A breakfast-and-lunch concept called Waffle Zone is moving into the century-old building at 2900 Columbia Pike, taking over a storefront that has cycled through three different bars and restaurants over the past nine years. The space sits at the corner of Columbia Pike and S. Walter Reed Drive, and it currently has no menu or opening date to share, though a representative said more details are coming in the next few weeks.
The news was first reported by ARLnow, which has tracked the building's revolving cast of tenants since 2017. Waffle Zone is stepping into the former home of Pike Cornerstone, Rebellion on the Pike, and BrickHaus — three concepts that each tried, and eventually failed, to make a go of it in the same storefront.
A Building With Nine Decades of History, and Nine Years of Turnover
The building itself has stood for over a century, and some say it dates back to 1902, built over the foundations of an old bank vault, according to Connection Newspapers. Some describe it as the oldest standing building on Columbia Pike. Before its 2017 restoration, the address sat vacant for years after stints as a bank, a brothel, and the Italian restaurant Michelangelo's, with local wine bar owners Tony and Michelle Wagner leading the overhaul that turned it into BrickHaus.
BrickHaus got a revamp from the building's former Spanish Revival style and opened a beer garden in 2017, per the same reporting, but it closed by late 2018. Rebellion on the Pike opened next in April 2019, serving craft beer, whiskey, and bar bites, and managed to survive pandemic-era restrictions before closing in February 2024 under rising economic pressures, ARLnow reported at the time.
Pike Cornerstone's Short Run Amid Construction and Shutdowns
Pike Cornerstone opened later in 2024, operated by the current ownership of the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse across the street at 2903 Columbia Pike. The two businesses offered cross-promotional ticket discounts while Pike Cornerstone was open, according to event listings on Punchup.live. That run lasted about two years before Pike Cornerstone closed this past May.
Co-owner Pete Fejeran pointed to prolonged Columbia Pike street construction and federal government shutdowns as key factors behind the closure, the station's report on the corridor's struggles noted. Those headwinds weren't unique to the corner storefront. A few miles down the corridor, Bluefish Bistro at Centro Arlington closed this past April after less than three years in business despite holding a 4.9-star Google rating, underscoring the broader economic pressure facing Columbia Pike eateries.
Corridor-Wide Turnover Isn't New
The pattern extends beyond 2900 Columbia Pike. At nearby Penrose Square, five distinct dining concepts have occupied a single storefront, with three of the four earlier tenants lasting less than three years. It's a reminder that frequent restaurant turnover has become something of a corridor-wide phenomenon rather than a problem unique to one address.
Commercial development along the Pike is shaped by Arlington County's Form Based Code, a framework established in 2002 and 2003 in partnership with Dover, Kohl & Partners that fosters mixed-use, transit- and pedestrian-oriented redevelopment, according to the Congress for the New Urbanism. That code has helped shape the redevelopment Waffle Zone will now join.
Public Investment Aims to Boost Foot Traffic
This month, Virginia officials also awarded a $15,000 Downtown Investment Grant to the Columbia Pike Partnership to fund placemaking and economic vitality strategies along the corridor, part of a $615,000 statewide initiative announced by the governor, according to Arlington Patch. Whether the grant funding is enough to break the storefront's pattern of short-lived tenants remains to be seen as Waffle Zone prepares to open its doors.
