Reston Town Center lost a restaurant and a jewelry store in the past two weeks, while crews work on a new restaurant from a Washington-area family that has run Mexican restaurants since 1990.
True Food Kitchen served its last meals on Democracy Drive on October 4 and closed as part of a bankruptcy filing the next day. Across the center at The Spectrum, Guapo’s is painting the former Not Your Average Joe’s building for a new concept called Guapo’s Mar y Tierra. And Haus of Urbi has closed its jewelry boutique on Market Street.
True Food Kitchen closed its Reston restaurant in a Chapter 11 filing
True Food Kitchen filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a court process that lets a company keep operating while it restructures its debts, on October 5 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The company announced the filing the same morning and said 12 restaurants had served their final meals on October 4. Thirty-four restaurants in 14 states remain open, and the company plans a court-supervised sale to find a long-term partner.
The Reston location was one of the 12. The Burn reported that a sign on the door confirms the closing and that the restaurant no longer appears on True Food’s website. A Bethesda location also closed. The chain’s restaurants at Ballston Quarter in Arlington and at the Mosaic District remain open.
The Reston restaurant opened on April 28, 2021, at 11901 Democracy Drive, in the space M&S Grill had occupied, Reston Now reported at the time. Its opening had slipped from a target of August 2020. Restaurant Dive’s account of the filing quotes the company’s restructuring officer citing pandemic losses, unsuccessful investments outside its core markets and some locations with less foot traffic than expected.
No replacement tenant has been named for the space. The Reston Town Center store directory still listed True Food Kitchen as of October 6.
Guapo’s is building its first Mar y Tierra at The Spectrum
Guapo’s took over the building at 1845 Fountain Drive that Not Your Average Joe’s left on July 15, FFXnow reported in July. The company plans to open its first Guapo’s Mar y Tierra there. “Mar y tierra” means “sea and land,” and the company describes the restaurant as a new concept with its own menu and contemporary design.
Exterior painting is under way and temporary “coming soon” banners hang on the walls, The Burn reported on October 6. The company has not announced an opening date.
Hector Rincón opened the first Guapo’s in Tenleytown in 1990, and his children run the business now. The family operates full-service Guapo’s restaurants in Arlington, Fair Lakes, Merrifield, Bethesda and Gaithersburg, along with quick-service Guapo’s Go locations that include one in Herndon. A Fountain Drive location puts the new restaurant next to the movie theater and the Spectrum’s parking garages, on the side of the town center that faces Reston Parkway.
Haus of Urbi has closed its Market Street boutique
Haus of Urbi, a jewelry boutique at 11962 Market Street, opened at Reston Town Center in 2025. Founders Denys Shalayev and Pratiksha Kamath started the business as Urbi Goods in 2022, selling at local fairs, and ran a year-long pop-up at One Loudoun before signing in Reston, The Fairfax Girl reported last fall. The store sells 18-karat gold over sterling silver pieces and offers permanent jewelry, bracelets and chains welded in place.
The store’s Google listing now shows it as permanently closed, and the company’s website is offline. Haus of Urbi came off the Reston Town Center online directory in late September. We found no public announcement from the owners about the closing or about plans for the brand.
Seven more restaurants and stores are on the way
Still marked coming soon or under construction:
- Dogfish Head Alehouse, 11995 Inspiration Street, targeting an October opening. A county sign permit for the restaurant has been under review since October 4. Our September post has the details.
- Grazie Nonna and Grazie Grazie, a D.C. Italian restaurant and its sister deli, both listed as coming soon on the center’s directory.
- Yunnan by Potomac Noodle House, listed as coming soon.
- Sushi by Bou, the timed omakase counter, which filed for a Fairfax County building permit at 1800 Presidents Street on October 2 and has a pending state liquor license.
- Brandy Melville, in the former Apple space, which we covered on October 1.
- Guapo’s Mar y Tierra, at The Spectrum.
The center re-leased its last restaurant closing in about a month
Both closings leave dark storefronts on two of the town center’s main walking streets, Democracy Drive and Market Street, a short walk from the condo and apartment towers that sell and rent on access to them. The last comparable vacancy filled quickly: Not Your Average Joe’s announced its closing in late June, and Guapo’s had taken the building by late July. Seven openings are on the way against two closings.
See something missing or wrong? Email us at [email protected] and we will check it and update the post.
