"Pulling down the coming soon signs was cathartic," Mike Greiner told ARLnow in October, when his coffee shop, Good Trouble Roasters, started serving at 3800 Langston Blvd. ARLnow's account says he had been working toward it for more than two years.
Cherrydale is changing this fall in small pieces. One owner-run storefront opens, then another a few doors down. Most of the new activity sits around one building at the 3800 block. The neighborhood's own groups keep their calendar too. Neighbors kept the library open, and the holiday market took a year off so it could come back on firmer footing. Here is how those pieces fit together this fall.
The 3800 building is filling in
Good Trouble Roasters held its soft opening the week of Oct. 23. Its grand opening was tentatively set for Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 10 a.m. Getting there took a while. In late August, ARLnow had reported that the shop was aiming to open the following month, so the opening slipped about a month.
Here's what to know before your first visit, based on ARLnow's report:
- The coffee is roasted on site. An all-electric roaster in the shop will roast beans several times a week.
- The food comes from established local suppliers. Pastries are from the Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe and sandwiches are from The Italian Store.
- There's free parking. The shop has its own free lot and a rear entrance around the back of the building. That's unusual for a coffee stop in Arlington.
- It stays open late. Once fully open, the shop plans to run from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.
- Drinks come later. Beer, wine and a short list of liqueurs for coffee cocktails are planned once the shop has its liquor license.
Greiner describes his approach in plain terms.
"It's so much better when you can uncomplicate it and do the simple things well," he told ARLnow.
The same building has a second tenant on the way. Rita's Italian Ice lists a shop at 3800 Langston Blvd., Unit D. As of late October, Rita's location page still marks it "Coming Soon" and gives no opening date. ARLnow reported both openings together in June, under a headline announcing a new coffee shop and Rita's Italian Ice coming to Cherrydale. The coffee shop has opened. Rita's hasn't yet.
A few doors east, new pizza and a Safeway remodel
Two blocks closer to the Safeway, Tatiana Pizza has been open in soft-opening mode at 3610 Langston Blvd since late August. It took over the small retail space that used to be Yummy Thai. Founder Abu Ali told ARLnow that this is Tatiana's second location and its first outside D.C., after the original in Dupont Circle.
The draw is the 32-inch pie. Ali told ARLnow he bakes it at 550 degrees with a mozzarella that can handle that heat. The menu also includes calzones, salads, chicken alfredo, eggplant parmesan, and big subs like meatball parmesan and mushroom Swiss steak. For a neighborhood stretch this short, a pie that size makes it easy to order pizza night without leaving Cherrydale.
Across the street, the Safeway at 3713 Langston Blvd was getting ready for its own change this spring. In May, ARLnow reported a remodel covering 6,601 square feet of the 40,000-square-foot store, aimed at making it a "super premium" location with more premium products. The store director said at the time that it would stay open and that work wasn't expected on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays. The company was still finalizing the timeline.
Further east on Langston, Sprouts Farmers Market opened in September at 3115 Langston Blvd in the Lyon Village Shopping Center. It filled the space left when the Giant closed in 2024 and is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, according to ARLnow. With Sprouts open and a Safeway remodel planned, the corridor's grocery options are changing this year at both ends.
The holiday market is back after a year off
The biggest Cherrydale event before Thanksgiving is the return of the Cherrydale Holiday Market. The fifth annual market runs Saturday, Nov. 21, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's free, family-friendly, held indoors and outdoors, and features artisans from DC, Maryland and Virginia. Arlington's visitor guide lists Cherrydale United Methodist Church as the location.
The market is coming back after a planned pause. The organizers skipped November 2025 on purpose. Their reason was attendance. The 2024 market drew 595 people, twice the 2023 crowd. They wrote that a small, family-run market had turned into a large holiday event, and they wanted "a more sustainable infrastructure" so it could keep going. Local artist and Arlington resident Alanna Rivera started the market in 2021.
The 2026 vendor roster includes Alanna Rivera Studios, Ali Bowder Designs, Art of Kyote, Barbed Fawn, Besitos Chocolate, Cafecito Coffee Club, Chibisaurus Park and Cotton Lover. The organizers also promise hand-poured candles, handmade ceramics and original artwork. The market has had food vendors since 2024.
Neighbors are also behind the library
The holiday market isn't the only Cherrydale institution that neighbors have kept going. The Cherrydale Library at 2190 Military Road had been proposed for closure during the FY2027 budget process. It stayed open after a push from Citizens for Cherrydale Library, ARLnow reported in July. The same group is now asking for accessibility improvements to the branch's upstairs balcony. In September, the Virginia Library Association gave the group its 2026 Advocacy Award for helping keep the library's hours, staff and services.
The corridor's oldest landmark has a similar backstory. Arlington County describes the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire House, built in 1919, as the original home of Arlington's first volunteer fire department. The working station, Fire Station 3, is now at 4100 Langston Blvd.
November in and around Cherrydale
- Wednesday, Nov. 18. The Cherrydale Citizens Association planned its officer elections for its November meeting, according to its Summer 2026 newsletter.
- Saturday, Nov. 21, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Cherrydale Holiday Market returns at Cherrydale United Methodist Church.
- Thursday, Nov. 26, 8 a.m. The 21st annual Arlington Turkey Trot 5K starts in front of Lyon Park Community Center, a short drive south of Cherrydale.
The street itself is changing more slowly. Arlington County's Langston Boulevard Multimodal Intersections Study held a public workshop on Oct. 21 and took online comments through Oct. 25. The study covers Langston from N. Lexington Street to points west of Military Road. The county lists the project as in design.
For now, Cherrydale's new shops are opening in existing storefronts: a coffee roaster with its own parking lot, a pizzeria in the old Yummy Thai space, and an Italian ice shop that hasn't opened yet.
Wondering how these new shops, the planned Safeway remodel or future work on Langston Boulevard could affect a house on your street? Ricardo Vasquez is glad to talk it through over a coffee from the corridor. Let's Connect.
