For several years now, Ballston residents have watched with envy as Clarendon has attracted a steady procession of new, homegrown restaurant developments. Ballston has retained its favorite watering holes, but there has been a dearth of new reasons to stay in the neighborhood after quittin’ time.
Enter Michael Babin, co-owner of Neighborhood Restaurant Group.
Two days after reporting that Buffalo Wild Wings will be bringing some nightlife to Crystal City, we can report that D.C. pizza chain Pizza Autentica will be one of BW3’s new neighbors.
Pizza Autentica, run by prolific casual restaurateur Hakan Ilhan, has leased a space in the same building at 23rd Street and Crystal Drive as Buffalo Wild Wings. In downtown D.C., Pizza Autentica is primarily a lunchtime destination. There’s no word so far whether this new location will also serve a nighttime crowd.
They may have found just the right place.
Buffalo Wild Wings has just signed a lease for a currently-unoccupied retail space across from Jaleo at 23rd Street and Crystal Drive. The popular beer-wings-and-sports joint should attract quite a crowd.
Gordon is not only opening a Red Velvet Cupcakery and a TangySweet frozen yogurt store side-by-side on Clarendon Boulevard, he’s also planning to make this his first foray into salads.
“A gourmet salad shop for everyone… I think that concept is well overdue for the Clarendon area,” said Gordon.
Owner/couple Enzo Algarme, 30, and Anastasiya Laufenberg, 29, started selling made-to-order pizzas from a cart near the Ballston Metro in September 2007. Pupatella won praise, gained loyalty and made money, but it was their dream all along to open a real restaurant.
After saving up some money, the couple started looking for a storefront in February. They found 5104 Wilson Boulevard. Now they have parking, art on the walls, and a custom-made pizza oven from Naples, Italy. Oh yeah, and there’s gelato.
At long last, Red Mango opened its doors for business today. Located just up the road from Whole Foods on Clarendon Boulevard, it’s the first Red Mango franchise in the DC area (a Tysons Corner location is also planned) and the only Korean-style frozen yogurt store in the Courthouse-Clarendon area.
Employees were handing out free samples outside the store this afternoon as a steady stream of new customers trickled inside. First-time franchise owners Monte and Betsy Winterhalter, who moved here from Connecticut in order to run the store, mingled with customers and provided guidance to their new hires.
On the heels of the announcement of the neighborhood’s eleventh and twelfth pizza restaurant (seriously) comes word that Clarendon will be getting its third cupcake bakery (after Bakeshop and Crumbs, which is opening in August or September) and second trendy frozen yogurt store (after Red Mango, opening later this month).
A “TangySweet Garden” and Red Velvet Cupcakery will be moving into a ground-level space on Clarendon Boulevard, in the new Clarendon Center development. The store will be located between Hard Times Cafe and the future Pete’s New Haven Apizza.
From Shirlington Village Blog: An ABC notice posted in the window of a retail space at the Randolph Square development (2800 South Randolph Street) lists the occupant as “Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub.”
We stopped by the hotly-anticipated European brasserie over the weekend for one of the “soft opening” events and, despite the high expectations, left thoroughly impressed.
The first thing we tried was the mussels. Lyon Hall has two distinct mussel varieties: spring garlic/English peas/fontina/mustard and Hungarian lamb sausage/celeriac-apple-beer broth. We went with the Hungarian lamb and were not disappointed. You’d be hard-pressed to find a tastier plate of mussels anywhere in the D.C. area. And the $14 “large” option was more than enough for two people.
Marketing manager Emma Whelan says she expects a crowd to start building around 5:00 tonight, as curious Pike residents check out their newest watering hole. A grand opening celebration will be held on May 8, Whelan said.
For those staying up late on a school night, P. Brennan’s will stay open until 1:30 tonight.
The Burger Joint is located at 3129 Lee Highway, in the Lyon Village Shopping Center.
Update at 2:15 p.m. — Management is hinting that the public may be able to stop by “soft-opening” events this weekend. One such event is taking place tonight — they’re advising people to stop by after 10:00 p.m.
The ink still damp on the ABC permit that arrived this morning, management at Lyon Hall (3100 Washington Boulevard) is hard at work preparing to open to the public on Tuesday. A small armada of beer and wine vendors will start delivering their wares today.
