Spike Mendelsohn's Good Stuff Eatery is opening in Crystal City next week, and he's rolled out a video promoting it. more ›

Looks like 300,000 square feet won't suffice for Artomatic, the massive art exhibition that in May is scheduled to open its first event in three years. It will now be held at an even larger building. more ›

Artomatic, the giant free-for-all art fair that has been on hiatus since 2009, is coming back bigger than ever. more ›

On March 5, an enormous brawl broke out inside the Hyatt Regency Crystal City during the DMV Music Awards. The fights, which involved more than 20 people, forced every single available Arlington County police unit to the scene and the violence sent five people to the hospital. Now, an employee of the hotel is speaking out about the consequences of the violence, which ended up costing him an eye. more ›

Here's some fun for the end of the day, stemming from that Northrop Grumman news we mentioned below. About halfway down Jonathan O'Connell's Washington Business Journal story on today's D.C. Council proposal to offer the defense contractor $25 million worth of incentives, there's a quote from bill sponsor Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) slamming Crystal City, which rumor has it has emerged as a front runner in the company's search for D.C. area office space.

Northrop has reportedly been considering properties in D.C., Crystal City and Montgomery and Fairfax counties. Evans took a shot at the competition, saying, “Can you imagine them locating in a place like Crystal City? Oh my gosh.” more ›

When news first broke a month ago that defense contracting giant Northrop Grumman Corp. was relocating its corporate headquarters to the Washington area, we were skeptical that they'd even consider coming to the District. Surely they'd want some sprawling property out in Fairfax County, or maybe Montgomery County. But lo, apparently they are actually giving a good hard look at two options inside the city, according to the Washington Business Journal's Jonathan O'Connell. "One is 1801 K St. NW, one of the largest private office buildings in D.C., a 560,00-square-foot building constructed in 1971 just renovated by Somerset Partners LLC. The other is 901 K St. NW, a newly renovated trophy property near Mount Vernon Triangle owned by Carr Properties. Both are being marketed by Jones Lang LaSalle." Naturally, members of the D.C. Council have proposed a package to entice the enormous corporation to pick one of the District locations, which includes $25 million worth of incentives. Word has it, however, that Crystal City has also become a leading contender. more ›

The Pentagon City and Crystal City Metro stations were closed for about an hour this morning starting about 9:50 a.m. for a suspicious package investigation. WMATA now reports that both stations have since reopened and the item has been deemed harmless. more ›

A suspicious package scare in Crystal City earlier this afternoon forced the evacuation of an office building located at 2100 Crystal Drive, according to several eyewitness accounts. Arlington County Police spokesperson Det. Crystal Nosal confirmed that the county's bomb squad destroyed the package, per standard procedure. Crystal Drive between 20th and 23rd Streets was closed during the investigation, but has since been reopened. One DCist reader wrote in to the tip line that he heard the detonation of the package at around 2 p.m. The incident has since been cleared. more ›

WMATA announced this afternoon that it intends to make the holiday weekend travel plans of people who will be flying in and out of National Airport a lot more difficult. more ›

Perhaps you don't think sexytime when you think Crystal City. You might be possessed of a fundamental misunderstanding of what Crystal City—or sexy—is all about! more ›

Reader Amber Lupin writes in: more ›

This review was written by guest poster Eric Nuzum, a local pop culture commentator and author of The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula. Here's the reason why there have been more than 600 vampire films produced in the past 85 years: Vampires are the perfect metaphor. Tradition says that vampires don't cast reflections. But vampires are, in fact, reflections of what terrifies or titillates us, as well as what we... more ›

Written by DCist Contributor Andrew Chriss Enjera Eritrean Restaurant opened in Crystal City in May 2007. On an early visit over the summer, the restaurant was not very inviting from the street level, which was disappointing due to the vast amount of outdoor seating space available. The menu was crudely assembled from what seemed like loose-leaf, and the signage for the restaurant did little to sell the restaurant besides intrigue passersby to ask, "What do... more ›

>> We would have liked to have read about "The Best Bars in DC For Ensuring That You Will Not Run Into a Single Person Even Vaguely Connected With Politics or Media (crossposted to Gridskipper)." Good luck to you, Pareene. [Wonkette] >> A fire will be set Saturday morning on Metrorail's bridge over the Potomac River as part of an emergency-response drill involving 100 firefighters from seven area jurisdictions. The Yellow line will be shut... more ›

California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has declared September “California Wine Month” for the third consecutive year. Since September is almost over we thought we would get into the spirit and raise a glass to the California wine industry (not that we think they need their own month). We would have celebrated sooner but we were busy getting tipsy off our own local Virginia Wines, as you may recall. The Wine Institute, a.k.a. the self-proclaimed “Voice for... more ›

Clockwise from top left: Comet Ping Pong, Red Rocks, 2 Amys, Bebo There are many factors that affect a pizza. The type of flour used for the dough. The temperature of the oven. The quality of the toppings. The skill and hands of the maker of the dough. The vigilance of the pizzaiolo (the person manning the oven). D.C. may not be known as much of a pizza town, but a few of the... more ›

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Foreign: This is England After receiving accolades galore at a number of major film festivals, British director Shane Meadow's autobiographical film is receiving a limited one week run in D.C. starting on Friday. Based on his own experiences coming of age in the UK in the early 80's, This is England follows 12-year old Shaun, a... more ›

There are certain defining moments in the relationship between any father and son. Times when a father passes down the wisdom gained through the years, when a son asks those burning questions he doesn't feel comfortable asking his buddies, the guidance counselor, or the older guys in the gym locker room. And the father sits his son down and they talk long into the night. About why you should get flowers for a girl when... more ›

The longest day of the year has just passed us by, the solstice bells have rung out, and far to the north they've seen the sun at midnight. Here in Washington, we brace for the brutal heat we've only just tasted up to now. There is some consolation for the misery mother nature heaps on D.C.'s coming dog days. For many lucky office drones, in summertime the living truly can be easy. That filing that's... more ›

MONDAY: French journalist Sylvain Cypel will speak about his book Walled, a look at relations between Jews and Palestinians in Israel and the barriers — both cultural and physical — between the two groups. Politics and Prose, 7 p.m. D.C.-area Star Wars geeks will want to check out Olsson's Arlington/Courthouse, where science-fiction author Karen Traviss will be talking about her new novel Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice. We love Han, Chewie and the gang as... more ›

MONDAY: Cullen Murphy, the Atlantic’s managing editor, will be at Politics and Prose to talk about his new book Are We Rome? Murphy is of course referring to spreading corruption in Washington, our imperialist tendencies and the outsourcing of government work to private contractors. Personally, we'd rather read a book comparing our government with a different empire, but we won't hold our breath on that one. 7 p.m. TUESDAY: Dancer and award-winning actress Victoria Rowell... more ›

>> Artomatic comes to a close this weekend, after five long weeks of inundating us with massive quantities of art, free performances, lectures, concerts, film series, demonstrations and workshops, and spirited community building that even your old summer camp counselor couldn't match. If you haven't gone down to Crystal City yet, the old Patent Office location is only a few blocks from the metro, and the art fair only rises up every two (sometimes three)... more ›

Flickr user andertho caught these brilliant colors in a perfectly composed shot, as a group of teeny-tiny window washers scale a Crystal City building. Of course, it's the rebel with the green bucket on the right that really makes the photo. EXIF.... more ›

Have you made it out to Artomatic yet? Flickr user EPMD, who captured this great shot of the entrance, is just one of hundreds of local artists showing their work in this year's space in Crystal City. The show is open until May 20th, so you've got plenty of time to stop by. EXIF.... more ›

MONDAY Richard Preston, fresh off his Daily Show appearance, where he confounded Jon Stewart, brings his unique perspective on some of America's oldest residents, California redwood trees, in The Wild Trees. Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, 7:00 p.m. TUESDAY With the glut of celebrities proclaiming themselves Buddhists, it's sometimes hard to pin down the historical and ethical roots of this ancient religion. Author Lama Surya Das, who the Dalai Lama calls 'The American... more ›

Inevitably, you find yourself at that moment. When youth fashion confuses you, when you prefer to spend the time between bands at the 9:30 Club resting in the back rather than staking out a spot right up front, when you realize that there are people about to graduate high school who were born in the 90s. Suddenly you feel old. But when children are already declaring anything from the 20th century ancient (which, presumably, includes... more ›

Imagine a well-renowned D.C. glass artist, a gallery-experienced (and ColorField.remix contributor) abstract painter, and at least seven people we already know are pretty talented photographers putting their work next to mermaids made out of garage sale rejects and Tic Tac sculptures, and you'll start to get the essence of Artomatic. This chaotic jumble of an art fair where "Fire" gets its own category has infamously drawn ire from some of the city's fine art critics for the overstuffed effect that can cause good art to suffer behind the bad and the ugly. While in the other corner, D.C.'s art community cheerleaders continually applaud the sight of a show where anyone who can cough up the small entrance fee is given a soapbox to show the public what creative talent they might be hiding, and given credibility by the fine art gallery-sponsored artist in the identical space a few feet to their left. more ›

We recently visited the Crystal City Jaleo, to not only partake in watching the now famous “Iron Chef: America - Andrés vs. Flay in battle Goat” but also to support one of Andrés favorite charities, D.C. Central Kitchen. We certainly enjoyed watching José Andrés pummel Bobby Flay, but we got even more satisfaction from eating a couple (okay, more than a couple) of Jaleo’s delectable offerings. This left us with the difficult task of choosing one of our favorites to feature in this week’s column, never mind the pressure of re-creating a recipe of an Iron Chef champion. more ›

Good morning, Washington. After five straight days of frost warnings, temps will claw their way back into the 50s, though you'll still need a parka as you head off to work. We guess it could be worse; the Nationals could be driven out of town by a foot of snow. The Cleveland Indians have been forced to cancel several games and play this week's home games in Milwaukee by the fluffy stuff. Yikes, if... more ›

Spring seems to be here to stay this time around, and that means swimsuit season can't be far behind. Here at the Overheard office, before we dust off the old Speedo, we're aiming to set a personal record for failed fad diets in a single month, figuring that if the average dieter loses the will to continue within the first week, then if we just start a brand new diet every week, we might actually... more ›