The Ten Top is leaving 748 Shirley Avenue at the end of 2026 after more than 20 years across the street from the Naro. The whole operation is moving to the Ten Top Market at the north end of Colley Avenue, across from Elation Brewing, according to The Virginian-Pilot. For Larchmont and Edgewater, a Ghent restaurant is coming a lot closer. It also means the Ten Top meatloaf will come home cold, because the Market has no dining room.
The Pilot says indoor dining isn't allowed at the Market because of zoning. A few blocks south on the same avenue, the city spent 2026 approving permits for extended hours, alcohol and live entertainment. Permits are deciding what kind of evening each stretch of North Colley can offer, block by block.
The Market Was Built for the Couch, and Zoning Keeps It There
The Ten Top Market opened in November 2025. It started as a grab-and-go companion to the Shirley Avenue restaurant, with no plan to merge the two. Co-owner Rick Fraley told the Pilot that rising costs changed that. He estimated ingredient prices had gone up about 20% and business had dropped 12% to 15% over the past year.
Fraley described the idea behind the Market to 13News Now like this:
"We wanted to have restaurant-quality food that people can get to-go and eat on their couch."
The station reported that the refrigerated cases are restocked every day with soups, meatloaf and pasta dishes, along with rotating sides and dips, pimento cheese and chicken salad. The Market is open Tuesday through Sunday. So Monday is the one night it can't cover.
Once the two locations combine, the Pilot says the menu splits into two kinds of service:
- Made to order. Sandwiches, salads, soups and sides for walk-ins and phone orders.
- Chilled to reheat. The meatloaf, lasagna and salmon dinners, refrigerated so you can warm them at home. The Market's kitchen can't serve them the way Shirley Avenue did.
- Added services. Uber Eats delivery is new, and catering continues.
For anyone who used to drive to Ghent for a Ten Top dinner, the menu stays the same. The difference is that the meal now ends at your own table.
Across the Street, Elation Covers the Hours the Market Doesn't
The Market's limits matter less because of what sits across from it. Elation Brewing lists its address as 5104 Colley Avenue. The brewery says it opens every day at 7 a.m. for coffee, with lunch starting at noon. Its kitchen serves a rotating menu, and the Bakehouse at Elation makes pizza on site. Orders to go can be placed through Toast.
Taken together, one block can cover most of a day:
| Need | Where on the block | Posted hours |
|---|---|---|
| Morning coffee | Elation Brewing | Daily from 7 a.m. |
| Lunch or an early dinner at a table | Elation's kitchen and the Bakehouse | Sun.–Wed. noon to 8:30 p.m.; Thu.–Sat. noon to 9 p.m. |
| A Ten Top dinner to reheat at home | Ten Top Market | Tuesday through Sunday |
| A made-to-order Ten Top sandwich or soup | Ten Top Market, walk-in or phone order | Planned once the merger is done; hours not yet posted |
The two businesses fill each other's gaps. Elation has tables and a kitchen that serves until 8:30 or 9 p.m. The Market has the Ten Top recipes and no seats. On a Monday, Elation's kitchen is the one open between them.
Farther South, the Permits Point to Later Nights
Around 51st Street, the north end of the corridor runs on coffee, takeout and kitchen hours that end by 9 p.m. Norfolk's 2026 approvals farther down Colley point somewhere else.
| Business | Address | What the city acted on | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| University Pizza | 5006 and 5008 Colley Ave. and 799 51st St. | Extended hours and on-premises alcohol | Approved Aug. 25, 2026, Ordinance 50474 |
| Cogan's Pizza | 4311 Colley Ave. | Extended hours, on-premises alcohol, live entertainment and a commercial recreation center | Approved May 19, 2026, Ordinance 50370 |
| Dockside Social | 4300 Colley Ave. | Extended hours, live entertainment and on-premises alcohol | Planning Commission recommended approval 4–0 on Oct. 8, 2026; on City Council's Oct. 27 agenda as consent item C-5 |
University Pizza's approval, recorded in the city's Aug. 25 council minutes, gives the 51st Street end of the strip a permit for later service. The minutes don't list the actual hours.
At Cogan's, "commercial recreation center" sounds bigger than it is. At the April 23 Planning Commission hearing, city staff explained it as adding more amusement devices to the existing restaurant. Council approved it in the May 19 minutes, so the result is more games inside a pizza place you already know. It isn't a new venue.
Dockside Social takes over a familiar spot. WAVY reported in August 2025 that Mack's Barge at 4300 Colley Avenue had closed the month before, and that a new restaurant was proposed for the site. Dockside Social's permit request reached City Council as a consent item on Oct. 27. The vote will show up in that meeting's minutes on the city's Agenda Center.
At the 5100 block, a zoning restriction keeps a well-known dinner menu out of a dining room. At University Pizza and down at 4300, the city is approving more hours, more alcohol service and more entertainment.
Planning a Weeknight Around Both Ends
The two ends of the strip serve different needs, so a weeknight on North Colley goes better if you decide where you're eating first.
- Eating at home? The Ten Top Market is currently open Tuesday through Sunday for soups, meatloaf, pasta dishes, sides and pimento cheese. After the merger, the Pilot says the chilled dinners will include lasagna and salmon, and made-to-order sandwiches and soups will be available by phone. If you'd rather stay in, the combined location is adding Uber Eats.
- Eating out? Cross to Elation for the rotating kitchen menu or Bakehouse pizza. The kitchen closes at 8:30 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
- Starting the day there? Elation's coffee service begins at 7 a.m. every day, including Monday.
- Staying out later? Head south on Colley. Cogan's Pizza and University Pizza both have city approval for extended hours and alcohol, and 4300 Colley could become a third option, depending on the council's Oct. 27 vote and Dockside Social's opening schedule.
- Last Ten Top dinner on Shirley Avenue? The Pilot reports the original location closes at the end of the year, so you have until then.
The Pilot reported that the Fraleys' announcement drew nearly 600 reactions and more than 60 comments within 24 hours. Once Shirley Avenue closes, the only Ten Top counter left will be the one across from 5104 Colley Avenue, and the dinners there are packed to go.
How far a home sits from a corridor like North Colley, and which end of it, shapes everyday life in Larchmont and Edgewater in ways a listing won't show. If you're weighing homes here and want to know how the 5100 block and the 4300 block fit your routine, Christopher Castle and The Castle Team can walk the blocks with you. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll start with the streets you're actually considering.
