Pines of Italy isn't the only restaurant with problems. Almost every week you can read in the blogs about a struggling restaurant closing. So where are the Chamber of Commerce, Arlington County Economic Development, CPRO, the local media, and other organizations who are concerned about the success of small businesses? No one on the County Board offered any assistance to the Pines of Italy at Tuesday night's meeting. Meaning advice to the owners about how to fix the problems. Apparently there is no meaningful assistance offered to other struggling restaurants. All I've ever heard about them is when they're in arrears in sending their meals tax receipts to the County Treasurer. And when they go out of business.
You would think that Walter Tejada would be concerned about this minority-owned restaurant. And Mary Hynes literally micro-manages the restaurants in her Clarendon neighborhood. But I wonder why anyone would want to start a restaurant in Arlington that's not a national chain franchise. BTW, Pines of Italy serves really good Italian food. Pike Rider
