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.
A woman hit by a vehicle in Springfield in late December has now died.
Fu-Tzu Wong, 63, was using a crosswalk to cross Huntsman Blvd at Bridle Wood Drive in the evening of Dec. 27 when “an unidentified vehicle” struck her, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
Officers responded to the crash around 7:53 p.m., but the vehicle was gone when they arrived. Wong was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The FCPD says its detectives were informed yesterday (Monday) that Wong has died from her injuries.
“The investigation into the crash continues as detectives continue to locate both the vehicle and the driver involved,” the FCPD says.
The department advises anyone with information about the crash to contact its Crash Reconstruction Unit detectives at 703-280-0543. Anonymous tips can be shared via Crime Solvers by phone (703-246-4676) or online.
Wong’s death brings the county’s pedestrian death toll for 2023 up to 11, based on Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles crash data.
Image via Google Maps
Old Keene Mill Shopping Center is marshaling a new grocery store, multiple restaurants and other retailers to fill the void left behind by Whole Foods.
The space filled by the grocer until it opened a bigger store last October just down the road in Springfield Plaza is being subdivided into six different suites, and at least four of them have been leased, according to a site plan from property owner Federal Realty.
The confirmed newcomers will be McAlister’s Deli, Crimson Coward Chicken, Zips Dry Cleaner and European Wax Center, all opening in early 2025, a Federal Realty spokesperson says.
A chain started in 1989 by a dentist in Oxford, Mississippi, McAlister’s will open a 2,925-square-foot restaurant near the Rolling Road entrance to the West Springfield shopping center (8424 Old Keene Mill Road).
The deli serves sandwiches, salads, soups, giant spuds (i.e. baked potatoes) and a specialty sweet tea. Its 500-plus locations include ones at University Mall near Fairfax City, Worldgate Centre in Herndon and Mount Vernon Plaza in Hybla Valley.
McKaye Darling, owner of the upcoming Old Keene Mill franchise, says the company is “thrilled” to expand to West Springfield.
“Our location choice was strategic, factoring in demographics, foot traffic, and neighboring restaurants in order to elevate the West Springfield food scene,” Darling said. “Our goal is to deliver the same top-notch quality and service found across all of our locations while seamlessly integrating with the West Springfield community.”
For Crimson Coward, a growing Nashville-style hot chicken chain that started in Los Angeles, California, this will be its first location in Fairfax County. The business landed on the East Coast on Jan. 9, 2023 with an opening in Woodbridge, and Stafford and Maryland restaurants are also apparently in the works, per its website.
It will occupy 1,449 square feet in a row facing Rolling Road with European Wax Center, a national hair removal company that will open a 1,200-square-foot suite, and Zips Dry Cleaner, which will have 1,397 square feet.
The bulk of the former Whole Foods space will be turned into a new, 17,186-square-foot store for “a national grocer,” Federal Realty says, but that grocer’s identity remains a bit of a mystery.
The Washington Business Journal reported in March 2023 that Trader Joe’s had executed a lease for the space, which was previously about 24,000 square feet in size. A Trader Joe’s employee told FFXnow last July that the grocer will relocate from its current location in Springfield Plaza to Old Keene Mill Shopping Center in another “year or so.”
However, when asked if the “national grocer” is Trader Joe’s, the Federal Realty spokesperson said only that details will be shared when they’re available.
On the western end of the shopping center, a Japanese restaurant called Kanji Sushi has leased 4,843 square feet adjacent to Planet Fitness. The eatery is projected to open in mid to late 2024.
“We welcome these merchants to the Springfield community,” Federal Realty Senior Vice President of Asset Management Deirdre Johnson said in a statement. “These new, innovative dining and service providers further cement Old Keene Mill Shopping Center as a popular shopping and dining destination for the Springfield and greater Fairfax County community.”
Ten of the D.C. region’s best restaurants can be found in Fairfax County, according to a newly unveiled round-up by Washingtonian.
Acknowledging that “some of the year’s coolest spots…debuted in the Virginia suburbs,” Washingtonian ranked Joon at no. 23 on its 2024 list of the “100 Very Best Restaurants” in the region. Opened on June 13, 2023, the Tysons-based Persian restaurant was the only Fairfax County spot to be ranked.
Located in Fairfax Square (8045 Leesburg Pike), Joon is led by chefs Najmieh Batmanglij and Christopher Morgan, who blend traditional Iranian cuisine with contemporary western elements. It also contains the pop-up, The Kitchen Collective, which serves food from other concepts by Joon co-founder Reza Farahani.
Farahani says it’s “an honor” for Joon to be recognized less than a year after its launch in an area that boasts “a vibrant and innovative restaurant scene.”
“Our vision has been to showcase a modern approach to the ancient cuisine of Iran and the Middle East, while using local and seasonal ingredients and innovative techniques to create a one-of-a-kind experience,” Farahani told FFXnow. “Our wine list and craft cocktails have been developed with distinct Persian flavors such as saffron, rose and pomegranate and are an homage to Persia’s contribution to the earliest spirits and wines known in history.”
Washingtonian praised Joon for food “that’s both homey and beautifully presented,” singling out the “warm pita” offered to patrons when they arrive, dips and sour-cherry rice as highlights.
“Whole platters sized for two and up are stunners, whether a whole rotisserie chicken with apples, apricots, and honey or a strapping feast of kebabs,” the magazine’s staff said in a capsule review.
Joon’s inclusion on Washingtonian’s annual list continued a good day for Batmanglij and Morgan, who were also named semifinalists yesterday (Wednesday) for a James Beard award.
Other Fairfax County establishments that made the list, which is unranked after the top 25, include:
- A&J Restaurant in Annandale (4316 Markham Street)
- Aracosia in McLean (1381 Beverly Road)
- Ingle Korean Steakhouse in Tysons (8369 Leesburg Pike, Suite A)
- Kirby Club in Merrifield (2911 District Avenue)
- L’Auberge Chez Francois in Great Falls (332 Springvale Road)
- Mama Chang in Fairfax (3251 Old Lee Highway)
- Marib in Springfield (6981 Hechinger Drive)
- Padaek in Seven Corners (6395 Seven Corners Center)
- Parc De Ville in Merrifield (8296 Glass Alley)
Several restaurants — A&J, Aracosia, L’Auberge Chez Francois, Mama Chang and Marib — also appeared on Washingtonian’s “100 Very Best” list for 2023.
In the case of A&J, the family-owned dim sum eatery has been recognized every year that the list has come out since 2019, though the magazine paused the yearly round-up in 2021 and 2022 in response to the Covid pandemic. A&J originated in Rockville, Maryland, in 1996 before adding the Annandale location in 2000.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors hopes to preserve a smaller version of Lake Accotink, but a number of questions still need to be answered before it commits to a specific action plan.
At Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw’s request, the board directed staff yesterday (Tuesday) to begin a series of studies to flesh out a task force’s determination that it would be feasible for the county to save 20 to 40 acres of the Springfield lake as opposed to fully dredging it or allowing it to disappear.
“This has been closely coordinated with staff, so they’re aware of all of this,” Walkinshaw said prior to the unanimous board vote. “I believe we should proceed with the smaller lake option unless the feasibility study identifies unforeseen hurdles.”
In addition to a feasibility study that will look at the process, costs, implementation timeline and other factors of the potential project, the county will conduct a sedimentation rate study to get updated calculations of how much sediment is flowing into and out of Lake Accotink. A separate analysis will assess whether the man-made dam that created the lake meets Virginia’s current regulatory standards and the cost of any needed improvements.
To support the studies, the board told staff to develop a community engagement plan and assign a Department of Public Works and Environmental Services employee to coordinate the work, either by creating a new position or repurposing an existing one.
The county has already committed $60.5 million to Lake Accotink in its capital improvement program (CIP), according to Walkinshaw’s board matter. Approved in 2019 and 2021 to help dredge and maintain the lake, the funds will be continued in the next CIP, which is slated to be unveiled on Feb. 20 with the proposed fiscal year 2025 budget.
“I think we’re in a much better spot now than we were just a few weeks ago,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said. “I am very interested in the feasibility study not just looking at the initial costs of preserving Lake Accotink as a smaller lake, but also the ongoing maintenance costs and future capital costs.”
Lake Accotink Park (7500 Accotink Park Road) is one of the Fairfax County Park Authority’s most popular facilities, in part because of the boat rentals offered by its marina. However, the once-110-acre lake has shrunk to 49 acres due to sentiment transported by Accotink Creek, according to the Lake Accotink Task Force report released in December.
After previously planning to dredge the lake, a process undertaken in 1985 and 2008, county staff recommended last February that the lake instead be turned into a wetland, stating that the projected cost and neighborhood and environmental impacts no longer made dredging viable.
As community members urged the county to save Lake Accotink, the Board of Supervisors convened a task force led by former board chair Sharon Bulova to study if a smaller lake could be feasibly maintained with an initial, partial dredge, followed by regular maintenance dredges.
The task force studied the possibility of a 22-acre, 33-acre or 41-acre lake and found all of them could work, preserving the lake for recreation “while minimizing maintenance costs and impacts on surrounding communities,” Walkinshaw said in his board matter.
The smaller lake could be supplemented by trails, a managed wetland and other new amenities, the task force suggested. After the new feasibility study is completed, the park authority will restart a master planning process that was put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Depending on the exact size of the lake, the task force estimated that it could cost $24 to $34 million for an initial dredge that would restore a depth of 4-8 feet, but future maintenance costs are expected to be far lower than the $395 million that the county says it would take to preserve the full lake for the next 25 years, Walkinshaw noted.
Lingering questions include how to transport and dispose of the dredged sediment. A task force member suggested the Robinson Terminal Warehouse (7201 Wimsatt Road) as a processing site, but the property owners have made it “pretty clear they weren’t interested” when approached by county staff, according to Walkinshaw.
“Obviously, as this moves forward, all the potential processing sites will have to be reevaluated. For the time being, that’s been affirmed no,” he said.
Board Chairman Jeff McKay called the vote to initiate the feasibility study “a big step” in a discussion that’s been ongoing since 2016.
“Making sure the community knows where we’re heading is really critical here,” McKay said. “We still have some t’s to cross and i’s to dot here. This is a milestone moment, but not the end by any stretch of the imagination, and I know this will continue to be an issue of countywide importance until it’s resolved.”
TGI Fridays has shuttered another Fairfax County location.
The chain’s restaurant in Springfield Commons at 6751 Frontier Drive permanently closed on Tuesday, Jan. 2, part of a slew of closures that took effect nationwide that day.
“We regret to inform you that Fridays has made the difficult decision to close our doors at Springfield VA effective Jan. 2,” a notice posted to the restaurant’s door said. “We are extremely grateful to our loyal Guests and our Team Members at our Springfield restaurant.”
A generic version of that message was sent to local members of TGI Fridays’ loyalty rewards program. One member told FFXnow that they had visited the Springfield location just last Friday (Dec. 29) and saw no indications of the impending closure.
The Jan. 2 closures targeted 36 restaurants across the U.S. that were “underperforming,” TGI Fridays announced on Wednesday (Dec. 3). Locations in Manassas, Woodbridge’s Potomac Mills shopping mall and Fredericksburg were also affected, according to the company’s guest relations team.
The company said more than 1,000 employees, or over 80% of those affected, were offered the option to transfer to a different location.
“Our top priority has always been delivering a superior experience for each and every TGI Fridays guest, and we’ve identified opportunities to optimize and streamline our operations to ensure we are best positioned to meet — and exceed — on that brand promise,” TGI Fridays U.S. President and Chief Operating Officer Ray Risley said in a statement. “By strengthening our franchise model and closing underperforming stores, we are creating an unprecedented opportunity for Fridays to drive forward its vision for the future.”
TGI Fridays had been at Springfield Commons since at least 2007, according to the location’s Yelp page, where it has an average rating of just 2.2 stars.
The 6,830-square-foot space is now available for leasing. Rappaport, which manages and leases the strip mall, told the Washington Business Journal that it’s actively seeking a tenant for the storefront, which is adjacent to a recently opened Pure Hockey store.
This round of closures was preceded by TGI Fridays shutting down its Fair Lakes location late last year. That restaurant at 12249 Fair Lakes Promenade Drive will be replaced by First Watch, a daytime cafe expected to open this summer.
Costco is fueling up to expand its Springfield location with a new 12-pump gas station.
In a proposal submitted to Fairfax County on Dec. 15, Costco Whole Corp. says it wants to demolish a vacant, two-story office building next to its warehouse at 7373 Boston Blvd and replace it with the fueling station, which would be open for Costco members only.
To move forward with the plan, Costco would consolidate two parcels of land, adding roughly 9,300 square feet of usable space to its property.
“The consolidation of Parcel 24 and Parcel C would allow the Applicant to redevelop the currently vacant office building with a state-of-the-art members-only vehicle fueling station and integrate all 17.61 acres into the Costco Wholesale retail experience with the same departments and features Costco includes in any new developments and which exist in all of their other locations in Fairfax County,” the application said.
The application emphasizes that the changes, if approved, would actually reduce the overall density of the site.
Access to Costco — which is currently provided at two points on Boston Blvd. — would not be impacted by the proposal.
At the western entrance to the property, an existing entry to the office building would be repurposed as an entry point, “seamlessly integrating it into the consolidated Costco retail center.”
“This consolidation ensures continuity in site accessible while enhancing overall operational efficiency,” the application said.
The fueling station would have 24 fueling positions and a 8,100-square-foot fuel canopy.
The proposal is under review but hasn’t been officially accepted by county planners yet. Costco is also seeking to expand its heavily used retail warehouse at 4725 West Ox Road in the Fairfax area.
Image via Google Maps
Customers that bank at Truist in Reston and Springfield may soon have to make some changes.
The company, Truist Financial Corp., plans to close its Reston (11100 South Lakes Drive) and Springfield (6810 Commerce Street) locations early next year.
The closures were disclosed in a letter to customers in this month, according to the Washington Business Journal.
Here’s more on the closures from the WBJ:
A Truist spokesperson said declines in foot traffic and transaction volume in its branches drove the decision to close these locations, along with others it’s shuttering in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and other markets within its footprint. On average, there’s another Truist branch within about a mile of any location it’s closing, the spokesperson said.
There will also be layoffs associated with the move, though the company didn’t specify how many. A spokesperson said the bank is “committed to supporting teammates affected by these branch closures through this transition.” There are some new positions being created at other branches and employees will have “elevated access” to other jobs within Truist, the spokesperson said.
Truist has nearly 200 branches in the D.C. area, 11 of which will close in March. Five of the ones slated for closure in March are in D.C., four are in Prince George’s County and two are in Fairfax County.
Truist’s closure in Reston will give South Lakes Village Center a second vacant bank building. The center owner had proposed turning the first building — which was filled by SunTrust — into a fast-food drive-thru, but the plan was put on hold indefinitely in May.
Image via Google Maps
Any extension of the I-495 Express Lanes along the south side of the Capital Beltway should support additional transit options, Fairfax County leaders stressed in a recent letter to the Virginia Department of Transportation.
VDOT is currently studying options for completing the I-495 toll lanes by expanding them from the I-395/I-95 interchange in Springfield to Maryland Route 210 in Prince George’s County, an approximately 11-mile span that crosses the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Alexandria.
At a meeting on Nov. 21, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a letter to Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sheppard Miller emphasizing the importance of accommodating transit in the project, which is intended to relieve congestion on what VDOT has said is the most heavily traveled segment of the Beltway.
“The County is appreciative that the Commonwealth is assessing solutions on the only interstate segment in Fairfax that does not have a transit benefit at this time,” the board’s letter said. “It is critical that additional travel choices are available in the Capital Beltway Corridor to move the most people as efficiently as possible in this region.”
VDOT staff presented several preliminary concepts at a public meeting on Sept. 12, including the addition of one or two general-purpose or express lanes in each direction or two reversible express lanes that would change direction with rush-hour traffic.
Staff said it has also explored adding a dedicated transit lane for buses and making adjustments that wouldn’t require new construction, such as supporting new bus routes or allowing the existing I-495 shoulders to be used as travel lanes during peak traffic periods. However, the congestion relief benefits would be limited without more space on the highway, according to the study team.
Taking a slightly more open stance than officials in Alexandria City, the Board of Supervisors didn’t comment on specific concepts, but it urged VDOT not to pursue any option that would rule out the possibility of future rail service over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
Opened to traffic in May 2008, the bridge was designed with a median to accommodate future transit, not with the expectation of toll lanes, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay noted at the Nov. 21 meeting.
“From an equity standpoint, I do appreciate the fact that this is on the table, because this remains the only piece of interstate highway in Fairfax County that currently has no transit benefit whatsoever,” McKay said. “I acknowledge a failure of past efforts when projects were done to literally cut off this part of the county from the same types of transportation options that other parts of the county now have, including the communities that are sandwiched between the Springfield interchange project and the Woodrow Wilson project.”
According to the board’s letter, Fairfax County staff would support “an interim phase” without rail while Metro continues exploring how to increase capacity on its Blue, Orange and Silver lines, a study that has been underway since 2019 and could conclude by the end of this year. Read More
The best path forward for saving Lake Accotink might to let it shrink, a Fairfax County task force has proposed.
Created by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in May, the 30-person group was charged with exploring alternatives to fully dredging the sediment that has accumulated in the man-made body of water or converting it to a wetland, as recommended earlier this year by county staff.
In a final report delivered to the board yesterday (Tuesday), the Task Force on the Future of Lake Accotink suggested that 20 to 40 acres of the lake could be preserved with “a program of regular maintenance dredging,” which would allow kayaking and other water recreation to continue at the popular Springfield park.
The remainder of the lake could be turned into “some combination of a managed wetland and a grassland,” the task force proposed. Originally 110 acres in size, Lake Accotink has already been reduced to 49 acres, thanks to sediment build-up from the area’s development, the report says, citing Fairfax County Park Authority project manager and senior planner Adam Wynn.
“There is no doubt that preserving a smaller lake meets significant community and social goals,” a task force subcommittee charged with analyzing alternatives to a full dredging wrote in the report. “Even a small lake would allow the maintenance of the current marina area, a community gathering place for picnics, birthday parties, and many others who enjoy the calming effects of a lake environment. And, importantly, a small lake would still preserve the beauty that so many find in a lake for generations to come.”
Frequented by over 250,000 visitors a year, Lake Accotink Park (7500 Accotink Park Road) is one of the park authority’s top attractions. It features miles of trails, a carousel, a mini golf course, a picnic area, bicycle rentals and a recently updated playground in addition to a marina, where visitors can rent canoes, kayaks and paddle boats.
However, sediment carried into the lake by Accotink Creek needs to be periodically dredged, a process undertaken in 1985 and 2008. The Board of Supervisors approved a plan in 2019 to conduct an initial $30.5 million dredging operation, followed by annual maintenance dredges that would cost an estimated $2 million per year.
But the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) and its consultant, Arcadis, reported in February that 43% more sediment would need to be removed than initially estimated, and the costs of both the initial dredgings had skyrocketed to roughly $95 million.
The first 20 years of the annual dredging program would require an additional $300 million in funding, according to the February report, which was based on data collected since 2021.
As a result, DPWES staff recommended letting the lake fill up and revisiting the park’s master plan to determine how it might be maintained in the future as a “wetland and/or floodplain forest complex” — a proposal that alarmed community members. Read More