The intersection of Westpark and Westbranch Drives in Tysons just became safer with new updates from the Virginia Department of Transporation, according to a press release.
The updates include new signage, pavement markers and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant curb ramp upgrades, the press release said.
The additions will also include four Accessible Pedestrian Signal (APS) crossings, which alert hearing-impaired pedestrians when it is safe to cross, according to the VDOT website. Though this feature isn’t operational yet, the press release said people can expect it to function within a few weeks.
More than 11,000 cars use this intersection on a daily basis, according to the press release.
Photo courtesy VDOT
The Weekly Planner is a roundup of interesting events coming up over the next week in the Tysons area.
We’ve scoured the web for events of note in Tysons, Vienna, Merrifield, McLean and Falls Church. Know of any we’ve missed? Tell us!
Tysons Reporter also complied a list of events to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Wednesday (Feb. 12)
- Lovin’ Our Library Open House — 2 to 6 p.m. at The Mary Riley Styles Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave) — This event invites people to play mini-golf through the adult fiction section and enjoy crafts for all ages in the children’s room. This event is free for the public.
Thursday (Feb. 13)
- 1Million Cups Fairfax 2 Year Anniversary — 6 to 9 p.m at Chima Steakhouse (8010 Towers Crescent Drive) — 1Million Cups, a networking opportunity for entrepreneurs, is hosting a dinner party. Appetizers will be complementary and a cash bar is available.
Friday (Feb. 14)
- Valentine’s Day Murder Mystery — 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Maggiano’s Little Italy (2001 International Drive) — Guests can enjoy a murder mystery party where they take part in a seated dinner and evening of activities. The tickets are $100 and include dinner and the event, which begins at 6 p.m.
- St. Valentine’s Day Release Party — 5 to 11:30 p.m. at Falls Church Distillers (442 S. Washington Street) — Falls Church Distillers is releasing their Churn Burn aged in habanero porter beer barrels. Attendees can enjoy live music and specials.
- Celtic Music Concert — 8 to 10 p.m. at Cherry Hills Farmhouse (223 Little Falls Street) — This event invites people to enjoy live Celtic music. Tickets are $15 ahead of time or $20 at the door.
Saturday (Feb. 15)
- $5 Comedy Night — 7 p.m. until midnight at The State Theatre (220 N. Washington Street) — This event will feature a variety of local talent. All are welcome but those under 18 need to be accompanied by a parent.
Photo via the City of Falls Church
After a series of vandalisms and an assault, the owner of Skorpio’s Maggio’s Greek Family Restaurant is unsure why she has been the target.
The restaurant was vandalized about half of a dozen times this winter, and owner Sherry Maggio was the victim of an assault in January by a man who spat at her and threw hot coffee on her, according to Vienna police reports.
Though a 34-year-old man was arrested and charged with simple assault and battery, Vienna police are still investigating the vandalism incidents, according to the police department.
In one incident, ketchup was smeared on the windows of the restaurant and the restaurant’s van, while in another incident, “tire slime” was put on the sidewalk, furniture and statue in front of the restaurant, according to Vienna police reports.
A police spokesperson said the department doesn’t understand the motive behind the vandalism.
“It’s kind of strange,” the spokesperson said. “The owners are really nice… I can’t imagine why someone would do that.”
After the assault, the man charged with the crime posted inflammatory comments about Maggio on his Instagram accounts, calling her names, accusing her of lying to the police and claiming he can get away with anything because he has connections within the court system.
A police spokesperson declined to say whether or they have a suspect for the vandalism cases, saying that the incidents are currently under investigation.
The police department is trying to review video footage, the spokesperson said.
Though the vandalism incidents haven’t caused monetary damages, clean-up has taken significant time and labor, Maggio said, adding that she is worried about similar incidents happening in the future.
“It took my guys almost an hour to scrub everything off the sidewalk,” she said about the incident involving the tire slime.
Maggio said she is keeping track of details and evidence with the incidents, so she’ll have a paper trail.
Photo via Google Maps
American Tandoor is showing no signs of reopening soon now that the eatery has been closed for a month.
When the restaurant first shut its doors in January, would-be customers were greeted with a sign announcing that the location was shut down for the day due to maintenance issues — but roughly a month later, the eatery hasn’t reopened.
Peaking through the windows, people can see moving tools and large cardboard boxes. Furniture appears to be missing and other items are out of place. In one corner, several boxes are piled up.
The restaurant was dark around 5 p.m. on Thursday (Feb. 6), right around when the happy-hour crowd would be looking for after-work snacks.
Tysons Reporter reached out to the restaurant owners for comment but hasn’t heard back.
Last week, a mall spokesperson said that the restaurant hoped to reopen at some point, but it is unclear if this is still the case.
Tysons Reporter is back with its monthly crime map showing where the incidents occurred in Fairfax County Police Department’s McLean District Station.
We went ahead and pulled together all of the incidents noted for the McLean District Station in FCPD crime recaps from Jan. 3-Feb. 6, weeded out the ones that are not in the Tysons Reporter coverage area and plotted them in the interactive map above.
The McLean District Station covers crime in Merrifield, Dunn Loring, Falls Church, McLean, Tysons and Great Falls.
The map only includes information from FCPD and does not include reports to the police departments in the Town of Vienna or the City of Falls Church.
Use the icon in the top left corner of the map to toggle between the various types of crimes displayed.
Fairfax County’s weekday police recaps are not comprehensive lists of every incident and the addresses are approximate. FCPD also notes that information in the recaps “is generally based on initial reports made to the police department.”
Anyone with information about any of these crimes should call 703-691-2131 or 1-866-411-TIPS(8477).
“Going green” will take on a new meaning in Falls Church as the city joins a larger initiative to separate glass products from the rest of the recyclables on the curb.
Beginning Feb. 19, the City of Falls Church asks that residents separate glass from their normal recyclables and instead bring them to the local recycling center (217 Gordon Road) — where items will go in special purple bins for processing, according to the city’s website.
Neighboring areas, including Arlington County, are also taking part in the initiative.
If residents do not want to make the extra trip to the recycling center, officials ask that people simply throw glass items in the trash — or better yet, find a way to reuse their glass jars for storage, vases, drinking glasses, planters, or craft projects.
Failure to remove glass items from a recycle batch will contaminate it, the website warned, and the whole recycle batch will have to be thrown away.
According to a press release from the city:
Glass is no longer economically or environmentally sustainable in a single-stream recycling system. Glass is heavy, which increases the cost of transporting recyclables to and from recycling centers. Glass containers placed in single-stream curbside bins tend to break during collection and transport to Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), which can then damage machinery and contaminate bales of other more valuable items.
To encourage participation in the new recycling program, the city is participating in the “Purple Can Club Pilot Program” alongside other districts within Northern Virginia.
“I believe we are the last in the region to join. We were evaluating options, and the centralized Purple Can was chosen as the pilot program,” a city spokesperson said.
Officials are asking residents to thoroughly rinse out or wash items before recycling them.
For people living in an apartment or similar community, the website said to check with a landlord or property manager about the changes.
Anyone looking for other purple can recycling sites can check out the map below.
Map and photo via City of Falls Church
After a sudden closure, the Greek restaurant Archontiko plans to reopen by the end of the month in McLean, according to its owner Doros Theodore.
The closure at 1313 Old Chain Bridge Road in early January was sparked by staffing problems, including the chef, Theodore said, adding that employee turnover was high.
Though he doesn’t have an exact reopening date for the location, the restaurant is expected to begin serving food by the end of February — with the addition of a new chef and assistant.
Anyone who walks by may see construction at the location. Archontiko originally opened in October of 2019, but the interior is getting a makeover per the request of the incoming chef, Theodore said.
Theodore also said the restaurant will continue to service a variety of Greek and Mediterranean dishes along with small plates once it reopens.
An international ramen restaurant plans to open next month in The Boro in Tysons.
Diners can try authentic ramen and other Japenese cuisines at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka (1636 Boro Place) once it opens in March, according to the website.
“The Santouka restaurant will be the first ramen restaurant from Japan to open in Virginia, as well as their first foray into the greater Washington D.C. area,” a press release said, adding that this will mark Santouka’s 61st location around the world.
Menu items will include the restaurant’s tonkotsu soup, gyoza, karaage-style fried chicken and desserts, according to the press release.
“To make our signature tonkotsu broth, we simmer pork bones for about 20 hours over the low heat until it becomes pearly white and then add the vegetables, dried fish, kelp and other savory ingredients to it,” the location’s Facebook page said.
The eatery’s hours of operation will be from 11 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, from 11 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Sundays, the website said.
Reservations will not be available at this location, according to the website, which added that there are only dine-in options — no takeout.
Photo via Hokkaido Ramen Santouka/Facebook
As WMATA looks ahead to summer Metro repairs, more details have been revealed about the Orange Line closures that will impact riders in Northern Virginia.
Beginning May 27, the Vienna, Dunn Loring and East Falls Church stations will be closed, according to a WMATA presentation at a Falls Church City Council meeting earlier this week, which added that the Silver Line from McLean to Wiehle-Reston East will also be affected.
Crews will update slip-resistant tiles, LED lighting, add new large digital displays and build new shelters on the platforms during the closures, WMATA representatives said at the meeting.
WMATA representatives also said free buses will replace trains at each of the affected stations and riders can expect the closures to last through Sept. 7.
Summer was chosen as the ideal time for the project because ridership is down slightly during that time of the year, the representatives said.
“We found it was really much more efficient when we use longer extended periods (of closures),” one representative added, compared to completing updates at night or over weekends.
During closures, four bus routes will offer riders alternative options:
- from Vienna to West Falls Church
- from Dunn Loring to West Falls Church
- from East Falls Church to Ballston
- from Rosslyn, then to Courthouse before stopping at Ballston and finally to Vienna
There will also be added on-demand shuttles from Vienna to Dunn Loring and West Falls Church to East Falls Church.
The presentation also mentioned that Silver Line trains from McLean to Wiehle-Reston will stop at each station but run on a reduced schedule.
Riders can expect the West Falls Church station to remain open but with single-tracking and for trains to go through — but not stop at — the East Falls Church station.
There will also be a variety of Metro Buses, ART Buses and Fairfax Connector Buses that will also be affected, according to the presentation.
Image (2) via City of Falls Church
To celebrate its 60th birthday, the Vienna Inn plans to host a range of community events, a spokesperson said.
Festivities began with a Kids’ Night on Monday (Feb. 3) at 120 E. Maple Ave, which featured a special menu, giveaways, activities, prizes and a photo booth, according to the event Facebook page.
There will be another Kids’ Night event on Monday (Feb. 10), the spokesperson said, adding the event will run from 5:30-7 p.m.
“A lot of our customers are like me and have been coming here since they were kids just like their parents,” Marty Volk, the owner of the Vienna Inn, said in a press release. “There are often three generations at a table on any given day.”
The spokesperson told Tysons Reporter that the location will add a few new menu items including barbecue ribs, healthy breakfast items, chicken sandwiches and breadsticks.
Every Tuesday, the location will host rib nights, where people can find deals on ribs and drinks.
Next Friday (Feb. 14), the eatery is hosting a Valentine’s Day party for families, according to a Facebook event. Perks include a gift for mothers, deals on wings after 5 p.m. and a treat for kids too.
The location also has “something big planned” for National Chili Day on Feb. 27, according to a press release, which added that the eatery usually serves more than 10,000 chili dogs a month.
Between first dates and bonding time with family members, the spokesperson said the community has strong ties to the eatery and owners will be hosting a Memorabilia Night, where people can bring in items of nostalgic value.
Though dates and more information hasn’t been released yet, the spokesperson said people can keep tabs on the Facebook page for dates.
Photo via the Vienna Inn/Facebook
