Another pizza spot is coming to the Town of Herndon soon.

Deli Italiano, a pizza chain with several local locations, plans to open at 700 Elden Street.

Yasser Baslios says he plans to open up the Town of Herndon location in around two months. That’s around the same time he plans to open up a location at 1631 Washington Plaza in Reston.

Both timelines are dependent on permitting and construction — which have delayed the project in Reston.

The pizza spot would join Marigold International Foods, which opened in 2019, and Town Barber. The suite has been vacant since the development first opened.

Deli Italiano serves a variety of salads, sandwiches, pizzas, subs, pastas, and calzones. The menu is available online.

Image via Google Maps

A new pizza restaurant is opening in Lake Anne plaza by early December.

And it’s owned by Yasser Baslios, an Egyptian immigrant who first began as a dish washer at the restaurant shortly after he came to the United States with little to nothing in 1998.

Baslios, who comes from a family of businessmen, plans to open Deli Italiano at 1631 Washington Plaza. The restaurant has other locations in Leesburg, Sterling, Great Falls, Arlington and Burke.

He believes that business is about giving back — not just making money. He also benefited from this ethos when he started working as a dishwasher at the Deli Italiano location in Great Falls as a dishwasher.

With no language, savings, or support, Baslios said he was keen to learn everything. Staff would help him learn English by assigning him ten words daily to help learn the language. He says the previous owner, who retired in 2002, offered him leadership opportunities after seeing his desire to learn and grow.

Arriving in hopes of better financial means, Baslios did not immigrate to the United States to become a dishwasher. He left his work as a teacher and businessman in Egypt in search of better opportunities.

The Reston location will be much smaller than other locations, but Baslios hopes that won’t have any bearing on community partnerships and business.

“We’re really excited to be part of the community. We don’t just say that. We mean that,” Baslios said.

The business donates meals on Christmas and Thanksgiving and also organized a pie drive, Baslios said.

He hopes to continue to use his business to touch lives, just as it bolstered his.

The Coptic Christian, who often refers to his faith and ideals, saved up enough to support his family after he moved up the ranks at Deli Italiano. His humble start as a dishwasher in 1999 — one year after he immigrated to the United States — continues to inform his business practices.

“To me, this is not a job. It’s about touching people’s lives. It’s a mission.”

MOD Pizza is about to get some competition in Herndon.

The Tysons-based Crust Pizzeria Napoletana is adding a second location at 360 Elden Street in Herndon Centre, just across the parking lot from the fast-casual pizza chain’s Herndon franchise, which opened last year.

Construction on the space, which is listed as 2,400 square feet in size by the shopping center, has been underway for a couple of months now, Crust Pizzeria owner Kevin Ejitemai told Reston Now earlier this week.

Adjacent to a Popeyes, the new pizza eatery has taken over the site previously occupied by the family-owned restaurant Italian District, which was a casualty of the economic challenges introduced by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to Ejitemai.

Italian District has been reported closed on Yelp, whose last review for the restaurant is dated July 14, 2020.

Crust Pizzeria Napoletana opened off of Old Courthouse Road on the Vienna side of Tysons in 2015. It prides itself on being “the only authentic Neapolitan pizzeria in the area” and features a wood-fired oven that was handcrafted in Naples, Italy, according to the website.

For the restaurant’s first expansion, Ejitemai says he wanted to stay within Northern Virginia to maintain some proximity to the existing location. Herndon seemed like an ideal place to attract both residential and commercial customers.

“Herndon is an up-and-coming area,” Ejitemai said. “There’s a lot of technology firms around that could give us good lunch [business], and then a lot of homes around for dinner.”

The Herndon location will have a menu identical to the one in Tysons, which offers small plates, salads, pasta, and sandwiches, along with the signature 12-inch-wide pizzas.

It will also boast a wood-burning oven imported from Italy. Ejitemai says the oven and the ingredients that Crust Pizzeria uses — including double zero flour for the dough, bufala mozzarella, and San Marzano tomatoes — are what distinguish it from other pizza makers.

“[The oven] will be showcased inside of the store burning wood, so it’s not just having food. It’s an experience in our restaurant,” he said, describing the softness of the pizza dough as “like silk cloth in your mouth.”

According to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Authority, Crust Pizzeria has applied for a retail license so it can sell wine and beer on the premises. The license has been pending since July 28.

Ejitemai says he hopes to open the Herndon pizzeria before Christmas, though the exact date is “a moving target” with work to revamp the site ongoing.

Photo via Google Maps

Monday, April 5 

• Comic Camp (6 p.m.) — Grab your pencil, paper, imagination and let’s head off to comic camp! Join Fairfax-based comic artist John Gallagher as he provides a drawing lesson, answers questions, and tells a joke or two. The event is hosted by Politics & Prose.

Tuesday, April 6 

• Fast Fiction (4:30-5:30 p.m.) — Join this four-week workshop to learn how to take a big idea and tell it more concisely. Taught by George Mason University MFA writers, this course will help you distill a fiction story into 1000 words or less.
• Police Chief Public Input Session (7 p.m.) — Weigh in on Fairfax County’s search for a new police chief at this virtual public forum hosted by Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay and Lee District Supervisor Rodney Lusk. The meeting will be broadcast live on Channel 16 and stream on McKay and Lusk’s Facebook pages.

Wednesday, April 7

• Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (6:45 p.m.) — Get a behind-the-scenes (virtual) look of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland. Join the museum’s chief curator and Smithsonian Associates as they tell the story of how people and the Bay have become dependent one another through the years.

Thursday, April 8

• Karate Family (7 p.m.) — Learn self-defense as a family. This ten-week karate course is designed for the whole family. Put on by Fairfax County Parks Authority, the class promises to help students with their confidence, leadership, and fitness.

Friday, April 9

• Campfire Camaraderie (6:30-8:30 p.m.) — Sit around the spring campfire with the whole family. Smell the woodsmoke, watch the flickering flames, and roast marshmallows during this evening at the Walker Nature Center in Reston.

Saturday, April 10

• Scott’s Run Clean-up (9:30 a.m.) — Help keep the Potomac clean by joining this clean-up at Scott’s Run. Hosted by the Potomac Conservancy, there’s only space for ten volunteers to ensure proper social distancing.

• Founder’s Day (12 p.m.) — Reston’s annual Founder’s Day is going virtual again in 2021. Learn about Reston history, listen to music, and celebrate public art from the comfort of your own home via Youtube.

Sunday, April 11

• A Song and a Slice (6:00 p.m.) — Groove outdoors with a pizza slice in-hand. Vienna’s Jammin Java is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a second year of free outdoor concerts. Enjoy thin-crust pizza from the music venue’s Union Pie pizza shop while listening to local blues band “Fast Eddie and Slowpokes.”

A new fusion pizza restaurant has opened in the Herndon.

Pizza Twist, a chain with other locations throughout the country, opened at 13049 Worldgate Drive on Thanksgiving Day.

The restaurant offers pizza, wings, tacos, and pasta with a mix of Indian flavors. Options on the menu include a spicy lamb kebab pizza and butter chicken pizza.

Partners Amita Mahajan Singla and Nishika Nibber Bhanot opened the business despite a recent surge in COVID-19 cases and the recent closures of some businesses due to the pandemic. Singla told Reston Now she’s confident that the variety of food — including the inclusion of a full-bar — will help the business succeed. 

“Our strong trust in our food led us to use all of our own personal savings to spend on this venture along with support from friends and family,” she said.

She says the restaurant aimed to preserve personal safety as different people — including contractors, vendors and government employees —  entered the business as it geared up for opening. They had hoped to open their doors earlier but were stalled due to the pandemic.

Singla says all chairs, tables and high-contact surfaces are sanitized regularly and social distancing between patrons and staff is maintained when possible.

Pizza Twist offers gluten-free options and says its ingredients are locally sourced. More information about the restaurant is available online.

Photos via Pizza Twist

Pupatella is targeting a late fall opening in Reston, according to a company in Reston.

The estimated opening date is “pending any unforeseen issues with buildout and inspections,” the company representative told Reston Now.

Construction began in early 2020 after The Pizza Hut, which first opened in 1977, closed its doors.

Pupatella, a Neapolitan pizza restaurant, announced had originally planned to open earlier this year.

The 2,700-square-foot restaurant will be located at 1921 Wiehle Avenue. A patio for outdoor planing is also planned.

Enzo and Anastasiya Algarme started Pupatella as a food truck in 2007. The business has been named a top pizzeria, with recognition from The Today Show, The Washington Post, USA Today and the Washingtonian.

Photos via Chris Gieckel

More outdoor seating will soon be on the way for &pizza, a fast-casual pizza restaurant that’s known for its oblong-shaped pizzas.

The restaurant, which opened over the summer last year, plans to add roughly 20 seats, a railing perimeter and minor lighting, a company spokesperson told Reston Now.

Currently, &pizza has an outdoor patio section that seats between 25 to 30 people.

County permits indicate a permit to complete the work was processed in mid-November. 

Photo via Google Maps

Jerry’s Subs and Pizza in North Point Village Center appears to have closed.

The restaurant’s signage was removed late last week.

Jerry’s was located at 1432 North Point Village Center. The Reston location reopened in the center in June after a fire forced the business to close in January.

No other information was immediately available.

The village center has several other vacancies. Great China closed in early September. A building permit indicates a new restaurant is expected to replace the Chinese restaurant.

Photo by Laura Crielly

North Italia, which the company describes as a “modern Italian concept,” will officially open its doors in Reston Town Center on Wednesday (July 31).

Fox Restaurant Concepts — which also brought True Food Kitchen to Mosaic District — is behind th restaurant, which is located at 11898 Market Street.

It takes over space previously occupied by Neyla Mediterranean Bistro.

The menu includes a mix of pastas, pizza and salads. Brunch is available on the weekend.

Reservations can be made online. Members can sign up for North Italia’s email campaign, which offers up a $10 off coupon for purchases of $20 or more.

Jerry’s Subs & Pizza in North Point Village Center reopened this month after a fire forced the business to close in January.

The manager of the Reston location said reopening took some time because of construction and replacements required for kitchen hoods.

“We’re excited to be open. Business has been good so far,” the manager told Reston Now.

The fast-casual cheesesteak, sub sandwich and pizza franchise has more than two dozen locations in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, according to its website. 

Pupatella, an award-winning Neopolitan pizzeria, is coming to Reston in early 2020, according to a company news release.

The 2,700-square-foot restaurant will be located at 1821 Wiehle Avenue. It will also include a patio for outdoor dining.

The news comes as the business eyes major expansion. Another new location will open in Arlington this summer. More openings could be on the way in the District and Montgomery County.

“As a native Restonian, I know all the wonderful things Reston has to offer, but one thing that has been missing is authentic Neapolitan pizza. I couldn’t be more thrilled to bring Pupatella to the neighborhood,” said founding partner and head of real estate and supply chain, Michael Berger.

Enzo and Anastasiya Algarme started Pupatella as a food truck in 2007. The business has been named a top pizzeria, with recognition from The Today Show, The Washington Post, USA Today and the Washingtonian.

The location is currently home to Pizza Hut, which will remain open through the end of its lease, according to Eater.

This story will be updated.

Photo by Pupatella