ShopHouse Asian Kitchen, the Chipotle-style fast casual restaurant serving noodle bowls, meats and vegetables, today announced it has inked a deal to take over the space left by a longtime Chinese food favorite on Bethesda Avenue.
The Chipotle-owned Southeast Asian concept is set for a late 2013 opening at 4820 Bethesda Ave. The popular City Lights of China Restaurant closed last week. Its manager said the restaurant was at the end of its 10-year lease and could not afford a bump in the new rents.
Chipotle opened its first ShopHouse Asian Kitchen in Dupont Circle in 2011. The announcement today included news about three other coming locations, including one at White Flint’s Pike & Rose in mid or late 2014. Rockville-based developer Federal Realty Investment Trust built and operates Bethesda Row and is building Pike & Rose.
“The response we have seen to ShopHouse reminds me very much of what I saw when I opened the first Chipotle,” Chipotle CEO Steve Ells said in a press release. “People love the food and the experience, and appreciate that we are giving them something that is unique and flavorful, and doing it in a way that is accessible and affordable.”
The restaurant draws on many of the concepts of chipotle, including the create-your-own set up.
Flickr photo by the food-e
