Idylwood Plaza adds nail and yoga salon, has two restaurants on the way

(Updated at 8:30 p.m. on 2/6/2024) Idylwood Plaza is shaking up its retail mix to start 2024.

The shopping center on Leesburg Pike in Idylwood will usher in its newest tenant, MIYU Beauty & Wellbeing, with a grand opening celebration at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow (Friday). Falls Church City Vice Mayor Letty Hardi and Councilmember Marybeth Connelly are expected to attend.

Miyu occupies a 2,545 square-foot space next to Whole Foods Market at 7505-P Leesburg Pike, where Honest Soul Yoga used to be. The salon offers non-toxic, vegan-friendly and cruelty-free manicures and pedicures, along with yoga and pilates classes.

The business comes from neighbors Zeina Chouman El Eid and Karen Abouzeid, who both have experience in the beauty industry and decided to combine their skills to “help individuals tap into their inner essence, promote well-being, and bring beauty into everyday chaos,” according to Miyu’s website.

“We offer a tranquil haven and safe space to empower everyone,” Abouzeid, now a managing partner at Miyu, said. “MIYU’s skilled and experienced staff will guide our clients towards self-realization and unmatched confidence, while connecting them with like-minded individuals who share a passion for holistic living.”

Later this year, Miyu will be joined at Idylwood Plaza by First Watch, the daytime cafe, and Fairfax County’s first Chicken Salad Chick.

First Watch aims for summer opening

First Watch confirmed to FFXnow in November that it was looking for a new site in the Falls Church area, but the lease hadn’t been finalized at that time. The 4,000-square-foot restaurant at 7501 Leesburg Pike was officially announced last week.

Known for its seasonally rotating breakfast, brunch and lunch menus, which include items like avocado toast and lemon ricotta pancakes, First Watch is expected to open its Idylwood location in late summer 2024, according to public relations manager Hunter Carpenter.

The cafe will be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. for pickup, delivery and dine-in service. It will employ approximately 30 people.

First Watch can currently be found in Fairfax City, Chantilly and Bailey’s Crossroads, where it opened in 2021. Additional locations are slated to open this spring in Franconia’s Festival at Manchester Lakes and this summer in the former TGI Friday’s in Fair Lakes.

After finding success in Bailey’s Crossroads (5880 Crossroads Center Way), First Watch decided “it was about time to bring our experience closer to home for our neighbors further north,” Carpenter said.

“Though we may be relative newcomers to Fall Church, that doesn’t mean we’re strangers to Fairfax County,” Carpenter told FFXnow by email. “As we quickly approach two decades in the region, we look forward to expanding our presence not only in Falls Church but also in Fair Lakes and Franconia and inspiring a new morning routine for our customers with each new opening.”

Chicken Salad Chick makes way to D.C. area

Started in 2008 by Stacy Brown, a stay-at-home mother in Auburn, Alabama, Chicken Salad Chick announced last May that it had signed a development agreement with Devon Chamberlin and her family, who will open eight franchises in Fairfax and Arlington counties over the next five years.

The first franchise is slated to open at Idylwood Plaza this spring, according to Chicken Salad Chick Chief Marketing Officer Tom Carr.

An Arlington location is also planned. FFXnow’s sister site ARLnow previously reported that that site would open this spring, but Chick Salad Chick now says the Idylwood Plaza restaurant will be the first to open.

The 2,717-square-foot restaurant will be located at 7505 Leesburg Pike, Suite 120A, replacing Loyal Companion after the pet wellness chain shuttered all of its local shops last year, according to Federal Realty, the property manager for Idylwood Plaza.

Chicken Salad Chick sells Southern-style chicken salads made from scratch, sandwiches and pimento cheese. The company has 258 locations right now, including six in central and southern Virginia, but it has wanted to expand into new regions of the U.S., according to Carr.

“The demographics of Northern Virginia, generally, and Falls Church and adjacent areas specifically, make it well-suited for Chicken Salad Chick and its healthy menu options,” Carr said.