About Restaurant Openings Around DC
A guide to the newest places to eat and drink.
Thought we already hit peak food hall? Not so! Yet another one is headed to Silver Spring next year.
Commas—yes, it’s named after the punctuation symbol—is meant to symbolize “the myriad of ways to dine and get together.” (We are strongly rooting for DC pop-up Ampersandwich to be included.) Specific concepts or participating chefs have yet to be announced, but the 12 food and drink vendors will cover a range of cuisines, including Ethiopian, Korean, Italian, and Salvadoran. The 13,000-square-foot venue, taking over the second level of Ellsworth Place mall, will also feature seven communal seating areas as well as a central bar for happy hour and late-night drinks.
Commas comes from retail and mixed-use developer GBT Reality Corporation and Baltimore-based Cana Development, which is also involved in Foggy Bottom’s just-opened Western Market food hall. It’s also just the latest in a slew of new food halls on the way over the next year. Sleek-looking the Heights food hall (with an adjoining speakeasy-style bar) is slated for Friendship Heights next spring. Japanese-inspired Love, Makoto will bring omakase sushi, udon noodles, and mochi to DC’s Capital Crossing development beginning later this year. And a huge, 18-vendor food hall, the Market at International Square, will open downtown next year from former Union Market culinary mastermind Richie Bradenburg and ThinkFoodGroup alum Rubén García.
Commas. 8661 Colesville Road.
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
