Old Town could be getting a new Indian restaurant next year, replacing a sushi restaurant in the heart of Old Town.
According to a recently filed special use permit, Ichiban Sushi and Ramen at 211 King Street in Old Town could be undergoing a change to become a new Bollywood Masala.
Bollywood Masala is an Indian restaurant currently based out of La Plata, Maryland. The restaurant features dishes like vindaloo and the eponymous masala along with other regionally-based meals like lamb gosht and various types of curry. The restaurant also features chai and coffee on the menu.
Staff at Bollywood Masala said the restaurant is currently working through the permitting process but the plan is to open in summer 2023.
Photo via Bollywood Masala/Facebook
A new sandwich shop could be coming to the Torpedo Factory building at 101 N. Union Street.
In a new special use permit filed to the City of Alexandria, the Hyndford Street Hospitality LLC said it plans to open a small sandwich shop in the space.
“We expect our patrons will be business people and travelling tourists,” the group said. “We will have approximately and no more than 20 seats, where customers can sit and enjoy their sandwich and drink.”
The permit said an emphasis will be on customers taking their meals off-site to their office, hotel or home. The restaurant is anticipated to serve between 50 to 100 patrons daily.
The restaurant could also offer on and off-site sales of wine and beer.
The hours of operation at the new business will be 9 a.m.-10 p.m., though no name is listed for the new business on the application.
Image via Google Maps
Chicken restaurant Hot Lola’s is coming to the Lincolnia neighborhood just outside of Alexandria in Fairfax — that big place just west of the city.
Hot Lola’s currently has locations in Ballston and Rosslyn in neighboring Arlington, but the new location at 6544 Little River Turnpike will be the first outside of Arlington.
The menu features chicken at various levels of hotness, from “flipping hot” to “not hot”. The chicken is also available in a variety of types of sandwiches or at tenders, wings or drumsticks. Sides include fries, coleslaw pickles, toast or… another piece of chicken.
Hot Lola’s arrival could ruffle feathers as the restaurant fights for a spot in the pecking order already saturated with other local chicken chains.
There’s no word yet on when the new location will open.
(Updated at 5:35 p.m.) District Biscuit Company, a local farmers market favorite, could be opening a brick-and-mortar location in a former restaurant space on the Arlandria/Del Ray border.
The biscuit company has filed an application to open at 3401 Mount Vernon Avenue, formerly Silpancho’s House. The prior restaurant, which focused on Bolivian cuisine, has been closed since January, according to the application.
The permit application is for a change in ownership, meaning the food offerings will change but many of the other details about the restaurant’s operation will remain the same.
“Prior to this date the business was operating as a fast-casual restaurant serving customers food and beverages,” the application said. “It is my understanding that the previous business was operating with 3-5 employees and 5 parking spaces available.”
The application said the new menu will consist of American/Southern breakfast items like biscuits, biscuit sandwiches, biscuits and gravy, coffee, and sweet biscuits. It is, as aforementioned, a biscuit company.
Image via District Biscuit Company/Instagram
There’s a new cheap lunch spot in Old Town. On Halloween — Monday, October 31 — franchise Falafel Inc will formally open at 726 King Street.
Foodies may remember that the location is the former home to Nicecream, the shop that made ice cream with liquid nitrogen, which closed a year ago.
Lunch at Falafel Inc. costs $10 or less, with entrees ranging between $5 and $7, and sides (Baklava, hummus, pita bread) ranging in price from $1 to $4.
The menu is simple:
- Falafel sandwich, $5 — Falafel, letuce, red cabbage, pali salad, tatbili, tahini and red sauce on a fresh-baked pita.
- Falafel bowl, $6 — Falafel, red cabbage, tabouli, tomato, cucumber, pickles, and greens, with chips
- Shawarma sandwich, $6 — Vegan meat, red ummi cabbage, lettuce, pickles and special sauce
- Rice shawarma bowl $7 — Vegan shawarma meat, red umani cabbage, pali salad, pickles and special sauce, on a bed of rice
The company was founded in D.C. in 2015 by entrepreneur Ahmad Ashkar, and there are three locations in Washington, D.C., as well as locations in Tysons Corner and Los Angeles.
The restaurat will be open from 12 to 9 p.m. seven days a week.
Zenn Press, a wellness-focused juice bar and cafe in Fairfax, is planning to open a new location in the heart of Old Town.
Zenn Press’ owner filed a special use permit application to open a new cafe at 806 King Street — formerly a Galt & Bro. jewelry store.
According to the Zenn Press website:
At Zen Press, we have one goal in mind — crafting the perfect recipes that will boost your wellness and elevate your nutrition in the best way possible. With our fresh flavors and natural ingredients, all that’s left to do is choose the daily blend that will turn your day around and get you the glow you deserve. Meet your daily ritual — stay fresh, stay balanced.
The menu features healthy and vegan-friendly sandwiches, bowls and more. The application said the new location will serve juice and coffee along with prepped meals, salads and sandwiches with no cooking done on-site. The application also said the cafe is hoping to have outdoor dining.
The new location will be open every day from 7 a.m.-4 p.m.
Photo via Zenn Press/Instagram
Popular sandwich franchise Jersey Mike’s Subs is opening a new location in Alexandria tomorrow.
The shop is opening at 3219 Duke Street — formerly Sweet Frog — on Wednesday, Oct. 19.
In addition to in-store dining, guests can order through the website or app and delivery is available. The restaurant is open from 10 a.m.-9 p.m., seven days a week.
The grand opening will coincide with a fundraiser — kind of. The fundraiser is running from Wednesday to Sunday, Oct. 23, supporting the One Love Foundation, but donations are only valid for customers who received a coupon through a “grassroots effort” prior to opening and it is not available on online, app, or third-party orders.
“Customers who receive a special fundraising coupon distributed through a grassroots effort prior to the opening can make a minimum $3 contribution in-store to One Love Foundation in exchange for a regular sub,” the restaurant said in a release. “Customers must have a coupon to be eligible. Coupons are not available for online, app, or third-party orders.
Photo via Jersey Mike’s/Facebook
After years without a by-the-slice pizza shop in Alexandria, two opened in Old Town on the same day this week.
Three months after a cryptic announcement, Andy’s Pizza has launched in Old Town at 107 N Fayette Street — while Handover by the Slice opened at 728 King Street. The latter has been referred to as Old Town’s first by-the-slice pizza joint. True to the by-the-slice pizza fashion, though, it may have to share the prize.
The Alexandria opening of Andy’s Pizza is the latest in a series of expansions for the neighborhood pizza shop, which started in D.C. and has since expanded to Tysons. Brown also recently announced a Bethesda location for Andy’s Pizza.
Andy’s Pizza made headlines last year for winning the top prize for best New York-style pizza at an international competition.
“Andy’s is a New York style slice shop with classic pies and a simple menu of salads, wings, fries, and a locally driven bar program,” Andy Brown, the restaurant’s eponymous owner, said in an email. “Old Town will be no different, pouring local draft beer and craft cocktails to guests looking for a comfortable and casual night out.”
Brown said the restaurant’s bar isn’t open yet, but it will be in around a week or two. The restaurant is only open for evenings currently but will soon be open for lunch as well.
The restaurant will be offering a free slice with any purchase on Wednesday, Oct. 19, to celebrate the grand opening.
An Old Town office building slated for an overhaul could be getting a bakery as part of that revitalization, Washington Business Journal first reported.
Tatte Bakery & Cafe has leased space at 515 King Street, the office building in Old Town with the giant clock on the side of the building. Tatte Bakery & Cafe is a small chain based out of Massachusetts with several locations in D.C. The Alexandria location will be the second Northern Virginia location after one in neighboring Arlington.
The restaurant is all-day breakfast and brunch-focused with a variety of gluten-friendly options.
The bakery is moving into a building in the middle of a refit following a purchase by Douglas Development earlier this year. The developer previously stated it hopes to make changes to make the ground floor more visibly appealing with storefronts along King Street and the sides of the building.
Image via Tatte Bakery/Instagram
In a hole in a mixed-use block in Old Town there lived a hobbit-themed restaurant. Not a nasty, dirty, wet development with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that meant comfort.
But the restaurant, Bilbo Baggins, closed in 2020 and now a new Mediterranean restaurant, Elaine’s, has filed an application to fill the space.
As the spot is maintaining the restaurant use, the special use permit is pretty bare-bones, but the plans drawn up for the restaurant show it will keep the former restaurant’s layout with a bar area separate from the main dining area.
Alexandria Living Magazine first reported the restaurant’s plans back in August, saying the restaurant — which will be called Elaine’s Modern Mediterranean — plans to offer a mix of French and Greek food.
The application said the restaurant will seat 120 patrons.
