Paolopocalypse Now? Longtime RTC Eatery To Be Converted to Longtime Georgetown Eatery

Paolo's, that Reston Town Center restaurant where your company had that holiday party that one time, is apparently going to become a resurrected Neyla, a Georgetown restaurant that closed last year. This is something of a shock, considering -- as could be suggested by the restaurant's rad but dated 80s logo -- it's been a part of our gritty urban core for seemingly forever.

According to a "news-paper" article brought to our attention by Confidential Restonian Operative "Southie," the new CEO of the restaurant chain that owns Paolo's, J. Paul's, Georgia Brown, and other D.C. restaurants is trying to breathe new life into the company's older, once-iconic eateries:

He hopes to remind customers why they loved those restaurants 10 and 20 years ago, and to simultaneously make them more relevant in 2015.

The Reston Paolo's appears to be an exception, though:

As for the existing restaurants, Gregg hopes to bootstrap the revitalization, and doesn't expect a lot of capital expenditure for renovations, at least in the near future. One exception is at Paolo's in Reston Town Center, which will be converted to Neyla, the Mediterranean restaurant CRC used to operate in Georgetown before it closed last summer.

Hard to say if this is part of the ongoing trend of making RTC's midscale chain eateries and retail options more on the upscale side of midscale or just a much-needed refresh, but we'll miss Paolo's, and that one company holiday party where somebody said that thing, the end.

Two-word update:Belly dancing. GRITTY.