Il Radicchio returns to Clarendon after redevelopment closure

Il Radicchio has taken over the former Mazaro space at 2909 Wilson Blvd., setting up a return to Clarendon after the family-owned Italian restaurant closed its longtime home at 1801 Clarendon Blvd. on June 1. For diners who have been following the corner for years, the move keeps a familiar pasta spot in the neighborhood instead of sending it into the wider Arlington market from scratch.

The restaurant posted around June 15 that it would be reopening “very soon,” and earlier told customers that the closure was “not a goodbye.” That message fits the way Il Radicchio has handled the shift: the original location shut because of redevelopment, but the brand stayed in motion rather than disappearing. ARLnow reported on June 25 that the restaurant had already claimed the Mazaro address, giving Clarendon regulars a new destination within the same corridor.

Il Radicchio has been serving wood-fired pizzas, pasta and other Italian fare in Clarendon since 1994, and the menu identity is part of why the move lands as a neighborhood handoff rather than a reinvention. OpenTable still describes it as a neighborhood favorite since 1994, while RosslynVA calls it a family-owned Italian spaghetteria with all-you-can-eat pasta and a wood-burning oven. The restaurant also said it would bring back the same authentic flavors along with some new dishes, signaling a refresh without a hard reset.

The move also keeps the address in play after a short stretch of Italian turnover. Mazaro opened there in September 2020 after Alto Fumo, so 2909 Wilson Blvd. has already become a recognizable dining stop rather than a blank shell. That makes Il Radicchio’s arrival feel less like a launch and more like a continuation of the block’s restaurant history, with a known brand stepping into a space diners already know how to find.

The pressure that pushed Il Radicchio out of its longtime home is much bigger than one restaurant. Arlington County says the 1-acre, 43,901-square-foot site at 1840 Wilson Blvd. sat at the center of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, and the National Science Teaching Association said it was one of the last commercial development sites in that stretch. Fortis bought the property for $14 million in early 2023, then moved ahead with a plan to demolish the existing buildings and replace them with an eight-story mixed-use building containing up to 187 residential units and about 11,948 to 12,000 square feet of retail.

That is the backdrop for Il Radicchio’s comeback: a redevelopment-driven loss on one corner, and a quick return on another. The old address at Clarendon and Wilson is being remade, but the restaurant that helped anchor it for more than three decades is keeping its place in the neighborhood dining map.