper, a past winner of the the Fox TV show Hell’s Kitchen, to create a restaurant based around the humble and relatively speedy sausage.
Blog Points Out Bike Lane Blockers — Frustrated with supposed inaction by Arlington County Police, a local resident has created a Tumblr site to publicly “shame” the owners of vehicles that illegally park or idle in bike lanes in Arlington. [Arlington Bike Lane Blockers]
Clarendon Farmers Market Starts Tonight — The Clarendon Farmers Market is back for the season, starting tonight. The market will run from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m., in the newly renovated Clarendon Central Park, next to the Metro entrance. The market will run every Wednesday through Dec. 18 before taking a break for the winter. Another seasonal farmers market, the Crystal City Freshfarm Market, is set to start the season on Tuesday, April 30. [Clarendon Alliance, Freshfarm Markets]
La Tagliatella has opened its first Arlington location.
The international Italian restaurant chain opened its new Clarendon location, in the former Restaurant 3 space at 2950 Clarendon Blvd, earlier today (Monday). The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner daily, from 11:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
“We wanted to branch off and we were tipped off about the upcoming mall renovations,” said Barnett. “An opportunity presented itself and we wanted to be a part of that.”
The mall location will be in the food court and won’t yet feature the full menu offered at the Virginia Square location. The focus will be on smoothies, salads, breakfast and energy bars, but wraps and sandwiches will not yet be offered. Barnett said the plan is to eventually expand to a full menu, probably after the mall renovations are completed.
It’s the First Day of Spring — At 7:02 this morning, astronomical winter ended and spring officially began. Spring also means longer days. Currently, we’re gaining about two and a half minutes of daylight per day. [Capital Weather Gang]
EFC Has Fullest Metro Parking Lot — East Falls Church has the fullest parking lot in the Metro system, with a 120 percent usage rate. Demand for the lot is only expected to increase when the Silver Line opens. [Washington Examiner]
It’s still under construction in Clarendon, but owners of La Tagliatella say the new restaurant will be opening on Monday, April 1.
The European-based Italian restaurant chain has more than 130 locations worldwide, but the Clarendon location — in the former Restaurant 3 space at 2950 Clarendon Blvd — will only be the company’s third U.S. location, after two in the Atlanta area.
Sweet Leaf Cafe, a local coffee-sandwich-and-salad shop with locations in McLean and Vienna, will soon be coming to Courthouse.
Building permits are up at the former Hikaru Sushi space at 2200 Wilson Blvd, one block from the Courthouse Metro. At that location, Sweet Leaf will be competing with a nearby Starbucks and Java Shack for cafe customers, but will fill something of a salad void following the closure of Rabbit Salad and Grill in Clarendon.
‘Mussel Bar’ to Open in Ballston — Mussel Bar & Grille, from restauranteur Robert Wiedmaier, is set to open at 800 N. Glebe Road in Ballston this summer. The small gastropub chain has existing locations in Bethesda and Atlantic City. Wiedmaier is also known for BRABO in Old Town Alexandria and Marcel’s and Brasserie Beck in D.C. [Washington City Paper]
Deputy County Manager to Retire — Deputy County Manager Marsha Allgeier is planning to retire, and the county is now searching for her successor. Allgeier has worked for Arlington County since 1998. [Sun Gazette]
(Updated at 10:25 p.m.) A new restaurant is coming to 3811 Fairfax Drive in Virginia Square, but details about it are sparse.
The restaurant will be run by Tim Ma and Joey Hernandez, of Maple Avenue Restaurant in Vienna. This month Ma was named “DC’s Hottest Chef” by the food website Eater. No word yet on what type of food the restaurant will serve, but Maple Avenue Restaurant serves “eclectic American Cuisine… blending Asian, Latin American and French flavors.”
Panera Bread will replace the former Tivoli restaurant near the Rosslyn Metro station.
The interior of the bakery-cafe is currently under construction at 1700 N. Moore Street. Building permits have been issued but so far there’s no word as to when Panera will be opening.
