Friendship Heights has changed a lot in the last few years, but Patty Hearst isn’t going anywhere.
No, not the heiress—the sub with turkey, bacon and provolone. It’s just one of the idiosyncratically named sandwiches beloved at Booeymonger, the longtime deli in Friendship Heights that closed last year—and just reopened on January 17.
Chathura Karunapala, the new co-owner of the counter-service spot, said he had originally planned on opening a different eatery at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Jenifer Street, where Booeymonger had been a neighborhood fixture since 1976.
“But when we did the renovation, most of the customers, most of the community, they requested Booeymonger,” Karunapala said.
Karunapala was formerly general manager at Booeymonger’s Ballston location; his partner, Ajith Pushpakumara, was general manager at the Bethesda Booeymonger.
But the Bethesda branch closed in 2021, and the Georgetown original joined it in the great strip mall in the sky last year. With the Ballston shop set to shutter soon, there would’ve been nowhere left in the DMV to buy an authentic Tuna Turner (tuna salad, mayo, and veggies) or Scheherazade (turkey, Swiss, and mango chutney).
When Karunapala began hearing pleas from decades-long customers, he and Pushpakumara went to the store’s outgoing owner, Rummana Choudhury, and got the go-ahead to re-open it.
Ron Vogel, one of the restaurant’s original co-owners and a partner in the business since 1973, was helping Karunapala and Pushpakumara as they were remodeling the property for a potential new restaurant. He was stunned by how many people came knocking at the door to ask when Booeymonger would be back.
“It was really heartwarming to see how Booeymonger stuck in their minds as a pleasant place to come to,” Vogel told Washingtonian. “They’ll keep the tradition going for sure.”
