CIRS Mold Toxicity Treatment in Vienna, VA

The Town of Vienna's survey on the quality of life and services found traffic to be a lingering area of concern for residents.

VIENNA, VA — While a Town of Vienna community survey found overall satisfaction with the quality of life and services, traffic and affordability continue to be pain points for residents. Results were presented to Vienna Town Council Monday night.

The National Community Survey was completed in fall 2023 for the first time since 2018. Vienna's town government typically participates in the survey every two years, but the 2020 survey was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The town used contractor Polco to administer the poll.

"There are a variety of ways these results can be used," said Steven Vickers, a survey associate at Polco. "Most commonly the jurisdictions we work with use their survey data to monitor trends and resident opinion over time, measure government performance and ratings of public trust and to inform budgeting processes and strategic plans. Our results also allow you to benchmark your community's specific characteristics and services against those same characteristics within other communities in our benchmark database."

The survey from Oct. 2 to Nov. 13, 2023 was mailed to 3,000 randomly-selected Vienna households and was later open to other town residents. The mailings drew a 32 percent response rate with 928 total responses, and another 100 responses came in through the open participation. Vickers said Vienna's response rate was higher than the average 10 to 20 percent response rate for the National Community Survey in other places.

Overall, the survey found Vienna received higher ratings on 84 national benchmarks, similar ratings on 37 benchmarks and lower ratings on two benchmarks. The two with lower benchmarks than the national average were traffic flow and water resources, Vickers said.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Really the biggest thing that stands out that stood out to me personally was…just the traffic flow," said Vickers. "We didn't see very many scores as I pointed out that were below benchmarks, but this one did particularly stand out to me."

On community design, 52 percent rated Vienna's overall design of residential and commercial areas as good, while 25 percent rated it as fair, 19 percent as excellent and 4 percent as good. The highest ratings in the community design subcategory were 86 percent for overall appearance and 81 percent for public places where people want to spend time. The lowest ratings were 47 percent for well-planned commercial growth and 44 percent for variety of housing options.

"We see that many aspects of the in this community designed does receive positive reviews, but there are some potential areas of opportunity," said Vickers. "Ratings for community design were all similar to or higher than national benchmarks, but the relative low quality rating and high importance of community design may warrant some additional focus."

Affordability was one of the poor ratings for Vienna. Just 17 percent rated Vienna as excellent or good for availability of affordable quality housing, and 23 percent said the same about cost of living. There were 53 percent who said Vienna is good or excellent for affordable quality child care or preschool. One of the higher ratings was 76 percent who rated Vienna well for affordable quality health care.

Transportation was another issue that drew some negative feedback. Overall, 47 percent of respondents rated Vienna's transportation system as good, 25 percent as excellent, 22 percent as fair and 6 percent as poor. The highest rated factors were ease of walking with 83 percent and ease of traveling by bicycle with 69 percent. Traffic flow on major streets received the lowest rating — 31 percent.

Maintenance and other services were rated well, however. The survey found 88 percent rate snow removal as excellent or good, 86 percent for street cleaning, 76 percent for sidewalk maintenance, 73 percent for street lighting, 70 percent for traffic enforcement and street repair, and 68 percent for bus or transit services.

Sense of community was strong among the survey respondents. On community engagement, 97 percent rated Vienna as an excellent or good place to raise children, and 96 percent rated it as an excellent or good place to live. The overall quality of life received a 95 percent rating, and sense of community received 89 percent. But as a place to retire, only 56 percent rated it as an excellent or good location.

On the economy, 93 percent had high ratings of businesses, and 84 percent said Vienna was a good or excellent place to work. Overall economic health was rated good by 55 percent, excellent by 37 percent, fair by 8 percent and poor by 1 percent.

As the survey results presentation wrapped up, Mayor Linda Colbert acknowledged residents' continuing concern of traffic.

"Thank goodness we have our signalization on Maple Avenue coming soon, and I think that that certainly is going to help flow traffic on Maple Avenue," said Colbert.

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Noodles & Company has closed its doors in the Town of Vienna.

The fast-casual noodle chain had anchored the Vienna Marketplace shopping center at the corner of Maple Avenue and Park Street for nearly 20 years. Now, the windows at 201 Maple Avenue East have gone dark, the linguine-ladling storefront sign stripped down.

“We’re sorry to say, this Noodles location is permanently closed,” a flyer posted to the eatery’s door says. “We’ve thoroughly enjoyed serving you and appreciate all your support.”

The notice encourages customers to visit the company’s closest remaining location, which is in Idylwood Plaza at 7501 Leesburg Pike.

An employee at that location confirmed to FFXnow that the Vienna restaurant closed Wednesday, Jan. 24 due to the high rent. Press contacts for Noodles & Company and KLNB, the retail broker for Vienna Marketplace, didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

Noodles & Company had been in Vienna since at least 2007, the days of its earliest Yelp reviews, though one reviewer said they’d previously ordered from that location “years ago.” That makes the Vienna restaurant one of the brand’s first sites in the D.C. region after it arrived in Fairfax City in 2002 and began more rapidly expanding a decade later, according to the Washington Post.

In addition to Idylwood and Fairfax City, Noodles can still be found in Kingstowne, Mount Vernon, Chantilly, Fair Lakes, Herndon, Reston and Springfield. It has 26 Virginia locations.

Though it’s not clear yet what will replace Noodles & Company, The Burn reports that the vacated Cold Stone Creamery two doors down will be filled by the D.C. deli Call Your Mother — not Taïm Mediterranean Kitchen as previously confirmed.

According to The Burn, the deli “swooped in” to take over the 1,300-square-foot space after Taim’s deal “fell through.” FFXnow has reached out to both Taim and KLNB for confirmation.

Known for its bagels, Call Your Mother entered Northern Virginia last May when it launched a “Lil Deli” at Chesterbrook Shopping Center in McLean. The business is expected to move out of the mobile truck and into a permanent, brick-and-mortar location later this year.

Taim, a fast-casual Mediterranean eatery that originated in New York City, opened restaurants in Pimmit Hills last July and at Plaza America in Reston on Dec. 5.

Remaining tenants in Vienna Marketplace include Crumbl Cookies, South Block, Chipotle, AT&T and Lacrosse Unlimited.

VIENNA, VA — As the Fairfax County Health Department regularly inspects restaurants in the Town of Vienna, we continue to look at the latest inspection results.

The health department's environmental health staff inspect over 5,200 restaurants and other retail food service establishments in Fairfax County and cities of Falls Church and Fairfax to ensure safe food handling practices are followed. This includes proper sanitation, food storage and preparation, and adequate kitchen facilities. Aside from restaurants, staff inspect child care centers, hospitals, school cafeterias, and temporary food service vendors at festivals.

Residents can search for a specific restaurant or browse a map of inspected locations through the online database. The health department cautions residents that multiple inspection reports should be used to evaluate a restaurant rather than a single report.

This week's report focuses on February reports around the Town of Vienna. Click on each link to see full reports for each restaurant.

Wendy's: 411 Maple Ave, Vienna, Va 22180

Domino's Pizza: 331 Maple Ave., Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection: Feb. 26

Violations:

Popeye's: 325 Maple Ave., Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection:Feb. 9

Violations:

Chipotle Mexican Grill: 213 Maple Ave., Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection: Feb. 12

Violations: No violations found.

Whole Foods Market: 143 Maple Ave., Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection: Feb. 20

Violations:

Bear Branch Tavern: 133 Maple Ave., Ste# 100, Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection: Feb. 5

Violations: No violations found.

The Sandwich Shop: 132 Church St., Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection: Feb. 13

Violations:

Foster's Grille: 138 A Maple Ave., Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection: Feb. 2

Violations:

Taco Bamba: 164 Maple Ave., Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection: Feb. 14

Dairy Queen: 304 Maple Ave., Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection: Feb. 6

Violations:

Magnolia Dessert Bar & Coffee: 431 Maple Ave., Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection: Feb. 2

Violations:

Istanbul Blue: 523 Maple Ave., Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection: Feb. 12

Violations:

Pizza Boli's: 262 A Cedar Ln., Unit# 1, Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection: Feb. 15

Violations:

America's Best Wings: 262 E Cedar Ln., Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection: Feb. 26

Violations:

Hunan Delight: 276 Cedar Ln., Vienna, Va 22180

Last inspection: Feb. 22

Violations: no violations found.

VIENNA, VA — From family-friendly events to adult parties, there are plenty of New Year's Eve events around Vienna to ring in 2024.

There are Noon Year's Eve events to help the kiddos celebrate the new year early. Patrick Henry Library is hosting a Noon Year's Eve party from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Dec. 30. Then, the Cedar Park Shopping Center will host the Vienna Noon Year's Eve on Dec. 31 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a 12 p.m. balloon drop countdown, pop-up artisan market and vendor fair, DJ music, face painting, airbrush tattoos, "nonprofit in residence" Committee for Helping Others, giveaways and more.

Here is a look at some additional events happening near Vienna:

In the United States, one of the most popular New Year’s Eve traditions is the dropping of the giant ball in New York City’s Times Square. Other U.S. cities have adopted iterations of the ball drop — the Chick Drop in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and the giant Potato Drop in Boise, Idaho, for example.

Virginia's twist on the ball drop includes events like Chincoteague Island's Pony Island Horseshoe Drop & Costume Promenade, Cape Charles's Dropping of the Crab Pot, Fincastle's New Year's Eve Bell Ringing and Portsmouth's Olde Towne Scottish Walk.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The end of one year and beginning of another is often celebrated with the singing of “Auld Lang Syne,” a Scottish folk song whose title roughly translates to “days gone by,” according to Encyclopedia Britannica and History.com.

The history of New Year’s resolutions dates back 8,000 years to ancient Babylonians, who would make promises to return borrowed objects and pay outstanding debts at the beginning of the new year, in mid-March when they planted their crops.

According to legend, if they kept their word, pagan gods would grant them favor in the coming year. If they broke the promise, they would fall out of God’s favor, according to a history of New Year’s resolutions compiled by North Hampton Community College New Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Many secular New Year’s resolutions focus on imagining new, improved versions of ourselves.

The failure rate of New Year’s resolutions is about 80 percent, according to U.S. News & World Report. There are myriad reasons, but a big one is they’re made out of remorse — for gaining weight, for example — and aren’t accompanied by a shift in attitude and a plan to meet the stress and discomfort of changing a habit or condition.

Updated at 3:35 p.m. on 4/2/2024 — Yellow Diner officially opened in Vienna on Monday, April 1, operating from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for brunch and 5-10 p.m. for dinner every day except for Tuesdays.

Earlier: An end to the long, winding road to an opening for Vienna’s Yellow Diner is in sight.

The new restaurant is “a hundred percent guaranteed” to open at 501 Maple Avenue West this month, co-owner and operational manager Emanuel Pagonis told FFXnow. A firm date hasn’t been set yet, but the team is targeting the last week of March for a grand opening.

“It’s three years in the making, but it’s a beautiful place, a beautiful restaurant inside,” Pagonis said by phone. “I’m just excited for people to come in and feel happy, honestly. That’s what I’m most looking forward to.”

The concept for Yellow Diner came to Emanuel and his father, Peter Pagonis, who owns the Greek restaurant Nostos in Tysons, during the uncertain days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

They wanted to build a “happy community spot” that everyone will feel comfortable visiting at any time of the day, according to Emanuel Pagonis. They also saw a deficit of quality breakfast options in Vienna, particularly following Amphora Restaurant’s closure in 2021.

The Maple Room, a steak and seafood restaurant, opened last year in Amphora’s place, but it offers more of a fine-dining experience, operating only during dinner hours.

“We wanted to make this a new, little beacon of happiness where people can come and enjoy American classics and feel nice and warm when they walk in,” Emanuel said.

The Pagonis family got the Vienna Board of Architectural Review’s approval to replace a defunct SunTrust Bank branch with Yellow Diner in July 2022, but converting a bank originally built in the 1970s into a modern restaurant required an extensive permitting and construction process.

Now that the water, gas lines, electricity and other utilities have been installed, the build-out finally complete, the team is focused on hiring staff and taste-testing their planned recipes. The menu is still being finalized, but it will be completely different from the Greek cuisine at Nostos, Emanuel Pagonis confirmed.

Breakfast and brunch will consist of eggs benedict, pancakes, waffles and other classic American comfort foods, as Tysons Today previously reported. For dinner, which will start at 5 p.m., the restaurant will shift to “American fusion” dishes.

Though it seeks to impart the same feelings of comfort associated with an old-school diner, Yellow Diner will have a different, more modern ambiance than a mid-century establishment like The Virginian, for example, which dates back to 1965.

Among other deviations, it will have a bar with full cocktail and liquor lists, along with fresh juices and lemonade.

Including an outdoor patio, the restaurant can seat 94 people, though it has the capacity to expand in the future, according to Emanuel.

“Until you come inside and see the place, you won’t really know what we’re about,” he said. “Our name is Yellow Diner, but we look a little different than your traditional diner, so we want people to come in and see for themselves.”