There’s finally an opening date in sight for Buzz Bakery in Ballston.
“Coming soon” signs have been up at the storefront on the 4000 block of Wilson Boulevard for almost a year now. Next-door sister eatery Rustico opened in October while Buzz remained closed. Now, at long last, comes word that Buzz will start serving cupcakes and cappuccinos early next month.
The Washington Post’s Tim Carman reports that the restaurant is planning a soft opening for Wednesday and a grand opening for Monday, May 2. The owners have invested more than a half million dollars into the restaurant.
In addition to sit-down, fondue-style dining, the restaurant will offer pre-made “quick” hot pots to go, Carman reported.
According to the company’s web site, the new Zoë’s will be located near the Ballston Metro station at 4245 Fairfax Drive, formerly home to do-it-yourself stir fry restaurant Flat Top Grill.
Founded in 1995, Alabama-based Zoë’s is a rapidly-growing chain with restaurants from Arizona to Florida. It has three D.C.-area locations: Fairfax, Woodbridge and Potomac, Md. Its menu includes kabobs, sandwiches, pitas and a variety of soups and salads.
Sazon means “seasoning” in Spanish, which is a good way to describe the contrast of the cafe’s smartly-decorated interior to the rather drab section of Columbia Pike outside its windows. Open since January, Cafe Sazon specializes in South and Central American food and baked goods, with a few American items thrown into the mix.
Co-owner Adriana Torres, who has not left the area since she moved from Bolivia to this section of the Pike as a seven-year-old kid, says that business has started out slow but is picking up. Thanks to a favorable mention on the “22204” email listserv, she says her customer base — primarily Hispanic — has gotten a bit more diverse lately.
As it stands now, however, Wiinky’s is a homegrown restaurant concept operating within a very crowded market space — subs, salads and burgers — in a building that has seen a succession of failed restaurants. And they don’t even have a sign yet.
The restaurant is the brainchild of a young George Mason University grad and Arlington native named Ryan, who didn’t want us to use his last name. Ryan — nicknamed “winky” in high school — recently left his job as a manager of a local pizza restaurant to open his own business. He said he wanted to create a “cool spot” that would remind him of the backyard barbecues he used to love as a kid.
Pinkberry, arguably the originator of the upscale froyo craze in the United States, is planning on opening a location in Clarendon. According to the company’s web site, the store will be located at 1220 N. Fillmore Street.
The only open storefront in the 1220 N. Fillmore Street building is the one facing Clarendon Boulevard with the “for lease” tacked on large sheets of plywood. The storefront (pictured) is between Restaurant 3 and the future Cava Restaurant to the right, and the entrance to an apartment building, Urban Halo salon and Gold’s Gym to the left.
Local Mexican restaurant chain Taqueria Poblano will opening a new location on Columbia Pike.
“Coming soon” signs are up on the ground floor of the Penrose Square development, at the corner of Columbia Pike and South Adams Street.
Ready?
If you said ‘burger restaurant,’ you are correct! A new burger concept called “Wiinkys” (no, that’s not a typo) is coming to the storefront at 3902 Wilson Boulevard. The space used to house the Pike Grill and, after the grill closed, Papi Pollo.
A company has applied for a state liquor license to serve beer and wine at a new restaurant at 3111 Columbia Pike. The restaurant will be called “Deewa,” according to the filing.
The name suggests the new restaurant may have an ethnic theme. “Radio Deewa” is the Voice of America broadcast aimed at residents of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Here, Artisphere’s newly-christened restaurant/cafe/bar, held an open house for local hotel concierges, nearby office workers and local neighbors today.
A jazz band performed as guests sampled mini versions of some of the sandwiches Here will be serving when it opens to the public on Tuesday. Here’s how Here is being described in promotional literature:
An ARLnow spy spotted Mendelsohn and a man identified as his father dining at the Crystal City Chick-fil-A while chatting up the manager about foot traffic and sales.
“He is apparently opening a new restaurant (or planning to) in Crystal City,” the tipster said. A second source confirmed that Mendelsohn may be scouting out locations in Crystal City.
Pete’s co-owner Tom Marr tells us the restaurant has gotten all the necessary county occupancy and state alcohol permits, and is on track to open Sunday at 11:00 a.m. It could open today, he said, but management is focusing on training staff.
Pete’s serves New Haven-style pizza, which is explained at length on the company’s web site. Their “specialty apizzas” include: “Boola Boola” with house-made meatballs, roasted peppers, caramelized onions and cherry peppers; “Merritt Parkway” with Prosciutto di Parma, Kalamata olives, caramelized onions, basil and extra virgin olive oil; “New Haven” with white clams, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, Pecorino Romano and oregano; and “Nighthawk” with basil pesto, grilled chicken, wild mushrooms, caramelized onions and fresh mozzarella.
