Updated at 3:35 p.m. on 4/2/2024 — Yellow Diner officially opened in Vienna on Monday, April 1, operating from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for brunch and 5-10 p.m. for dinner every day except for Tuesdays.
Earlier: An end to the long, winding road to an opening for Vienna’s Yellow Diner is in sight.
The new restaurant is “a hundred percent guaranteed” to open at 501 Maple Avenue West this month, co-owner and operational manager Emanuel Pagonis told FFXnow. A firm date hasn’t been set yet, but the team is targeting the last week of March for a grand opening.
“It’s three years in the making, but it’s a beautiful place, a beautiful restaurant inside,” Pagonis said by phone. “I’m just excited for people to come in and feel happy, honestly. That’s what I’m most looking forward to.”
The concept for Yellow Diner came to Emanuel and his father, Peter Pagonis, who owns the Greek restaurant Nostos in Tysons, during the uncertain days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They wanted to build a “happy community spot” that everyone will feel comfortable visiting at any time of the day, according to Emanuel Pagonis. They also saw a deficit of quality breakfast options in Vienna, particularly following Amphora Restaurant’s closure in 2021.
The Maple Room, a steak and seafood restaurant, opened last year in Amphora’s place, but it offers more of a fine-dining experience, operating only during dinner hours.
“We wanted to make this a new, little beacon of happiness where people can come and enjoy American classics and feel nice and warm when they walk in,” Emanuel said.
The Pagonis family got the Vienna Board of Architectural Review’s approval to replace a defunct SunTrust Bank branch with Yellow Diner in July 2022, but converting a bank originally built in the 1970s into a modern restaurant required an extensive permitting and construction process.
Now that the water, gas lines, electricity and other utilities have been installed, the build-out finally complete, the team is focused on hiring staff and taste-testing their planned recipes. The menu is still being finalized, but it will be completely different from the Greek cuisine at Nostos, Emanuel Pagonis confirmed.
Breakfast and brunch will consist of eggs benedict, pancakes, waffles and other classic American comfort foods, as Tysons Today previously reported. For dinner, which will start at 5 p.m., the restaurant will shift to “American fusion” dishes.
Though it seeks to impart the same feelings of comfort associated with an old-school diner, Yellow Diner will have a different, more modern ambiance than a mid-century establishment like The Virginian, for example, which dates back to 1965.
Among other deviations, it will have a bar with full cocktail and liquor lists, along with fresh juices and lemonade.
Including an outdoor patio, the restaurant can seat 94 people, though it has the capacity to expand in the future, according to Emanuel.
“Until you come inside and see the place, you won’t really know what we’re about,” he said. “Our name is Yellow Diner, but we look a little different than your traditional diner, so we want people to come in and see for themselves.”
Lezzet has closed its Vienna restaurant after less than two years in the town.
The location closed for good “last week unfortunately,” a spokesperson for the Mediterranean restaurant confirmed to FFXnow by email on Friday (March 1), though they didn’t elaborate on what led to that decision.
A notice taped to the restaurant’s front door was similarly opaque, saying only that it was permanently closed.
An expansion of a popular restaurant that started in Centreville in 2020, Lezzet opened in the Cedar Park Shopping Center (262-G Cedar Lane) on April 10, 2022. It was accompanied by El Sabor Grill, a Mexican restaurant and bar also operated by general manager Burcin Can.
El Sabor opened in March 2022 and closed after less than a year of business.
Lezzet was founded by chef Serkan Gozubuyuk, who had more than three decades of experience cooking Turkish cuisine. An immigrant from Turkey, his previous work included stints as an executive chef at Ankara in Dupont Circle and a sous chef for Agora Tysons.
The Centreville location (13850 Braddock Road, Suite E) remains open. It has the same menu as the Vienna location, serving kabobs, flatbreads, wraps and other Turkish and Mediterranean dishes.
Lezzet joins a growing list of restaurant closures in the Town of Vienna, following in the more established footsteps of Noodles and Company and preceding last week’s shuttering of Akai Tori Ramen & Yakitori. The family-owned store Princess Jewelers is also set to close after 38 years on March 16.
Anchored by CVS Pharmacy and Simply Social Coffee, Cedar Park Shopping Center’s remaining dining options include Sushi Koji, America’s Best Wings, Hunan Delight, Pizza Boli’s and The Red Bird, a hot chicken eatery that opened in December.
Some teenage volunteers in Vienna have teamed up with a national nonprofit to show their support for American military service members.
The town’s Club Phoenix Teen Council launched a donation drive this week to collect clothes, non-perishable food and other items that will be assembled into care packages for military troops serving around the world.
Donations will be accepted through March 7 at the Vienna Community Center (120 Cherry Street SE), the town announced on Wednesday (Feb. 28) in a press release. Wanted items include:
- New socks and undershirts
- Non-perishable food items such as beef jerky, canned tuna, or dried fruit
- Hygiene items such as body wipes, hand sanitizer, and sunscreen
- Other common supplies like pens, books, or journals.
The teen council is a volunteer program in Club Phoenix, the town-run teen center that offers after-school programs and services to students in sixth through 12th grade. The council consists of nine members in seventh through 12th grade.
To organize the donation drive, the council has partnered with the nonprofit HeroBox, which aims to “provide physical and emotional support” to deployed service members, according to its website.
Designed to give the council members volunteering experience, the initiative builds on a letter-writing campaign that Club Phoenix conducted during the recent winter holiday season with A Million Thanks, another nonprofit dedicated to supporting members of the military.
“We wanted to continue supporting them, so we teamed up with HeroBox, an organization that helps
troops year-round,” Ianna Alhambra, the town’s after school program coordinator, said.
According to the Town of Vienna, the teen council hopes to collect enough donations to “fill at least 20 medium size USPS care packages for 20 military personnel with 15-20 items per package.”
Items can be dropped off at the community center’s lobby on Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-10:30 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday from 12-6 p.m. The Club Phoenix Teen Center, which is located in the community center’s basement, will also accept donations from 2:30-6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 2:30-9 p.m. on Fridays.
Perhaps the commercial building at 234 Maple Avenue East in Vienna is just not meant to be a ramen shop.
Its current occupant, Akai Tori Ramen & Yakitori, will dish out its last noodle soup bowl today (Thursday) before permanently closing its doors at 7 p.m. The restaurant announced the closure “with a heavy heart” via social media on Monday (Feb. 26), and it was first reported by Patch.
“This decision was incredibly difficult, but necessary given the current circumstances,” Akai Tori said in a message to customers and supporters. “…We are immensely grateful for your unwavering support over a year and cherish the memories we’ve created together. Thank you for being a part of our journey. Take care, and we hope our paths cross again in the future.”
When contacted by FFXnow, an Akai Tori employee said the team is unable to elaborate on the reasons for the closure at this time. She noted that a new tenant for the space is already lined up, but she doesn’t know who it will be.
Akai Tori opened on Jan. 28, 2023 in a 3,000-square-foot building previously filled by Shin Se Kai Ramen, which launched in February 2019 but never returned from an initially temporary closure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Inspired by izakaya bars, the concept came from chef-owner Mark Liu, who also owns Sushi Yoshi on Church Street. It serves tempura, grilled meats (yakiniku), sushi and sashimi, and other Japanese dishes, including the ramen and yakitori skewers referenced in its name, which translates to “red bird.”
Before it opened, the business told FFXnow that its ramen broth would be made by hand using its own recipe, a “differentiator” from other restaurants in the area that rely on pre-made broth.
(Updated at 11 a.m. on 2/28/2024) Allegations of racist lending practices against Navy Federal Credit Union have solidified into a class action lawsuit.
Attorneys representing nine members of Navy Federal filed a complaint in federal court on Feb. 20 alleging that the Vienna-based financial institution “systematically discriminates” against people of color, particularly Black, Hispanic and Native American applicants, when determining whether to approve mortgage loans.
The lawsuit builds on a Dec. 14 story by CNN that found Navy Federal was more than twice as likely to reject Black mortgage applicants than their white counterparts, even when they have similar incomes, property values and neighborhood characteristics.
“Navy Federal claims that it champions community and that it is dedicated to embracing and celebrating diversity and inclusion in all the communities it serves. Of course, actions speak louder than words, and Navy Federal’s claims of community devotion ring hollow in the face of its systematic discrimination against non-white borrowers,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump said at a press conference in New York, where the lawsuit was publicly announced.
Consolidating four initially separate legal challenges, the lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, since Navy Federal’s global headquarters are at 820 Follin Lane in Vienna.
Navy Federal, which serves current and former members of the military and their families, gave conventional home purchase mortgage loans to 77% of white applicants in 2022 but only 48% of Black applicants — a 29% disparity that’s the biggest of any major lender in the country, CNN reported, citing data that the credit union was required to report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Hispanic applicants were approved 56% of the time, while Native Americans and Asians saw approval rates of 64% and 69%, respectively.
Brought by plaintiffs from across the country who say they were either denied a loan or, in one case, issued one at a higher-than-average interest rate by Navy Federal, the 65-page complaint argues that the credit union’s practices amounted to racial discrimination in violation of federal laws, including the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
The complaint also alleges violations of state laws in California and Florida, where some of the plaintiffs are located.
“Harming its members and engaging in unlawful behavior is nothing new to Navy Federal, a company that has shown it simply does not care about equal housing, non-discrimination, or its members’ well-being,” the complaint says, noting that the credit union was ordered by the CFPB in 2016 to pay $23 million to members for making misleading threats in order to collect debts. Read More
(Updated at 4:30 p.m. on 2/28/2024) The Town of Vienna will kick off March with its third annual Restaurant Week.
More than 40 restaurants in the town will offer special deals during the promotional campaign, which will run from March 3-10. For the first time, the town will celebrate the week by hosting a drop-in social event near the Town Green on Tuesday, March 5 from 4-6 p.m. with giveaways and live music.
Sponsored by the Town of Vienna Economic Development Department, the program aims to boost resident and visitor activity in the town, while also boosting business for the participating restaurants, with a goal of increasing the number of patrons at each eatery during the week.
“While some restaurants are offering multi-course, prix fixe menus, others are offering exciting specials, or creating new menu items just for the week,” a press release says. “Alongside meticulously curated menus, local restaurants and eateries are introducing discounted à la carte dining and exclusive deals. These enticing options are designed to tantalize the palates of discerning food enthusiasts, encouraging them to explore new and delightful cuisines.”
Vienna introduced its own restaurant week in 2022 and revived the concept last year, when it more than doubled the number of participating eateries.
This year’s event will begin the same day that nearby Fairfax City’s Restaurant Week ends. From bakeries and cafes to fast-casual chains and fine-dining restaurants, the full list of participants is below, sorted by the type of food offered.
Asian
- Burapa Thai And Bar (delivery, carryout, dine-in)
- Chit Chaat Cafe (delivery, carryout)
- Oh My Dak (carryout, dine-in)
- Peking Express Of Vienna (curbside pickup, delivery, carryout, dine-in)
- Royal Nepal Bistro (carryout, dine-in)
- Sushi Koji (dine-in)
- Sushi Yoshi (carryout, dine-in)
- The Mixx Delight (carryout)
- Viet Aroma Asian Cuisine (carryout)
American
- America’s Best Wings (delivery, carryout, dine-in)
- Bazin’s On Church (dine-in)
- Bear Branch Tavern (carryout, dine-in)
- Big Buns (curbside pickup, delivery, carryout, dine-in)
- Caboose Tavern (dine-in)
- Domino’s Pizza (curbside pickup, delivery, carryout)
- Foster’s Grille (delivery, carryout, dine-in)
- Maple Ave Restaurant (dine-in)
- Social Burger (delivery, carryout, dine-in)
- The Virginian Restaurant (carryout, dine-in)
D.C.-based fast food chain Z-Burger has officially opened in a former Pizza Hut at 541 Maple Avenue West in Vienna.
The restaurant opened in late November. While business was initially slow when the restaurant first opened up shop, co-owner Peter Tabibian told FFXnow that business has since quadrupled.
He credits part of the success to the long hours. The eatery is open from 6 a.m. to midnight on Monday to Wednesday, 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Thursday, 6 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Sunday.
“We’re seeing that a lot of people want to eat late and a lot of places are closed at night,” Tabibian said.
Z-Burger also expanded its traditional menu by offering breakfast, similar to a concept first introduced at its McLean location in 2022. The breakfast menu includes waffles, pancakes, omelettes, muffins, pastries and coffee. Z-Burger plans to run a free coffee special soon as well.
“There’s not too many places that sell breakfast in that area,” he said.
Started in Tenleytown in 2008, Z-Burger has now expanded to 13 locations, all in the D.C. area. A 14th restaurant is coming to Towson, Maryland, according to its website.
Co-owner Kevin Ejtemai says the restaurant hopes to get the word out about its offerings, which include chicken sandwiches, cheesesteaks, hot dogs and 75 different flavors of milkshakes in addition to burgers.
“We’re trying to get the word out because we’ve only been there for three months,” Ejtemai said.
The Town of Vienna’s future library will bear a name with close ties to its past.
Fairfax County Public Library’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved “Vienna-Carter” as the new name for Patrick Henry Library at its meeting on Wednesday (Feb. 14). The name change will officially take effect once the library reopens after an expansion project that’s expected to start later this year and finish in fall 2026.
The vote inspired applause at the back of the George Mason Regional Library meeting room where the board convened. Among those clapping were Hoyt and Dee Dee Carter, a grandson and cousin, respectively, of Patrick Henry Library’s new namesakes, William and Lillian Carter.
“I’m very thrilled,” Dee Dee Carter said after the meeting adjourned. “I’m elated because it was unanimous. Nobody did a pushback, and I’m glad they’re in favor of it.”
Aware of the upcoming renovation, the Carters, who still live in Vienna, proposed last year that Patrick Henry Library be renamed after their family, who were instrumental in getting Fairfax County to integrate the facility when it launched in 1962.
Before Patrick Henry was established, Vienna’s only library was a one-room building on Maple Avenue that only served white residents. One day in the 1950s, the Vienna Library Association’s board of trustees even came to the Carters’ home and took back books that a white woman had checked out for their children, including Hoyt Carter’s father.
That incident spurred the Carters to start an informal “Friends of the Library” group in 1958 that met in their living room, according to a family story recounted in Christopher Barbuschak and Suzanne LaPierre’s book “Desegregation in Northern Virginia Libraries.”
With an interracial membership that included Kenton Kilmer, the son of poet Joyce Kilmer, the friends’ group successfully desegregated Vienna’s library, overcoming the opposition of the library association’s president to revise its charter to allow all patrons regardless of race.
Dee Dee Carter says one of her cousins, Sharon Honesty, was one of the first African American patrons to use Patrick Henry when it opened in Vienna’s Maple Avenue Shopping Center in 1962. The library moved to its current site at 101 Maple Avenue East in 1971.
“We were talking about Blacks being able to go in and use the library and use books from the library, so I feel that it’s a wonder to have this now happen,” Hoyt Carter said of Patrick Henry getting renamed after his grandparents.
Though the vote was unanimous, some board members reported getting questions and emails asking why the name change was being considered.
While the renaming wasn’t subject to a public hearing, FCPL Director Jessica Hudson said community members had several opportunities to weigh in at board meetings, including before the board approved an update to its facility naming policy last November.
The change had gotten the support of Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn and some Vienna Town Council members, though the council didn’t take an official stance, according to FCPL Board Chair Brian Engler.
Dee Dee Carter told FFXnow that she hasn’t heard anyone object to the new name, which was initially proposed to be “Carter-Vienna.” FCPL’s policy requires library names to reference their geographical location, and the board ultimately decided that the location should go first.
Suzanne Levy, the board’s vice chair and Fairfax City representative, expressed hope that the renaming will draw attention to the library system’s history.
“We’re not hiding what the county used to do,” she said. “It opens discussion and shows that we’re moving forward.”
The family that has run Vienna’s Princess Jewelers for nearly four decades is stepping down.
The retail jewelry store at 529 Maple Avenue West will permanently close on March 16, as owners Lee and Lim Nguonly retire after 38 years in the business. A liquidation sale is underway and will continue through that final day.
In a public announcement of the impending closure, the Nguonly family expressed “deep gratitude” to their customers and supporters, many of whom have already reached out in appreciation.
“Our customers were like family to us. Our children grew up alongside theirs. We shared in countless milestones in our customers’ lives — engagements, anniversaries, births,” Lee Nguonly said. “It’s been an honor and joy to share these momentous occasions with so many customers. We are very grateful for their loyal patronage.”
Located in the Village Green Shopping Center, Princess Jewelers first opened its doors in 1986. In addition to selling engagement and wedding rings and other diamond and gemstone jewelry, it offers repair, appraisal and custom design services.
With a staff of certified gemologists and goldsmiths, the business says it was able to build up a reputation for quality craftsmanship and customer service over the years, earning Lee Nguonly the title of “Business Person of the Year” for 2000 from the Vienna Chamber of Commerce (now the Vienna Business Association).
In a blog post for Patch in 2013, one customer gushed that they were treated “like I was a princess” when they visited Princess Jewelers to get their wedding ring fixed. The shop not only repaired the ring, but also created a second ring with diamonds they had from their mother.
“The key to our success was the mutual interest and trust — be it on the broad level of community and business, or between jeweler and customer,” Lee said in a press release.
As it prepares to close its doors for the last time, the business is selling all of its diamond and gemstone jewelry at a discount, with prices starting at 50% off for in-stock inventory. The sale doesn’t include loose stones or custom designs, according to a public relations representative.
Vienna police are investigating a conflict between a guest and workers at the town’s hypothermia shelter that involved a bomb threat.
Officers responded to the Vienna Presbyterian Church (124 Park Street NE), which is hosting the shelter, at 3:04 a.m. on Feb. 2 after a man fought with a staff member and “threatened to bomb the church,” according to the Vienna Police Department’s Feb. 1-8 crime recap.
“A patron of the Church’s hypothermia shelter was sleeping in front of the exterior door,” the police summary says. “When a shelter worker asked him to move, the man became upset and smashed the window inside the door. The man then threatened to bomb the church before running from the scene.”
The man was arrested “off site” on Friday (Feb. 9) and has now been charged with two felonies, according to Vienna Presbyterian Church Missions Director Sue Hamblen. A Vienna Police spokesperson confirmed “an arrest was made and the man was taken into custody in Fairfax City.”
“We will pray that he receives the help he needs to reclaim his life,” Hamblen told FFXnow by email. “VPC recognizes the risks of opening our building to potential disruption, but our faith commands us to care for those in need.”
The church is a regular host site for Fairfax County’s Hypothermia Prevention Program, which provides overnight shelter during the winter to people experiencing homelessness. During its two weeks at Vienna Presbyterian, the shelter is overseen by the nonprofit New Hope Housing, which also helps transport guests.
The Feb. 2 incident began when the man “became extremely agitated,” a reminder of the mental health challenges that many guests of the shelter face, Hamblen says.
“Despite New Hope’s best efforts to deescalate the situation, the guest left in anger,” she said. “He broke one of our exterior doors with a skateboard and, in anger, suggested that he might consider setting a bomb off in the church.”
In response to the encounter, the church and New Hope both implemented enhanced security measures for the shelter. Church staff increased their video surveillance of the property and began making more impromptu visits overnight, while New Hope added a third worker to its on-site staff.
The Vienna Police Department also provided nightly patrols “as an additional safeguard” and worked with staff around 4 a.m. “on several mornings to inspect every single room, restroom, pew and stairwell to ensure all was secure,” Hamblen said.
Despite the occasional obstacles, Hamblen says Vienna Presbyterian is proud to serve as a hypothermia shelter, hosting over 500 guests across 154 nights since first joining the program almost 10 years ago.
“We have met some incredible people, and indeed faced a few challenges as well,” Hamblen wrote. “Our congregation loves this opportunity to serve those in need, and we realize that any one of us could be in a position to need a similar helping hand at any time in the future.”
Running until March 31, the Hypothermia Prevention Program relies on nonprofit partnerships and volunteering faith groups, along with the county’s permanent shelters. It typically draws over 1,000 people each season, averaging 215 guests per night during the 2022-2023 season, per the Fairfax County Office to Prevent and End Homelessness website.
