In the weeks after opening, new Columbia Pike Ethiopian restaurant Greens N Teff (3203 Columbia Pike) said the response from the community has been better than they could have hoped.

The restaurant, which features an entirely vegetarian/vegan menu, sold out twice in February, following ARLnow’s coverage of its opening.

“Everything has been good,” said Hanna Elias, one of the restaurant co-owners. “The neighborhood response… it’s been overwhelming. We’re happy to be here, and every customer has been happy to be here.”

Elias said that one of the biggest surprises so far has been that most of the customers order the “extra large” selection on the menu: a base with three proteins and four greens for $14.99. Elias said customers ordering extra large options said they’ve been getting take-out meals for for their family to share and tasting a variety of options.

“Mostly that’s been how they’re ordering: for families,” Elias said. “People were also happy that we have gluten-free injera.”

Injera, a spongey flatbread made from the eponymous teff, serves as the base for many Ethiopian dishes. Elias said the restaurant has also gotten positive feedback on its entirely animal-free menu.

For those who visit, Elias said she recommends the collared greens with the spicy lentils and mushrooms, which she said pairs nicely either with rice or injera.

Photos via Greens N Teff

(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) A new Ethiopian restaurant on Columbia Pike could help fill the vegan and vegetarian option gap near the S. Glebe Road intersection after the closure of Elizabeth’s Counter.

The restaurant is called Greens N Teff (3203 Columbia Pike), reflecting the restaurant’s meat-free menu and traditional Ethiopian grain teff. Beakal Melaku, one of the restaurant’s owners, said the restaurant had been in planning before the pandemic started and was originally going to have meat but took a green turn over time.

“I started with grilling, but then started cooking more and I changed my mind to make it vegetarian,” Melaku said.

The proteins are primarily lentil or mushroom based, and Melaku said part of his goal is helping to make people aware that they don’t need meat to have a balanced, health diet.

The restaurant has a variety of plate sizes, from regular individual platters for $9.99 with one base, protein and two grains, to extra large platters for $13.99 with the base, three proteins and four greens.

Greens N Teff opened this past weekend and so far, Melaku said the restaurant has gotten good feedback and support from the nearby community.

“This has been our first week, and so far it’s been really good,” Melaku said.

Photos via Greens N Teff/Facebook

Arlington Firefighters Getting Vaccinated — From the Arlington County Fire Department: “As @ArlingtonVA moves into Phase 1b of the #CovidVaccine rollout, we would like to thank @ArlingtonDHS and @VDHgov for helping us provide the first round of Moderna vaccine to 67% of our workforce so far.” [Twitter]

Ideas for Plant-Based Dining — Here’s a new list of “13 vegetarian and vegan takeout options to kickstart 2021” in and near Arlington. [Arlington Magazine]

Man Brings Lots of Bullets to DCA —  “TSA officers at @Reagan_Airport stopped a man with 100 bullets in his carry-on bag at one of the security checkpoints last week.” [Twitter]

Reminder: Vote in the Arlies — If you haven’t already, vote for your favorite places, people, and businesses in the inaugural Winter 2021 Arlies. [ARLnow]

D.C. Dispatch Trouble for Crash Call — The fire department response to Tuesday night’s GW Parkway crash that sent two vehicles careening into the Potomac was delayed by cross-jurisdictional dispatch issues. [Twitter]

Downtown Stations to Close for Inauguration — “Metro will close 13 stations inside the security perimeter, with 11 stations closing on Friday and two additional stations on Saturday and continuing through the end of service on Thursday. During this time trains will pass through the closed stations without stopping.” [WMATA]

Fast-casual vegetarian restaurant Little Beet has closed permanently in Rosslyn.

The eatery opened three years ago at 1800 N. Lynn Street. At the time it was the second Little Beet location in the D.C. area for the growing New York-based chain.

A sign on the door suggests that while the Rosslyn location is closing, more Little Beets are on the way for the region.

“As we continue to grow our presence in the D.C. metro area, we are sad to announce that our Rosslyn location will be closing its doors,” the sign says. Part of our mission is to spread food knowledge and change the perception of vegetable-forward meals. Now it’s time for us to plant new seeds in different neighborhoods.”

“We’ll be expanding in this area in the near future and hope to see you at our 2021 openings,” the sign continues. “Thank you for an amazing journey, Rosslyn!”

Currently, Little Beet’s website lists no open locations in D.C. or Virginia, though the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City still lists a Little Beet location there — which opened late last year — on the mall directory.

Staff photos by Jay Westcott. Hat tip to @mikeywl.

Naked Lunch, an organic vegetarian and vegan eatery attached to the MOM’s Organic Market at 1901 N. Veitch Street, has closed.

According to staff at the grocery store, the location — along car-oriented Lee Highway, a long walk from Courthouse — meant that Naked Lunch never got the kind of traffic it needed and the restaurant closed last Monday, June 24.

The signs on the storefront have been taken down and through the window, the last of the kitchen supplies can be seen being packed into boxes.

Naked Lunch opened on Lee Highway with MOM’s Organic Market in 2015. The restaurant served salads, soup bowls, sandwiches and more, along with organic juices.

The next closest Naked Lunch locations are at 3831 Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria’s Arlandria neighborhood or 8298 Glass Alley in Fairfax’s Mosaic District.

(Updated 12 p.m.) True Food Kitchen — a health-food chain — is planning to open its new Ballston Quarter location next Wednesday (May 8) at 11 a.m.

The restaurant has a seasonal menu that includes a variety of vegan and vegetarian choices, like tofu bowls and cheese-less pizzas, in addition to a selection of burgers, sandwiches and entrees with and without meat.

The Arlington restaurant will have an opening dining area, an outdoor patio, and two private dining rooms for special occasions. A bar at the location includes fresh-pressed fruit and vegetable juices, seasonal cocktails, local beer and wine, according to the restaurant website.

The restaurant is also currently hiring staff, including bartenders, servers, and a butcher.

If you want to try True Food before then, the next closest location is the Mosaic District (2910 District Ave.) in Fairfax County.

Alt’s, a new restaurant in Lyon Park specializing in meatless burgers, may be hitting some roadblocks on its way to opening.

Last month, after a representative showed up unannounced at our offices to drop off menus, it seemed like an opening was imminent. Over the weekend, however, a local resident sent us a photo of a legal notice posted on the storefront at 2300 N. Pershing Drive that suggests the opening might not be happening soon, after all.

The notice says Alt’s has failed to obtain proper insurance and pay more than $56,000 in rent.

Should Alt’s fail to fix each of the items detailed in 10-15 days, the notice says, “then be advised that KV Associates, LLC intends to exercise its option… to terminate the lease.”

The Alt’s Facebook page was last updated on May 22, 2015 when the restaurant announced that it had signed a lease.

(Updated at 3:05 p.m.) Alt’s, a vegetarian restaurant in Lyon Park, might soon be opening.

Though Alt’s signed a lease at 2300 N. Pershing Drive in May 2015, according to the restaurant’s Facebook page, and filed permits to renovate later that year, the restaurant has only recently revealed signs of life.

Signs and a business hours card are up on the restaurant’s storefront. A company representative arrived unannounced at ARLnow’s office yesterday with laminated menus in hand, saying that it was opening this week. (Note to other businesses: please email information to us instead.)

No one from the restaurant answered calls or emails today and it was not open during lunchtime.

The restaurant’s business signs indicate it will be closed on Mondays and open from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 12-2 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. on Saturday to Sunday.

The restaurant sells basic vegan and vegetarian “Altburgers” for $4.50 and a vegetarian “altbacon” cheeseburger for $6.20 — “the true pinnacle of meat alternative burgers.” Customers can sub out the bun for a “delicious gluten free rice tortilla” if desired, according to the menu.

On Alt’s website, it claims people can’t tell the difference between a regular burger and its meatless burgers.

“Come to Alt’s, where your perception of a meatless burger will be forever changed,” the site writes.

A Indian restaurant serving only vegetarian food has reopened on Lee Highway with new owners and new name, though its sign may not reflect it.

Sharan Indian Cuisine, formerly Saran Indian Cuisine, is now open for business at 5157 Lee Highway. While the sign above the restaurant says “Saran Indian Cuisine,” owner Ashraful Siddique said the missing “h” is due to trouble getting a new sign.

“Arlington County is taking [a] little time to approve the signage,” Siddique said.

Siddique took over the restaurant in July and closed it for renovations in order to comply with Arlington codes, he said.

“We just acquired a restaurant that has been at this same location very successfully for the last 16 years, it has a pretty niche clientele and a following, we will like to seamlessly maintain that reputation,” he said. “We had to do small renovation to be compliant to the new code, but we have kept the look and the feel almost the same.”

Sharan Indian Cuisine serves only vegetarian food, a decision made by the previous owners, Siddique said.

“We are a vegetarian restaurant, in the sense we do not serve meat, fish and eggs, we serve a little different menu from the other conventional ethnic Indian restaurants,” he said. “We did not decide on our own, this has always been a vegetarian restaurant and we want to keep the tradition.”

Siddique describes the restaurant as having a “niche menu” because it serves dishes not typically found at Indian restaurant, including Pani Puri, Bhindi Jalfrezi and Masala Dhosa. The restaurant strives to maintain a comfortable atmosphere with affordable, homemade food, he said.

“We will like to invite the clientele of this restaurant who have been coming for the last 16 years to the same old charm vegetarian Indian food and also the new customers to come and try our cooking,” Siddique said.