Restaurant to Open Another Arlington Location

Sweet Leaf Cafe will be opening another location in Arlington soon, according to the company.

The new restaurant will open at 800 N. Glebe Road (see map below), according to the company Web site. Hours will be 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Sweet Leaf has two locations in Arlington according to its Web site: 2200 Wilson Blvd. and at 650 N. Quincy St. Another restaurant will also be opening in McLean’s Tysons Corner shopping center, according to the company Web site.

The company is run by members of the Matini family. Siblings Andre and Arita Matini got a taste of the restaurant business when their family first opened the McLean restaurant Sweet Stuff in 1994.

But after graduating from college, the siblings decided they wanted a venture of their own. They opened up Sweet Leaf Café, a spinoff of the restaurant, in McLean in 2009, and one in Vienna in 2011.

The brother and sister say they are filling what they called a void in fast, healthy lunchtime options in town.

“A lot of places in Vienna are fast food but not necessarily healthy and fresh,” Arita said in an interview with Patch when the Vienna location opened. “Our goal was to just bring something that’s convenient, fresh, fast. We are a community cafe. We love small communities and bringing fresh food to them.”

The restaurants’ wide array of coffee, tea and seasonal soups offer “grab and go” options, as do their cupcakes, frozen yogurt and ice cream. “Signature Leaf” dishes allow customers to customize their salads, sandwiches and paninis with vegetables, beans, artichokes and other specialty items. Customers watch employees prepare their food in an assembly line, either from the menu or with any numbers of additions or subtractions.

“Our main focus is just making sure that everything is fresh. Everything in line you see is that delivered that day,” Matini said in the interview. “Fresh produce, fresh everything. We also really value people being able to create their own thing, I never turn something down. If you don’t see your favorite combo on the menu we’ll make it for you right there.”