News and notes from Reston (tm).

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Bummer: Lake Anne Fixture Closes Today, Pharmacy May Not Be Far Behind

CLToday is the last day for Cafe Lakeside, which our BFFs at Reston Now called "Reston's original lunch spot." Adding insult to injury, the lunch counter's home, the last of Lake Anne's original businesses, is apparently not far behind. Give us some good blockquote, BFFs at Reston Now:

Alfredo and Rocio Melendez will flip the last burger and scoop the last ice cream cone at Cafe Lakeside on Wednesday.

The couple is closing up their lunch counter located inside Lakeside Pharmacy. The pharmacy, the longest continuously operating store at Reston’s historic Lake Anne Plaza, is under contract and will likely close this spring.

Alfredo Melendez said with the last day of the pharmacy unknown, he didn’t want to operate without a plan.

“We’re going to unwind and relax and generate new energy,” he said.
Lakeside Pharmacy owner Larry Cohn unsuccessfully tried to sell the pharmacy a few years back, but with all the hawt redevelopment goodness now slated to surround the original historic plaza, the all-in-one pharmacy/store/post office/lunch counter is under contract, a deal expected to close sometime this spring.

Sadly, it's unlikely that the pharmacy's replacement will be another pharmacy, given the proliferation of oversized, standalone CVS and Walgreens that are oversaturating crisscrossing the region like a game of midscale-chain winner-takes-all Othello, including this lovely spot not so far away where they're literally across the corner from each other.

But we digress. Hats of to the Melendezes, who ran the pharmacy counter several times over the years, along with Lake Anne Coffee House. The plaza will definitely feel a lot emptier without them.

6 comments:

  1. Did anybody actually eat there? The last time I ate there was when I was a teenager, almost 4 decades earlier. Every time I walked past, the counter and tables always seemed empty.

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  2. Convict:

    The food there sucked big time. It was greasy and bland. Only people that ate there were the pharmacy employees. I dont know how any of Lake Anne's shops survive, no one goes to that place.

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  3. Haters gotta hate, trolls gotta trollate

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  4. (All right all right... Yeah yeah...) 'cos looking back it was easy It was easy 'cos I know that I can sacrifice Looking back it was easy, easy, easy It was easy Looking back it was easy 'cos looking back it was easy Easy 'cos looking back it was easy It was easy 'cos I know that I can sacrifice Looking back it was easy, easy, easy It was easy Looking back it was easy 'cos I know that I can sacrifice Looking back it was easy, easy, easy It was easy Looking back it was easy Easy It was easy (it was an easy job) (something to do by you) (something to do by you) (by you, by you, by you, by you) (mmm, mmm... all right all right) x4

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  5. The food there was excellent every time I went there, which was once or twice a month over the last couple of years. We will really miss it. The people were friendly and the prices were reasonable. We especially liked the fajitas combination and the carne asada.
    We hope the owners will consider opening a new place to eat in the Reston-Herndon area. It's hard to find good Salvadoran and Mexican cuisine around here.
    Restonian, please continue to follow this story, and let us know if Alfredo and his wife will open a new place after they have a chance to rest and relax.
    Like so many other long-time Reston residents, we will miss Larry and the drugstore as well, and wish him and his employees all the best.



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  6. Bowling for BollardsMarch 3, 2014 at 12:45 AM

    The overall dismal quality of most Reston restaurants has been duly noted time and again in this blog. One must carefully parse the menu offerings of local eateries to find really great food around here...it's out there, but requires looking.

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