Sometimes you just need to get some work done outside of the office.
At Tysons Reporter, we’ve spent a lot of time on the road around the area. So if you need to stop in, grab some coffee, and get some work done somewhere in the Tysons area, here are some places we go:
Stomping Ground in Tysons Galleria is the second location for the popular coffee-and-biscuits eatery in Alexandria. The location in the third-floor Taste of Urbanspace food hall brings the original location’s signature dishes to Tysons, but also expanded with a new evening menu and Southern cocktails — meaning you won’t have to leave to find a happy hour once work is over.
The coffee is top quality and, being at the Galleria, there is rarely a shortage of parking and seating space. The expansive interior of the food hall has ample tables and outlets. There are food options available around the food hall, though like much of the high-end retail at Tysons Galleria, they tend to be pricier than the average lunch. The music near Stomping Ground also tends to be louder than optimal for interviews or phone calls.
Star Nut Gourmet is a café tucked away just off the main drag in McLean at 1445 Laughlin Ave. As a result, it’s very accessible to other locations around McLean and has more parking and interior space than some of the other nearby options, like the Starbucks.
There’s plenty of seating inside and the music is kept at a manageable volume. But the café is more designed with meetings and socializing in mind than work, so outlets can be scarce.
Caffe Amouri boasts quality coffee and atmosphere in equal measure. The coffee shop at 107 Church Street NE has other dining options but focuses almost exclusively on coffee. Inside, the walls are lined with classic rock albums and coffee accouterment. The space is small, but with adequate seating — except for that time Vienna had no Starbucks and the coffee shop was overwhelmed with under-caffeinated customers.
Caffe Amouri also positions itself as a community gathering place, with the front walls of the cafe plastered with flyers and advertisements for local classes and activities. The cafe itself also hosts classes for various coffee-related activities, like teaching the fundamentals of brewing.
There are only a handful of parking spots in a very small lot behind the building, so time visits carefully to avoid peak hours and be prepared to make a tight U-turn if the lot is full.
Rare Bird at 230 W Broad Street specializes in coffee, but offers a well-rounded menu featuring a variety of teas and food. Space inside the cafe is limited, but if you can find seating, the mellow atmosphere caters to the mid-day laptop typist.
But parking for Rare Bird can be a nightmare, with restrictive parking in every block surrounding the building and confusing, and sometimes contradictory, signs directing visitors to phantom “public lots.”
With a new commercial center in the works next door, Virginia Tech is ramping up its plans to expand its Falls Church campus.
The Virginia Tech campus is just south of the West Falls Church Metro station, an area with extensive redevelopment in the pipeline for the next few years.
The new facility will mix academic uses, commercial uses, and some residential facilities, according to the Washington Business Journal.
The project will expand the existing academic program and a new national center for smart design and construction. A new mixed residential and commercial complex is also part of the school’s designs for the area. The project would also relocate Hitt Contracting Inc. to a new on-site headquarters.
During a meeting with faculty and staff members, school officials said the programs for the expanded campus are still being developed with the goal of finding a distinct focus for the campus apart from the Virginia Tech locations in Arlington and Alexandria.
Photo via Google Maps
Fairfax County is looking for election officers for the Nov. 5 general election.
The Fairfax County Office of Elections needs “hundreds” of officers to serve, according to the county.
Officers will be paid $175 for a full day or they can volunteer their time.
The county recommends that people apply by Oct. 10 for the best chance to receive a precinct assignment.
Registered Virginia voters can sign up online or call 703-324-4735. Before they can work at polling locations, election officers must complete a three-hour training, which will be offered at multiple spots around the county starting Aug. 22.
Bilingual election officers who can fluently speak Korean or Vietnamese, in addition to English, are also needed, especially in Falls Church.
Fairfax County is looking for volunteers to assist seniors and people with disabilities at the new Lewinsville Center in McLean.
The county needs more volunteers to help take community members to doctor appointments and on grocery-runs, Angela Morlu, a spokesperson for the Department of Family Services, said.
The county’s Volunteer Solution’s webpage has eleven open volunteer positions at the Lewinsville Center — six at the senior center at 1609 Great Falls Street and five at the Lewinsville Adult Day Health Care Center (ADHC) at 1611 Great Falls Street.
Open positions at the senior center and the ADHC include language and music instructors, bingo assistants, dance teachers, donation coordinators and certified fitness instructors.
The centers are also in need of general assignment volunteers who can assist with front desk work, meal assistance or program facilitation.
Anyone interested in the fitness position must be certified in Fairfax County as a Stay Active & Independent for Life (SAIL) instructor and willing to commit to the two required 12-week courses.
According to the Fairfax County website:
The next SAIL Instructor Training will likely be held in August or early September 2019 at Marymount University. If you are not already an approved volunteer with Volunteer Solutions, sign up now so you will be eligible for the course. It takes a few weeks to process new volunteers.
Most of the volunteer positions only require a one- or two-hour commitment each week.
The centers were both completed in June of this year. The senior center features a fitness room and tech access. It also serves as a gathering place for adults over 50. The adult day center helps the mental well-being of seniors and includes amenities such as a library, indoor walking path and garden.
All volunteers must be at least 18 years old and apply for a position through the county’s website.
In addition to the volunteer positions at the two centers, Morlu also said there is “an urgent need” for volunteers with Meals on Wheels, an organization that tackles senior hunger.
The county is looking for a handful of volunteers for Meals on Wheels including a driver who speaks Vietnamese to pick up and deliver meals in the Falls Church area.
Photos via the Fairfax County Government
It’s not just another workday in the middle of the week — today (Wednesday) is National Tequila Day.
While the origin of National Tequila Day seems to be a mystery, the liquor has been around since the 16th century. A couple of restaurants around the Tysons area are pouring specials and deals today.
The Mexican eatery at 7852L Tysons Corner Center plans to feature its new special — the Pisco Margarita — and customizable tequila flights from 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
A local brewery is taking part in the event with Vampiro cocktail and taco specials at its Vienna and Merrifield locations. The celebrations will take place at Caboose Tavern (520 Mill Street NE) from 4-11 p.m. and Caboose Commons (2918 Eskridge Road) from 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
The Falls Church (2190 Pimmit Drive) and Vienna (164 W. Maple Avenue) locations will be offering $5 draft margaritas.
Photo via La Sandia/Facebook
Drivers on Lee Hwy (Route 29) can expect delays due to a crash along the highway at Graham Road.
The Fairfax County Police Department tweeted at 3:42 p.m. today (Tuesday) that a crash was partially blocking the intersection.
The north left lane is closed and the left turn lane is blocked, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.
“Please be alert and expect delays,” police tweeted.
Map via Google Maps
Come this Sunday, Mad Fox Brewing Company will close its doors in Falls Church.
CEO and Executive Brewer Bill Madden announced the closure earlier in July on Facebook right before the brewpub’s ninth anniversary.
Madden, who got his start at Capitol City Brewing Company before working at Founders and Vintage 50, opened Mad Fox Brewing Company in 2010, taking inspiration from Euro gastro brewpubs.
Just days away from closing, Madden shared with Tysons Reporter more details about the closure and some of his favorite memories at Mad Fox Brewing Company.
Tysons Reporter: What comes next?
Bill Madden: For me? I’m thinking about whether I do something else — another type of brewing project — because that’s what I’m trained to do or whether I go into what they call ally trade.
I really haven’t had a chance to think about it that much because we were working hard to try to make this happen, and I couldn’t go public with anything until last Tuesday so I couldn’t really reach out and talk to people for fear that it might tip the scale or reveal my hand.
It’s tough when you have a business that you know is about to close. You have to do it the right way and we wanted to talk to the bank, talk to the landlord let them know so it wouldn’t be a big surprise and let our management team and let our employees know. And then we went to the public rather than surprising everybody and locking the door.
TR: It sounded like from the Facebook post that the reason why you’re closing is because of the abundance of breweries that have popped up in the area. Is that why?
BM: Well the result is our sales have reached a historic low and as much as the landlord and bank were trying to work with us, we couldn’t come to anything that was even break even. When you’re at that point, you have to say, “It’s time to close.”
So what has happened since the rules were changed in 2012 and it’s specific to Senate Bill 604 — that a food component was not required to sell a pint of beer. Once that happened, we had a whole number of breweries that opened up.
When that changed, we went from 40 breweries in the state of Virginia to 250 plus and we’ve slowly seen our beer sales go down each year from then.
TR: It looked like from the Facebook comments that several breweries around the area were thanking you for your support and your help.
BM: We were at the forefront. We were at the beginning of this new explosion of breweries or whatever you want to call it. So a lot of those brewers came through here asking questions, asking how you do it. And I was always willing to help and talk to people and be very honest about what we were doing here. And a lot of folks learned from us and then a lot of folks learned from those people.
I wasn’t the first brewery in Virginia. And there were other breweries that paved the way before me — Jerry Bailey of Old Dominion and Tom Martin of Legend Brewing in Richmond.
TR: But you were the first brewery in Falls Church.
BM: Yes — ever, that I can find record of. I always like to do a little historical research on any location I’ve worked in. Unless some of the taverns in the colonial period brewed their own, we were the first in Falls Church.
TR: There are 450 plus comments on the Facebook post.
BM: I never realized so many people had their first dates here or maybe proposed here or had their rehearsal dinner here. Or decided to have kids. There was one person who said they decided to have kids here. And I was like, “Oh my god! That’s an interesting conversation to have in our brewpub.”
It’s bittersweet. We have a lot of memories and we have a lot to be proud of. We hold our heads high for everything that we did. We collaborated with local businesses. We had rehearsal dinners and birthdays and parties.
TR: What are your fondest memories looking back over the last nine years?
BM: The early days when everything was still very new and fresh and a lot of breweries were starting to open up. We would hold events here with those [new] brewers — DC Brau, Port City, Three Stars. All of them that had started after us that were so excited and so eager to promote themselves and we were the space that did it for them in the early days. And a lot of those guys and gals came through here and gave us a lot of great experiences and now a lot of them are very, very successful.
TR: How was the anniversary party last Saturday?
BM: It was unbelievable busy — business like we haven’t seen since we opened. Probably was many [people] as the fire marshall would allow. There’s been a great outpouring of love. I think what’s happened — it’s affirmation for what we did in the beginning.
We would have folks who would come from great distances away — Vienna, Centreville, Reston — to come and experience what we had to offer here because there wasn’t anything like that in their area. Since the growth of all the breweries, now they have a brewery in their town that maybe they go to, but they remember what a great time they had here. And they realized they had a limited time to experience that again, and they’ve been showing a lot of love.
TR: Many commenters said they are going to miss the Orange Whip IPA. Do you have a favorite beer?
BM: They’re all my children.
The Falls Church City Council aims to revamp its approach to affordable housing as its population continues to grow — and the stock of affordable units quickly dwindles.
The City Council is considering refreshing its Comprehensive Plan’s housing guidelines with a focus on tackling what some councilmembers recently referred to as an “affordable housing crisis.”
Emphasis on Affordable Housing
At a joint work session on Monday (July 15), the council and the city’s Planning Commission reviewed a proposal that would revise the housing guidelines to adjust for demographic changes and the future impact of Amazon HQ2 on the region.
City documents at the meeting confirmed that the increasing demand for apartments cannot keep up with the influx of the population, which is growing at a rate of 2.6% each year.
Councilmember Letty Hardi fronted the discussion at the meeting when she brought up the expiration of affordable housing and the dilemmas facing recent graduates who can no longer afford to live in the area.
Kiln & Custard, a local woman-owned custard and ice cream chain, has plans to celebrate National Ice Cream Day this weekend.
The Vienna, Reston and Falls Church locations will offer a buy-one, get-one-free deal on ice cream scoops on Sunday (July 21).
“[The] custard is made fresh daily, in-house with no food dyes, artificial flavoring or harmful preservatives and are colored with fresh spinach, pureed beets and ripe tomatoes,” according to a press release about the event.
Here are the locations and hours on Sunday:
- Falls Church — open from 1-7 p.m. at 455 S. Maple Avenue
- Vienna — open from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. at 138 Church Street NW
- Reston — open from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. at 1631 N. Washington Plaza
The Kiln & Custard locations are inside the Kiln & Co. pottery stores, which offer pottery painting and classes.
Former President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day in 1984, according to the International Dairy Foods Association.
Photo courtesy Kiln and Custard
The City of Falls Church wants to know how people who live or work in the city get around the area.
The city has two surveys available — one for residents and one for workers — to gather transportation data.
The surveys will be open until the end of July, Deputy City Manager Cindy Mester told Tysons Reporter. After the surveys close, the results will get analyzed and then posted online.
