A new pizza place will join other eateries along Leesburg Pike near the Greensboro Metro station next weekend.

MOD Pizza at Pike 7 Plaza (8350 Leesburg Pike) plans to begin serving customers with a soft opening on Sunday, Aug. 25, and Monday, Aug. 26, according to Phil Singh, the location’s construction manager. The new pizza place is sandwiched between Cava and Honeygrow, which both opened last fall.

This location will feature an array of pizzas, salads, sides and soft drinks along with beer and wine.

During the soft opening, the pizza place will have limited hours from noon-2 p.m. and 4-6 p.m.

During these hours, customers will receive a 50% on all menu items with the exception of alcoholic beverages. All proceeds with go to a charity, but Singh said the company has not decided on one yet.

The eatery will officially open on Tuesday, Aug. 27.

MOD Pizza is currently hiring employees for its new location.

A new chicken-focused restaurant plans to open just a short walk away from the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station.

Building permits indicate that GAMA Chicken & BBQ is coming to 2727 Merrilee Drive, Suite G.

The eatery is looking to serve wine, beer and mixed beverages, according to the liquor license application in the window of the spot.

The restaurant will join a plethora of restaurants and retailers, like Lost Dog Cafe and Blackfinn Ameripub, on the ground floor of apartment buildings right by the Metro station.

MPAartfest is returning to McLean in October with a long list of artists set to perform.

Hosted by the McLean Project for the Arts, the free festival is a one-day juried fine art show and sale that features the work of visual artists, along with mini art galleries, live music, food from local restaurants and activities. MPAartfest returns Sunday, Oct. 6.

Here’s the hour-by-hour breakdown on who’s playing:

• 10 a.m. — Djangolaya will kick off MPAartfest with gypsy jazz
• 11 a.m. — Takoma Park-based fiddler, banjoist, singer and scholar Jake Blount will perform with composer Clara Delfina
• noon — Great Guitars featuring three guitarists will take the stage
• 1 p.m. — Bumper Jacksons will bring jazz rhythms and country swing harmonies
• 2 p.m. — DC-based outfit Black Masala will perform Balkan, gypsy, klezmer sounds
• 3 p.m. — Artist Caz Gardiner will bring a 60’s-infused soul-pop sound
• 4 p.m. — Blues Alley Youth Jazz Orchestra, a 15-piece youth swing big band, will close out the festival

The lineup was curated by radio host Ken Avis, according to a press release from the art organization.

While the festival is free, donations and funds raised during the event support MPA exhibitions and programs.

MPAartfest will take place from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. in McLean Central Park (1468 Dolley Madison Blvd).

Photo courtesy McLean Project for the Arts

Blend 111, a new restaurant and wine bar, wants to offer acoustic music to its diners in the Town of Vienna.

The town’s Planning Commission ok’d the restaurant’s application for a live music permit during its meeting last night (Wednesday).

The restaurant is set to open today (Thursday) at 111 Church Street NW, Suite 101.

The locally-owned restaurant will feature food and wine from Spain, France and Venezuela, a “micro-cafe” and cold-pressed juices.

“Our intent is to offer acoustic, that small type of performances,” Michael Biddick from Blend 111 told the commission. “We’re not a lounge. We’re not a bar. We’re not a disco. We are not a dance party scene in the middle of Church Street.”

Biddick said that while the restaurant wants flexible to try out live music during different types of the day, Blend 111 will most likely experiment with having two musicians per month.

Blend 111, which applied to have live music between 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, plans to have one or two musicians play acoustic instruments inside the restaurant, according to the application.

While Bey Lounge was recently stripped of its live entertainment permit, the Town of Vienna isn’t losing its musical performances at local eateries.

The upcoming Bear Branch Tavern (133 E. Maple Avenue) also wants to entertain patrons with live music.

Blend 111’s application is set to go before the Board of Zoning Appeals on Sept. 18.

Photo via Twitter

Work planned for four Metro stations next summer will impact riders in Vienna, Merrifield and Falls Church.

The Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church and East Falls Church Metro stations on the Orange Line are slated to be affected next summer, along with four Green Line stations in Maryland. The work is a part of a multi-year project to reconstruct 20 station platforms.

Currently, Metro shut down Yellow and Blue lines south of Ronald Reagan National Airport this summer.

While that reconstruction plan was announced more than a year ago, more details on the Orange Line shutdown are set to get announced in September or October, WTOP reported.

“It is unclear how much of the work will be done with total shutdowns, and how much could involve single-tracking,” WTOP reported.

Until the plans are announced, let Tysons Reporter know in the comments if the Metro work next summer will impact you.

Caboose Brewing Company is releasing new brews to celebrate Virginia Craft Beer Month this August.

The brewery unveiled its new Blackberry Gose this week and plans to release its 300th brew, a Key Lime Gose, next week, according to a press release.

“The Blackberry Gose is a juicy wheat ale with a mild and approachable sourness,” according to the brewery. “It’s jam-packed with blackberries for a fruity and refreshing counterbalance to the ever-present sea salt additions.”

The brewery described its Key Lime Gose as a “tart and fruity wheat ale with key lime and salt character.”

The new Gose ales will have happy hour pricing on Labor Day weekend at Caboose Commons in Merrifield (2918 Eskridge Road) and Caboose Tavern in Vienna (520 Mill Street NE).

The happy hours will be:

• Saturday (Aug. 31) — 7 a.m.-1 a.m. at Caboose Commons, 11 a.m.-midnight at Caboose Tavern
• Sunday (Sept. 1) — 7 a.m.-11 p.m. at Caboose Commons, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. at Caboose Tavern
• Monday (Sept. 2) — 7 a.m.-11 p.m. at Caboose Commons, 12 p.m.-11 p.m. at Caboose Tavern

The brewing company will also have its Fog IPA available in 16-ounce cans on Thursday (Aug. 15) to coincide with a canning event from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. and happy hour on the Fog IPA from 8 a.m.-11 p.m. at Caboose Commons.

Photos courtesy Caboose Brewing Company 

Mosaic District-based Custom Ink is now linked to a Beyonce-backed company.

The custom apparel company recently acquired Sidestep, a concert merchandise app, the Washington Business Journal reported.

“Sidestep’s services have been made available at concerts in North America, Europe and Australia. Some of its notable users include Beyonce, Guns N’ Roses, Panic! At the Disco, Fall Out Boy and Adele,” the article said.

Beyonce doesn’t just use the app — she invested $150,000 in Sidestep in 2016, Newsweek reported.

This isn’t the first acquisition for Custom Ink. In 2016, the company procured Represent, a Los Angeles-based social commerce startup.

“[Sidestep’s] service will be paired with Represent’s digital marketing platform to allow artists and entertainers to design, market, print and distribute custom merchandise to fans while streamlining the sales process,” the Washington Business Journal reported.

Based out of its Mosaic District office at 2910 District Avenue, Custom Ink also opened two new stores — one in Bethesda, Md. and another in Charlotte, N.C. — this summer.

Photo via Custom Ink/Facebook

The Boro in Tysons is one step closer to completion.

Businesses moving into the area are starting to put up signs and advertise apartment rental opportunities — the 70,000 square-foot flagship Whole Foods no longer has its sign saying “Whole Foo.”

Patrons can expect more than a dozen stores and businesses to start opening this fall, Caroline Flax, a spokesperson at The Meridian Group, said. Options for hungry diners include smoothies, Italian cuisine, ramen, poke and Starbucks.

A Tysons Reporter poll recently asked readers which restaurant or grocery store they were most excited for — 59% of participants voted for the new Whole Foods location.

In a different poll asking about upcoming entertainment opportunities, 54% said that they are most excited for ShowPlace ICON to open.

For business owners looking to rent offices or commercial retail space, there are still spots available.

In addition to the new retail, the sprawling development’s two luxury apartment buildings named Rise and Bolden will have one and two-bedroom apartments available for rent starting in September, according to a press release.

Comment below and let Tysons Reporter know if you plan to check out The Boro once construction is finished.

A thief is on the loose in Vienna after one of the town’s painted benches went missing.

Earlier this year, the Vienna Arts Society commissioned local artists to paint benches, gifted by donors, that would eventually be sold at a charity auction. But around July 7, one of the benches was mysteriously snatched and is still missing over a month later.

According to a police report, the painted bench was first reported missing by a Vienna Arts Society member when they noticed it disappeared from outside Grass Roots Fitness (512 W. Maple Avenue).

Deborah Kennedy, an artist and spokesperson for the Vienna Arts Society, told Tysons Reporter that the arts group knew there was a small risk that the benches would be stolen, but no one really thought it would happen.

“It’s a small town and we thought people would be looking out for them,” she said.

The police have not informed the group about any potential leads, she said, adding that there was not any video of the thief that she knows of nor were the benches bolted down to the ground.

Juan Vazquez, a spokesperson for the Vienna Police Department, said that the department cannot comment on the case since it is an ongoing investigation.

Mary Ellyn Perkowski painted the floral bench with pink and purple flowers against a black background. Named “Spring,” the bench “was inspired by a bed of tulips she had photographed at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna,” according to a Vienna Arts Society newsletter.

It is one of 42 other benches placed around the Town of Vienna.

Kennedy said that Perkowski plans to paint another bench similar in design to the stolen one. It is unclear when the replacement will be finished or where they will place it.

Kenneth Britz, the artist of another bench, published an open letter in the Sun-Gazette on behalf of the organization condemning the theft.

“It is also an affront to the town and a show of blatant disrespect to its residents and visitors,” Britz wrote.

Photo via Susan Scanlon

(Updated at 12:40 p.m.) Construction crews hit a gas line, causing a gas leak in McLean this morning (Wednesday).

Units from Fairfax County Fire and Rescue and the Arlington County Fire Department responded to the outside gas leak in the Franklin Park neighborhood at North Nottingham Street and Virginia Avenue around 10 a.m., according to a Fairfax County fire department tweet.

“Workers struck a 2-inch gas line,” the tweet said, adding that the leak did not affect nearby homes.

“Situation currently under control. Crews awaiting gas company,” the tweet said.

About 30 minutes later, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue tweeted that the leak had been stopped.

UPDATE: Leak has beeb stopped. Most units are returning to service. #FCFRD #FairfaxCounty https://t.co/1gXgArq3Cr

— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) August 14, 2019

Map via Google Maps