A Diner With 35-Pound Cakes Plunks Down in Alexandria

Welcome to a.m. Intel, your bite-sized roundup of D.C. food and restaurant news. Tips are always welcome, drop them here.

When Beeliner Diner (3648 King Street) opens in Alexandria, an open dessert kitchen will sling boozy (and also not) milkshakes and other sweet treats at a 38-seat all-ages bar. The cherry on top might be the massive elephantine TowerCakes though: Each slice of a 25 to 35 pound cake serves three or four people easily. In the evenings, the diner will serve burgers, hot dogs, and chicken sandwiches from Bun Papa. Plan stomach real estate for the opening early next year. [Northern Virginia Magazine]

An all-day brunch haven will bring steak and eggs, scotch eggs, and corn flake-crusted French toast to Del Rey. Matt & Tony’s will open at 1501 Mount Vernon Avenue, formerly home to Charlie’s on the Avenue. Charlie’s closed in February 2020 after two years in business. Before that, Fireflies restaurant operated there for 15 years before closing its doors in 2017. Owner Matt Sloan hopes to open the doors to the new family-friendly neighborhood spot by early 2022. [Northern Virginia Magazine]

Mi Vida/Facebook

Mi Vida restaurant (575 Seventh Street NW) is going to slide into the 10,000-square foot downtown D.C. space that was formerly Rosa Mexicano. Located across from Capital One Arena, the new Mexican food hub comes from Knead Hospitality + Design, whose co-founder, Jason Berry, worked at Rosa Mexicana for over a decade. Rosa Mexicana closed in July. [Washington Business Journal]

That’s not the only Mi Vida on its way to D.C. The fast-expanding restaurant group will open a location this spring in the former Matchbox space at 1901 14th Street NW. The pizza-and-slider chain closed that two-story location in September 2020. After that a location of Mi Vida will open in Penn Quarter in the fall of 2022. [Washington Business Journal]

Teamwork makes the dream work

Courtesy KFC

Starting December 6, KFC diners in the D.C., Atlanta, and Dallas areas can scoop up Capitol City’s mambo sauce when they order a chicken sandwich combo meal, a four-piece Extra Crispy chicken tenders combo meal, or a two-piece Extra Crispy breast and wing combo meal. CEO and co-founder of Capital City Arsha Jones grew up eating mambo sauce at carry-out restaurants in D.C. When she moved to the suburbs, it was hard to find and she developed her own recipe. KFC U.S. president Kevin Hochman calls the sauce “ridiculously delicious.” [EaterWire]

Meanwhile, Chef Geoff’s Steve Mannino and DJ Elliot Segal from D.C. 101’s Elliot in the Morning made Irish Cream together — and it completely sold out. The Irish Cream came in quarts for $25.

Something old, something new

A 6,700-square foot Silver Diner (750 North Glebe Road) lands in Ballston this June with plans to stay open 24 hours a day. The classic American diner opened its first location over 30 years ago. This new location is only a mile away from another Silver Diner, though that one will be replaced by new development soon. [ARLnow.com]

Meanwhile, a ghost kitchen pizzeria built for the very modern age has opened in Courthouse with plans to normalize bitcoin. Inspired by a story about a man buying two pizzas in 2010 for 10,000 bitcoins (that was about $40 then, but $630 million now), Bitcoin Pizza opened on October 31. The new pizza place accepts bitcoin in hopes that it will become as ubiquitous as pizza. Operates out of Fire Works Pizza at 2350 Clarendon Boulevard, it’s one of seven locations in the D.C. area. [ARLnow.com]

Coffee with a mission

BittyandBeau’s/Facebook

Georgetown’s newest coffee shop, Bitty & Beau’s Coffee, hires people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to staff its locations. Part of a small chain out of Wilmington, North Carolina, look for Georgetown’s new location in the former Calvin Klein underwear shop at 3207 M Street in 2022. [Georgetown Metropolitan]

Save the bad news for last

A two-alarm fire in Crystal City has likely decimated Top Thai and Andalusia Hookah Bar and Lounge. The fire started roaring around 10 p.m. on Saturday night. No word yet on what caused the fire, but business owners say it appears they lost everything. [WUSA9]