If you hadn’t noticed, there’s something of a food hall renaissance going on in the DMV. With the opening of Farragut North’s the Square in September and National Landing’s Water Park in October, the capital area is hardly suffering from a shortage of vast, minimalist-chic indoor spaces to grab lunch or a drink. The local food hall scene’s newest addition is the Heights, which opened in Friendship Heights this month.

What to know

The Heights currently hosts eight stalls, a sit-down restaurant, a bar and a speakeasy. The restaurant, Urbano, is a funky, vivid Tex-Mex spot with existing locations in Alexandria and the Mosaic District in Fairfax. The Heights Bar is serving patrons, but the speakeasy, called the Turncoat, is not yet open to the public. More on that below.

The food hall, promoted as an “elevated dining experience,” is the latest project from Common Plate Hospitality, which is also responsible for the Grove, a Mediterranean fusion restaurant in Potomac, and Augie’s Mussel House and Beer Garden in Alexandria.

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What it’s like

As in many other food halls in the area, the Heights’ vendors are sectioned off into enclosed stalls with separate kitchen spaces. The dining room itself is long and narrow, with the Heights Bar at the entrance and Urbano at the back. Each has its restaurant’s name in black font backlit with white lights pointed toward to the ceiling, where you’ll find the words: “The Heights find your paradise.” A wall of faux pink and white flowers offers an Instagram photo op backdrop. There are several potential photo stations, in fact, including a 3D mural of an umbrella in a downpour that reads “I can’t stand the rain” next to the bar and a neon sign of Homer Simpson drooling on the back wall. It also has an outdoor porchlike seating area for warm days to come.

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The vendors making their debut at the Heights include New York-inspired sandwich shop This Deli of Ours, Sky Lantern Thai food, Saoco Cuban food and coffee, and Doki Doki Sushi, created by Kevin Tien of Moon Rabbit and partner Judy Beltrano.

This is two restaurants’ second time as neighbors: Yasmine by Gerald Addison and Chris Morgan and DC Dosa by Priya Ammu both have their inaugural locations in Union Market. Yasmine, a kebab spot recognizable by its jade color palette, serves the same menu as its original location, minus Union Market’s alcohol offerings. Next door, DC Dosa offers a build-your-own dosa for which you can pick your base, fillings and chutneys.

Supreme Barbeque is connected to its bubble tea restaurant, AunTea Boba, for a combination experience that may be confusing to some but is delightful to me as an enthusiast — though hardly a connoisseur — of both.

What I liked

My culinary journey around the world began in Cuba — via the Saoco stall — where I ordered yuca fries and chicken croquetas (breaded chicken fritters). Both came with a mildly spicy mole verde, and both were perfectly crispy.

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Next, I stopped over in Thailand to try Sky Lantern, which also serves some fusion food, like its baked salmon poke bowl. Determined to stay on theme, I tasted the breaded chicken cutlet with orange Thai curry. Thailand’s version of curry is slightly sweet, which contrasts well with the saltiness of the chicken. The bowl also included brown rice and purple cabbage for texture that reheated just as well when I took it home for dinner.

At Mimi’s Handmade ice cream stall, I picked the matcha soft-serve, and I need all the matcha lovers of the world to hear me: This was some of the best matcha-flavored ice cream I’ve ever had. Matcha ice cream is sometimes not matcha-y enough, but this ice cream has no such issue. Plus, it came with tiny colorful mochi speared onto a paper umbrella, which helped cut the sweetness and was generally adorable.

I also picked up This Deli of Ours’ “the Gobbler,” a turkey and pork belly sandwich with avocado and garlic aioli in between two slices of Texas toast, for lunch the next day. With all its toppings, the sandwich required an almost embarrassingly large bite, but was well worth it for the variety of textures on a sliding scale of saltiness.

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Though I didn’t visit the Heights’ location of Urbano, I have tried the King Street Alexandria location and can recommend its soft tacos.

Insider tips

Mimi’s Handmade, whose first storefront is in Potomac Row, will offer a flight of ice cream in addition to soft serve flavors such as ube, black sesame and litchi, though it was serving only matcha and vanilla soft serve when I visited (no problem — I probably would’ve gone for the matcha anyway).

Because the Heights is so new, it’s still working toward completing its menus, so don’t be surprised if they don’t yet have something you’re looking for. Its seating space is also relatively limited, with only about 30 tables — though you can scan a QR code on each one to order.

If you’re looking forward to the speakeasy, you won’t have to wait long. It’s set to open in January, and its entrance will be located toward the back of the food hall, near Urbano (but you didn’t hear that from me).

The Heights food hall, 5406 Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase. Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.

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