Flavor Hive opens in Annandale
Flavor Hive, the operator of seven popular food trucks, opened its first brick-and-mortar restaurant in Annandale on July 24.
The restaurant, at 4260 John Marr Drive, offers fast casual food with a Southeast Asian/Middle Eastern flavor profile.
It’s located in a former Wells Fargo branch which the owners purchased in February. During renovation of the building, two Flavor Hive trucks in the parking lot drew crowds every evening.
Flavor Hive specializes in the “walking chips bag.” Diners can bring a bag of chips – Doritos, Fritos, potato chips, or whatever – and they’ll fill it with Halal meat (chicken, ground beef, lamb gyro) or falafel plus toppings and sauce.
The menu also offers rice bowls, salad bowls, loaded fries, pita pouches, quesadillas, and more. Drinks include specialty sodas and flavored lemonades.
If you don’t want to bring your own chips, the restaurant makes its potato chips using avocado oil, says co-owner Drew Kellogg. In fact, all the recipes are made with avocado oil.
The restaurant also offers a “bring your own treat” concept. People can bring Oreos, Skittles, or other cookies or candy, and the restaurant will mix them up with vanilla ice cream.
Kellogg and his partners – Shihan Chowdhury (known as Chilipeppercooks), Amgd Gende, and Basim Mansour – are opening additional brick-and-mortar restaurants in Georgetown this fall and later at Potomac Yard, Duke Street by the former Landmark Mall, Huntington on Route 1 in Alexandria and Manassas.
They chose Annandale for their first restaurant because “we love the community,” says Kellogg, a former operations manager at Chipotle. “There are lot of interesting restaurants. Everyone loves good food, but our flavor wasn’t here.”
“Having people bring their own bags of chips is an opportunity to engage our customers,” he says. “The operation goes faster, and it’s a better value.”
The restaurant has a small indoor dining area and two larger ones outdoors. Kellogg says they’re exploring options for a drive-through, but need to work on permitting and a traffic study.
Meanwhile, Kellogg says, he’s gratified by the positive response from residents. “We’re really excited to be here for the community.”
Related story: Food trucks offer a preview of the future Flavor Hive restaurant
I’m excited to try it out! Might swing by for lunch…
Welcome to the community!! And congrats on opening!
Huge addition to the community! My wife and I go at least once a week.
My husband and I go about once a week. Soooo delicious, and they were always in generous portion! I don’t think I will ever get tired of eating at Flavor Hives. I recommend folks buying salad mix from grocery stores (like spring mix or arugula ) and put meat on top. 🧑🍳 💋 👌
Do they use regular oil as well for there food I asking because of an allergy issue
They said they use avocado oil. However, some brands of avocado oil are refined and laced with other seed oils, I don’t know what brand of avocado oil they use.
This place needs twerking sign spinners standing on John Marr and little river turnpike.