Building Permits Delay Buenos Grill Mexican Restaurant Opening
The restaurant was originally scheduled to open next month.
Photos
Buenos Grill, the new Mexican grill and fast-casual restaurant under construction at 7023 Columbia Pike, will not open this summer.
Owner Charles Lee told Patch that they are still waiting for Fairfax County to approve the restaurant's building permits in order to continue construction. Lee said he estimates the restaurant will not open for three months or longer, depending on when the permits are pushed through.
Lee told members of the Annandale Central Business District Planning Committee (ACBDP) back in April that the restaurant's target opening date was July 1. However, construction stopped shortly after that.
Buenos Grill will be a fast casual, family-friendly restaurant that will offer menu items such as burritos, ceviche, tacos, salads, nachos and more.
Although the restaurant plans to seat about 60 people, members of the Annandale Central Business District Planning Committee expressed concern about the property lacking enough parking to accommodate patrons. Shop owners in the Annandale Shopping Center have also expressed concerns about patrons using the shopping center for overflow parking across the street.
To learn more about Buenos Grill, read our recap from the ACBDP meeting in April.
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harold
7:51 pm on Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Guess all the empty parking spaces at the old Blooms are filled daily?
Sherell Williams
8:05 pm on Tuesday, June 19, 2012
I mention this at the end of the article, but based on comments I've heard from shop owners in the shopping center, they don't like the idea of the restaurant patrons possible taking away spaces from their regular clientele. And based on the meeting in April, it sounds like the shopping center management would not be too happy about that happening either. In the bigger overview I linked to, it's mentioned that the restaurant is required to have enough parking on that property to accommodate the number of expected patrons. I guess we'll see what happens.
knaz
12:37 am on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Were none of these requirements known and agreed to before construction and original permitting began???Just saying!
Sherell Williams
2:06 pm on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Looking at the permit status via the Fairfax Inspections Database, as of June 12, it looks like the building plan for Buenos Grill has been approved, but they have to schedule a "Critical Structures meeting" before they can have a building permit issued. According to the county website, this meeting is standard in the development process in order to see if the building is subject to special Inspections.
Sherell Williams
8:50 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Quick update: saw some construction over at the restaurant today and I double checked the FIDO system. Looks like their permits got approved to resume construction. We'll continue keeping you posted on the restaurant's progress.
Missy
8:53 am on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
I can't EVEN image there will be enough parking at this place even though they cleared out the back of the building! Parking is bad enough across the street at Columbia Pike Animal Hopsital, I would expect the overflow will be in the old Bloom parking lot especially since it's empty. It was never full even when Bloom was there! Wish they'd hurry up and Build this new Resturant... Looking forward to a new place that's NOT Asian for once! Annandale already has too many noodle and Korean places as it is...