Downtown Herndon is getting a Central Asian restaurant. House of Samarkand is planning to open at 790 Station Street, in the ground floor space that most recently housed Red Kimono, and the owner tells us they are aiming for October. Permitting has moved slowly, so that date could shift.
We found the first public trace of it in the Virginia ABC license database, where House of Samarkand LLC filed a restaurant license application on July 7 covering mixed beverage service both on and off the premises. The application lists a seating capacity in the 151 to 500 range, which puts it solidly in the full service category rather than a small counter operation.
What Central Asian food actually means
If you have not eaten Central Asian food before, the short version is that it draws on Uzbek, Kazakh, and broader Silk Road traditions. Samarkand, the city the restaurant is named for, sits in modern day Uzbekistan and spent centuries as a trading crossroads, which is exactly why the food is such a mix of influences.
Expect rice, lamb, hand pulled noodles, grilled skewers, dumplings, and bread pulled fresh from a clay oven. Plov, a slow cooked rice dish with lamb and carrots, is the dish most Uzbek families would point to first. Samsa are baked hand pies, usually lamb and onion. Lagman is a noodle soup. Manti are large steamed dumplings. If you have eaten at one of the Afghan or Persian restaurants around Northern Virginia, some of it will feel familiar, though the seasoning tends to be gentler and more aromatic than spicy.
The menu is not public yet. We will update this post when it is.
Why the Station Street location matters
The address is the part of this story that caught our attention.
Red Kimono, the Japanese and Korean restaurant that had the ground floor, went dark in the spring of 2024. FFXnow reported that April that it appeared to have closed, with its website down and its delivery listings pulled. The space later went back on the market as turn key second generation restaurant space, with the kitchen and buildout already in place for whoever came next.
So the storefront has sat empty for more than two years. In a downtown this small, filling it matters.
Station Street runs through the block that the Town of Herndon spent years trying to redevelop. The plan, bounded by Center, Elden, and Station streets, called for hundreds of apartments, a parking garage, and an arts center. Comstock, the developer behind Reston Station, walked away from the project in December 2024 after seven years of delays. Since then the block has been in a holding pattern.
So a new operator signing on for a full service restaurant with a mixed beverage license, on that street, is a genuine vote of confidence. It is private money betting that people will show up.
And there are reasons to think they will. The Herndon Silver Line station opened in late 2022, and downtown sits an easy walk from it. Herndon has also quietly built a real food scene over the past two years. Hawkley Brewing opened on Sunset Park Drive in March. Navarasa, an upscale Indian concept from the group behind Biryani Grill, is on the way to 328 Elden Street, a few minutes from the Samarkand space. That is three notable additions in one small downtown in roughly a year.
What we are watching next
Three things. Whether the ABC license moves from pending to active, which is the clearest sign the opening is close. Whether a menu or hiring notice goes up. And whether the Town of Herndon lands a new development partner for the block.
We read the filings so you do not have to. If you are thinking about buying or selling in Herndon and want to talk through what the downtown changes mean for your specific street, reach out and we will give you a straight read.
