Extreme Pizza — which offers unique pizzas with non-traditional ingredients like mandarin oranges, hummus, walnuts and broccoli — is coming to 1419 S. Fern Street, across from Costco and near the recently-opened Epic Smokehouse.
This will be the first Extreme Pizza location inside the Beltway and the fourth in Virginia. The existing Virginia locations are in Vienna, Henrico and Richmond. Those restaurants all feature indoor and outdoor seating, take-out and delivery service and online ordering.
‘Concentration of Poverty’ at APS? — Some parents say Arlington Public Schools have designed school boundaries to concentrate lower-income students in south Arlington schools. At least one parent is hoping the school system creates a rule in which “no school would be able deviate from the district-wide percentage of poverty by more or less than 10 points.” [WAMU]
District Taco Expanding — District Taco, which opened its first brick-and-mortar restaurant in Arlington, is continuing to expand in the District. The restaurant has signed a lease and will be opening a second D.C. location on Capitol Hill. [Washington Post]
The new restaurant held a ‘soft opening’ for dinner on Saturday and for lunch and happy hour on Monday, but is open for all three — plus late night food — starting today (Tuesday). The new eatery replaces the former Thai Terrace restaurant at 801 N. Quincy Street.
Leek will be open for lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., for happy hour from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., for dinner from 6:00 and 11:00 p.m., and for late night food and drink from 11:00 p.m. to closing time, seven days a week. There will also be brunch service on Saturday and Sunday.
Which Wich is preparing to move into the neighborhood, apparently into the space previously occupied by the recently closed Daily Grind.
The chain touts more than 50 customizable sub sandwiches, including a few breakfast options, as well as salads and shakes. The restaurants highlight their unique way of ordering, in which customers use markers to write their orders on brown paper bags, and the sandwiches are delivered to them in those bags.
Sultana Grill will replace the former Castro’s Bakery location, which closed earlier this year, at 5515 Wilson Blvd. The new restaurant’s owners tell ARLnow.com that it will serve Mediterranean/Lebanese cuisine like kebabs, crepes, couscous, and baba ghanoush.
The owners are hoping to open the restaurant as soon as this coming Saturday (Oct. 13). As of Friday afternoon, work was still in progress on the interior of the eatery.
A new Italian restaurant is coming to Ballston early next year.
Il Forno Restaurant is coming to the ground floor of the Virginia Tech Research Center building at 900 N. Glebe Road, near the Greene Turtle. The restaurant will have 124 seats and a pizza oven that’s being imported from Italy, according to owner Charles Nejat, a sales manager at the nearby Arlington Mercedes-Benz dealership.
Update at 4:15 p.m. — Co-owner Gloria Arias tells ARLnow.com that the restaurant will have the same menu as the Crystal City location. She’s hoping to open the new restaurant in November.
Crystal City Tex-Mex restaurant Cantina Mexicana is expanding with a second location in Arlington.
The opening comes less than five months following the closure of the space’s previous occupant, Market Tavern, which replaced the former Harry’s Tap Room. Much of the expansive space looks as it did as Market Tavern — the bar area, the lighting, the staircase and the upstairs dining area are all largely the same, though with more mirrors, white paint and white furnishings to brighten up the one-time steakhouse.
The menu — created by Chef Alfredo Solis, a native of Mexico — is anchored by a selection of small, soft corn tacos with various fillings, from pork to shrimp to chorizo to beef tongue, priced at $7 for two. Those hoping for burritos will have to go down the street to Baja Fresh; they’re not to be found on the menu.
Earlier this week, the chain tweeted about the deal, which will run from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. and from 5:00-8:00 p.m. Customers receive one free burrito and drink, and the first 20 people in line get free burritos for a year.
Work has been ongoing all summer to ready the Bethesda chain’s newest restaurant. The Crystal City location is the third in Arlington.
Owner and chef Nathan Spitall had previously owned the BBQ Bandidos food truck. He has worked in restaurants in New York and locally, such as at the former Harry’s Tap Room in Clarendon, and wanted launch a brick and mortar establishment in Arlington.
“The food truck was great, but my home is in a restaurant,” Spitall said.
The restaurant serves “quality smoked meats and seafood paired with innovative cocktails and high-caliber wine at affordable prices,” according to a press release. Lunch items range from$10 to $15, while dinner entrees range from $15 to $25. Soups, sides and salads are priced between $2 to $7. Wines by the glass — available whenever the restaurant finally gets its liquor license — range from $6 to $10.
Lunch items include the EPIC burger (pictured — blend of ground pork and beef, bacon, smoked gruyere cheese, homemade apple wine BBQ sauce, fries); beer belly chicken (beer and herb roasted chicken); and a cho’gall sandwich (slicked brisket, pulled pork, lettuce, grilled onions and chipotle mayo).
Talk about a quick turnaround. Just days after brgr:shack (4215 Fairfax Drive) closed its doors across the street from the Ballston Metro station, Earl’s Sandwiches is nearly ready to open in the space.
Last month, Earl’s co-owner Steve Dugan told ARLnow.com he hoped the restaurant would be able to open in early September, and a sign posted on the window sports the hand-written note “this week.” Dugan confirms the restaurant should open on Friday or Saturday.
