A fast-casual restaurant that promises to serve authentic Iraqi grilled cuisine is taking shape in Vienna.
A temporary sign appeared last week announcing that Mashahweez, a new concept from a local father-son team, is “coming soon” to the Vienna Shopping Center at 128 Maple Avenue West.
“We are hoping to open within the next 30 to 45 days, depending on the final renovation and approval process,” Mashahweez General Manager Abdullah Alshawi told FFXnow. “We are very excited for people to try our food, and we truly believe Mashahweez will bring something special and different to Vienna.”
The restaurant will take the place of Maru Korean Cuisine and Sushi, which closed in March after about 10 years in Vienna. The business is still operating at the Providence Place Shopping Center (previously known as Pan Am) in Merrifield, where it took over Rateba Grill and Ramen at 3075 Nutley Street last year.
According to a worker at the Merrifield restaurant, Maru’s owners decided to consolidate at a single location due to the economic climate and staffing challenges.
That decision opened up an opportunity for Abdullah and his father, Mashahweez owner Ibraheem Alshawi, who has worked in the food industry since the family lived in Iraq.
A biology major who previously worked as an emergency medical technician, Abdullah had plans to attend medical school, but the thrill of creating good food, cultivated by memories of cooking shawarma and Iraqi-style barbecue with his father, ultimately proved irresistible.
“I have always had a deep love for cooking and food, and I realized that my true passion was creating food that brings people happiness,” Abdullah said. “There is something very special about seeing people smile after tasting something made with care.”
The COVID-19 pandemic also factored into Abdullah’s career change. During that time, the family bought a machine for making shawarma — the thinly sliced meat cooked on a vertical spit popular in Middle Eastern cuisines — and started serving the food at community events.
“The response was incredible,” Abdullah said. “People loved the food, and many kept asking us when we were going to open a restaurant. The demand from the community became so strong that we decided to create Mashahweez.”
The father and son next spent about two years scouting for the right location. Though they reside in and “dearly love” Ashburn, they have been drawn to Vienna since moving to Northern Virginia, in part because many family and friends live in the town.
The town’s history as a colonial-era village that has evolved over the centuries into a quintessential suburban small town was also appealing.
“It has grown while still keeping its local character, strong community pride, and small-town feeling,” Abdullah said. “Maple Avenue especially feels like the heart of Vienna, with local businesses, families, and longtime residents all connected through the same main road … We want to respect that history while bringing something new, authentic, and full of life to the area.”
With a name that means “barbecue” in Arabic, Mashahweez will specialize in shawarma and Iraqi-style grilled food, with kabobs, falafel, sandwiches, hummus and other Middle Eastern staples among the planned menu items.
Abdullah says the menu will roll out in phases, starting with shawarma, fries, handmade falafel and hummus, while the kabobs and other grilled dishes will become available later.
Authenticity will be a priority for the restaurant, which will feature spices imported directly from Iraq, halal meat and shawarma “prepared in the Iraqi way.
“Our chicken shawarma will be made with fresh halal chicken, and our beef shawarma will be made with fresh halal veal,” the general manager explained. “The meat is sliced very thin, marinated for 48 hours, stacked traditionally on a skewer, and cooked on a shawarma machine to bring out the real flavor of traditional shawarma.”
The meat will also be served with samoon bread, and the renovated, approximately 1,900-square-foot space will center around an open kitchen, giving customers a full view of the shawarma rotating on a spit and other parts of the cooking process.
While Fairfax County’s dining scene has plenty of options for Middle Eastern cuisine, Abdullah says finding shawarma eateries that match the taste he grew up with remains a challenge.
“We want Mashahweez to change that,” he said. “We want customers to experience shawarma, kabobs, grilled meats, hummus, falafel, and Middle Eastern favorites the way we know them: fresh, flavorful, generous, and made with passion.”
