Stellina Pizzeria has a launch date for its upcoming Tysons restaurant.
The D.C.-based chain will open its largest location yet at Capital One Center (1610 Capital One Drive) in Tysons next Tuesday, April 30, at 4 p.m. The occasion will be marked with an offer of free tiramisu to the first 50 customers who make a purchase.
For its first week, the restaurant will be in soft opening mode, operating only for dinner from 4-10 p.m. Hours will later expand to include lunch, starting at 11 a.m.
“We’re thrilled to be opening Stellina’s fifth location,” owner Antonio Matarazzo said in a press release. “Stellina Pizzeria has been operating in the D.C. area since 2018, and we’ve been fortunate to grow our presence to several different locations within the District and Northern Virginia. We’re looking forward to becoming a part of the Tysons community and beyond, and sharing a taste of our native Italy with long-time residents and visitors alike.”
The opening date announcement confirms Capital One Center’s earlier projection that Stellina Pizzeria would open by the end of April — prior to its spring 2024 Perchfest, a celebration that will take place on May 3 and 4.
The development also anticipated an April opening for Starr Hill Brewpub, which will complement Starr Hill Brewery’s biergarten in The Perch, but an exact date remains to be determined.
Designed by Perkins Eastman senior associate Kimony Lallement in collaboration with Matarazzo and chef Matteo Venini, Stellina’s 4,700-square-foot dining room in Tysons blends elements from the company’s existing locations in Union Market, Shirlignton and K Street, according to the press release.
It also uniquely features floor-to-ceiling windows for its storefront, allowing “uninterrupted views” of Capital One’s campus. Customers will be able to watch their pizza getting prepped in a glass-enclosed kitchen and pick up pizza dough, pasta, sauces and other freshly made ingredients from a Stellina Bottega.
The restaurant has the capacity for 104 patrons indoors and 22 outdoors in a landscaped courtyard that will host live music and other events.
“The restaurant’s menu will stay true to the concept’s authentic Italian roots and feature traditional dishes inspired by Northern and Southern Italian pizza and street food,” Stellina Pizzeria said. “In addition to food offerings, the new location will host private events and pizza and pasta cooking classes.”
Stellina serves 11 signature, Neo-Neapolitan-style pizzas made in a custom oven by Venini, who uses a biga yeast and malted flour that have been fermented for 48 hours. That process produces “a light, moist crust with a distinct crispiness around the edge,” the business says.
Beyond pizza, the menu will consist of paninis, pastas, salads and traditional Italian sweets, along with cocktails, beer and wine. Specials at the Tysons location will rotate throughout the week and could include fish, pizza and other dishes.
The day-time dining spot First Watch is set to open its new Fair Lakes location this summer.
The fast-casual Florida-based chain restaurant, known for its unique breakfast, lunch and brunch-only concept, expects to open the new location in late June 2024 at 12249 Fair Lakes Promenade Drive, according to the restaurant’s spokesperson Hunter Carpenter.
Spanning 7,000-square-foot space, the restaurant will be one of its largest in Virginia. It follows a series of other openings across Fairfax over the last few years, including one last month in Franconia. A sixth location is also scheduled to open at Idylwood Plaza in Leesburg this Fall.
First Watch operates more than 520 restaurants in 29 states, nine of which are located in Virginia.
The menu offers an “elevated approach” to traditional breakfast, brunch, and lunch, including favorites like avocado toast, lemon ricotta pancakes, and million-dollar bacon.
When FFXnow went by the site to take peak at its progress, painters had just started putting a fresh coat on the front entrance.
“While the restaurant is still under construction, it will carry queues of what we call ‘urban farm’ — bringing the rustic feel of a farmhouse with the modern elements of an urban loft,” Carpenter said in an email.
Similar to its sister restaurants, the Fair Lakes location will operate seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and is expected to employ approximately 30 people.
Carpenter emphasized their “No Night Shifts Ever” policy, aimed at promoting work-life balance for their team members.
The Red Bird is now serving up six tiers of hot chicken in Reston.
The halal hot chicken chain has joined the roster of restaurants in South Lakes Village Center (11120 South Lakes Drive) after opening its first Northern Virginia franchise location in Vienna five months ago.
The Red Bird did not respond to a request for comment by press time. The company has previously said it also has plans to open in Arlington, Falls Church and Ashburn.
The Reston location is currently open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., while the Vienna spot (282 Cedar Lane) is open until 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday (and until 9 p.m. on Sunday).
The chicken sandwiches and tenders range from mild to extra hot and comes with a three-inch potato roll.
The chain aims to serve a range of diners, from a college student to a “big-time baller,” per its website. Its sandwich is priced at $4.99, and a single tender goes for $3.29.
Hot chicken, which was first popular in Black communities in Nashville, has seen increased prevalence in recent years.
South Lakes Village Center also features Mediterranean bistro Cafesano, Lakeside Asia Cafe, Red’s Table and a Chipotle. The Red Bird was expected to open in February, per the shopping center’s Facebook page.
South Lakes Village Center is also in the midst of a spring concert series. This Saturday (April 20), acoustic duo Duck Chuck Goose will perform from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Photo via VARedBird/Instagram
A second Ugly Dumpling appears to be opening in Fairfax inside Fair Oaks Mall.
The New-Jersey based Chinese restaurant, specializing in a variety of dumpling, dim sum, wontons and traditional noodle dishes has submitted a permit application for interior renovations in suite G-213 within the shopping center, per county records.
The company did not respond to a request for more information before FFXnow’s publication deadline.
Last month, the eatery announced it planned to open another location in next near Springfield Town Center this summer.
Originating from Edison, New Jersey, Ugly Dumpling opened its inaugural restaurant in August 2023. In less than a year, it has swiftly expanded and established eight additional outlets across the U.S., with five in New Jersey, three in Maryland and one in Texas, according to the company’s website.
In addition to its assortment of main Chinese dishes, the restaurant also offers traditional Shanghai appetizers and greens, such as soy garlic chicken wings, scallion pancake and bok choy with scallion-infused oil. There is also a sizable selection of teas and lattes available.
(Updated at 9:35 a.m. on 4/2/2024) Fresh off this past Saturday’s Easter celebration, Capital One Center in Tysons is gearing up to launch two restaurants and a new edition of Perchfest later this spring.
Stellina Pizzeria and Starr Hill Brewpub are both expected to open in late April, though precise dates haven’t been established yet, according to Capital One Center.
If that timeline holds, Stellina’s opening will come more than two years after it announced plans to expand with a 4,100-square-foot restaurant on the ground floor of Capital One’s headquarters (1610 Capital One Drive). This will be the D.C.-based pizzeria’s fourth location.
Starr Hill Brewpub hasn’t been in the works for quite as long. After opening a biergarten in The Perch in 2021, Starr Hill Brewery shared last year that it will add a 7,572-square-foot, street-level eatery at 7730 Capital One Tower Road. The pub will feature an expanded food menu and two bars with more than 20 beers on tap.
Both restaurants will arrive in time for Perchfest, the celebration that Capital One Center holds every spring and fall at The Perch. The tradition began in September 2021 as a grand opening for the 2.5-acre urban green space on top of Capital One Hall.
Scheduled for May 3 and 4, the spring 2024 Perchfest will have a “retro” theme that organizers hope attendees will support by wearing 1980s and 1990s attire.
“Capital One Center is delighted to host the next celebration of Perchfest…which has become an exceptional rooftop experience for our community and Capital One associates,” Capital One Center Head of Public Affairs Meghan Trossen said. “This will be our sixth Perchfest — and each year the event grows. Our community asked for a throwback theme, and we listened! We can’t wait to host the ultimate retro party for all our 80’s and 90’s kids!”
The proceedings will kick off from 2-6 p.m. on May 3 with a revival of the Perch Putt Open, a charity mini golf tournament first introduced at last September’s festival. Funds will go to Miriam’s Kitchen, a nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness and the festival’s charity partner.
While the rest of Perchfest is free with a ticket, Capital One Center is encouraging donations. The development has raised over $25,000 for Miriam’s Kitchen, as of last Thursday (March 28), and hopes to reach $30,000.
Other festivities will include a free fitness class, pie-eating contests, a Made in Fairfax pop-up market sponsored by Celebrate Fairfax, a Kentucky Derby-related event at the restaurant Wren, and live music at both Starr Hill Biergarten and Starr Hill Brewpub, which will host “Perchfest After Dark” concerts.
Capital One Park, the baseball stadium across the street at 1820 Dolley Madison Drive, will also be active with three scheduled games between Marymount University and Marywood University from Dunmore, Pennsylvania.
The full festival schedule is below. Read More
One restaurant has closed, but another will soon open in the Shops at Avenir Place near the Dunn Loring Metro station.
Burger 7 is no longer serving up patties and gyro wraps at 2670-A Avenir Place. The doors of the fast-casual eatery were fastened shut with a padlocked chain, and the interior looked partially deserted when FFXnow recently stopped by, though there was no sign announcing or explaining the closure.
A Burger 7 employee in Pimmit Hills (7505 Leesburg Pike) confirmed that the Dunn Loring location is permanently closed, but they didn’t know precisely when or why it shuttered, noting that the franchise has a different owner. Emails to the company weren’t answered by press time.
Burger 7 opened at Avenir Place in 2017, replacing a Smashburger, according to its first Yelp review. In addition to Pimmit Hills, where the business originally started in 2011, Burger 7 can still be found in Alexandria and Arlington.
The 2,094-square-foot space is now listed as available on the Shops at Avenir Place’s retail site plan.
New Japanese restaurant on the way
The transit-oriented development won’t be down a restaurant for too long, though. On the other end of the strip, near Salon Lofts and The Casual Pint, signs advertise the impending arrival of Japomen.
This will be the first standalone location for the sushi and ramen restaurant, which can currently be found in the Pike Kitchen Food Hall in Rockville, EpiQ Food Hall in Woodbridge and Lotte Supermarket’s food court in Sterling, co-owner James Park says.
“Fairfax County has demographics to fit [the] Japomen concept,” Park told FFXnow.
Park joined Japomen, which was started by sushi chef Peter Yoo at Pike Kitchen in 2018, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The partners expanded to Woodbridge in summer 2022 and to Sterling when Lotte opened there last year.
Park and Yoo are also behind Tilly Kitchen, a small food hall in Chantilly that complements Japomen’s menu with Korean and Vietnamese dishes.
Expected to open at 2767-J Avenir Place in May, Japomen will serve food similar to what can be found at the EpiQ Food Hall, including sushi rolls, ramen and udon noodle soups and rice bowls. Park says the team will also “continue to innovate new menu items in catering to Dunn Loring customers.”
“We are very excited and look forward to serving the Dunn Loring community,” he said.
Nashville-based Taco Bamba is set to open a new location in the Fair Lakes Promenade shopping center next week, with prizes for the first 100 guests.
The grand opening is slated for Friday, April 5, Taco Bamba chef and founder Victor Albisu announced in a press release.
The doors at 12239 Fair Lakes Promenade Drive will open at 9 a.m., with the first 100 guests receiving a free coffee tumbler and a “golden ticket” that could yield a variety of gifts, such as menu items, mezcal, t-shirts and hats. A select few will win a year’s supply of tacos, per the release.
Occupying a 2,140-square-foot space, the new restaurant will have a similar feel to its sister locations with a full bar and patio, original artwork and a menu of location-unique tacos, quesadillas, nachos, empanadas and cocktails.
With warmer weather on the horizon, the location will welcome guests and their pets to an outdoor “Taco Bamba Houndgarden” patio.
Taco Bamba has 13 locations spread out across the D.C. area, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee. This will be the 10th Taco Bamba in Northern Virginia, including eight locations in Fairfax County and two others in Arlington.
Several more plan to open in areas such as Richmond and Sterling.
“Taco Bamba has been going through a rapid period of growth in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions and while entering markets is exciting for our brand, developing new menus for our hometown neighborhoods is both challenging and rewarding,” Albisu said in the release. “Our super fans hold Taco Bamba to a high standard so we doubled down on creativity for this location.”
Menu highlights include neighborhood-specific tacos such as “Moby’s Hog” with gyro-spiced pork, the “PF Chango” with sweet and sour chicken or cauliflower, and the “Can I See A Manager” with chipotle bourbon brisket.
Beyond tacos, the menu offers ceviche, Mexican street corn, and a mixed fajita empanada, alongside a selection of mezcal-based cocktails curated by Beverage Director Amin Seddiq. Notable drinks include the “Oaxacan Tea Garden” and “In Dew Time,” according to the release.
In 2015, Albisu was named “Chef of the Year” by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. In 2020 and 2016, he was nominated for a James Beard Foundation award as “Best Chef Mid-Atlantic.”
Taco Bamba will be open in Fair Lakes from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
The roster of retailers coming to Tysons Corner Center continues to grow.
A fast-casual Turkish restaurant that specializes in chicken, fashion designer Kate Spade and a fitness clothing brand are all slated to open locations in the mall at 1961 Chain Bridge Road later this year, according to a press release.
Gagawa, the restaurant, started life in 2012 and has since opened more than 275 restaurants in Turkey, where its name Tavuk Dünyası translates to “World of Chicken,” per its website. The company adopted Gagawa as its global branding and began expanding outside Turkey around 2021, adding locations in Cyprus and Madrid, Spain.
Tysons Corner Center will be Gagawa’s first location in the U.S. It will be located on the mall’s first floor across from California Pizza Kitchen, replacing the Panera Bread that closed in late 2022.
Inspired by cuisines around the world, Gagawa marinates its chicken for 12 to 14 hours and serves it with pasta or rice and a Mediterranean salad. The menu also includes red meat fillets and a variety of starters, such as hummus and feta cheese and olives.
“We are very excited to open our first restaurant in the U.S. in Tysons Center,” Gagawa Chairman Ahmet Faralyalı said. “Our mission is to provide everyone with the opportunity to enjoy a high quality, delicious, affordable meal in an environment where one can feel appreciated. Our local consumer research shows that both our concept and product are very much desired by consumers, and we thrilled to unveil a new, unique experience soon.”
The restaurant will be preceded by Kate Spade New York, which is expected to open on Tysons Corner Center’s second floor near Nordstrom this summer. Launched in 1993, the women’s fashion store sells seasonal collections of handbags, ready-to-wear, jewelry, footwear, gifts home décor and more.
Kate Spade can currently be found in Tysons Galleria at 2001 International Drive, Suite 1430. An employee confirmed to FFXnow that the outlet is relocating from the smaller mall, where it will close sometime in June.
“When customers walk into the store, we want them to feel that they are walking into a uniquely Kate Spade world,” Kate Spade New York CEO and Brand President Liz Fraser said. “…Designed to evoke the feeling of a great escape, this newly designed retail location at Tysons Corner Center will offer both comfort and possibility, inviting customers to feel instantly transported, while still feeling right at home.”
The final newly announced tenant is Vuori, a fitness, surf and yoga apparel store based in Encinitas, California.
Founded in 2015 by Joe Kudla, whom it describes as “an active yogi and surfer,” the company has stores in almost 50 cities around the world, including in Georgetown and Bethesda. Made with an emphasis on sustainability, its clothes can also be found at other retailers, such as Potomac River Running and CorePower Yoga.
Vuori is scheduled to open on Tysons Corner Center’s second floor near Macy’s in the third quarter of 2024.
“Tysons Corner Center is proud to offer our customers an expanded mix of sustainable focused brands like Vuori, who share our commitment to sustainability and corporate social responsibility,” said Jesse Benites, director of property management for Macerich, the mall’s owner and developer.
The mall has already welcomed a few new retailers this year, including the shoe store Rothy’s, the Pakistani clothing store Khaadi and the Indian restaurant Dhoom. Still in the works are fashion retailers Primark and Mango and Level99, a 40,000-square-foot playground for adults that’s coming in 2025.
In addition, the chain restaurants Maggiano’s and Cheesecake Factory will join Kate Spade in making the jump from Tysons Galleria. Maggiano’s is expected to move this summer, while the Cheesecake Factory is on track to follow in the fourth quarter of this year.
A daytime-only cafe in Franconia will get next week off to an energetic start, offering free coffee to diners as part of its grand opening on Monday (March 18).
First Watch, a fast-casual restaurant chain based in Florida, will open its latest Fairfax County location in the Festival at Manchester Lakes shopping center (7027C Manchester Blvd) at 7 a.m. Free cups of coffee from Project Sunrise will come with every meal through Friday, March 22.
The 4,500-square-foot cafe will seat more than 170 people and features a covered outdoor dining patio, along with a bar that serves signature juices, cocktails and coffee.
“Our Franconia restaurant is the perfect location to kick off an exciting expansion that’s been years in the making, with a fresh take on brunch our customers know and love,” First Watch Vice President of Operations Rob Botelho said. “As First Watch approaches two decades in the area, we’re thrilled to share our aspirations to inspire even more good mornings with each of our new openings.”
Originally started in Pacific Grove, California, in 1983, First Watch now has more than 520 restaurants in 29 states, including locations at Fair City Mall in Fairfax, Crossroads Center shopping center in Bailey’s Crossroads and Greenbriar Town Center in Chantilly.
The Franconia restaurant is the company’s first expansion in Fairfax County since the Bailey’s Crossroads site opened in 2021, but two additional locations are already on their way.
The chain will replace a TGI Fridays in Fair Lakes that closed in late 2023, and it officially announced in January that it has leased a 4,000-square-foot space in Idylwood Plaza (7501 Leesburg Pike). Both cafes are expected to open by this fall.
Open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., First Watch serves breakfast, brunch and lunch dishes. Fan favorites include avocado toast, lemon ricotta pancakes and million dollar bacon — hardwood-smoked bacon baked with brown sugar, black pepper, cayenne and a maple syrup drizzle, per a press release.
The cafe also has a seasonal menu that changes five times a year based on “the position of the sun to source quality ingredients” for dishes like barbacoa quesadilla benedict and watermelon wake-up fresh juice. A seasonal menu will roll out in Franconia for the first time this summer.
A new Chinese restaurant specializing in dumplings is coming to Springfield this summer.
New Jersey-based chain Ugly Dumpling told FFXnow it is looking to open its first eatery in Virginia sometime this summer next to Taco Bamba at 6691-F Backlick Road near Springfield Town Center.
FFXnow noticed construction activity inside the space during a visit to the site yesterday (Monday).
Originating from Edison, New Jersey, Ugly Dumpling opened its inaugural restaurant in August 2023. In less than a year, it has swiftly expanded and established eight additional outlets across the U.S., with five in New Jersey, three in Maryland and one in Texas, according to the company’s website.
“Ugly Dumpling pays homage to the centuries-old cooking techniques of Shanghai while cultivating an experience that’s exciting to today’s modern palette,” a restaurant spokesperson told FFXnow.
Ugly Dumpling prides itself on its signature dish, xiao long bao — a Shanghai specialty known for its rich, savory soup broth encased in delicate dumplings.
The menu also features a variety of dim sum, wontons and traditional noodle and wok dishes, each with a unique spin. Complementing these main offerings are traditional Shanghai appetizers and greens, such as soy garlic chicken wings, scallion pancake, and bok choy with scallion-infused oil. Additionally, there is an sizable selection of teas and lattes available.
Upon its opening, the restaurant will offer combo specials, boba tea specials, and sampler offerings, according to the spokesperson.
