New Restaurants and Shops on Langston Boulevard in Arlington

"To be quite honest, I was worried too, because we have no other neighbors," Payman Ahrarian told ARLnow in September 2025. "All the spaces next to us are vacant, so we had to find a way to pull foot traffic to ourselves."

Ahrarian co-owns Burger Billy's Joint at 3800 Langston Blvd in Cherrydale. When he said that, the other end of this stretch of Langston had a matching problem. The anchor space at the Lyon Village Shopping Center had been dark for a year and a half. On the stretch from Spout Run to Cherrydale, those were the two most visible gaps. Both are filling in during the same few months of 2026.

The anchor space at Spout Run sat dark for two and a half years

The Giant at the Lyon Village Shopping Center had its last day at the end of February 2024 after 60 years. ARLnow reported that people at the plaza's Starbucks were crying that day. The plaza's owner, BMC Property Group, said only that it was "exploring a number of options." A permit filed in April 2025 proposed turning the empty space into another grocery store. Sprouts later confirmed it would open in 2026.

Sprouts Farmers Market held its ribbon-cutting at 6:45 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, and opened its doors at 7. That was about two years and seven months after the Giant closed. The store at 3115 Langston Blvd is open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The Giant was a conventional supermarket. Sprouts stocks differently, and the details matter for a weekly shopping list:

• Produce takes up a large corner of the store, from organic apples and mangoes to lion's mane mushrooms, gold beets and dandelion greens.
• Bulk bins sell quinoa, basmati rice, black-eyed peas, polenta, oats, chia seeds, nuts and dried fruit by the ounce.
• Prepared food includes whole organic roasted chickens at $15, pre-seasoned bourbon salmon and Cajun butter shrimp skewers, and $5 sushi on Wednesdays.
• Deli and bakery carry Boar's Head meats and cheeses plus fresh bread, pies, cookies and muffins.

At opening, Sprouts said its grab-and-go sandwiches start at $5 and its "wellness bowls" at $9. The chain has about 500 stores nationwide. Before this one, its only Virginia locations were in Leesburg, Manassas, Herndon and Haymarket, so this is the first Sprouts inside the Beltway in Virginia. ARLnow puts it about a 20-minute walk from both the Clarendon and Courthouse Metro stations.

The rest of the plaza stayed open while the anchor space was empty. As of July 2026, the center's tenants included The Italian Store, Big Wheel Bikes, a Cold Stone Creamery, a CVS and a Starbucks. Cold Stone moved in during the vacancy. When the Giant closed, it was still a planned standalone shop expected sometime after May 2024.

The county's longer-term plans for this corner are a separate matter. The Langston Boulevard Area Plan, adopted by the County Board in November 2023, calls the shopping center a possible "activity hub" for mixed-use development. One rendering shows an apartment building above a grocery store. That is a planning vision with no construction schedule. For now, the corner has a grocery store again.

The block at 3800 Langston that kept losing tenants

About a mile west, the storefronts at 3800 Langston Blvd are on the ground floor of a small condo building. Businesses have turned over there for years. Kite Runner Cafe, Gajin Ramen Shop and L.A. Leaf all closed within the past decade. Burger Billy's Joint opened in April 2024 as a mostly takeout smash-burger counter with heated pickup lockers. By September 2025, about 60% of its profits came from dine-in customers, and weekends were its busiest time. Head chef Keshaun Winston has cooked for President Barack Obama.

Burger Billy's had the building to itself for more than a year. Two tenants have now committed to the empty spaces beside it.

Good Trouble Roasters plans to roast its coffee on site and bills itself as "the only on-site coffee roaster in the area." Owner Mike Greiner plans to serve wine and beer in the afternoons and evenings along with cold brew, cappuccino and espresso. The walls have murals by Brooklyn artist Jess Kostelnick. In late August, Greiner said he needed "a few more weeks" after missing his August target.

"Not all the way where we want to be yet, obviously, but we are getting there. More art, plants, coffee, and great people to add, then we will be ready!"

Rita's Italian Ice is also listed as "coming soon" at the same address. ARLnow's August report had no opening date.

As of Oct. 4, local coverage has not confirmed that either one is open. Both are coming soon. If they do open, a building where Burger Billy's once had "no other neighbors" would have coffee in the morning, burgers at lunch, and wine or Italian ice in the evening.

What filled in between the two ends

The new businesses between Spout Run and 3800 Langston are mostly small. Three of the newer ones are in an old restaurant space, a gas station lot and a temporary gallery.

Tatiana Pizza took over a small space near the Cherrydale Safeway that used to be Yummy Thai. This is the second location for a pizzeria that started in Dupont Circle, and its first outside D.C. Founder Abu Ali bakes 32-inch pies at 550 degrees. The menu also includes chicken alfredo, eggplant parmesan, calzones and overstuffed subs such as meatball parmesan and Philly cheesesteak. Arlington Magazine dates the opening Aug. 26 and lists Crab and "Vegilicious" pizzas among the specialty options.

Coffee Libations is a coffee truck parked outside a gas station at 4019 Langston Blvd. Owner Anshu Bhusal has worked in coffee shops for years. His specialty is chyia, the Nepali version of chai, made by boiling the milk with the spices instead of using a powder or concentrate. He also makes a fizzy soda-based americano and a strawberry matcha soda with house-made strawberry syrup. Three outdoor tables seat about eight people. Bhusal plans to add a short food menu, including a kalo chana black chickpea bowl and momo dumplings.

The Arts Place Pop-Up on Langston is run by the Arlington Artists Alliance at 3130 Langston Blvd. It shows painting, collage, sculpture and ceramics from more than 35 local artists, and everything in the gallery and gift shop is for sale. It's free and open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. through Oct. 25. After today, three weekends remain.

A Saturday route along the corridor

With Sprouts open, a Saturday morning can cover the whole stretch without leaving Langston. The Cherrydale Farmers Market, which started in 2021, runs 8 a.m. to noon at Dorothy Hamm Middle School, 4100 Vacation Lane, and was on the calendar for Saturday, Oct. 3. From there, Tatiana Pizza at 3610 Langston is on the way east for lunch. At the Lyon Village end, Sprouts sells bulk grains and roasted chickens, and The Italian Store is in the same plaza. The pop-up gallery at 3130 Langston opens at noon on weekends through Oct. 25. On weekdays, Coffee Libations serves until 2 p.m., so it works for a weekday start but not a weekend one.

When the Giant closed in 2024, the owner of the plaza had nothing to say about what came next. In 2025, the busiest business at 3800 Langston had no neighbors. Neither is true this October. The Lyon Village anchor space has a grocer again, and two new tenants are signed on at 3800 Langston.

The Alliance Group follows changes like these on Langston Boulevard: which spaces fill, which sit empty, and what the Langston Boulevard Area Plan could mean for the Lyon Village corner over time. If you own near Lyon Village or Cherrydale and want to talk through what this fall's changes mean for your plans, The Alliance Group is glad to share what we know. Book a Private Consultation.