NOODLES GALORE: Pull up for Noodle Week at all locations of ChiKo, where exclusive specials will be available all week. Place an order for the noodle tasting menu available Monday, including an ahi tuna tartare, dan dan noodles, chicken lo mein, crispy noodle snack mix, and crispy wonton noodles. (ChiKo locations, $60)

Chiko’s “orange-ish” chicken and other popular Chinese Korean dishes have landed in Shirlington in the former DAK Chicken spot (4040 Campbell Avenue). Shirlington’s 1,300-square foot cafe is the fifth location (and the first in Virginia) for the lauded local mini-chain that debuted in Barracks Row in 2017. In addition to the regular menu hits, the Arlington location is dishing a char siu fried rice with Chinese roast pork and a makrut lime custard with blueberry compote, fresh blueberries, and crunchy, candied sesame crackers.

A special three-course menu inspired by the five blessings of the Lunar New Year, available from Feb. 1-6, includes shrimp spring rolls, longevity noodles with fried chicken, and tangerine custard with pomegranate and candied walnuts, for $35 per person.

For people across the globe, the first of this month marks the start of the new year and an occasion for indulging in some of the best food of the year. Lunar New Year, often considered one of the most important days of the year across several Asian cultures, is a time for celebration, excess, and most importantly, symbolic food.

“The culture around Lunar New Year is all about bringing as many blessings to the table as possible for the year to come,” explains Erik Bruner-Yang, the chef behind popular DC restaurants like Maketto and Yoko and Kota. “Different dishes have different symbols or metaphors to represent those blessings.”

For the 44th year, Washingtonian asked readers what they’ve loved most about our food scene. From new restaurants to cocktail spots, fine-dining destinations to pizza shops, here’s where you most loved to eat this year.

A former hot dog shop is now the scene of some of D.C.'s most creative Asianb restaurants, served fast-casual style. The buzzy Chiko offers dishes like double-fried chicken wings, orange-ish chicken with candied mandarins, kimchi stew, and wok-blistered Chinese broccoli. Order a bunch of dishes to share (prices for entrees start at $9). Or you could try an interactive dining experience at the kitchen counter, with seatings at 6:00 or 8:30 for parties of 2 or 4. That costs $50 per person, excluding tax, tips, and beverages, and you can try everything the kitchen is dreaming up at the moment.

It’s Barbecue Week at all three fast-casual locations of Chinese-Korean Chiko. Guest chef Javiar Fernandez of Kuya Ja Lechon Belly is serving an $18 lechon (pork belly) platter Thursday, May 20. Daily specials of Korean chicken, Chinese spare ribs, and a brisket plate range from $14 to $18, and are available through Sunday, May 23. The special menu is available at all three locations.

Sunday is the last day of Chiko’s Noodle Week — a seven-day celebration of noodles with a different dish highlighted every night. The event is ending with Chinese/Korean noodles with janjang myeon, ginger soybean paste, and pork belly.

CHIKO doesn’t deliver its cumin lamb dumplings and chicken spring rolls on a cart, but D.C. adding a new dim sum option is still welcome news. Two of the three locations of the Chinese Korean restaurant will introduce a permanent takeout and delivery-only dim sum menu this weekend after a successful test run during the Lunar New Year.

Customers can order the dim sum from CHIKO’s Bethesda (7280 Woodmont Ave.) or Dupont Circle (2029 P St. NW) locations on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Assess your hunger level and decide whether you want to order three dishes for $20, five for $32, or seven for $47. A la carte ordering is also available.

Due to the overwhelming success of our Lunar New Year Brunch, we’ll be offering dim sum service at both CHIKO Dupont and Bethesda moving forward. Guests will be able to enjoy said dishes via contactless pickup or delivery on weekends from 11 AM-3 PM, with the option of choosing 3 for $20, 5 for $32, 7 for $45 or order a la carte.

Super Bowl Sunday isn’t complete without a table covered in your favorites eats.

This Sunday, watch the Kansas City Chiefs go head-to-head with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers while you indulge in platters pieced together for game day. From taco kits to sliders and chicken wings, here’s a rundown of places around the District where you can order feasts while you watch the game unfold.

Bethesda just got an exciting new option for spicy beef noodle soup, “shrimp and toast,” and pork kimchi potstickers with the arrival of Chiko, a casual Chinese-Korean counter that’s won a lot of local recognition in D.C. Chiko’s fourth location to date — and first in Maryland — replaces chef Michael Schlow’s fast-casual Italian place, Prima. Fried Rice Collective founders Danny Lee, Scott Drewno, and Drew Kim debuted the brand on Capitol Hill in 2017, followed by subsequent outposts in Encinitas, California, and Dupont Circle. Chiko Bethesda (7280 Woodmont Avenue) operates from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., with takeout and delivery to start. The opening menu includes dishes like “orange-ish” chicken and bulgogi or cumin lamb stir fry. An abundant gluten-free section includes double-fried chicken wings, smoked brisket and rice cakes, and hot smoked blue catfish with cured egg yolk and bonito flake.

“This was therapeutic for us,” says Lee, who also co-owns CHIKO and Mandu. “We can’t cook for our families, but let’s put that same amount of passion and love that we would for a combined 500 guests through our different restaurants.” After the last customers had picked up their food and drink pairings, Lee turned to social media to reap the rewarding feelings.

Chef Scott Drewno can’t decide on a favorite menu item at ChiKo — “when you develop the menu, it’s like when you have children, you can’t really pick one,” he said with a laugh.

But, he said, the most popular dishes at the D.C.-area restaurant include the Soy Glazed Brisket, Orange-ish Chicken and Cumin Lamb Stir Fry.

Given the restrictions (including 10 weeks were there was no dine-in at all in DC) imposed to stem the tide of the pandemic have threatened the existence of most restaurants, many people have tried to do their small part and frequently order takeout and/or delivery from local spots, and will continue to do so until it’s over. To get an idea of what people enjoyed the most this inglorious year, on Saturday night (12/26/20), I posed a question on Twitter, “Where was your best takeout/delivery meal from in 2020?”; over 200 people responded, including some from outside the DC area.

While some restaurants are choosing to hibernate and wait out the winter months, things are just getting ramped up for Scott Drewno, Danny Lee and Andrew Kim, the founders of CHIKO and Fried Rice Collective. Between opening a third location in the DMV area later this winter and keeping their current locations at Capitol Hill and Dupont Circle running to debuting new breakfast concept I Egg You, the past few months have been focused on innovating and moving forward.

Last week included major restaurant news for Bethesda, the well-to-do Maryland suburb that skews awfully corporate in comparison to D.C. Chiko, the casual Chinese-Korean hit from chefs Danny Lee and Scott Drewno, announced its fourth total location will land in the Montgomery County town sometime this winter. That followed news that José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup plans to replace the Jaleo outpost there with a second location for Spanish Diner, the egg-centric all-day spot that has been a critical success in New York City’s Hudsons Yards development. Both represent big developments in a downtown where national restaurant groups at Mon Ami Gabi (Lettuce Entertain You), Woodmont Grill (Hillstone Restaurant Group), and Uncle Julio’s take up prime spots.

CHIKO, the first dining concept from the Fried Rice Collective ownership group in Washington, D.C., will open a new location at Bethesda Row this coming winter. The Chinese-Korean restaurant will be located in the former Prima/Taylor Gourmet space at 7280 Woodmont Avenue. CHIKO is led by noted D.C. chefs Danny Lee (Mandu) and Scott Drewno (The Source), and Matchbox Food Group co-founder Andrew Kim.

Chiko, a fast-casual Chinese-Korean restaurant, will replace the Italian restaurant Prima in Bethesda Row.

The restaurant, which has locations in D.C.’s Capitol Hill and Dupont neighborhoods, will open at 7280 Woodmont Ave., according to a press release on Thursday.

Chiko’s menu offerings include rice bowls, sandwiches such as Sichuan hot fried chicken, and larger entrees such as wok-charred wheat flour noodles and “orange-ish chicken.”

The menus for the D.C. locations have most items priced at $10 to $20.

Popular fast-casual Chinese-Korean restaurant ChiKo will open a new location in Bethesda Row.

The restaurant, which offers Sichuan hot fried chicken sandwiches, rice bowls and much more, including vegetarian, vegan and kids items, already has locations in Capitol Hill and Dupont Circle in D.C. and has had concessions outposts at Nationals Park and Capital One Area. There’s also a ChiKo location in Encinitas, California.

ChiKo comes from restauranteurs Drew Kim, Danny Lee and Scott Drewno, who are also behind Korean spot Anju in Dupont. ChiKo’s Capitol Hill location recently won the casual restaurant of the year award at the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington’s RAMMY awards.