A brewery that has achieved cult status in its home state of Pennsylvania hopes to soon cast the same spell on Fairfax County.
Voodoo Brewing Company will open a restaurant — its first in the D.C. region — at the Makers Rise apartment building near the Innovation Center Metro station, just outside Herndon, property developer Crimson Partners announced yesterday (Tuesday).
The brewery has signed a lease for an approximately 3,750-square-foot space on the ground floor of the apartment building at 2311 Dulles Station Blvd.
“Plans are under review, construction is expected to start in a few months, and VOODOO plans to be open by the end of this year,” Crimson Partners said.
Based in the appropriately named city of Meadville, Pennsylvania, Voodoo Brewing was founded by Matt Allyn in 2005, but its first taproom didn’t open until head brewer Curt Rachocki and his brother Matteo, now the president and CEO, bought the company in 2012.
From there, Voodoo began to grow more rapidly, opening a production facility and venturing into franchising in 2017. While the original pub in Meadville closed last November, shifting operations to a larger space called The Compound, the business has expanded to four corporate locations and 22 franchises, including one that opened in Virginia Beach in January 2023.
Located in the Dulles Station neighborhood, Voodoo’s Herndon restaurant won’t have any on-site brewing, but it will serve food and a variety of beers and cocktails with quirky names like Voodoo Love Child, Kinda Hot in These Rhinos and Names are Hard.
“Whether you’re in the mood for a juicy burger, crispy chicken wings, or savory mac and cheese, our menu offers a range of mouth-watering options,” the company says on its website. “So gather your friends and family for a memorable dining experience that satisfies both your taste buds and thirst for exceptional brews.”
Franchise owner John Curry Lee, who goes by Curry, has been working in the brewing industry for about seven years now after developing a passion for craft beer. He was taking business courses at Virginia Tech with dreams of starting his own brewery when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, prompting him to reevaluate his approach.
Noticing a call for franchisees from Voodoo, he got in touch with the business and ultimately got invited to Pittsburgh for an “approval day,” where the owners meet with potential franchisees to determine whether they’re a good fit.
“The importance of the product and culture, along with their passion for the brand are the things that really solidified it for me,” Curry told FFXnow by email. “It also didn’t hurt that their aesthetic matches my interests and tastes.”
The experience of working with both Voodoo to identify the right location for his restaurant and the landlord at Makers Rise has been “fantastic,” Curry says.
“This support is one of the reasons I think it’s really going to be something special, a place for everyone, without any circumstance,” he said. “… Combining these loves, excellent service and excellent beer, is going to really make for an unforgettable experience for everyone — customers and those of us on the other side of the bar.”
Voodoo will fill one of two available retail spaces in Makers Rise, a seven-story building with 356 apartment units that welcomed its first residents in September 2023. Crimson Partners says it’s “diligently” scouting for a tenant to lease the remaining 1,794-square-foot suite at the corner of Dulles Station Blvd and Makers Way.
Existing retailers at Dulles Station include the restaurants Alo Vietnam and Kabobi by The Helmand as well as Neo Smiles Dental. Makers Rise was the fourth apartment building to open in the development, which is also home to the six-story Dulles Station East office building and a Courtyard by Marriott hotel.
