Don Pollo, a Peruvian chicken chain with several locations in Maryland, just opened its first restaurant in Virginia at in the Vienna Shopping Center (146 Maple Ave).

The restaurant features Peruvian cuisine, like fried rice with shrimp or the eponymous chicken. Sides include South American staples like yuca.

Meals range from $8 to a whole chicken and two sides for $20.

According to Milton Escobar, manager of the Vienna location, the store opened on Jan. 19 and has seen steady growth as word of mouth spreads.

“Every day, we’ve been having about 15-20 percent more people,” said Escobar. “We had 50 customers on Saturday, then 75 on Sunday. So it’s a little more every day.”

Escobar said he’s hoping things really kick off with the restaurant’s Super Bowl special. Don Pollo will be running a special deal where any purchase of a “fiesta-sized” family platter will come with a whole chicken for free. The deal is available on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

According to Escobar, the restaurant fills a niche for diverse food on Maple Street at an affordable price. Many of the patrons at the restaurant around noon yesterday were dressed in construction gear and came from nearby projects.

“This town doesn’t really have anything for Spanish cuisine,” said Escobar. “People have been saying that it’s about time for real Peruvian cuisine in Vienna… Our journey is just about to get started.”

The I-495 Express Lanes are pushing north to the American Legion Bridge.

As part of a suite of new agreements signed between Virginia officials and Transurban, the private company that operates the express lanes. According to an announcement today from Gov. Ralph Northam’s office:

Four general purpose (GP) lanes and two new Express Lanes will run in each direction of the Capital Beltway starting from the current terminus near the Dulles Access Road and ending at the American Legion Bridge. With no public funding by the Commonwealth, the Express Lanes network will be extended to the Maryland border, helping address one of the worst bottlenecks in the region and reduce cut-through traffic in local McLean neighborhoods.

The express lanes have tolls that range from 20 cents per mile to $1.25 per mile during rush hour with no official cap. Cars with three or more people do not have to pay the toll.

The announcement follows Maryland’s $9 billion investment announced in 2017 that included toll lanes on the northern side of the bridge.

The area of McLean on the Virginia side of the American Legion Bridge has long been an infamous congestion hotspot. An average of 239,000 people use the bridge every workday, and Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust warned that the bridge is “grossly over capacity” and in dire need of expansion.

“I am delighted that Governor Northam and his team have found a way to expand capacity on I-495, heading up to the American Legion Bridge,” State Sen. Barbara Favola (D-31st District) said in a press release. “This improvement demonstrates Virginia’s commitment to easing traffic throughout the region and provides further incentives for Maryland to help address congestion on the Bridge.”

As part of the deal, Transurban agreed to construct a new southbound lane on I-95 near the Occoquan Bridge in the Woodbridge area, another infamous bottleneck for regional traffic.

One year ago, there was excitement over a Vienna Town Council’s plan to purchase one floor of a four-story commercial building on Church Street and use it as a public parking garage.

But yesterday (Monday), the Town of Vienna announced that the agreement — which would have made it easier to park in the town’s central business district — had been dissolved.

“Recently, during the project study period, Mill Street Development One notified the Town that its original proposal was not economically feasible and proposed changes to the project, including removing the retail component, reducing the number of public parking spaces, and changing the building’s architectural features,” town staff said in a press release. “The town and Mill Street Development One remain in discussions regarding an alternative parking layout and revised purchase price, but no new substantive proposal has been presented or formalized.”

The initial plan had involved paying $4.6 million to the developer for the 45,000 square-foot second floor of the building.

Plans called for parking to initially be free, but with the option to later charge for parking if needed. According to the press release, town staff are still looking for alternative public parking solutions.

“I was contacted two months ago about the status of the contract and components about the agreement,” Town Manager Mercury Payton at Monday’s Town Council meeting. “The contract is no longer in place. The terms that were agreed upon, the developer wanted to alter a number of those components and the alterations were not in line with what the town is satisfied with.”

“The town remains committed to public parking, whether with this developer or any other developer. We are currently in discussions with entities about that,” Payton added. “The Town remains committed to providing additional public parking in our commercial core in order to make the area a more convenient and accessible destination.”

Tysons Agenda is a listing of interesting events for the week ahead in the Tysons area.

We’ve scoured the web for events of note in Tysons, Vienna, Merrifield and McLean. Know of any we’ve missed? Tell us!

Monday, Jan. 28

Vienna Town Council Meeting
Town Hall Council Chambers (127 Center Street S)
Time: 8 p.m.

The Vienna Town Council will hold their bimonthly meeting tonight. Plans on the docket include a new pedestrian link between Vienna and Tysons.

Tuesday, Jan. 29

Best Trails for Mushrooms and How to Find Them
REI (8209 Watson Street)
Time: 7-8 p.m.

William Needham, longtime Sierra outings leader and president of DC’s Mycological Society, will share slides of his favorite trails and the succulent mushrooms found along them. The class is free, but advance registration is required.

Introductory Course in Underwater Archaeology
McLean High School (1633 Davidson Road)
Time: 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Once you have completed the Maritime Archaeological and Historical Society (MAHS) course, if you are a certified scuba diver, you will be eligible for the MAHS Field School, which includes surveying a shipwreck. Admission for the class is $175.

Wednesday, Jan. 30

The Beatles Get Back to Vienna
Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave E)
Time: 7-11 p.m.

Over 22 performers will be performing at the Vienna in a homage to the 50th anniversary of the band’s rooftop concert. Tickets are $15 at the door and the event is limited to a 200 ticket total.

Thursday, Jan. 31

TFAA Membership Jury Information Session at Mosaic
Torpedo Factory Artists at Mosaic (2905 District Ave)
Time: 7-8:30 p.m.

Learn about membership in the Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association. Learn about what TFAA membership has to offer, and how the application process works. The event is open to the public with no RSVP required.

The Brothers Size
1st Stage (1524 Spring Hill Rd)
Time: 7:30 p.m.

The 1st Stage Theater’s production of ‘The Brothers Size’ by ‘Moonlight’ writer Tarell Alvin McCraney premiers this week. General admission tickets are $39.

Friday, Feb. 1

Inca Social Grand Opening
Ince Social (2670 Avenir Pl)
Time: 4 p.m.

A new Peruvian restaurant in Merrifield will throw a grand opening celebration this Friday, after several weeks of a soft opening and special events. Reservations can be made online.

A busy stretch of street connecting Vienna to Tysons could be the next spot around the area to become a bit more pedestrian friendly.

At tonight’s Vienna Town Council meeting, the council is scheduled to vote on a $2.4 million project to build a new stretch of sidewalk, curbs, gutters and drainage along Old Courthouse Road. According to the construction agreement, the Town of Vienna would pay $550,000 while Fairfax County would pay $1.7 million.

The new improvements are planned to be installed on the north side of Old Courthouse Road from Westbriar Court (near Westbriar Elementary School) running as the street leads into Tysons, ending just behind the Tysons Square and Pike 7 Plaza shopping centers.

Katy Simenson, who has lived at the top of the nearby hill since 1960, was taking advantage of the nice weather to walk around the neighborhood. Simenson said the as long as the new improvements aren’t too overbearing, they’ll be a welcome addition to the little residential spot between the town of Vienna and its towering neighbor Tysons.

“It’ll be really appreciated,” said Simenson. “When there’s heavy rain, it runs down the hill behind these houses. It goes down through the big pipes under the road and floods along Old Courthouse Road.”

Simenson said as much as she’ll appreciate the new nearby sidewalk, the neighbors closer to Tysons will be the biggest beneficiary. Simenson noted that cars often come quickly down the hill, and there’s very little protection for nearby pedestrians. Just one block north of the improvements, a pedestrian was killed last year as he was crossing the street to help his wife.

Map via Town of Vienna

The goal was never really to make money, but Fairfax News editor and publisher James Hood said the costs have just been too much to keep the local news site running. In one month, the website that’s been covering local news since 1998 will shut down for good.

“It’s a difficult market,” Hood said. “Between the city and the parts of the county, Fairfax is very amorphous. We’ve never been hyper-local, we wanted to do the kind of regional coverage the Washington Post does, but with Virginia on top rather than the District.”

Hood launched several successful online ventures including Consumer Affairs, but Fairfax News was never sustainable enough to pay for a team of reporters to run it on its own.

“I was never really able to give Fairfax News the attention it needed,” said Hood. “And revenue was increasingly difficult. Years ago, I could put up a couple Google ads up and the site could have earned a few dollars and I could put a few cents in my pocket, but not anymore.”

Hood said he put more of his focus on making the site technically smooth and functional, but looking back he said he wished he’d changed some of the priorities.

“I didn’t spend as much as I should have on the editorial side,” said Hood.

The end had been coming for a while. The stream of news stories dwindled over time and a few months ago, managing editor Ed Tobias departed from the site.

“I enjoyed working on the site,” said Hood, “but I’m in my 70s and I don’t want to have to do this every day. I couldn’t find anyone to sell it to and I didn’t want it to just wither away.”

Though the closure is much smaller on scale, Hood’s shuttering of Fairfax News is part of a nationwide spate of closures and layoffs at online news outlets.

“It’s hard right now,” said Hood. “Twenty years ago, if you were enterprising, you could make a living as a reporter covering Vienna. But those times are at abeyance. Will they come back? Who knows.”

Photo via Facebook

The Boro, one of the largest new developments transforming Tysons, almost didn’t happen — at least not in the form that it’s coming together now. More startlingly, it was also a fight to keep the nearby Tysons Biergarten alive for a transfer to a new site.

At Bisnow’s Tysons State of the Market event last week, several of the developers working on the Boro and surrounding projects met to offer a behind-the-scenes look at the project.

According to Gary Block, chief investment officer for developer The Meridian Group, some of the earlier development plans would have brought new developments online as soon as they were completed, but Block said they decided it was more important to open the development in a series of larger-scale phases.

“We knew we had a tiger by the tail,” said Block, “so after buying land, we tried to combine best of Reston Town Center and Fairfax City center, and we had to globalize and create a phase one that was all things to all people, a different type of retail that would compete favorably with the [Tysons Corner Center] mall. It had to be a different kind of office and a different kind of residential.”

The project also has funding support from the Rockefeller Group, though there was some initial hesitation about investing in Tysons.

“This was the first venture by Rockefeller in Tysons,” said Hilary Allard Goldfarb, regional development officer for Rockefeller Group. “We were nervous, but there’s a lot of office stability here.”

Several developers at the event recognized that developing in Tysons can be a gamble, especially with a portion of the site dedicated to costly residential units.

“It was tough looking at this initially to look at the numbers and justify development,” Bob Kettler, founder and CEO of the construction company Kettler. “But fueling the next wave of vertical construction was the right choice. Greensboro Drive is the Gold Coast of Tysons. It’s the highest land and you now have your core environment, and that is priceless. Now people have to deal with construction costs higher than when this project was priced out. If it was $850 million when [the Meridian Group] purchased it, it’s $1.1 billion today.”

Block said the announcement that Whole Foods would be moving in as a ground-floor retail anchor was a turning point for the development, one that cemented confidence from other investors.

“Whole Foods was a game changer,” said Block. “It’s [going to be] the largest in the country. It’s such a great place and people are going to be so happy with what they’re seeing.”

Now, Block says the final retail spots are starting to fill up.

“It’s like planning a wedding,” said Block, “and we’re down to the last few tables.”

But one of the pieces that almost got lost in the shuffle was the Tysons Biergarten, one of the few bright spots of Tysons’ nightlife. Donna Shafer, managing director for Cityline Partners, said finding a new home for the Biergarten was more of a challenge than she expected.

“There came a point when construction was advancing that [the Biergarten] was looking for a new home,” said Schafer. “We are firm believers in pop-up activities and the Biergarten did a good job of capturing that market. We don’t want these guys to leave Tysons, so we raised our hands and said, ‘We’ve got a lot of real estate, we’re happy to make a home.'”

The Biergarten would eventually land at Cityline Partners’ Scotts Run development, but the permitting for finding that new space was more of a challenge than Schafer had initially expected.

“We thought it would be an easy process, but while we have a fantastic comprehensive plan, there are moments where I think everyone’s heart is in the right place but this plan is operating like code or black letter later,” said Schafer. “So the flexibility has dissipated. So for us, it meant eight months of work, tens of thousands of dollars, and a hundred-page staff report for a pop-up Biergarten. I hope it becomes a pivot point… to help facilitate a good conversation without sacrificing goals.”

This weekend is the long-awaited return of the McLean Chocolate Festival, returning for its eighth year to the McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Avenue).

The event will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Sunday, with attendees encouraged to arrive early for the best selections. Admission is $2 for adults and free for children three or younger.

Credit cards are accepted for admission and by most vendors, but attendees are encouraged to bring cash for faster transactions.

The Chocolate Festival is a fundraiser for the McLean Rotary Club, which redistributes proceeds to various other local organizations. The 2018 festival had over 2,500 attendees and raised over $14,000 to support local charities.

But if you’re not in the mood for chocolate or want to avoid the crowds, here are some other events around the Tysons area this weekend:

Saturday (Jan. 26)

• Vienna 2019 Legislative Agenda (9:30-11:30 a.m.) — Sen. Chap Petersen and Del. Mark Keam will host a town hall meeting to discuss the latest news out of Richmond at the Town Hall Council Chambers (127 Center Street).
• Providence Democrats 2019 Welcome Reception (12-2 p.m.) — With the Providence District seat on the Board of Supervisors up for grabs, it promises to be a busy year for local Democrats. A meeting at 8500 Executive Park Ave. in Merrifield tomorrow will be open to the public to help those interested in working on a campaign get connected to their candidate of choice. Food will be provided.
• Legendary Artist Peter Max at Wentworth Gallery (7-9 p.m.) — The Wentworth Gallery in Tysons Galleria will open a new exhibit of art by Peter Max, an artist known for his psychedelic imagery.

Sunday (Jan. 27)

• Rosebud Ireland Live at Caboose Commons (12-3 p.m.) Guitarist Rosebud Ireland will be performing at Caboose Commons near the Mosaic District.
• Military Care Package Event (2-4 p.m.) — Seniors from throughout McLean and surrounding communities are invited out to the Vinson Hall Retirement Community (6251 Old Dominion Dr.) to help students from The Potomac School put together Valentine’s Day care packages for military service members. The event is free and open to the public.
• Jackson Dean at Jammin Java (7 p.m.) — Country singer and songwriter Jackson Dean will be performing at Jammin Java this weekend. Tickets are $25. The doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.

Photo via Facebook

(Updated at 4:50 p.m.) The longest federal government shutdown in the county’s history has, at least for now, come to a close. Tysons’ state and federal representatives — who are all Democrats — are expressing relief at the shutdown’s closure but with harsh condemnation of President Trump.

Tysons, Vienna and Merrifield are represented by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11th District). Connolly was one of the first local representatives to comment on the news and called the decision long overdue.

My statement on ending the Trump Shutdown.https://t.co/vyLnKGDdwQ pic.twitter.com/BExLUbc3b2

— Rep. Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) January 25, 2019

With the shutdown ending, for now, Connolly announced today that he has introduced — with Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) — the Federal Civilian Workforce Pay Raise Fairness Act of 2019, “which would bring the 2019 pay increase for civilian federal employees in line with the raise given to members of the military.”

Pimmit Hills and parts of McLean are represented by Rep. Don Beyer (D-8th District), who criticized Trump for waiting so long to back the deal proposed in December.

“I’m grateful that the shutdown will end soon, but I do not understand why it happened at all,” Beyer wrote in a statement. “Why did President Trump inflict this shutdown on the country?… It inflicted extreme pain on the people I represent, and there was no reason for it. As the president approaches the new deadline he just agreed to for the expiration of government funding, he must think of people besides himself. This must never happen again.”

Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-10th District) expressed concerns over the long term impacts of the shutdown.

“Hundreds of thousands of Americans will never recover from Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell’s petty power play,” Wexton wrote in a statement. “They should apologize for all suffering they inflicted on federal workers, contractors, and everyone who was impacted by their senseless shutdown. This debacle accomplished nothing other than to lower our nation’s standing in the world and attack our already overburdened federal workforce.”

Even with the shutdown ended, Professor Frank Shafroth, director of the Center for State and Local Leadership at George Mason University, warned that there could still be lingering economic effects of the delays in fee and payment collections by Fairfax County.

Photo via @whitehouse

(Updated at 12:20 a.m.) 1st Stage may be a little theater in Tysons, but it’s drawing some big attention from the regional theater world.

The play “The Brothers Size” by Tarell Alvin McCraney will open on Thursday (Jan. 31). The play will be directed by José Carrasquillo, the director of artistic programming at Ford’s Theatre in D.C.

The play follows two brothers, as a hardworking man in the Louisiana bayou struggles to reform his brother, who was recently released from prison.

Currently the chair of playwriting at Yale School of Drama, McCraney achieved widespread acclaim after “Moonlight,” a movie he co-wrote and that was based on one of his plays, won the Academy Award for Best Picture last year.

“It’s a really stunningly beautiful, very tight three-person drama,” said Alex Levy, artistic director at 1st Stage. “It’s poetic and gripping and very funny. It’s a wonderful introduction to his world if folks are unfamiliar.”

Carrasquillo said he connects with the play on a very personal level. Like many of the characters, and like McCraney, Carrasquillo is a gay man and an artist of color. Like much of McCraney’s work, “The Brothers Size” tackles themes of machismo and differing views of manhood and sexuality in black communities.

“It’s been quite an exhilarating journey for me,” Carrasquillo said. “I’m a huge fan of the cultural spirituality that is inherent in everything he writes. I’m from Puerto Rico and can relate to a lot of that kind of religious and structure and deities… There’s a lot of feelings you have to keep to yourself, so in a way you have to live a double life because it’s seen as a sign of weakness.”

Carrasquillo said he’d been wanting to make the trip out to Tysons to work on a play for some time, and when Levy proposed directing “The Brothers Size” it seemed like a perfect fit. While Tysonians are predominately white and affluent, Carrasquillo notes that the region as a whole is diverse

“How do we bridge this? Because this community for this theater, they have embraced [Levy] and the work they do, but this feels like something really different than what they’ve seen,” Carrasquillo said. “I’m really hoping to have that dialogue with this community.”

“Theaters largely attract people that can afford that kind of ticket, but this is a very affordable theater,” said Carrasquillo. “This is a professional, young, hip community that come and support the work [at 1st Stage]. Those are people that will challenge you as a director because they really know their pop culture and they expect you to rise to their level of interest.”

Levy said the play is particularly important in light of current national conversations about black identity in America and the criminal justice system.

“I think theater is one of the last places where we’ve really come together and celebrate empathy and living in the lives of the people who are not like us,” said Levy. “It becomes a really important opportunity for those who are not part of the African-American community and important in our diversifying community that we celebrate voices and experiences of all of our community.”

The 1st Stage Theatre is a black box theater with very little distance between the audience and the stage, which Levy says is ideal for this type of play.

“It’s inherently a very intimate show,” said Levy. “I love the way it fits into our space. It’s a show where all three actors are on the stage throughout the show and are very connected to the audience. Having a space where the performance is so close to the audience is what really attracted me to the play.”

The play stars Gary-Kayi Fletcher as Ogun Size, Thony Mena as Elgba, and Clayton Pelham Jr. as Oshoosi Size.

The play will run until Feb. 24. Performances for “The Brothers Size” are:

• Thursdays — 7:30 p.m.
• Fridays — 8 p.m.
• Saturdays — 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• Sundays — 2 p.m.

General admission tickets are $39, or $36 for seniors over 65. Students and military tickets are $15.