Bar Meatball Closes After Less Than Seven Months in Business

Bar Meatball, the Virginia-Highland Italian concept that specialized in -- you guessed it -- meatballs, has closed. The restaurant announced news of its shutter on Facebook Wednesday morning. Tomorrow's News Today reports a possible rift between co-owners and cousins Joe Maci and Joey Federici.

It's not yet known what exactly caused the closure but neighborhood intel indicates there was a disagreement between the cousins. Given Frederici was (from what I understand) still residing in New York, his distance alone could surely have made things challenging.

In addition to meatballs, the restaurant's menu featured sandwiches, sliders, "old-school" sides and appetizers, and Italian-style doughnuts. Behind the bar, there was beer, wine, and cocktails, including the jalapeno margarita, an odd holdover from Maci's previous Mexican concept in the space, Pozole.

There's no official word on the Bar Meatball food truck, which launched earlier this summer, but it appears to be closed as well.

UPDATE: Former Joystick Gamebar pop-up Illegal Food is moving into the Virginia-Highland space.