A growing, Florida-based Asian street food chain has its sights set on Merrifield.
Hawkers is planning to open a restaurant in the Mosaic District next year, an employee at the company’s Arlington location confirmed to FFXnow.
According to Fairfax County’s permit database, the 5,312-square-foot eatery will be located at 8190 Strawberry Lane, Suite 1 — the space occupied by the Vietnamese restaurant Four Sisters until it closed on May 14, concluding 30 years of business in Fairfax County.
Hawkers was created in 2011 by four friends who wanted “to bring the bold flavors of Asian street food to the streets of Orlando,” according to its website. The company has since expanded to 15 locations across seven states, breaking into the D.C. area with a Bethesda restaurant in 2020 and a Ballston one that opened last year.
Drawing from a mix of East Asian cuisines, the menu features dim sum, meat and shrimp skewers, noodles, fried rice, green papaya salad, a Po Po Lo’s curry based on a family recipe and more. The beverage menu includes cocktails, sake, wine, beer and Japanese whisky.
Oath Pizza has closed
In other Mosaic District news, Oath Pizza appears to have closed, but it’s not entirely clear whether the shutdown is temporary or permanent. A sign posted to the restaurant’s door since late November states that it “will be pausing pizza operations for a short period of time.”
“We look forward to fulfilling your delicious pizza needs again soon,” says the notice signed by the Oath Pizza team. “Thank you all for your ongoing support and we look forward to serving you our brand of Feel Good Pizza again soon.”
However, the company’s website no longer functions, and other locations have also reportedly closed, including in D.C. and its home state of Massachusetts. According to the Nantucket Current, the slew of closures might stem from a lawsuit filed by investors in May that accused Oath Pizza CEO Andrew Kellogg of self-dealing.
Even with the lawsuit, though, Oath Pizza has continued adding franchises, including its first California location, which opened in early August. The Mosaic District restaurant (2920 District Avenue, Suite 150) opened in October 2017 as the chain’s first expansion outside the Boston area.
Oath Pizza didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Just a couple of doors away, interior renovations have begun on a store from the Beaufort Bonnet Company, which sells baby and children’s clothes. The shop will be 1,344 square feet in size and located at 2920 District Avenue, Suite 143.
Signs posted to the storefront indicate that the shop is “coming soon.” The company didn’t respond to inquiries from FFXnow by press time.
Hat tip to Adam Rubinstein