What a busy week in Alexandria.
This week’s top story was all about money, with a $1 million Powerball ticket getting sold in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County.
On Monday we reported that an Alexandria resident was charged after a loaded gun was allegedly found in his carry-on bag at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The incident marked the third time last month that a firearm was confiscated from luggage at the airport.
Also Monday, Mayor Justin Wilson said in his monthly newsletter that the March 27 death of the Potomac Yard arena deal would likely mean a period of stagnation for that area of the city. Landowner JBG Smith, however, softened its stance after initially releasing a scathing opinion on the situation, and told the Washington Business Journal on Wednesday that it now envisions Potomac Yard as a tech corridor anchored by the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus.
In a Thursday poll, ALXnow asked whether Alexandria is better off without the Potomac Yard arena. The poll got more than 1,300 responses, with 65% voting “Yes,” 26% voting “No” and nearly 10% voting “I don’t know.”
Got a good spot to see the eclipse on Monday? Our second-most-read story this week showcases an eclipse viewing party being hosted by the city in Old Town.
The most-read stories this week were:
- Powerball ticket worth $1 million sold in Mount Vernon (7387 views)
- City of Alexandria hosting eclipse viewing party in Old Town (7375 views)
- Notes: Pizza and cocktail bar opening this week in Old Town (5997 views)
- Sign ordinance update tackling longstanding sign complaints from Alexandria businesses (5400 views)
- In wake of Potomac Yard arena implosion, Alexandria mayor says area will stay the same for ‘quite some time’ (5398 views)
- Alexandria gets federal grant for Duke Street transitway (4171 views)
- No arrest after woman stabbed in neck in Alexandria’s West End (3522 views)
- CIM Group sells apartment complex next to old Landmark Mall property for $225 million (3149 views)
Have a safe weekend!
After nearly a year of extensive renovation and expansion, Piece Out Del Ray is reopening next month, it’s owner tells ALXnow.
The expansion from 2,700 to 4,600 square feet includes a large, center-focused bar area, a brand new dining room in what was previously a neighboring yoga studio, booths, dart boards and 21-and-up-only shuffleboard. A small area for outdoor seating is still being leveled and rails need to be put in place, but otherwise the restaurant was ready enough to open for a March Madness pop-up event on Wednesday night.
Owner Larry Ponzi wouldn’t disclose how much he spent renovating the space, except to say that it was more than he’d expected.
“We’re just going to work next week on our staffing, post-construction organization, cleaning and finishing our menu development,” Ponzi said. “The following week we should be open.”
Ponzi and his wife Christine opened the pizzeria for delivery and takeout only during the pandemic in 2020. The restaurant became popular, and after distancing and dining restrictions were lifted, Ponzi said that the 2,700-square-foot space got overwhelmed with customers and the delivery option had to be scrapped.
After studio Body Logic moved across the street, Ponzi and the property owner agreed on absorbing the additional space into the restaurant.
“We’re doing our best to keep the feel and vibe of the old Piece Out,” Ponzi said. “We’re just in a space that we really feel is our own. We want to keep all the good things about Piece Out that people love and just make it a little better.”
Chef Johnny Mohl is working on an expanded menu with seasonal specials.
“I’m really excited to be here,” Mohl said. “With this modern layout, the whole restaurant just has this feeling of old and new coming together, which is something that I really love.”
The Ponzi’s PCG Restaurant Group owns St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub in Del Ray and Old Town North, Cafe Pizzaiolo (1623 Fern Street), Market 2 Market (116 E. Del Ray Avenue) and Red Drum Grill and Tap House in Nags Head, North Carolina.
A smoking heating and air system has closed Bugsy’s Pizza Restaurant & Sports Bar at 111 King Street for the foreseeable future, the restaurant owner told ALXnow.
Owner Bartolo Paz said that smoke came out of the furnace this afternoon after it was turned on by restaurant staff, that no one was hurt, and that there is minimal damage.
“They had to cut out some drywall and insulation,” Paz told ALXnow. “Nothing major.”
The Alexandria Fire Department responded to the commercial building fire call for service at around noon, according to dispatch reports.
A favorite sports bar in Old Town, Bugsy’s is named after Bryan Watson, the former defenseman with the Washington Capitals pro hockey team. Watson opened the business in 1983 as Armand’s Pizzeria & Grille with the upstairs bar, The Penalty Box. Watson sold the business to Paz in 2013, and died in 2021.
Paz said that he hopes to reopen the restaurant soon.
The restaurant released the following statement on social media:
Good afternoon,
Unfortunately earlier today we experienced a fire inside our building, everyone is okay but this has caused us to close down for the foreseeable future. We apologize for the inconvenience but we will keep everyone updated as soon as we get the updates ourselves and we look forward to opening back up as soon as possible so we can continue to provide all our customers with exceptional service. Thank you so much for understanding and we hope to see everyone soon.
New pizza restaurant Benny Diforza’s (1504B Mount Vernon Avenue) has been popular since opening last week. The restaurant was well attended this weekend, and according to an application with the City of Alexandria, there could be more space for diners soon.
Benny Diforza’s is part of a Benny’s Pizza chain with locations across Virginia, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wyoming.
The application said the restaurant is opening to add 8-10 seats out in front of the restaurant.
There’s currently limited seating (15 seats) inside the restaurant; where the kitchen fills most of the building.
The application also noted that the Benny Diforza’s could be selling beer and wine soon, pending an ABC permit.
Washingtonian recently included three Alexandria restaurants in their food critic’s list of 19 favorite pizzas right now.
Washingtonian’s Executive Food Editor Ann Limpert included in her list “Stracci Bianca” at Stracci Pizza (106 Hume Avenue), the vodka pizza at Emmy Squared (124 King Street) and the white clam Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (3231 Duke Street).
According to the Washingtonian review of Stracci Pizza:
This Del Ray gem makes its own stracciatella cheese—hand-pulled mozzarella soaked in cream—and it’s best shown off on this Roman-style white pizza, simply accented with olive oil and flakes of Maldon salt.
According to the Washingtonian review of Emmy Squared, which also has two locations in D.C.:
The thick, soft, Detroit-style pizzas from this Brooklyn transfer can be a little…extra. This version is relatively straightforward—just sweet, creamy vodka sauce, basil, and pecorino. The sauce is also good on the Big Ang, which adds ricotta, Italian sausage, and banana peppers to the party.
According to the Washingtonian review of Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana:
I’ve lined up outside this century-old New Haven institution for its coal-fired sheet-pan pizza countless times. And now there is one at Westfield Montgomery Mall! And in Old Town! This particular pie—one of their most famous—is thin, crispy, garlicky as hell, and loaded with fresh clams.
Got dinner plans for Super Bowl Sunday? Benny Diforza’s 28-inch pies will be available in Del Ray starting this week.
The restaurant has been in the works since last summer in the former home of Sicilian Pizza at 1504B Mount Vernon Avenue. Manager Hayden Ko says the restaurant is waiting for one more permit approval from the city before the pizza oven gets fired up. She also said that the restaurant will open this week.
“I’m really excited to start working,” Ko said. “I have 15 employees and last week and we had a staff dinner with their families, and it was great to meet everyone and get the vibes up.”
The restaurant is well known for selling 28-inch pies that go for $5 to $6.50 per slice.
Benny’s first opened its Blacksburg location in 2011, and now has dozens of locations throughout Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wyoming. Each location has a different last name, with Del Ray’s Diforza literally translating to “of strength.”
According to the Benny’s website: “Order a whole pie and feed 2 families. We limit our toppings and we don’t count pennies so everything stays simple.”
The owner of a number of coffee shops in and around Alexandria just got into the pizza business.
Last month, Nga Ho submitted paperwork with the city requesting a change in ownership after buying RedRocks Old Town (904 King Street) from Firebrick Food Group, Inc., which opened the 2,400-square-foot, 98-seat restaurant in 2009.
Staff at RedRocks Old Town say that the restaurant will continue as-is, just under new ownership.
Ho also owns four Java Loco & Bubble Tea locations in the area, one of which is in Alexandria (289 S. Van Dorn Street), as well as Ocha Tea in Annandale.
Firebrick Food Group still owns its Columbia Heights location in D.C.
The details of the sale were not publicly disclosed. ALXnow has reached out to the new owner for comment.
It’s been a scorching week in Alexandria, punctuated by two major crime events.
Someone was shot multiple times in an alley several blocks east of the Braddock Metro station last Saturday, followed on Monday afternoon by the city’s fifth homicide this year — the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man on W. Glebe Road in Arlandria.
It is not believed that the incidents are connected.
The Alexandria Police Department is now looking for a silver Nissan Rogue allegedly linked to Monday’s shooting.
No arrests have been announced from either incident, and this week Mayor Justin Wilson, City Manager Jim Parajon and Police Chief Don Hayes asked for the community’s help in identifying the suspects.
Top stories this week:
- Alexandria ditching ‘pay and display’ parking meters citywide (32618 views)
- Notes: Many federal employees who report to work Alexandria are still mostly remote (7448 views)
- Del Ray Gateway project construction to start before end of year, city says (6510 views)
- Construction suspended for Holiday Inn Express at former Towne Motel site in Old Town North (5346 views)
- ACPS ignores Gov. Youngkin’s recommended policies on treatment of transgender students (4829 views)
- DEVELOPING: Man transported to hospital in critical condition after shooting in Arlandria (4747 views)
- Pupatella Neapolitan Pizza opening before end of year in Old Town North, owner says (3857 views)
- Duke Street affordable apartment complex ‘Witter Place’ could be ready by late 2025, developer says (3598 views)
- Arlington man busted for allegedly selling stolen car to Alexandria man on Facebook Marketplace (2509 views)
Have a safe weekend!
Pupatella Neapolitan Pizza will open in Old Town North before the end of the year, a managing partner for the local pizza chain told ALXnow.
Construction has begun on the building at 700 Slaters Lane, the former longtime home to Sam’s Custom Cleaners. The dry cleaner shut down a month after the death of owner Tony Tran in 2022.
Tran’s nephew Thien Ung is now the owner of the property and said that a neighborhood-centric pizzeria will be good for the space. For one thing, it’s hard to beat the location, as the building greets drivers along the George Washington Memorial Parkway into Old Town.
“I knew how important it was that whoever moved into the spot would have to contribute to the Old Town and Old Town North feel,” Ung said. “When Michael Berger, a managing partner with Pupatella, reached out to me, and after talking with his team and listening to their story and where they came from, it just felt right.”
Enzo Algarme, a native of Naples, Italy, founded Pupatella Neapolitan Pizza in a food truck in Ballston in 2007. Pupatella is his grandmother’s nickname and it means “little doll.”
The company now has eight locations: two in Arlington, at 5104 Wilson Blvd and 1621 S. Walter Reed Drive, Dupont Circle in D.C., Reston, the City of Fairfax, Springfield, Leesburg and Richmond. Locations are also being planned in Chantilly, Capitol Hill in D.C. and in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Berger says he wants to open at least five more restaurants in the area over the next several years.
“We’re really excited,” Berger said of the Alexandria location. “We’re really excited about it, and being a standalone building with visibility, parking — kind of a billboard-type location when you come in on the G.W. Parkway.”
Map via Google Maps, Pizza photo via Facebook
Get ready to loosen your belts, because Benny Diforza’s Pizza is planning to open this year in Del Ray.
The restaurant will open at 1504-B Mount Vernon Avenue, the former home to Sicilian Pizza. Their claims to fame are 28-inch pies that go for $5 to $6.50 per slice.
“Cat’s out of the bag, a location is secured, and we’re ready to build another Benny’s!” the restaurant franchise announced on LinkedIn. “Benny Diforza’s will be opening in Del Ray later this year! More updates to come…get ready, Alexandria!”
Benny’s first opened its Blacksburg location in 2011, and now has dozens of locations throughout Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wyoming.
Benny’s is far from the first pizza spot in Del Ray — some might even say there’s too much pizza — but a plurality of ALXnow readers last fall said there’s still not enough good pizza in Alexandria.
Image via Facebook
