Shia Opens in Union Market District
Shia, 1252 Fourth St. NE, a modern Korean fine dining restaurant opened Nov. 1 in the Union Market District.

Shia, a modern, upscale Korean restaurant, opened in the Union Market District on Nov. 1. (Photo: Shuran Huang/NPR)
The Korean fine dining restaurant opened reservations online a few days earlier, but spots were quickly snapped up. There are no openings on Open Table through Dec. 4. It has 22 seats in the dining room and 12 at the bar.
The nonprofit restaurant from Chef Edward Lee serves only a tasting menu with locally sourced ingredients as well as Hansik ingredients from the Korean peninsula.
The menu will be constantly changing. A sample menu included pumpkin chestnut mandu; scallop and fried oyster ssam (lettuce wraps); pine nut, soondubu (soft tofu stew) and apple juk (porridge) with Maryland crab; sustainable tuna “bibimbap” with quail egg and sturgeon roe; doenjank (fermented soybean paste) pork belly with abalone and clams; Virgina ribeye with kalbi butter; local rockfish steamed in rice wine; “nurungji” (crispy rice) rice crisps with laver, persimmon, boricha (barley tea) ice cream and plum extract; and han-ip (one bite or sip). Many of the courses had alcohol pairings including sake and wine.
Shia’s non-profit initiatives include critical issues that face the restaurant industry at large from environmental to equity to cultural. Shia conducts on-site, real-time research with in-house researchers and university partners to solve for zero-gas kitchens, zero plastics and waste reduction, according to its website.
That means getting rid of squeeze bottles and convincing purveyors to forgo single use plastics in their distribution. To do the latter, they are developing a reusable, zippered, insulated bag that they hope to convince smaller farms to use to deliver their goods week after week.
Shia is open from 5:30-10:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Osteria Mozza Ready to Debut on Sunday
Osteria Mozza, 3276 M St. NW in Georgetown, opens Nov. 10 in the 20,000-square foot space formerly occupied by Dean & Deluca.
The massive Georgetown Italian restaurant and market from Le Diplomate’s Stephen Starr and California chef Nancy Silverton has been more than three years in the making.
While Osteria Mozza shares a name with Silverton’s Los Angeles restaurant, the menu also draws favorites from her “meat speakeasy” Chi Spacca and Pizzeria Mozza.
The menu features Chi Spacca’s focaccia di Recco — a cheesy, cracker-like bread named after a town in northern Italy – and spicy roasted chicken on toast. Also on the menu are salads, including Nancy’s Caesar, a deconstructed version of the classic, dressed lettuce accompanied by a fancy toast layered with garlic aioli, braised leeks, slices of hard-boiled egg and anchovies. Handmade pastas include orecchiette with sausage and Swiss chard, and tagliatelle with an oxtail ragu. Entrees include whole branzino with charred lemon, beef-and-bone-marrow pie and a grilled porcini-rubbed ribeye. A wood-fired oven turns out pizzas for lunch, which will launch along with brunch in a few weeks. Drinks include spritzes, negronis, vermouths and carafes of Italians wines.
Diners can watch various cheesy dishes being prepared at a marble-topped mozzarella bar. While the restaurant doesn’t make its own mozzarella, it has mozzarella-centric dishes, just like Osteria Mozza in LA. Those include Nancy’s Favorite Trio — mozzarella di bufala paired with Cantabrian anchovies, sun-dried tomatoes and peppers — served with a crispy, brown garlic bread called fett’unta. They also include dishes like burrata with braised leeks and mustard vinaigrette and burratina Pugliese drowned in olive oil and sprinkled with dried-and-fried sweet cruschi peppers.
The historic building, which was built in 1865, has been remodeled with terrazzo floors, marble tables and bartops, dark woods, arched windows, a mezzanine-level private dining room and a light-filled solarium.
Osteria Mozza also has a market featuring ingredients handpicked by Silverton and used on the menu from Cantabrian anchovies to dried beans to jarred roasted long-stemmed artichokes. Aracuna chicken eggs with deep orange yolks used in a ricotta and egg raviolo dish, as well as specialty vegetables from chef Dan Barber’s Row 7 Seed Company will also be for sale.
Lazy Dog to Replace Kingstowne Ramano’s
Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar is coming to 5925 Kingstowne Towne Center, Alexandria, in the former Romano’s Macaroni Grill, which closed in January.
Known for its American-style cuisine and casual draft-house atmosphere, the Rocky Mountains-inspired restaurant, originally called Lazy Dog Cafe, opened its first location in Huntington Beach, Calif., in 2003. Lazy Dog now operates nearly 50 locations nationwide, including in Fair Oaks Mall and Chantilly.
Plans filed with Fairfax County propose razing Ramano’s building and replacing it with a 10,596 square-foot restaurant that will seat 186 diners inside and 62 on the 1,379-square-foot patio.
Lazy Dog features handcrafted in-house frozen TV dinners to cook at home and a quarterly beer club, offering access to small-batch craft beers, merchandise and in-restaurant perks. The Campfire Club loyalty program provides monthly rewards. The restaurant serves lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, with a bar offering craft beers and specialty cocktails.

Tysons Corner-based Ingle Korean Steakhouse will open on 14th Street NW in the former Nama Ko space.
(Photo: Ingle Korean Steakhouse/Instagram)
Ingle Korean Steakhouse to Replace Nama Ko
Tysons Corner restaurant Ingle Korean Steakhouse will open a second location at 1926 14th St. NW, replacing Nama Ko Japanese restaurant.
Ingle was started by former Donburi owner James Jang at Pike 7 Plaza in Tysons in 2022. Donburi opened in Adams Morgan in 2013 – and closed in 2018 — and expanded to Dupont Circle in 2017. It opened another location in the former Urbanspace food hall at Tysons Galleria in 2018. The Tysons location closed in 2023, but Dupont is still open.
Ingle grills meat at diner’s tables, butchers beef in house and gets most of its beef from local Virginia farms.

A margherita pizza from Andy’s Pizza, which is coming to Virginia Square in December or January. (Photo: Andy’s Pizza/Facebook)
D.C.’s Andy’s Pizza Coming to Virginia Square
Arlington’s first Andy’s Pizza is expected to open this winter at 901 N. Pollard St., formerly home to Ballston Place Gourmet.
Construction is underway on the newest outpost of the popular D.C.-area pizza chain. The pizzeria, which has been in the works since at least July 2023, hopes to open in December or January.
The restaurant applied for a state license to serve alcoholic beverages in October and is awaiting some permit inspections, according to county records.
While the menu varies at Andy’s 10 locations, it serves standard and specialty 18-inch pizza by the pie and slice. The restaurant’s website advertises its 72-hour cold fermented dough, which “gives our crust a unique crisp but soft bite with a touch of sourdough.”
The local chain also serves salads and starters like oven roasted broccolini and Old Bay fries, as well as a dairy free pizza option.
The new location will be the chain’s first in Arlington and its fifth in Northern Virginia.
Corsica Wine Bar Coming to Reston Town Center
Corsica Wine Bar, a sister concept of Barcelona Wine Bar, will replace Mon Ami Gabi at 11950 Democracy Drive, Suite 120, in Reston Town Center next year.
Corsica Wine Bar, which opened its first location in Denver this spring, will offer small plates and appetizers from Corsica, an island off the French and Italian coasts. The drink menu includes extensive wine and cocktail lists as well as beer and apéritifs.
Plans include two outdoor patios that wrap around the 6,802 square-foot restaurant. Indoor seating includes a 22-seat bar, a 34-seat private dining area and 78 seats throughout the café.
Barcelona Wine Bar has operated at 12023 Town Square St. in Reston Town Center since 2015.
Barbouzard to Replace Kellari Taverna
Barbouzard is set to open in spring 2025 following a floor-to-ceiling renovation of the former Kelari Taverna, 1700 K St. NW.
Inspired by the Mediterranean seascape and Cote D’Azur, the new restaurant from partners Nasr El Hage, Nellie Elana Gebrail and Dany Abi-Najm will blend sophisticated tastes with an alluring day-to-night ambiance.
El Hage and Gebrail are both entrepreneurs in the real estate and private equity industries, while Abi-Najm is president of the Lebanese Taverna Group.
Olvia Demetriou of HapstakDemetriou+ will fully renovate the previous Greek eatery, which closed earlier this year after a decade.
The 180-seat, 6,493 square-foot space will feature a bar and lounge, dining room, new piano and DJ booth, champagne lounge and a new outdoor patio. Architectural and design plans include large-scale glass and steel structures complemented by layered textiles.
Barbouzard’s French-Mediterranean menu will feature seasonal ingredients, premium seafood and meats, charcuterie and cheeses, and an in-house bread and pastry program. The beverage program will feature Old World wines, a large champagne list and a cocktail program. There are plans for large-scale music programming with an in-house resident DJ as well as pianists, saxophonists and violinists.

Dok Khao Thai Eatery will open its third location in Falls Church’s new West End Development Project next August.
(Photo: Dok Khao Thai Eatery/Facebook)
Dok Khao Thai Joining Falls Church’s West End
Dok Khao Thai Eatery will open in the West Falls Development Project at 108 W. Falls Station Blvd., Falls Church, next August, developer Hoffman & Associates announced. The restaurant currently has locations in Woodbridge, Va., and Columbia, Md.
The first phase of the 10-acre development — which includes an apartment building, an office building, two parking garages and a hotel — is nearing completion, with about 75% of available retail spaces leased.
Several West Falls businesses are expected to open soon. Mason’s Lobster Rolls remains on track to open next month. Meanwhile, Ice Cream Jubilee, SeoulSpice and BurgerFi, which were announced with fall 2024 opening dates, are now expected to open in spring 2025. Honoo Ramen Bar is also slated to open this spring. A Fresh Market grocery store is expected to open by the end of 2026.

Kanoon Smoked Meat & Steakhouse, a halal restaurant, will open in Herndon. (Photo: Kanoon Smoked Meat & Steakhouse/Facebook)
Kanoon Halal BBQ Coming to Herndon
A new halal barbecue restaurant, Kanoon Smoked Meat & Steakhouse, is coming soon to 1106 Herndon Parkway, Herndon, to the space formerly occupied by The Lobster, a Thai street food restaurant that closed in 2023.
New Jersey-based Kanoon serves “American BBQ with a Middle Eastern twist,” according to its website.
Claiming to be the first “halal smokehouse” in New Jersey, Kanoon launched its flagship restaurant in Clifton, N.J., in 2023 before expanding to a second location in North Brunswick, N.J. The business gets its name from an Arabic word for an old oven or grill where meat is cooked and smoked.
A Connecticut location opened in September, and the business lists two New York spots, along with Herndon, as “coming soon” on its Instagram profile.
Permits to modify the existing restaurant kitchen’s cookline have been submitted to the Town of Herndon’s building inspections department, but the town hasn’t received any other plans, according to a spokesperson.
Kanoon’s menu features a mix of smoked and grilled beef, chicken and lamb sold by the pound, kabobs, seafood and burgers. It serves appetizers like hummus, baba-ganouj, stuffed grape leaves and tabbouleh; hot and cold beverages but no alcohol; and desserts including baklava, knafa and rice pudding.
Maman Café Headed to Mosaic District
Maman, a French-inspired breakfast café, is coming to Fairfax’s Mosaic District, according to recently erected signage.
The New York-based café offering coffee, pastries and other bites, will open its first Virginia location at 2920 District Ave., Suite 150, the former home of Oath Pizza, which closed late 2023. The cafe is expected to open next year.
The chain, which opened its first cafe in New York City’s Soho neighborhood in 2014, serves a variety of hot and cold coffee beverages along with more than 15 different pastries, including gluten-free options. Heartier options include made-to-order omelets, quiches, waffles, soups, salads and about a dozen different sandwiches.
It will be the chain’s seventh location in the DMV. It currently has stores in Navy Yard, Dupont Circle, Georgetown, Penn Quarter and Union Market in D.C. and one in Bethesda.
Signs have also appeared at the Mosaic District for Hawkers, an Asian street food chain that can be found in Arlington and Bethesda. The restaurant will take over the former Four Sisters location at 8190 Strawberry Lane, Suite 1. An application for a building alterations permit has been pending review by Fairfax County since April.

Chef Michael Schlow’s Alta Strada in Mount Vernon Triangle closed last week. (Photo: Danelle W./Yelp)
Alta Strada Closes in Mt. Vernon Triangle
Chef Michael Schlow closed Alta Strada, 465 K St. NW in Mt. Vernon Triangle last week.
The tables are gone and the bar is cleared out. There is no notice on the door or website, but according to Open Door, “Our apologies for the inconvenience. The restaurant will be moving locations. We hope to see you at our new location in 2025.”
There is no notice of its closing on its Instagram feed either. But when trying to place an order through the restaurant’s website, which connects to Toast, the Toast website shows that the location is “Not accepting orders.”
Alta Strada replaced the former Kushi in the City Vista development in March 2016.
There is no word on whether Schlow’s Nama sushi bar, which b0egan as Conosci crudo bar, next door has also closed, since they were connected. Nama’s website says, “We are no longer taking any new reservation or accepting online orders from this website, Uber, DoorDash or Grubhub.” But the restaurant’s Yelp page says it is “scheduled to reopen on Nov. 14, 2024.”
At one time, Schlow Restaurant Group was growing rapidly in the DMV with six area restaurants. Now the Boston-based chef only has only an Alta Strada in the Mosaic District, 2911 District Ave. #150, Fairfax, which opened in February 2017.
Schlow’s first restaurant in D.C. was Tico, a Mexican restaurant at 1926 14th St. NW near U Street. In September 2022, it became Namo Ko, a Japanese restaurant with a sushi counter. Nama Ko closed in May 2024 after just 18 months.
Schlow’s second D.C. was The Riggsby, a retro American supper club at 1731 New Hampshire Ave. NW, which opened in Kimpton’s Carlyle hotel in June 2015. It closed in early 2020 at the start of the pandemic. A second location was supposed to open in January 2020 at 4900 Hampden Lane, Bethesda, in the space that formerly housed Mike Isabella’s Kapnos Kouzina. But it never opened and was replaced by The Salt Line.
Prima, Schlow’s fast-casual eatery that served bowls, opened at 7280 Woodmont Ave. in Bethesda Row in 2019. It closed in early April 2020 and never reopened. It has been replaced by a Chiko.
Casolare, a coastal Italian in the Kimpton Glover Park hotel, 2505 Wisconsin Ave. NW, lasted four years before Schlow morphed it into the Glover Park Grill in December 2020 after the hotel changed hands. It is now closed as well.

Capitol Hill’s Spanish restaurant Joselito Casa de Comidas will close once a replacement tenant is found. (Photo: Rey Lopez)
Capitol Hill Stawart Joselito Is Closing
Joselito Casa de Comidas, 660 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, will close when a replacement tenant is found.
The 70-seat restaurant from native Spaniard Javier Candon opened in 2017 serving Spanish spirits and tapas.
“Unfortunately, despite the great reputation, Joselito never recovered from COVID in terms of amount of business,” Candon told Eater DC. “This is especially sad for what Joselito represents for my family.”
The stylish spot lined with white tiles, marble tables and bistro chairs from Spain pays homage to Candon’s late father, José, whose favorite bullfighter was Joselito el Gallo.
The a la carte and tasting menus include meat and fish dishes including
grilled Iberian pork shoulder, sizzling gambas al ajillo, cod fritters, fried squid, chorizo-studded penne pasta made with manchego, and seafood paella for two. The drink menu features Spanish sangrias, sherries, vermouths, and wines.
Joselito received two rounds of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling over $300,000 during the pandemic to help stay afloat. It still has three years left on its lease, but the landlord has agreed to let a replacement take over without penalty.
Candon will announce a closing date “once someone signs a new lease.” He expects that to take two to three months and expects to close sometime in early 2025.
Ser, Joselito’s Spanish comfort food sister in Ballston, is “doing great,” he said. It is known for its raw bar, ambitious cocktails, colorful salads and theatrical orders of dramatically chopped suckling pig and sizable paellas. Candon plans to go all in on Ser once Joselito closes.
For now, Joselito remains open as usual and is still taking reservations and walk-ins.